IMPOVISATION

•  One of the most difficult tasks for an actor is to

say lines that they have read, memorised and
rehearsed as if they are saying them for the first
time.

•  To allow an actor to improvise during rehearsal

or production can help create an ‘in the
moment’ environment and can provide some
useful insights into character.
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•  However some actors don’t like improv. They may be
afraid and not have a clear understanding of what a
director wants as an outcome from the improv so be
clear about why your are doing it and what outcomes
you are looking for.

For example: ‘the lines sound like they are being read,
I want you to improvise the scene and put the dialogue
into your own words. I want you to paraphrase.’
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•  However some actors don’t like improv. They may be
afraid and not have a clear understanding of what a
director wants as an outcome from the improv so be
clear about why your are doing it and what outcomes
you are looking for.

For example: ‘the lines sound like they are being read,
I want you to improvise the scene and put the dialogue
into your own words. I want you to paraphrase.’
 IMPOVISATION
Other improv techniques include:

•  Improv Based on Facts

Pick out the bare facts of the scene and have the actors improvise
around those facts with total freedom. This is an exploratory approach, only
the facts are true. The actors do not need to follow the lines or the plot of
the script. As a director, you are looking for insight into the characters
objectives, relationships, subtext and issues.
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•  Improv to create back-story
Is sometimes more useful than spending time discussing the characters
history. The director simply asks for the actors improvise and play the
scene not as per the time in the script, but at some other time.

For example: If the scene is about a character who talks every morning
about his home life with a colleague from work, explore a conversation they
had two months prior to the conversation that’s in the script. What was
different between them then, as opposed to where they presently in the
script.
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•  Pre-scene improv
It is useful to improvise what might have taken place just before the
scene began, specifically physical life so the scene can be ‘in the middle of
something.’

For example: If the scene is about a character who talks every morning
about his home life with a colleague from work, explore a conversation they
had two months prior to the conversation that’s in the script. What was
different between them then, as opposed to where they presently in the
script.
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Adjustments (handy when working with kids)
•  The director will ask the actors to play the scene: ‘as if’ – ‘play the scene as
if you are a student called to the headmasters office at school.’
•  ‘what if’ – ‘what if you had a big crush on her at school but never said so’

•  For example, the moment in the script that happens between you and your
husband, play it as if it was like a moment between you and waiter at a
restaurant when they’ve just told you there is no duck on the menu and
you’ve just ordered.

•  OR ‘lets say’ your characters feeling to same way you would feel if you
turned up to rehearsal and the other actor hadn’t learnt their lines.
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Silent improv
•  Set up the physical world and let the actors live in it without any talking.
Then go right from the improv into the scene. Silent improvs are useful
when shooting as a way for the actors to start working and connecting with
each other before the director calls ‘Action.’

Third character improv

•  Ask the actors to play the scene as if the ‘third character’ about whom they
are speaking or thinking about is actually in the room.
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Design your own improv
•  However for it to be successful, try to keep your setups for improv based
on physical and factual information as opposed to abstract and
psychological concepts.