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How To Interrogate A Character - Mark W. Travis
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 พ.ค. 2020
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In this Film Courage video, Writer/Director/Instructor Mark W. Travis on How To Interrogate A Character.
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"He's a good guy."
"He's a good guy for what?"
And then the interviewer went home, broke it off with the real Jack, and took her child to her grandmother’s house.
No doubt! This woman is living this story. Fascinating.
Maybe she “was” Mia
@@philschroeder no doubt? You can't say that with a straight face🤣 you literally have no evidence for that just because someone gets emotional about it doesn't mean there living it I've written characters and cried sometimes about the things they've gone through, because I imagined them and pictured it perfectly... Sometimes with music, but not always... Point is I'm sick and tired of people acting like you can't care about your character if there not personal too own your life it's simply not true
@@mrjackelbox4418
Amen. Empathy makes quality
I second that emotion.
Intense. "What do you want, Jill?" Mark is pulling things so raw from the interviewer, you can see she is taken aback by her own emotional reactions. Great job.
Film Courage I have to commend you. This, among all of your content, was extremely enlightening! Absolutely phenomenal how Mark does not let up on this Jill persona. The level of depth and the rawness of the questions, the prodding of information, is what really makes this so enjoyable to watch and learn from. Karen even seems unsure of the answers herself at times, which I think helps dive deeper into herself, and Jill as a character. I have been watching your content for almost a year+ and my love of screenplays and writing has been enhanced and reinvigorated by the content this channel produces. Phenomenal. Hope to be in here in one of these 2 chairs in the future. ❤️
A whole bucket of gardening tools for cultivating the character's persona... and extracted/designed a character study for an entire film or series. And this is how it's done folks!
Man i had to pause at the "Does Jack love you?" WOW! This is so cool. It hit me when he said he loved taking things apart as a kid. That hit close to home. I can see how he's using that skill set during Jill's interrogation. Great stuff.
Great to see the love you have for this one Keith. Glad you found this.
I cannot believe that this is freely available. This is worth its weight in gold. For life and for theatre this is such a good exercise. He surely is the master of his craft.
Surprisingly, I was CURIOUS about what's Jill going to say next, super CURIOUS about what would be revealed next, how is this character going to unfold? That made the way you revealed Jill interesting to me the entire time. Honestly, in a voyeuristic way. And she revealed aspects of myself and so many people that I know.
Thank you, Marguerite. Great to hear you enjoyed this segment with Mark Travis!
It was too intense & raw, i could literally see the lady sulking in emotions, very hard hitting
Wow! Mark turned this simple "Jill" spark into an incredible story! Totally fascinating to watch this story be created simply by questions. Mark is genius and has a great understanding of human nature. Jill was exceptional as well.
Yes Sir he did! Had me ready to write Jill a cashier check lol
I play tabletop roleplaying games to keep my head fresh and the creative muscle warm, so I advice that to anyone willing to try, but this is new and it was awesomeeee
wow, this is the last time i say anything on TH-cam
Omg. Best way to actually feel the characters by writers. Mark Travis, we love u
I realized that I already do this to some degree in my outlining process, in my head. I come up with 10-20 exposition scenes that will never make the script, just to get to know my main characters. Seeing it like this makes me want to gather up some local actors and play around... on Zoom of course. #stayhome
I rarely comment on post but this was great From the moment he ask “Does Jack love you?”
Quite literally about to post the same thing. That moment just made me scream out loud!
This was such a powerful moment, it turns the whole story and add incredible depth to the character
He literally said this as I read your comment!
I got a little rush when he asked that. Turned from a silly exercise into a real interrogation. Wow!
Film Courage is my online Film University. God bless alle the Film Courage Team and all the participants.
Cheers to you enjoybas! We appreciate you spending some time with us. Go make something great!
Jill.....leave Jack. He's a jerk
Was anyone else itching for the reverse shot of Karen during the interrogation? I was :) she was great.
This was such a surprise, so interesting, thank you very much..
This is great teaching from Mark, he's so on point, every writer should incorporate this, this is how you get more authentic characters out. I do this kind of thing in my head, it works best for me that way, I record what I hear onto my phone and then transcribe it, I know a writer who does this out loud to himself,....it's so important, thanks again.
From my experience, (I'm not an expert) ...don't think about what you're saying/writing, let it come out like improv, like in "whose line is it anyway" thinking about it destroys the authenticity/the possibilities, it's hard at first to let that happen if you're a more thinking/conceptual writer, I struggled for months and months but stay with it....it's SOOOOOO worth it, it's a revelation. Thanks again for this
So this is what co dependency looks like. Jill is so attached and feeling like she is Jacks only chance. She is failing to protect herself and her daughter from an alcoholic who is doing nothing to improve himself, make a living, gain a skill. He has no goals except being comfortable in a recliner in front of a TV. Move on.
This technique actually fills in the blanks that even an extensive self preparation might leave. What a great breakthrough this appears to be. As a male actor, I allowed myself to be Jill, and the interrogation created emotional and visceral reactions and discoveries (surprises) as my character. I love this approach. I almost felt completely ready to do a scene as Jill.
It always surprises me how real made-up characters can be. Like they’re being created in some other dimension by us just thinking about them. So bizarre. So fascinating. Ask any writer and they’ll probably say that they actually don’t know exactly what their characters will do until they decide to do it. I love this process of getting to know them better. Thanks Mark. And Film Courage.
Great comment, thanks for posting Sam.
This man is clearly a professional.
It was amasing to watch and will be amasing to rewatch.
I wish that he had asked her more about her background and childhood. How does a woman end up with a guy like Jack? What kind of craziness did she go through to end up tied to him and with her grandmother (as opposed to her parents)?
Did Jill have some sort of weird trauma.
Be careful using this technique. I was introduced to, and interacted with, my protagonist and now she stalks me everywhere I go. I called the police and they told me that it was all in my mind.
Hahaha you win the internet today, Daniel!
Have you sought therapy since then?
@@christopherharley9064 I wanted to, but she wouldn't let me.
@@amaree9732 , I don't know why this is hilarious, but it is. Would I be wrong in assuming that you really write, hence the reason why you even watched this video? If so, I wish you much success on your journey.
@@christopherharley9064, Yes, I'm a screenwriter. Thank you for the compliment. I am grateful for any crumbs that fall off the cake. I too, wish you good luck.
I love this. I'm not a writer but I'm a character artist and I like to put myself in my characters mindset from time to time.
My "characters" are way too aware of my real-world existence and that I'm trying to write. If I try to do this upfront, they'll just straight-up lie to me :/
At the risk of sounding like a nut job, most of the characters that people think they dream up are aspects of their own personality with certain levels of autonomy.
If you must learn about your own characters, take your time and not be too pushy. Approach with sensitivity and a willingness to learn. Remain curious - but genuine. When a concept is difficult to grasp or grapple with, accept it as is and don't try to push a narrative.
This comment is old but it was hilarious to see this bizarre issue is dealt with by someone other than me!
I think I too have written my characters to be way too aware of my tricks to spill their guts like this. I tried making interviews like these as writing exercises to pinpoint their goals and such. For one of my characters it works well enough, but for the others I can only imagine them refusing to speak or walking out each time. If I forced this scenario to play out it would only lead into disingenuous responses. The autonomy is important.
So yeah, I’m convinced some characters are too tricky for this to work and need to be fully realized naturally through your writing process by bits of information you pick up over time.
After thinking about it for a day, I realise this video also reminds me of what I know about Eric Rohmer's technique. Apparently, he would start with a loose script, would cast the movie and then interview the actors extensively about their own lives and attitudes, then rewrite the script based on these interviews. I think you can often hear it in the dialogue: the characters often talk very much as if they're being interviewed, describing with remarkable articulacy the kinds of people they like and don't like, how they make decisions etc.
In one of Rohmer's early films, La Collectionneuse, the star, Patrick Bauchaud and another of the actors were members of a kind of pretentious, dandyish Parisian art group along with the director Phillippe Garrell. The film itself is a brilliant skewering of narcissistic vanity and the other actor commented, 'Rohmer used the film to make fun of us.' It' does seem that way, but Bauchaud, commenting years later after an extensive acting career that took him to Hollywood, was much more generous. He said it was his first film and he didn't know how lucky he was at the time to work with a director who would go so deep in his work with the actors.
This is amazimg...this inteview almost made me tear up for Jill.
RUN GIRL.
Very raw intense Q&A... thanks for sharing these precious How tos! 💙
This was absolutely beautiful. I really felt it. You two created something magic here.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The interrogation is the story. This was great.
That was a very eye opening and brilliant exercise. It always helps to understand when given examples. Thank you Mark W. Travis - I will buy your book.
Bravo! I am clapping now that you ended the interview! What a fantastic job I absolutely love this process so inspiring thank you for doing this I love you both
Powerful stuff and a great take on understanding a character!
This is brilliant for lawyers interrogating victims of abuse.
This was cool!
Thanks for watching!
Wow. That character interrogation could have been a transcript from any random Loveline call from 20ish years ago. I heard dozens that were shockingly similar. That's not a knock, btw. It was a great portrayal of a confused woman in possible peril.
Thank you, William. Are you referring to the Loveline radio program with Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla? Used to love that show. Made it difficult to get out of the car! Thanks again for watching.
This is the most helpful content I v had as a Writter. Thanks a lot to film courage and to You Sir
This was so good, I actually started to get nervous like 'omg jill is gonna cry'! lol I can see this as great for the writing and actor. Incredible!
This was intense. Well done! I learned a lot watching this. Thank you!
Very good stuff, thank you for sharing🙏🏻
This is PERFECT!!! Thank you so much 💖💖😻
Wow, this is very helpful. Thank you for sharing!
This is absolutely fantastic it helped me, I really get to know what I am writing I really learn a lot from these videos
I absolutely loved this approach.
How did this become an all too real self-help session with a therapist? Wow, this technique is pretty effective.
Incredibly powerful technique. Edgy, bold, almost brutal and effective in drawing out the dilemmas and motivations of a character that a writer may be squinting hard to sharpen focus on. Thank you for sharing.
That was amazing!!
Wow, this was INTENSE and genius!
This was good. I tell great stories but I've never done this process. This will help add depth to my characters. Thanks.
Let's now interrogate and confront Jack
Wow! This was phenomenal.
This is amazing wow, you literally see the character unfold right before our eyes!
One of the best videos.
Amazing!
I've had some breakthroughs with a character I was previously having trouble with just by watching this.
That is fantastic Julie. Glad to hear this video could help you have a breakthrough with your story!
This is gold!!! Thank you for posting this material!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating: it felt how I imagine therapy might (with a sociopathic therapist that lacked all empathy and interpersonal skills)!
It reminds me of a therapeutic approach by Frank Farrelly (not sure of the spelling) called "provocative therapy" that used similar techniques of playing back to a person their own words and thoughts, often in an ironic or humorous tone... effectively provoking the reflection, "is that really true?" I think pyschologists call the underlying (unconscious) justifications that surface in inner speech, confabulation.
This upset me. Not Jill being conflicted but the interrogation being performed like heart surgery with a hack saw. After all Jill is an actual part of the person being questioned
@@Briansongman I understand where you're coming from, and it's been a while since I saw this video so my memory has faded... but speaking in general terms, I think it is the intent of the questioner and the way he or she carries that intent that determines the reaction of the recipient. "Good" intent can be understood - in an embodied, unconscious way - as such, even when clothed in provocative language. But malicious intent, even wielded only with words, can do much harm. As I understand it, Farrelly's "provocative therapy" is akin - in its mechanism - to that of humour. Humour has a way of gently prodding at the truth, without being threatening. But it takes a great deal of skill to pull it off... and onlookers might still be alarmed, since an edited TH-cam video is just too removed from the context of a real conversation and the 'real' chemistry of a relationship (that has a hidden history beyond the clip we are watching) which is only really discernable "in the presence" of those people.
@@neurojitsu thanks for the reply. The questioner was certainly exposing some unseen (by the interviewee) truths. But having been pinned to the wall in real life in this way, which I felt was tantamount to being bullied, this just made me rather agitated.
@@Briansongman thanks, my triggers are different but the feeling is familiar... your message landed in a synchronous way, as I was just listening to Ezra Klein's podcast interview with Dr Bessel van der Kolk. Kolk researches trauma, and the relationship between memory and bodily immersion/experience in trigger situations... his thesis about trauma is basically that the body remembers, and the mind hides!
Wow! Totally genius process! I need a character interrogator for my own film characters.
this is awesome, amazing tool, really. totally thanks.
This guy is like a wizard. This was amazing.
This literally happens to at least one person in every family.
Helpful , very helpful
I'm a composer and I'm finding the advice in Film Courage's videos is a fresh perspective for creating content, and now I'm inspired to go write some stories, too! I only wish the wisdom shared on this channel was included in my own music education but there's nothing stopping me now from sharing this wisdom!
I’m a composer and jumped into storytelling, now I write musicals and have never written songs I’ve liked more. Don’t shy away from going the distance, Aaron. I think in time you’ll find you were heading there all along.
@@philschroeder I think you're right! I've always wanted to go into filmmaking but I'm put off with how much is at stake with it and having to trust people to do their part. I'm sticking to writing and arranging music because I'm pretty good at this, but I've started writing my own sci-f/fantasy/comedy opera and I'm looking forward to seeing what cool shit I can find with the skils Film Courage is helping me develop!
Wow what a great technique that’s so simple to Psychoanalyse
this was GREAT!
Thanks for watching JT!
This. Is. Genius. Thank you so much for this.
Glad you enjoyed this one Clyde.
This is incredible.
Very cool, it's all about choices
This is fascinating
Thank you! Thoroughly enjoined this. One comment, though. He did inject ideas into the character.
If he had attacked Jill about her role in the bad relationship. If he had focused on her infidelities that drove Jack to drinking, her reluctance to go to night school, and her hate for her conniving grandmother, the whole thing would have moved onto another track all together.
It is enlightening, though, as usual!
Wonderful exercise!
Stanislavsky and Sanford Meisner were geniuses in the world of acting and bringing out the truth and life in characters.
And so is this man.
In an aspiring actor and I’ll be extremely lucky if I ever get to work with someone like him.
This process of interrogating the character as opposed to the actor is incredible.
EXCELLENT !!!
So it's therapy but nobody gets help because otherwise there's no story. Loving it. It has to be ruthless and confrontational.
Luv this guy!!
Really interesting. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
This method is so cool. I wish there were a way to do it even if you're by yourself; I'd love to use this method to dive deeper into characters I get or want to audition for.
It would be great if a bot could be created in an app that will help you interrogate yourself. You could give the bot names and a general idea of what's going on and it could start the interrogation. But it would have to be exquisitely made.
Jill's story quickly became very interesting to me. Could really see it as a novel or screenplay. I love character work like this and it seems to me one of the best ways into a story.
I'm currently reading Perls, Hefferline and Goodman's book 'Gestalt Psychotherapy' and there's an exercise towards the end of the practical section that Mark's exercise reminds me of. I found it a fascinating, deep insight into character. You imagine numerous people from your life sitting opposite you one by one, and you tell them, with total frankness, what you think of them.
What came out for me was often very surprising. There were people I'd never realised I disliked though I had good reasons to dislike them, people I liked much more than I'd ever realised, people who made me inexplicably sad, people suddenly realised were much more troubled than I'd noticed. On and on. It also brought home to me just what a huge variety of different characters and attitudes there are in the world. And it also taught me, as the book's authors intended, a lot about myself and how I treat myself. I really recommend it.
Keith Johnstone, the godfather of UK improvisation, has a great one: he describes working with an audience member who claims to have too little imagination to think up a character. OK, he says, I'm thinking of a character, ask me questions and try to find out about it. He has no character in mind. The audience member starts asking him things and he just says yes to everything. Once the character's fleshed out, he says, look, you thought of all that, I didn't do anything.
Judging by this exercise, Mark must be really good at giving tough love irl too. :)
Maaaan that was awesome 👏👏👏
Thanks Jaw Bee, glad you enjoyed this one!
Totally brilliant
This is fantastic! And not scripted, either.
Man.... this was great.
Wow this is next level method!
Damn, that was the most emotional video I have seen on this channel
Just amazing! This channel has a lot of interesting information, and very useful techniques to apply, not jus theory floating around. I also like a lot Mark W. Travis. I just was left with a question and that is, how can I apply this technique if I am on my own, like no actors, directors, writters or seasoned people to hel me with the interaction/interrogation? Thank you very much!
Thanks Andrés, we certainly appreciate that. Great question, and maybe some others can offer their answers. One thought we had is study this technique further. What kinds of questions is Mark asking? What we noticed is that once Mark discovers the conflict in Jill's life, he pushes her up against that conflict. Later on, he eases up and goes the other way. We imagine you could try that on your own. Push the character or characters to their limits and then find the right level for what works in that scene or sequence of your story.
@@filmcourage Making questions and being the character at the same time sounds as challenging as interesting. Thank you very much for your answer: I will certainly try it ouy.
This is great. Better than actually watching the movie!
That was absolute magic
WOW!!!!! I don't know about the Interviewer, but I was tensed, I felt that character of Jill was there right in front of me, and , and that Mark W. T. was being cruel to Jack...., at a point I felt that wanted to leave Jack.. and the last part..Why don't you stay????? Wow..Thanks a lot to FC and MKT..!!!!!
A good supporter of a real or fictional character will show that the self-care you thought you couldn’t even dream of anymore can be very real. There’s a kind of validation that’s therapeutic in this interrogation process because it’s done with respect for her potential. Throughout the interrogation I was afraid he might demolish the scraps of self-esteem she might still have in her but he did the opposite: he raised her self-esteem to the point where it was clear she could very well love herself - and Mia - even more now.
Amaizing just amaizing now this is directing
6:24 😂 great job guys... i never comment on your videos but it is very very helpfull!! Hugs from a student from Brasil!!!
Thank you! 😃
Awesome
It's gold
Mark = how I interrogate my sister!
I've been playing Mark this whole time
Is the question who is earning money regular?
How are they paying for food?
Mark said that he didn't want to impose solutions, but if i was creating character i would ask myself would Jill get up the courage to sit down with Jack and have a real conversation about their future?
Can she give kid to grandma for babysitting? If jack is jealous can he also enroll to class so he would be there all time. And also I am not sure if this are questions to be asked, but do you need school diploma for cooking classes? Is Jill preparing meals in house as her way of learning the craft? And did she think about working in a restaurant as a assistant first so she could learn craft?
And if i presume that she takes action based on this question and questions in videos and Jack reacts to that in his way, is that a story, the drama betwen them and other characters ?
Hope for answer, great content!
incredible
I've just gone out from the vebinar of Mark. And I want to tell that he is so intresting person. I'm so happy that in nowdays we have so huge opportunity to share with experience across the internet.
#школамитты thanks a lot
this is really, really good.
Thanks for watching Jack!
Film Courage Keep up the great work. I’ve been writing scripts for many, many years, and made three low-budget movies of my own, and continue to learn a great deal from your interviews.
Thanks Jack, we're doing our best to share different perspectives and put out content that people will find useful.
Film Courage If you ever need the perspective of a Midwest-based filmmaker who shoots on a micro-budget, let me know! :>)
My God this was enlightening. Where do I sign up for an interrogation???
I was at work watching this and I was getting emotional I had to stop 😭😭😭😭😭🤧🤧
this was therapy for a fictional character