The Power of the Actor by Ivana Chubbuck (Research Thursday)
THE POWER OF THE ACTOR
Research Thursday
Today’s Research Thursday post is about the book, THE POWER OF THE ACTOR by Ivana Chubbuck. The reason I chose this book for research Thursday is that is a great when you need to figure out the motivation of a character. To understand the goal of a character you are creating and what they want in any given scene, you must know what motivates them, and to do that, you have to figure out what they want and why they want it.
DEANNA’S THOUGHTS
One of my favorite examples in this book deals with the author’s acting coach work with actor Halle Berry, mostly during her preparation for Monster’s Ball, where she played Leticia. In the book, the author describes a betrayal scene and how for Berry to play it the way she did, they decided that the character’s motivation was to be loved and take care of, but that motivation comes through the lens of her past hurts and experiences.
More specifically, this book discusses how to tie your own emotional experiences into what the character needs to convey. And how that can help with bringing said character to life in a way that makes their every action and reaction realistic and believable. Even when they are wrong, or, in the case of suspense antagonists and villains, possibly evil.
So, if you are needing to think deeper about what a character wants in your story, this is a terrific book to help you figure out the characters overall objective and their scene goal and why those two aims are important to the character. Not to mention how the motivation for those goals lead to the actions the characters will take in each and every scene. It reiterates the importance of knowing who your character is deep down inside, both how they got there and why they view people, sex, careers, relationships, and the world the way they do.
What do you think?
Is this a book you would want to read?
Let us know in the comment section below.
BOOK INFORMATION
THE POWER OF THE ACTOR
BY Ivana Chubbuck
PUBLISHER: Avery
AVAILABLE IN: Digital, Paperback
PUBLISHED: August 2005
PAGES: 400
In THE POWER OF THE ACTOR, a Los Angeles Times bestseller, premier acting teacher and coach Ivana Chubbuck reveals her cutting-edge technique, which has launched some of the most successful acting careers in Hollywood.
The first book from the instructor who has taught Charlize Theron, Brad Pitt, Elisabeth Shue, Djimon Hounsou, and Halle Berry, The Power of the Actor guides you to dynamic and effective results. For many of today’s major talents, the Chubbuck Technique is the leading edge of acting for the twenty-first century. Ivana Chubbuck has developed a curriculum that takes the theories of the acting masters, such as Stanislavski, Meisner, and Hagen, to the next step by utilizing inner pain and emotions, not as an end in itself, but rather as a way to drive and win a goal.
In addition to the powerful twelve-step process, the book takes well-known scripts, both classic and contemporary, and demonstrates how to precisely apply Chubbuck’s script-analysis process. The Power of the Actor is filled with fascinating and inspiring behind-the-scenes accounts of how noted actors have mastered their craft and have accomplished success in such a difficult and competitive field.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
