I'm currently working on a monologue of the movie "save the last dance" and i have no idea what objective to use. I have worked on a very similar monologue before, both of them are key to the story and the character is finally talking about their feelings, but i dont know what they want to achieve through telling that. In "save the last dance" she is talking about the death of her mother and how guilty she feels for just thinking about herself and her juillard audition. In the other monologue a girl was talking about the devorce of her parents and how miserable and lonely she feels right now. It feels like the emotions burst out, because the characters can't hide them any longer, but i cant think of a specific intention of telling those stories. Are they just hoping to get help? Make the other character feel sorry for them? How can i find out the objective of such monologues? Thank you
Hi, I am not familiar with the context of either of these monologues in terms of the plot. If you are familiar with how they fall in the story and who the character is talking to when they tell these stories, that should help you determine your objective. In high emotion story moments like this where the character is breaking down or opening up, it may indicate a moment when they either haven't been able to achieve their long term objective in the story yet and are giving up or trying to explain. But those are sort of weak choices to play in a stand alone monologue. First thing I would suggest is know exactly who you are talking to and how they are likely to respond to the words you are speaking. Are they getting new information about you that will help them understand you better? Then your objective is to garner support or to make someone understand you or to explain so that you don't get in trouble. etc. Are they likely to dislike you afterwards? Then your objective is to make a change. To open another characters eyes to the truth. To get rid of someone from your life. Your objective in a monologue doesn't have to be huge, it's really about thinking about what you are trying to achieve in that moment and what does that do for your long term goal. So if the character is talking about how they are feeling guilty about being selfish when their mom has died, then maybe you are trying to get support from the other person, trying to connect with them, trying to get sympathy. Trying to justify your own thoughts. Or you might even play trying to get someone to agree that you are being selfish. Are they self defeating and looking for excuses not to go to Juliard? You can play around with choosing different objectives for the scene and see which ones make the most sense. Your obstacle in getting your objective could be. The person isn't listening. The person doesn't care. You only have 5 minutes to tell them this. You don't think what you have to say is important (you are your own obstacle). You hear your mother's voice in your head (a memory is an obstacle). In the other monologue about talking about divorce. Your objective could be to get the other person to sympathize with you. To get them to validate that you should be miserable. To get them to just hear you out. Then within each monologue you can break the lines down into mini objectives. "I recount a memory that occurs to me. I then explain why I just told them that. Then I think about how it makes me upset. Then I get off track." Try to use active verbs toward the other person. I implore you. I chastise you. I anger you. I plead with you. In a nutshell, and especially for out of context monologues, you can play around with different intentions and objectives and find the one that fuels you most to say the lines as written. And keep a few objectives in your back pocket for times when the director might ask you to try it a different way. Hope this helps.
A beat is any moment in a script with a single intention. When a character changes their approach or tactic or moves onto another thought, that’s a new beat. It’s just like beats in music. There are many beats in a scene. I don’t have a dedicated video about beats. But this one on script analysis touches the subject. How to Break Down Audition Sides Like a Pro! ruclips.net/video/Gb347lWc10o/видео.html
Hi Brad, I haven't set up any sort of coaching service yet, but would consider doing them on request. I would have to think on the fee part. Are you looking for a coach?
I'm currently working on a monologue of the movie "save the last dance" and i have no idea what objective to use.
I have worked on a very similar monologue before, both of them are key to the story and the character is finally talking about their feelings, but i dont know what they want to achieve through telling that.
In "save the last dance" she is talking about the death of her mother and how guilty she feels for just thinking about herself and her juillard audition.
In the other monologue a girl was talking about the devorce of her parents and how miserable and lonely she feels right now.
It feels like the emotions burst out, because the characters can't hide them any longer, but i cant think of a specific intention of telling those stories. Are they just hoping to get help? Make the other character feel sorry for them?
How can i find out the objective of such monologues?
Thank you
Hi, I am not familiar with the context of either of these monologues in terms of the plot. If you are familiar with how they fall in the story and who the character is talking to when they tell these stories, that should help you determine your objective. In high emotion story moments like this where the character is breaking down or opening up, it may indicate a moment when they either haven't been able to achieve their long term objective in the story yet and are giving up or trying to explain. But those are sort of weak choices to play in a stand alone monologue.
First thing I would suggest is know exactly who you are talking to and how they are likely to respond to the words you are speaking. Are they getting new information about you that will help them understand you better? Then your objective is to garner support or to make someone understand you or to explain so that you don't get in trouble. etc. Are they likely to dislike you afterwards? Then your objective is to make a change. To open another characters eyes to the truth. To get rid of someone from your life.
Your objective in a monologue doesn't have to be huge, it's really about thinking about what you are trying to achieve in that moment and what does that do for your long term goal.
So if the character is talking about how they are feeling guilty about being selfish when their mom has died, then maybe you are trying to get support from the other person, trying to connect with them, trying to get sympathy. Trying to justify your own thoughts. Or you might even play trying to get someone to agree that you are being selfish. Are they self defeating and looking for excuses not to go to Juliard? You can play around with choosing different objectives for the scene and see which ones make the most sense.
Your obstacle in getting your objective could be. The person isn't listening. The person doesn't care. You only have 5 minutes to tell them this. You don't think what you have to say is important (you are your own obstacle). You hear your mother's voice in your head (a memory is an obstacle).
In the other monologue about talking about divorce. Your objective could be to get the other person to sympathize with you. To get them to validate that you should be miserable. To get them to just hear you out.
Then within each monologue you can break the lines down into mini objectives. "I recount a memory that occurs to me. I then explain why I just told them that. Then I think about how it makes me upset. Then I get off track." Try to use active verbs toward the other person. I implore you. I chastise you. I anger you. I plead with you.
In a nutshell, and especially for out of context monologues, you can play around with different intentions and objectives and find the one that fuels you most to say the lines as written. And keep a few objectives in your back pocket for times when the director might ask you to try it a different way. Hope this helps.
@@AugmentedActor thank you so much! That helps me a lot. All the best and greetings from Germany :)
What is a beat, do you have a video about it ?
A beat is any moment in a script with a single intention. When a character changes their approach or tactic or moves onto another thought, that’s a new beat. It’s just like beats in music. There are many beats in a scene. I don’t have a dedicated video about beats. But this one on script analysis touches the subject. How to Break Down Audition Sides Like a Pro!
ruclips.net/video/Gb347lWc10o/видео.html
Do you do any private coaching online? It's so, fees? Thank you, sir. Love your videos
Hi Brad, I haven't set up any sort of coaching service yet, but would consider doing them on request. I would have to think on the fee part. Are you looking for a coach?
Hi. Yes, I need some help breaking down audition Scripts. Making good creative choices is sometimes challenging. 😀
Send me an email via augmentedactor.com site and I will chat with you about that.
A tactic is NOT an objective.
That is true. If I said that in the video, I misspoke. A tactic is an action that a character takes to get to their objective.