Boy, do I need these classes. Going through the basics I'm glad I've done some improv before taking classes because if I had not I would be a wreck. I'm nervous in class and I'm forgetting the basics. Today was about 50/50. Half positive notes and half constructive notes.
Taking notes in class is pretty problematic. I'm using my iPhone 3GS to jot down some of the golden nuggets of improv that Dave Hill doles out now and then but I can't always take the note because a) it looks like I'm texting and b) I'm trying to process the note that was said and I am usually away from my phone. I know that I won't get every little note but I'm hoping I can get the meat of it.
Class 2 - November 9, 2010
Notes:
Exercises:
- Yes (Go): Listening, listening and more listening. Basis stuff here.
- You Statements: Begin each sentence with You _____. (Paint the other person in the scene. Give them a gift)
- I Statements: Start each sentence with I ____. (Paint yourself. How do you feel? Say statements of how I think. What is my characters world view? This angle will become a filter for what you say)
- Saying something the other person said as part of your next sentence: Focus on one part of what the other person says and react to it.
- Cocktail Party: Tee Pee effect. Many unrelated conversations converging.
- Take your time and don't rush it. (This one is difficult. I need to learn to embrace silences better. When the count the seconds that go by when I watch scenes they are pretty long. I should take note. Looking at improvisers like those in Dasariski they really listen and take their time)
- Fall into the pattern of the scene. (Easier said than done. That is assuming you can find the pattern in the first place. Play the game of the scene)
- Focus on one thing and go with it. You can detour but always come back. (When a gift is offered, focus on that gift. Bold gifts shouldn't be ignored. Beginning improvisers think things couldn't be just that. They must add unnecessary stuff)
- React. Don't negotiate. (No brainstorming, no negotiating with logic, don't debate. Just react. Have an opinion and show your characters perspective)
- "Have a thin skin. Let what other people say affect you." (Related to reacting and not negotiating. Be affected by your scene partner.)
- Know your scene partner by naming them. Who are they to you? (Very basic but easily forgotten in my case. Give names. What is this relationship?)
- Commit to a point of view. (Don't be apologetic about your character. Let your character feel a certain way. Have no sympathy for the other characters point of view. Say things from the point of view of your character.)
- "Specifics are like the Holy Grail of improv; it fills in a lot of the blanks" (Details! No Bold Vague statements)
- Must know where the other person is coming from. (What is their point of view? Must listen in order to know what it is)
- Show the importance of _______ (Why do we care about something. Why is the object in the scene of importance? What does it represent? What does it mean to the characters in the scene?)
- Stay in the now. No talk about the future or the past.
- Ask yourself: What do you want in the scene? (Have a goal. What are you trying to accomplish in the scene.)
- Quote from Bob Dassie: "Don't try to solve problems. Deal with them"
- Shotgun to Laser: Analogy of specificity.
- Don't leave anything out. Put everything that you have put out in the scene so far into a backpack then bring it back later. Nothing is by chance or random. Nothing is lost.
Relationship
Do something in the scene unrelated to what you are doing
You and I statements
Saying something that the other person said
Have a point of view
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