Do you create a background for the characters?

[CootDog]

I saw the Actors Studio with Tom Cruise a week ago. One thing that he said he does is create a background for every character he plays. I never thought of that from the standpoint of an actor before. A friend of mine created a role-playing game where I had to create a background for the character. I also did a bio for one of the characters in the 3D animation movie I've been working on so the animators will know where the character is comming from. If it was done this would allow the actors to get into their role easier. I guess

So along with writing the script, do you write a bio or something like that for the characters?

Actors; is this something you would like or have seen?

 

[Lilith]

After over 20 years in the theater and the last several in film, my proclivity is to allow the actor to create a 'backstory' for the character. As long as it enhances their performance, I don't meddle.

However, some backstory can get in the way of things. When that happens, I whittle down the problematic part with the actor to achieve what I am looking for in performance.

To hand an actor a backstory, or too many notes on it would, in my opinion, take away a great deal of their artistic freedom.

Likely, I think like this because I have been an actor most of my life. But it is what works for me.

 

[SteveSutton]

I like to let the backgrounds of certain characters develop on their own, as the story progresses over several episodes. I think creating a static background for each character limits what you can do with them.

 

[knightly]

There are lots of good books on method acting out, I'm currently reading "the power of the actor" by Ivana Chubbick. Good stuff to know as a director. There is also coursework out on the web pertaining to method acting as well for free.

 

[clive]

I write character profiles for every character where I list their strengths, flaws, their primary motivations and desires and if relevant to those aspects the back story that dictated those personality traits.

I've got a spreadsheet I use in excel to do this. I also identify the antagonist, protagonist, stakes character and ally. it really does help and I do this before I even start plotting the film.

 

[Lilith]

Clive, sure as the director you know what you envision the characters doing, and protagonist, antagonist and plot must be laid out in detail for story progression. However, do you give your strength/flaw information to the actor? And if you do, how do they react to it?

 

[clive]

Clive, sure as the director you know what you envision the characters doing, and protagonist, antagonist and plot must be laid out in detail for story progression. However, do you give your strength/flaw information to the actor? And if you do, how do they react to it?

Just to clarify. I do the character outlines to guide the writing; however, as a director I'd never furnish an actor with a set of background notes for the character, instead I get to know the actor and find out what they need. Usually my understanding about the character will be discussed with the actor as a natural part of the rehearsal process.

Because I'm aware that different actors use different approaches to do the same job, I would give out background information in different ways depending on needs of the actor. I've never seen it as the director's job to do anything more than support the actor in their job. A big part of that job is understanding character motivation. With an actor like Tom Cruise, who is really interested in process, the relationship could be a mutual exploration where I'd work mainly by asking questions; with a different actor I might be more direct. The trick is having the sensitivity to know what is going to help the actor most.

I've just written an article about this process in my blog, here's the url

http://noplacethemovie.blogspot.com

 

[cmill216]

A lot of times in my scripts I discover so many little details in the dialogue I didn't even notice, that when my actor or actress reads it they build a background of the character based on little things they've read. Those things can be how one character responds to things other characters say. Or the actions the character takes in different situations. I really don't believe in doing a huge background unless an actor just comes right out and demands it. Otherwise, I let the actor (depending on how much I trust them, and, frankly, how good they are) make those decisions for themself.

 

[Alphie]

Our lead actor (actually all of them) created intricate backstories for their roles. This was how they were educated (by a very good acting coach with an impressive resume). If it helps. Then it's valuable to all involved.

However ... when the day came for him to act with the one woman in the film (one scene ... lasts roughly 4 minutes), he sat down with her and spent an hour telling her his back story. As if this were going to somehow help her in this one scene. I think it can help but it can also slow the process down.

Memorize the script FIRST ... then fill in the blanks.

 

[Will Vincent]

If your actors take the time to develop the backstory of their character while preparing for the role, it generally gives a much more real performance, since they know where they're coming from and why. For instance, if a character had an abusive father in her past, she's going to play the romantic interaction with your male lead differently than if her father was an angel, or not around at all, or whatever..

Backstory helps a lot for writing the script, and it helps for actors playing the roles, though these should not necessarily be the same. I let my actors develop their own backstory, and then work with their ideas and my own to help them find the character.

It's great when an actor asks questions about how their character would deal with something, and being able to tell them to think about the history of their character and decide on the right thing.. the counterside would be when an actor insists "Oh, my character wouldn't do this or that" So.. there's a fine line I guess.

 

[clive]

Oh, my character wouldn't do this or that

That is the pretty much the worst thing I ever hear from an actor, it's the line I dread. I've only ever been in that situation a few times and every times it's held the shoot up for nearly fifteen minutes whilst I work it out with the actor.

I think that it's a much harder situation to resolve for the writer/director, because the temptation is always to reply "Well I wrote the damn character so just shut up and do it." My experience is that this is rarely the right way to deal with it.

In the end I've usually got round this situation by getting the actor to show me what they think the character would do. Sometimes the actor is right and their suggestion works better, but when it isn't what I do is film the scene both ways, their version and the original. ALthough that may seem time consuming it's often less time consuming than dealing with a sulking demotivated actor.

 

[Will Vincent]

Another option is to let them do it "their way".. and keep telling them something is wrong, it's just not looking right. So they keep redoing it, slightly different ways, until finally, they're sick of it, and will just ask, "Well, how would YOU do it?" So you get it your way in the end anyway. Granted, that could take significantly longer.

 

[CootDog]

I think that the next thing I write there will definitely be background for the major characters BEFORE I write it.
Then when it comes time to shoot I'll do what Clive said... let the actor "be" the character but they'll have to do it my way too.

 

[Billy]

In creating background/backstory could one approach it as creating a “Practical tool” for the actor?
That is to say, one sentence backstories which emotionally correspond to the tone of a scene.

Example:

SCENE: BOB (29) phones for help as Zombies try to bust into the boarded up house.
BACKSTORY When Bob was 13 his shoelace got caught on a railroad track as the train approached.

Bob and the Zombies as a scene could be called “Stuck on the tracks.”

The idea being the actor might have a form of the past they could use to:
Summon the panic of being stuck on tracks =Fear of Zombies.
Become someone that was once stuck in life, but overcame =The courage to fight the Zombies
Draw from, fixate on or compare details from the backstory to the present =Thinking about the Zombies.

How the actor might or might not use the info is a cool creative X factor, but the point is
writing character history for the minds eye of the actor in a way that can be reduced down
to a single word like “Train” and which has the option to invoke or be a doorway
to emotional response that can be likened to and or applied to the character's present if so desired.

Would using “contrast” to the intended tone of a scene precipitate some effect?

Example:

SCENE: JOE is going to the town hall meeting with a gun in his pocket, he means to kill.
BACKSTORY: Joe has a recurring happy dream of flying over an amusement park.
NAME OF SCENE: Happy flying dream.

If the actor allowed the essence of happy backstory to seep into the character
(a character on his way to kill) would or could it by contrast elicit the “Vibe”
that the character is a bit crazed?

If the scene called for a schizophrenic character would widely random contrasting backstory help?


Am I simply merging the various aspects of motivation, character backstory creation and directing?
-Billy-