Beyond working on their lines, there are four areas that students should identify in their scripts for this upcoming weekend. We will feel substantially more comfortable with a scene when we clearly know what is going on in the scene. It’s best to write out on the back of a script/or separate piece of paper what the want/objective, relationship, place, and moment prior are. Keep in mind there are plenty of other things to consider in a script- but these four areas will be a good place to start in more clearly defining what is happening in the scene.
Want/Objective: What is their want in this scene? To be clear- the want needs to be something they need from the other person, and it has to be something specifically achievable in the scene. The want is consistent throughout the scene, but the way in which they try to achieve their want/objective will vary through scene.
Relationship: Relationship is how we feel about the other character in the scene. It’s not merely the factual component (e.g. brother, friend)- but how we feel (for e.g. a brother we are deeply jealous of, a friend who makes us insecure, etc). Once we’ve defined the relationship, a substitution can be used (e.g. is their a person in my life who I’m deeply jealous of?).
Place: Similar to relationship, the place is not merely the factual setting but how it makes us feel. For example, instead of merely identifying that the setting is a forest- specify if it makes you feel threatened, at peace, lonely, etc. Once you have established the feeling toward the place then you can identify a substitution.
Moment Prior- What was happening in the scene right before the scene began? To be clear- it should be what happened directly before the scene began (not an hour ago, a couple days ago). It’s important to remember that in order to create believable characters/behavior, then we have to know that their life didn’t simply begin when the lights came up on the stage, or when the camera started rolling. To go a bit further, make sure the moment prior is something fairly strong. Try to get rid of dull verbs (for e.g. walking, just reading, eating) and replace with something stronger/more specific (for e.g. sneaking, cramming for a test, stuffing myself after not eating for last 2 days).

