What Makes a Good Performance?

Truth, Commitment, Conflict, Fearlessness Steven Tyler Sherwood University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Fall 2013

Introduction: What makes a good performance? Have you ever asked yourself this question before? Why was Titanic one of the most successful movies of all time (whether you like it or not, it was one of the highest grossing movies of all time)? Why do you love the movies or plays that you do? Is it the brilliant actors? Is it the special effects? Perhaps it is the writer, or the director? My objective for this essay is to answer these questions for you. The one thing I must say before we go any further is that you should not take what I say to be the absolute truth. Take what you will from this, but do not just believe it because I am saying it. Yes, I am including what other people have said, that seem to agree with what I believe, but I still beg you to consider other options. It is so hard to define what makes a good performance because so many people have different tastes in plays/movies, and look for different things. Some like big budget action films where theres lots of special effects. Others enjoy something with a deeper story with a hidden philosophical meaning. Or perhaps some enjoy romantic movies in which they can relate their darkest troubles to. I am going to do my best to narrow down what makes a good movie into a very few select set of concepts, and then divide those concepts into further sub categories. I really want to open your eyes to things youve already seen, but simply havent paid attention to. And this is not your fault, its not necessarily a bad thing if you did not pay attention; it just helps you understand why things work the way they do. When I start to explain my list of concepts as to what makes a good performance, you will start to make the connections yourself, and realize where they were in some of your favorite movies. To come to a conclusion of what makes a good performance, I watched countless interviews with many of the well-respected actors over time, read books that had information about the process of film making; what worked, what didnt, what speed bumps they came in to, why they cast who they did, and I looked outside the realm of performance. I find, the best arguments are when you can bring in outside information that, on its own, has nothing whatsoever to do with the topic youre talking about, however, when you put the two together, it makes perfect sense. I find being able to relate things outside of your figured world is important. Literature Review: My Observations Earlier this year, I observed the theatre department on campus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am currently in the process of still transferring into the department, and I want to pursue acting as a career, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to observe the department. One pattern I started to see with all the good actors, writers, directors, stage managers, etc. was that they were all had such a good relationship with one another. I am in an upcoming play, Love the Doctor, and the atmosphere is just so relaxed. I remember, the very first rehearsal date, where we did a table reading (the cast and crew get

together, and sit around a table and read the script all the way through to find any plot holes and to see how everyone interacts with each other), one of the very first things the director, Lon Bumgarner, said was that he didnt want us to think of this as a boss to employee relationship. He wants us to all be equals in this collaborative process and bounce ideas off each other all the time. There have been many times where he has something in mind, and throws it out the window because one of the actors makes a suggestion that he believes would be incredibly more useful to their underlying super-objective (What the character wants throughout the entire play) (Bumgarner, 2013). Every character in a play or film has a super objective, and everything they do in the time span of their performance is all aimed towards trying to achieve that super objective. In very good performances, sometimes you can even see the characters spine (What the character wants to achieve in life) (Bumgarner, 2013). The spine is almost never achieved, and is something very simple. An example would be; to be loved, or to be powerful. A lot of the reason why they are never achieved is because when you get a little taste of love, or a little taste of power, you might want more, and now your spine has gone up more. Another thing that I noticed throughout my observations that stood out to me was the underlying intensity. Talking with Lon, he started to explain how an actor, in every scene they are in, has this intensity built up inside them, no matter what it is about, and that throughout the entire play or film, they are just a volcano of intensity just waiting to be revealed. You do not see this because there are other things hiding the intensity, like the strategies an actor may use to achieve their objective. In my interview with Lon we also talked about the difference between externalization and internalization. Externalization is simply doing. He told me Look at the word acting. By its very nature, the concept of acting means you are doing something with intention. Youre not thinking; youre doing (Bumgarner, 2013). Ive seen this to be a recurring theme from every actor Ive talked to; even Robert Di Nero says the same thing. (Di Nero, 2012) Di Nero said that actors need to learn to start doing nothing, and stop trying to tell the audience what they should feel. I whole heartedly agree with this, and I think it is crucial to a good performance. No one likes to be told what to feel, no matter what the situation. As humans, we enjoy freedom, and when it comes to movies, we love suspense, we love being able to interpret things into ways that it means something completely different to us, than it does to another person. It makes us feel unique, or perhaps even smart. Internalization is the exact opposite of what an actor should do (Bumgarner, 2013). Internalizing usually occurs when an actor forgets their lines, which is why it is so important that an actor knows his lines forwards and backwards. In film, some actors dont worry about it because they have multiple takes. But its not about the memorization; when you know your lines, its simply a completely different process. Your acting is so much better, because youre not thinking Oh yeah, thats the right lineor is it? Youre thinking: Okaywhy am I saying what Im saying? Who am I

talking to? Why am I saying this to them, and not someone else? Those are the questions an actor should be asking, and that is what makes the performance so much better. What They Have To Say Johnny Depp has always been a great influence of mine, not only in acting, but in everyday life. Johnny Depp relates his experience to Hollywood, with his experience with a bully. He was telling the audience about his conversation with someone else regarding his bully issue, and they told him that the next time the boy tries to bully him, that he grabs the nearest rock, or whatever he can get his hands on, and hit the boy as hard as he can; he did this, and it worked. He doesnt like his space being invaded, nor does he like being used as a product. His advice to the acting students was to never let anyone tell you what you should do; just move forward, dont ever compromise, never let anyone put their hands on you (Depp, 2008). I think this is one of the reasons why he is such a good performer. He doesnt let people control him, and has respect for himself and will not compromise that under any circumstances. One thing many people dont recognize is the lengths that actors go through to prepare for their roles. Heath Ledger, now deceased from a drug overdose, locked himself in a room with a journal, for weeks (Joker Diary, 2013). Many believe that he was truly insane by the time that they were shooting for the film; he even admitted to getting only about 2 hours of sleep every night. Robert De Niro gives brilliant advice in a short clip; the same advice I am being given right now by my acting teacher and that is to learn to do less. Many actors struggle because theyre simply trying too hard to make something happen, and De Niro explains in this video, you should not tell the audience what to feel. The main problem with actors is they think too much, instead of just doing (De Niro, 2012). One thing I wanted to was explore other sources that dont have anything to do with acting, and I started to look into TED Talk and stumbled across a very interesting lecture. This TED Talk is about vulnerability, and how it makes people stronger, and more beautiful (Brown, 2010). Even though specific TED Talk has nothing to do with acting, the concept has everything to do with it. Actors must be vulnerable, if they are not, they cannot be real or truthful in front of the camera or on stage, and they cant have a real interaction with the other actor. I also decided to look into the director Christopher Nolan, who directed the Dark Knight Trilogy, as well as Inception and Memento. There is a plethora of information where the director, Christopher Nolan talks about what made his trilogy work; why he chose the actors he did, what his mindset was taking on this huge title, and how it became a success. Many people take for granted what they see on the big screen, and dont have any idea what the crew or cast did to make that possible. Nolan was very keen on making everything real, relatable, and devastating to the audience (Jesser, 2012).

One thing that Christopher Nolan does, that is fascinating and seems to be where most people get really sucked into any play or film, is getting through to the deep and dark human truths. I came across an article from the Saint Joseph College and three professors were giving their opinions on what makes good cinema. These professors go even as far as to differentiate good and great film. They say that good film is something that personalizes to the audience, is realistic, and has a balanced relationship between special effects, the story, and the actors. A great film, they said, is getting through to the real human truths, as well as the film being unpredictable. They like to be challenged while watching a movie (Great Cinema, 2007). Robert Downey Jr. also said something that spoke out to me, because not many people believe that directors actually listen to their audience. Even though theres only a small portion of this clip that has useful information, I wanted to use it. He talks about what the directors and producers did to make the movie better; and one of the things they did, which more people are now starting to do, is just ask the audience what they want. At Comic Cons and any interviews and such, theyre constantly asking feedback from anyone who watches it, and taking everything into consideration. Not many people think to ask the audience for feedback, and I do think that is crucial to success, is feedback (Kimmel, 2013). Conflict is incredibly important in a successful performance. In every scene of every movie or piece of theatre you see, each actor WANTS something from someone else. They always have an objective; if they dont, they have no reason to be in the scene. There is always constant conflict. And this article describes in detail the 7 different conflicts that can occur in a story, and if you take a look at it, it really is quite impossible to come up with any others (Nichol, 2013). I was lucky enough to be a part of a master class run by F. Murray Abraham. And in this class he told us many things like why he does acting, what the value of acting is, the truth behind rejection, talking about the audition process, what you should do to start off, what you should do to get in the mindset, how important the script is, etc. His views on these things are very similar to my acting professors and Ill go into further detail about what those views are later. Entering the Conversation: The Fantastic Four Through my own observations and listening to a variety of sources, including a personal interview with academy award winning actor, F. Murray Abraham, I have come to the conclusion that there are 4 main concepts that make a good performance. These concepts are truth, commitment, conflict, and fearlessness. I will go over the sub divisions of these concepts, and when I explain them, I believe you will come to the same conclusion as well. Truth:

I placed this concept first in matter of importance. You can commit all you want to whatever it is youre doing, but if you commit to faking it, bluntly put, its going to suck. There was an interview of professors at Saint Josephs College (What Makes Great Cinema) and they all seemed to come to a conclusion of what made great cinema is getting through to the real human truths, as well as being unpredictable. (Bumgarner, 2013) Acting is supposed to happen in the moment. This is what makes it unpredictable and exciting for the audience to enjoy. One of the hardest parts of acting is to pretend like you dont know whats about to happen n ext. When actors anticipate the other persons lines ahead of time, its boring. The audience can tell whats happening is not real, no one wants to watch something thats fake. No one wants fake tension, they want real tension. And there are ways to achieve this. One of the exercises Lon Bumgarner had us do, to get ourselves in this intense state of mind, where you would just let everything happen, and not think at all, was an exercise similar to tug of war. Every actor has an objective in a scene. They have a reason why they are there, and their purpose in that scene is to accomplish that objective. This objective has to be external, and tangible. For instance, your objective cannot be I want him to know Im mad. There is no way you can achieve this, unless you can read their minds. In order for this to be tangible, you must change it to something your sense can pick up. What does someone do when they know youre mad? Maybe it could be something as simple as them saying I know youre pissed. So your objective would be Tell me you know Im pissed. They are speaking this to you; therefore this is a tangible objective to have. So Lon would have you stand in front of one another and yell your objective at the other person, constantly cutting one another off, and then hed give you a rope that youd both have to pull towards yourself, while saying the objective again. This would build up the intensity in your faces and increase your heart rate. When he felt you were fired up, he would grab the rope away from you and yell scene, and youd start. F. Murray Abraham was huge on truth, and he absolutely stands by truth equaling a good performance, and you can tell which actors did the work by looking at their script. He talked to us about how it is our job to interpret the script, analyze it, and understand it word for word, and make bold choices based on our interpretations, and there are clues in the script as to what the writer is telling you to do; punctuation (Abraham, 2013). The commas, semi colons, periods, question marks, all of them tell you when to take pauses, for how long, whether what youre saying is a statement or a question, and then you can analyze why is it a statement? Why is it a question? Do I already know the answer? An actor who asks himself these questions will make the performance so truthful because they will know their character inside and out, and itll be second nature to behave like them. Commitment

Commitment I placed second because if you have truth down, commitment is absolutely the next key you need. If you dont work at it, everything will fall apart. It is very easy to tell when someone has worked hard on something and when someone has just slept all day and watched TV. Heath Ledger is one of the best examples of commitment, especially for his role in The Dark Knight. (Joker Diary, 2013) To prepare for his role as The Joker, he locked himself up in a hotel room for weeks with a journal to record all of his thoughts. He did this to get in the mind of an insane man who does all these terrible things, for what seems to be no purpose at all. He drove himself insane by doing this and slept maybe 2 hours per night during filming of the movie. He died of a drug overdose, which supposedly was because of simply mixing sleeping pills and pain pills. They found at the end of his journal, he wrote over all other words in big letters Bye Bye. It seemed to be a very disturbing image for his father. (Jesser, 2012) When they were filming The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger actually asked the other crew members to continue filming, hours past their cut off time, because he was afraid of losing the creative spark he got. The crew and director agreed to continue filming and respect his wishes. He then quietly went around and thanked everyone for staying late. Even small things like this, show the hard work people go through to make a movie a great one. They couldve easily said No. Its time to go home. But they stayed to capture the brilliance in his creative spark, and it definitely worked. Christian Bale is another example of commitment for a movie, which makes the movie incredibly more realistic for the viewers. Before his role in the machinist, he weighed in at 185 pounds. He lost 63 pounds to do the machinist weighing in at 122 pounds. He looked like he hadnt eaten in ages. Bale said, I had what could be called a kind of stupid feeling of invincibility, like, 'Oh I can do it. I can manage it. And it was clear he actually felt comfortable with his weight because he wanted to even lose another 20 pounds after reaching 122 (Elliot, 2006). He is a man who loves pushing his limits to the extreme and it clearly shows in his movies. He did Batman Begins right after The Machinist, and bulked right back up to play the famous Batman. Commitment is absolutely one of the factors that separate the great actors from the good actors. Neither Heath nor Christian was provoked to do these things. They took it upon themselves to go to these extreme measures, and it shows. You must be dedicated to what you are doing, and know why you are doing it. If a cast and crew werent c ommitted, a movie would never get made. The director plays a huge role in commitment to a play or a film and has a huge influence on the overall performance. Michael Caine, who plays Bruce Waynes butler, Alfred, in the Dark Knight Trilogy, asked three directors What is the art of directing? One said being a great editor, another said perfect casting, and the last said the script. Michael Caine began to explain how Christopher Nolan, the director, shares all of these 3 aspects (Jesser, 2012). He films most of the movie himself, and edits the shots he does as well. He also is so careful about who he

casts in his movies, not just based on raw talent, but how well they are to work with, and if theyd become a problem. Nolan also is a part of the writing process for all his films, and I think a 4th aspect that those directors left out, was originality. When Nolan thought of the idea to do a Batman movie, he didnt want it to be like anything anyone has ever seen before. He wanted to change the way people look at super hero films. The Dark Knight Trilogy is unlike any other super hero movie Ive ever watched. It is a psychological thriller. He captures so much of the internal torment of Bruce Wayne, as well as the villains like The Joker, and Bane, and turns each film into a psychological, philosophical journey in which you get so invested into the characters you never want to stop watching it (Jesser, 2012). You love the deception, you love the pain (as horrible as that sounds) because it is conflict, which brings me to my next point. Conflict Conflict is one of the next things that must take place. There is never a moment on screen or in a play, where someone wants something from another person. When they achieve that goal, they have no reason to be on stage or on camera anymore. There must always be tension and conflict. Conflict is interesting, and exciting. Yes, there are parts of a movie where things are more relaxed for a little relief from the intensity, but the characters will still want something from one another. There are 7 types of narrative conflict that can take place: Person vs. Fate/God, Person vs. Self, Person vs. Person, Person vs. Society, Person vs. Nature, Person vs. Supernatural, and Person vs. Technology (Nichol, 2013). Person vs. Fate/God would be someone trying to prove to themselves or others that they determine their own fate and will not be controlled by a higher being. Person vs. Self would be an internal conflict where the protagonist is struggling to overcome something personal to them alone. Person vs. Person is probably the most common kind of conflict, and it is exactly what it says; a conflict between two people. Person vs. Society is a popular conflict and is great for philosophical, dramatic movies like Remember the Titans or Freedom Writers. The main point of this kind of conflict is usually to send a message to the audience, and is usually combined with Person vs. Self. Person vs. Nature is another exciting conflict and has been seen in movies like Cast Away. Its always interesting to see a man have to rely on strictly instincts to survive. Person vs. Supernatural is similar to the first conflict; however this entails more along the lines of aliens or ghosts. This conflict is mostly involved with the horror genre or sci fi (science fiction). Person vs. Technology is also a very interesting thing to see on screen specifically with our time period. Movies with this conflict used to be considered science fiction movies, but because of how advanced we have become over the past 100 years, most of the Person vs. Technology films are realistic and foreseeable in the future, which both excites us and frightens us. Fearlessness

Fearlessness is the icing on the cake. If an actor can follow all the other steps, hell, if everyone can follow all the other steps (the crew, directors, writers, etc.) the last thing that they can do to really push the boundaries and make a really good film: fearlessness. In film, you must take risks if you want to make a great movie. A speaker at one of the TED Talks, explains the power of vulnerability. Vulnerability is key to a good performance for an actor. An actor must be able to let the audience see every aspect of them in the most extreme form. If you are sub conscious of anything you are doing, it shows and makes the audience feel uncomfortable (Brown, 2010). I did a 24/7 play festival; which is where people get together and write, direct, and perform 7 plays in 24 hours. My partner had to be very sexual and flirtatious over a phone call. It was painfully obvious that she was extremely uncomfortable saying pet names like baby and could not speak in a flirtatious voice. And when we performed, this showed. It seemed as though she was just trying to spit the lines out and get it over with, which she was. When an actor allows themselves to be vulnerable, the performance is so much better. Johnny Depp is a great example of fearlessness as well. (Depp, 2008) In an interview on the show, Inside the Actors Studio, a student at the university where this is taking place (Pace University) asks him what advice he can give to other aspiring actors, and he tells them do whatever you want and keep moving forward no matter what. In the full interview, Johnny Depp goes into depth about how he despises being a product, and that throughout his whole career, he has never done anything he didnt want to do. This is a huge risk. The film business is a tough business to break into, and most actors (starting off) will take any jobs they can get. He has never done that. That shows the integrity and character that Johnny Depp has that shows in his performances. Because he chooses what he does and what he doesnt with precise discretion, he is that much more motivated to give 110 percent to everything he does. So What? I recently was given the gracious opportunity to take a master class with the brilliant actor F. Murray Abraham. He actually took the liberty to define what acting, and a good performance both entail to him. He said that acting is the search for truth in front of an audience (Abraham, 2013) It seems that out of all the resources I have come across; all of them point to truth. Ive spent a lot of time talking about the actors, but all these concepts apply to the writers and directors as well. The actors have absolutely no say (most of the time) in what they are saying. They are there to act, not rewrite the script. Therefore, the success of a movie does not rest solely on the actors. It is a huge collaborative effort on everyones part. The writer must be willing to make the same, daring choices that the actors make, and must be able to convey the depth and truth through the words that the actor is saying. The director must be able to take risks and make big choices as well. They oversee the whole production. They have

to be a leader. And everyone must absolutely be committed to the project. This is a checks and balances system. If one person is not committed, it all falls apart. So yes, I believe that a good performance comes down to truth, commitment, conflict, and fearlessness; because these are the four concepts I see that is needed in every area of film and theatre. All of these are crucial to, not even a good performance, but a finished product. But the last thing I should stress is, what makes a good performance is entirely subjective. There is no definite answer to that question. I am simply stating my opinion, and backing it up with evidence supporting that claim. Make choices yourself, on what you believe. These concepts can be used in everyday life, not just in film or on a stage. Be truthful, be courageous, stay committed to whatever it is youre doing. The final thing I will leave you with, is an extra concept that I will throw in; fun. I believe movies are better when you can see that the actors enjoy what they are doing, and that the entire movie making process was enjoyable for everyone. I did not list this as one of the concepts because there isnt much evidence behind it, it is purely opinion based. But thats something you can take with you in your d aily life as well; just have fun.

Works Cited Inside The Actors Studio (2008). Best Advice from Johnny Depp. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxCaOzmV0LE Hollywood Now (2013). Heath Ledger- Have A Look Inside His Joker Diary. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfbvqU2dwE8 The Joker Preparation Inside The Actors Studio (2012). Robert De Niro- One Minute of Brilliant Acting Advice. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4K2znuYjwI Robert De Niro on Doing Nothing Brown, B. B. (2010). The Power of Vulnerability. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html Saint Josephs College. (2007). What Makes Great Cinema. Retrieved from http://www.sjcme.edu/magazine/fall07/what-makes-great-cinema Jesser, J. D. J., & Pourroy, J. P. (2012). The Art and Making of the Dark Knight Trilogy. New York: Abrams. Bumgarner, Lon (2013, October 9). Personal Interview Sherwood, S. (2013). Assignment One. Unpublished manuscript, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC. Kimmel, J. (2013). Robert Downey Jr., on Jimmy Kimmel. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mXjKJJI44Q Nichol, M. (2013). 7 Types of Narrative Conflict. Retrieved from http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-types-of-narrative-conflict/ Elliot, Jessica. (2006) Christian Bales Weight Loss for the Machinist. http://voices.yahoo.com/christian-bales-weight-loss-machinist-this-66659.html Abraham, F. Murray (2013, October 13). Personal Interview