Saturday, August 4, 2012

Acting Auditions - The Difficulties and Obstacles of Life Can Improve Your Work

By Kirk Baltz


There is no question that the majority of people wish to avoid a state of conflict and drama. It can inevitably lead to anxious feelings, fear, and chaos. However, when it comes to acting auditions, conflict is necessary to a successful reading. In order to have a good audition, it is necessary for an actor to find the conflict within a story and within a character.

The majority of persons and characters have internal conflicts between desires and feelings. Persons and characters can also experience conflict externally with fate, the environment, the world, and God. Relational conflicts are yet another form of personal conflict that are in present in almost every person and, therefore, character's life. Typically, an actor is only given the dialogue, a brief outline of the character's personality, and a story overview when they are asked to read. Conflict always exists in a story, whether on the surface or hidden beneath a complicated exterior. It is your responsibility to locate the conflict and express it in your reading.

Instability is always exciting regardless of how uncomfortable or stressful it may be. Conflict provides an element of depth and movement to a story and character. After you have gotten a handle on the personality of the character, there are naturally going to be difficulties and obstacles that that character must face. That is the way life is. All lives have hurdles which must be shaped and worked with until they cease to be difficult obstacles and become helpful participants. For example, consider "Midnight Run". Robert De Niro plays a bounty hunter who is responsible for the capture of Charles Grodin's character. Jack, played by De Niro, needs to collect his bounty by bringing in Mardukas, played by Grodin. Jack is met with a number of conflicts including his personal insecurities, rival bounty hunters, and the infamous Mardukas.

The script may very well not have all the answers you need in order to create great conflict and emotion. Improve your acting audition by using the dialogue and the clues therein to create a character full of depth and truth. In this way, you will be more likely to grab onto and hold the auditor's attention and make the performance more real for the viewer. Far worse than creating the "wrong" conflict is delivering a performance without any emotion and depth. With these skills, your auditioning skills are sure to improve.

Keep in mind that conflict typically has more than one dimension. The average character will have several different desires and feelings that are in constant struggle with each other. If you are looking to make a good impression on the auditor, ensure that you portray this in your reading. The lines being recited are not nearly as important as the character that is created by the actor.

Despite the fact that you may be the only person in the scene, there is no doubt that invisible forces or persons are affecting both the personality and story of your character. Being able to bring these hidden elements to life is what will separate you from the other actors and make your audition a success. Another thing to remember about conflict. A small amount of comedy should also be present within any conflict. Comedy is present even when the conflict is dark and deep-rooted. It is essential or the audition will be far too dark for the auditors to watch. In short, conflict and comedy are both an integral part of a successful and impressive reading.




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