Aesthetics for Life Acting 2 Story and Plot Character Development

1. Aesthetics for LifeActing 2Story and PlotCharacter Development

2. Acting Is the category of cinematic form that most of us know the most about.

3. What is acting? • Impersonation - pretense • Embodiment (including voice) • “The aspect of filmmaking over which directors have the least control” • Seemingly intuitive or natural, but actually calculated and contrived

4. How do we distinguish between the actor and the acting?

5. Four key types of actors: 1. Actors who maintain a single persona from role to role (personality or type actors) • Personality actors are often box-office favorites, but not well-regarded for their acting ability. E.g. • Tom Cruise • Angelina Jolie • Jennifer Aniston

6. 2. Actors who deliberately thwart expectations (actors cast against type) • Some actors attempt to escape typecasting by choosing roles that are opposite the types of roles that they are known for; alternatively, a director may choose to cast an actor in a role that would be unusual for them to create a dramatic effect. This is called "playing against type" or "casting against type".

7. Cameron DiazThe Type: The Sweet, Funny BabeAs Seen In:The Mask, My Best Friend’s Wedding, There’s Something About Mary, Charlie’s Angels, The Holiday, What Happens In Vegas, Knight And DayAgainst Type? Her performance as the shy, mousey Lotte in Being John Malkovichis a world away from the gorgeous, good-natured ditz roles she often finds herself coasting through.

8. Chameleons are considered the most accomplished actors because their work requires craft. They are often ordinary-looking. 3. Actors who are different in every role (chameleon actors)

9. The faces and roles of Johnny Depp

10. 4. Cameo actors – those from other professions who add credibility This shot from Forrest Gump includes John F. Kennedy, who died three decades before the movie was made. • Sometimes a living person • Sometimes appears as self – or as someone else • May or may not be credited • Sometimes a historical figure (with special effects)

11. In the classical studio era, movie stars became prominent • The movie star embodied • A studio-created image, because the actor was “owned” by the studio who had them under contract • The social and cultural assumptions of the period • A paradoxical combination of ordinariness and god-like fame and power

12. Types of roles include • Major roles – Hero, Heroine, Villain • Minor roles, or supporting roles (in descending importance) • Character • Walk-on or bit player • Cameos • Animal and infant players • Extras • Stand-ins and stunt-workers, wranglers and handlers, and body-doubles

13. Plot The events in sequence that make up a story. Climax Crisis + resolution Crisis + resolution Falling action  Rising action  Crisis + resolution Introduction/Exposition Conclusion/Dénouement/Final Resolution Story = plot + character development

14. Character Development • Personality of the Character • We get to know characters in stories throughthe things they say, feel, and do. • Character Role (Major or Minor) Two types of major roles: • Protagonist: The protagonist of a story is often called the main character/hero/heroine. The plot revolves around the protagonist. There may be more than one main character. • Antagonist: The antagonist is the character who represents a challenge or an obstacle to the protagonist in a story (villain). In some stories, the antagonist is not a person!

16. Character Development • Character Development (Growth and Change) • How a character changes and grows. Most characters go through changes as a story unfolds. breaking dawn

17. Effective Character Development • Plot • Know what the story is about, so the characters and their world makes sense. • Point-of-view and Background • Seeing the world through the eyes of others and understanding which perspective to look from. • Motivation and Alignment • What drives the characters? What is their goal? What affects them to act the way they do?

18. “Big Fish” Character Development • Plot • Big Fish is a 2003 American fantasy adventure film. The film was directed by Tim Burton and is about a son trying to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths he told about his life. The father is a former traveling salesman with a gift for storytelling, who unfortunately is about to die.

19. “Big Fish” Character Development • Point-of-view andBackground • Big Fish has several points-of-views and goes back-and-forth in time (flashbacks). At the beginning, it is the present time, but then the story will go back to the past as the son thinks of his father’s stories.

20. List of characters in “Big Fish” • Edward Bloom - Young & Senior • Will Bloom (Edward’s son) • Sandra Bloom – Young & Senior (Edward’s wife) • Jenny – Young & Senior • The Witch • Dr. Bennett - Senior • Josephine Bloom (Will’s wife) • Karl (the giant) • Ping and Jing (twins) • Norther Winslow (writer) • Many more…

21. “Big Fish” Character Development • Motivation and Alignment • The son in Big Fish feels burdened by the too-good-to-be-true stories that his father has been telling him. • Now that his father is about to die, the son attempts to mend their relationship by reliving those stories. • While the story unfolds, you (the viewers) are also motivated to find the truth in the stories. Because most of it seems to be fantasy, did the father actually experience all those things? What is the truth? Let’s find out next week!