July 20, 2012
“An idea has no worth at all without believable characters
to implement it; a plot without characters is like a tennis court
without players. Daffy Duck is to a Buck Rogers story what John McEnroe
was to tennis. Personality. That is the key, the drum, the fife. Forget
the plot.”
—Chuck Jones
***
I love this quote. Because it’s so true, right? “Boy meets girl” would
always be the same story if it weren’t for the specific boys and the
specific girls. “Whodunnit” would always be the same mystery if it
weren’t for the unique quirks that every villian leaves in their wake as
clues. At their core, every character is an archetype: a mother, a
lover, a villian, a hero. At their core, every character is a human. And
so, creating a character both takes us far outside the realm of who we
are and brings us much closer to understanding our core as a human.
Embodying another person asks of each of us to understand the drives and
feelings of another person, to be (even when the character is cruel or
greedy or angry) empathetic to a fault.
It’s work that I’ve always loved doing as an actor, and work that I’m
thrilled to share with the students in Daytime Moon’s “Creating A
Character” workshop tomorrow afternoon. In all of the full programs I’ve
taught, we’ve put so much emphasis on the story that character work has
always been secondary. We explore our students’ characters through the
lens of their experience within the plot. But, as Chuck Jones so
eloquently commands: forget the plot! In my class, we’ll have two hours
to simply focus on character. We’ll be creating individuals that maybe
one day we could make a story out of, who surely could meet each other
in the street or at a party and find some adventures to embark on. But
the crux of what we’ll be doing Saturday is simply to find the
people–Who are the craziest, funniest, most exciting people we can
imagine? And how can we imbue them with a backstory so they become
living, breathing, feeling beings?
Check out some of these examples of epic archetypal characters. So much fun to play with!
For the past few weeks, I’ve been watching all of the other workshop
teachers have a blast with our participants. I’ve observed their
classes, have taken photographs and videos, and helped participants
tweet their experiences during breaks. It’s been inspirational and
enjoyable, but more than anything I’ve felt the itch to play! Watching
the other amazing teachers bring so much joy to our students is like
sitting on the bench as the rest of the lineup bats through the order.
Finally, I feel like I’m in the on deck circle, and I’m so excited to
see the students tomorrow I can hardly wait!
If you can’t make it to class, I hope that you’ll follow the
students’ experiences on twitter @Daytime_Moon, on our Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/DaytimeMoonCreations, and on YouTube at
www.youtube.com/user/DaytimeMoonCreations. I can’t wait to share all our
updates with you!
One
of my favorite Chuck Jones creations. Even if he’s the “bad guy” in the
roadrunner cartoons, you can’t help but like him. Such a classic
character!
So join me tomorrow as we play with “the key, the drum and the fife.” We’re having fun with personality! Plot-free.
See you in class,
Jenna
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