Having spent a number of weeks developing 10 very unique characters, it was time for us to start working out how these characters would fit together in a story arc.
Putting together the script was always going to be an experimental process, and introduce everyone involved to new ways of working. From the start, our aim was to end up with a script which was entirely cast-responsive, and tailored to accentuate the acting styles of each group member – and I think this is something which we, collaborating as a group, have definitely achieved.
Furthermore, I dare say that going through this process has made the script much easier to write. Many people say that dialogue is easier to do when you’re writing it ‘for someone’ as opposed to an as-yet-uncast-role or a blank entity – and, for me, Honest has certainly proved this.
So, this is how we did it:
Once the cast members had gotten to grips with how their characters walked and talked, we started putting them together in improvised settings, to see how they bounced off each other. I watched, and made notes. Seeing how these relationships and dynamics worked enabled me to start thinking about dialogue which reflected the strengths of the actors.
This process of improvisation also helped in terms of the plot – rather than wondering what a character might do or say in a given situation, the cast were already showing me their characters' modus operandi via these exercises.
An important aspect of scriptwriting is obviously getting the language and the tone right. So, we placed some written materials up on a board and got the cast members to read them out in character.
One such piece of material was a complaint letter. As cast members read out the letter, even though the substance of what they were saying remained the same, the meaning of it was entirely different each time, due to the differing attitudes and emotional state of each character. What we ended up with was the same story of a complaint, but related in nine very different ways.
Another piece of material was a random page of dialogue, taken from an old play I’ve had sitting on my desktop for years. We got the cast members together in pairs, and got them to read it out. Again, even though the lines in this case weren’t meant specifically for the actors, this exercise gave us an idea of how our characters related to other, through the delivery of the lines, but also through their body language (be it warm, open, hostile, distant, etc).
Now I knew what each character sounded like, I produced a loose plot outline and skeleton version of the script. As the weeks passed, the script changed numerous times as cast members came up with more material for their characters’ pasts, and scribbled these materials in their character bibles. These little facts and characteristics were discussed with the rest of the group, and worked into the dialogue wherever possible.
One particular internal monologue written by Steven (Honest), was so striking and heartfelt when he read it back to the group, that it appears in the script verbatim.
As the script became more fleshed out through edits and re-writes, it then became a simple case of fine-tuning – in read-throughs, we encouraged cast members to bring up lines which they felt stuck in their throat or didn’t feel right, and worked out alternatives.
So, with a final script in place, then came the hard part – learning it! As well covering our character exercises on this blog, we’ll also be covering the exercises we’re using in rehearsals to improve delivery, technique, and memory, so stay tuned.
Putting together the script was always going to be an experimental process, and introduce everyone involved to new ways of working. From the start, our aim was to end up with a script which was entirely cast-responsive, and tailored to accentuate the acting styles of each group member – and I think this is something which we, collaborating as a group, have definitely achieved.
Furthermore, I dare say that going through this process has made the script much easier to write. Many people say that dialogue is easier to do when you’re writing it ‘for someone’ as opposed to an as-yet-uncast-role or a blank entity – and, for me, Honest has certainly proved this.
So, this is how we did it:
Once the cast members had gotten to grips with how their characters walked and talked, we started putting them together in improvised settings, to see how they bounced off each other. I watched, and made notes. Seeing how these relationships and dynamics worked enabled me to start thinking about dialogue which reflected the strengths of the actors.
This process of improvisation also helped in terms of the plot – rather than wondering what a character might do or say in a given situation, the cast were already showing me their characters' modus operandi via these exercises.
An important aspect of scriptwriting is obviously getting the language and the tone right. So, we placed some written materials up on a board and got the cast members to read them out in character.
One such piece of material was a complaint letter. As cast members read out the letter, even though the substance of what they were saying remained the same, the meaning of it was entirely different each time, due to the differing attitudes and emotional state of each character. What we ended up with was the same story of a complaint, but related in nine very different ways.
Another piece of material was a random page of dialogue, taken from an old play I’ve had sitting on my desktop for years. We got the cast members together in pairs, and got them to read it out. Again, even though the lines in this case weren’t meant specifically for the actors, this exercise gave us an idea of how our characters related to other, through the delivery of the lines, but also through their body language (be it warm, open, hostile, distant, etc).
Now I knew what each character sounded like, I produced a loose plot outline and skeleton version of the script. As the weeks passed, the script changed numerous times as cast members came up with more material for their characters’ pasts, and scribbled these materials in their character bibles. These little facts and characteristics were discussed with the rest of the group, and worked into the dialogue wherever possible.
One particular internal monologue written by Steven (Honest), was so striking and heartfelt when he read it back to the group, that it appears in the script verbatim.
As the script became more fleshed out through edits and re-writes, it then became a simple case of fine-tuning – in read-throughs, we encouraged cast members to bring up lines which they felt stuck in their throat or didn’t feel right, and worked out alternatives.
So, with a final script in place, then came the hard part – learning it! As well covering our character exercises on this blog, we’ll also be covering the exercises we’re using in rehearsals to improve delivery, technique, and memory, so stay tuned.
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