Question for any actors in the forum

[Danzama]

Drama, I love it, but there's one thing i hate:
Hotseating
Any actors in the forum have any advice and tips on it?

Also feel free to discuss what you hate/find hard.

EDIT: I'm tired and will edit this when I'm not tired, it might make sense then.

[TheRocket]

Think like the character you are in, and don't let your thoughts overpower that.

[Deedles]

I love drama and acting, but I don't know what hotseating is. Might be because I'm swedish and thus I guess the expression wouldn't pop-up a lot.

I hate generic roles, because they tend to be so 2D and boring that I find them hard to actually live into, I prefer the deeper, more dramatic roles.

[Danzama]

Hotseating, a warm up exercise, in which you answer questions fired at you by the group. You answer the question in your character.

[Jillers]

Is it a character you're making up, or are you drawing from a pre-established character?

[Danzama]

the current assignment is a character from scratch.

I'm a pompous director of a documentary on the world of work and disability (our main project), and I'm finding it hard to get into character, tghis is freaky for me as i'm usually fine.

[Deedles]

Hmmm, considered sitting down and writing out loads of questions and then answered them, just for yourself, as your character?

I remember something a Danish actor once said when he was asked about how he got into his role as a drug addict that drugs a girl that he likes so that he can have her ... He replied that you need to find sympathy for your character, you need to find an understanding for the character.

[Mad Madam Mimm]

Hotseating is fun if you have a mind for improv. If not, I'd suggest running through a list of your character's answers for the questions people are most likely to ask ("what do you think about this character", "did you know about x" etc) and some of their favourite phrases/words to help you characterise more.

[Danzama]

Yeah, I'll try that, got drama in the morning.

getting our results from our exams!

I'm going to sleep

[Jillers]

I recommend asking yourself questions about that character, who is he, how did he get to where he is, what kind of food does he like, etc... A great way to get into character is to find that one piece of costume that encapsulates the character. Practice in the mirror to help transform yourself.

[Elomin Sha]

*Sexy Voice* I've got a hot seat for you, come take a seat ladies.

Of all the members on the forum I was the one to do this first.

[King Kool]

I actually have acted in theater, but I really don't have any advice. You just have to make the text real to you, I guess. Figure out what it really means, and why someone would say it.

[JustAName]

I used to be terrible at improv, but through lots of practice I actually enjoy it quite a bit by now. My recommendation would be to just immerse yourself in the character. If there's a question, just answer it as if you were writing the backstory for a story's protagonist. Dunno if that helps, but it sometimes works. The other way is to get enough of a feel for your character beforehand that you can invent a past on the fly. A lot of my characters are liars anyways, so it's not as tough for me, but I think it should work for anyone.

[Danielle Pepin]

Important for any acting regardless of improv is to fully identify the character. In your case imagine it right down to what the character would be wearing...any accessories?...would this character be tired from being stressed out?...do they have children?...have they not had their coffee this morning?...what hair colour do they have?...are they dating anyone and what sort of person are they seeing/married to?...would they rather be with someone else and if they could have anyone in the world who would it be?...what's their favorite colour?...do they walk with a limp or have a cane or are energetic like a little girl in pigtails would run around?...what sort of props would they carry? (briefcase, lollypop, duck tape or all three?)

Try to work it out in your head right down to the smallest details in a short amount of time and this will surely give the audience a better sense of the character than just their words alone. Even on radio you'd maybe hear sounds related to what they are carrying or how they move. The more you put into it the funner it becomes too. Wish I was doing improv tomorrow.

[JackSlack]

Standard advice for improv of any sort: Don't be afraid to pause for thought. A well delivered pause can be very effective, and buy you time to think. Stare accusingly at the questioner. Look shocked and mouth a few words. If you can't think of a great answer immediately, buy time!

Watch this clip of Parker Posey in Waiting for Guffman. She had little or no improv background, but watch how much mileage she gets out of her pauses!

[tak197]

Standard advice for improv of any sort: Don't be afraid to pause for thought. A well delivered pause can be very effective, and buy you time to think. Stare accusingly at the questioner. Look shocked and mouth a few words. If you can't think of a great answer immediately, buy time!

Watch this clip of Parker Posey in Waiting for Guffman. She had little or no improv background, but watch how much mileage she gets out of her pauses!

The other reason she's so good at that is she kind of colors her whole answer with an air of "let me dumb this down for you, because it's overly technical". If you know what your characters attitude is during the scene, use your non-verbal cues to convey that attitude while you scramble for thoughts.

Also, Parker Posey is amazing in "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind". By that point she'd gotten more improv under her belt, but what she does with her characters is really awesome. Especially as Meg Swan in Best in Show. (Granted what made that even better to me was the show on Bravo called "Showdog Moms and Dads", where the one gay guy says "We're turning into that couple with the fuckin busy bee!". That floored me.)

[JackSlack]

The other reason she's so good at that is she kind of colors her whole answer with an air of "let me dumb this down for you, because it's overly technical". If you know what your characters attitude is during the scene, use your non-verbal cues to convey that attitude while you scramble for thoughts.

Also, Parker Posey is amazing in "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind". By that point she'd gotten more improv under her belt, but what she does with her characters is really awesome. Especially as Meg Swan in Best in Show. (Granted what made that even better to me was the show on Bravo called "Showdog Moms and Dads", where the one gay guy says "We're turning into that couple with the fuckin busy bee!". That floored me.)

Oh, heck yes. She was stunning in Best in Show. I think I about lost it at the line, "We are so lucky to have been raised amongst catalogues."

But yeah, my point was to show that even without a massive amount of practice at improv, good use of pausing can improve your work tremendously. There's an even better scene in Guffman, but I couldn't find a clip of it, in which she discusses her ideas for a new blizzard, and it's all in the pauses. She clearly was fishing for an idea that never came, but she stuck to her character so well that the pauses became funny in and of themselves.

[GreigKM]

I suck at acting, but am really good at criticizing it. See, few people appreciate the fine art of telling people who devote there life to something they love that they suck. You can't be outright with it, you have to do the false-comment, say some small, meaningless part was good, but only after a lot of 'um's and 'yeah's, and make sure to avoid eye contact wile telling them it in a rushed, yet comforting tone, leaving them to wonder if they were really that bad, slowly destroying self esteem and driving them into depression... wait... what was this thread about again?

[Sieg Reyu]

Its kind of like playing an RPG when you want your character to make the right choices, and its so hard to play as a character that makes bad decisions, because you don't wan him to have a bad life. If you have to answer quickly this advice will do you no good, but what I might suggest doing is kind of argue with yourself in your head over your answers.

For instance, I just started a 4th Ed campaign with some friends, and I was absolutely determined for my character to be Lawful Great. If you don't know what that is, its characters so anal retentive in upholding good and Law that they eventually think everyone is evil and must die, and in a manner of speaking, become Chaotic Evil themselves.

The first opportunity to Roleplay came when a little girl went around begging for money and goods to help her ill mother. My inner dialogue went about as follows. Me=my opinions LG= the opinions of a lawful great nutjob.

Me: We should help her, we have plenty of spare gold
LG: No way!
Me: Why not, she's done nothing wrong.
LG: How do you know that? For all you know she could be suffering from the syphilis she got from being a two bit harlot.
Me: Well, let's give a chance to speak for herself. If she can beg for money, she can start her case as to why she deserves it.
LG: Seems fair enough.

At this point, the child had lost. By answering with all the good deeds her family had done, I would have deemed her boisterous and arrogant, and my not giving her anything would be a lesson in humility. By being humble or not standing up for herself, I would interpret as her being so sin laden that she can't prove her innocence.
The child answered with the latter. I told her if she could not think of one good thing her or her mother had done in their lives, then surely they deserved this illness Bahamut cast upon them. She needed to bear her punishment and live a life more deserving of my mercy if she ever wanted something from me.

[Danzama]

Thanks guys, drama in... -2 mins! shit, thanks for the help will try to work on him, talk soon

[Danzama]

Hey all,
Just had lunch, drama went awesomely.
We had an inspector in at we were told we were rreally great.

Also got my exam results back from my mock last week, there's good news and there's bad news:
good news, I got the highest score in the clas by 24%
Bad news: I got 87% and am predicted to get an A, but I feel i should be doing better.

Oh, and we're going to be doing more hotseating every lesson, JOY /sarcasm

[theDreamer]

...

Dan...

You have the highest mark in the class, AND it's a good mark.

No complaining.

[Danzama]

...

Dan...

You have the highest mark in the class, AND it's a good mark.

complain, complain like there's no tomorrow.

will do

[Danielle Pepin]

Hey all,
Just had lunch, drama went awesomely.
We had an inspector in at we were told we were rreally great.

Also got my exam results back from my mock last week, there's good news and there's bad news:
good news, I got the highest score in the clas by 24%
Bad news: I got 87% and am predicted to get an A, but I feel i should be doing better.

Oh, and we're going to be doing more hotseating every lesson, JOY /sarcasm

YAY! Congrats on best mark...but I agree you can do better...because you will the more you do it! The marks are only set that way because people who haven't done it before are bound to get better the more they do and they have something to gage improvement probably.

[Danzama]

Thanks Danielle, I'm also going for a college assessment next week, so i'll be acting my little heart off. I'll be doing a drama course XD