What Mark Travis wants you to know
The Travis Technique is an organic and holistic approach to directing and acting that reaches for the truth of a scene and the authenticity of characters via deep exploration. Like archeologists we are searching for the truth that lies beneath the surface. It is not our (directors) job to create, manufacture or apply what we imagine the scene and characters are all about. The truth is there, buried under layers of colorful descriptions, actions and clever dialogue. The colors, actions and clever language are there to mask the truth. Our job is to carve pathways that will allow the truth of every moment and every character to be revealed.
The Travis Technique defines specific stages to keep the exploration and revelations constant beginning with the Story.
The Story
The story is not the Script. The Story is the story we’re trying to tell in a compressed and selective version as defined by the Script. Know the Story you are trying to tell before you address the script itself. The script is just a tool, a step in a process. It is your job as a director to “tell the story” (not ‘direct a movie’). The story, as you understand it is the guiding force is every step you take.
Breaking down and analyzing the story is your first major step. Story analysis will begin to reveal what the writer (storyteller) is really trying to convey. Story breakdown and analysis will give you a foundation that you can always fall back on.
The Script
The script is a compressed version of the story. Compressed for time, for clarity and to enhance all elements of the story. When you know the story you want to tell, the analysis and breakdown of the script becomes a series of questions.
- How well is this script telling the story?
- Is this script helping me tell the story I want to tell?
- What elements of the story are missing from the script?
- What elements in the script are superfluous to my telling of the story?
The Scene
The scene is one pearl on the daisy-chain that becomes the script. During the scene breakdown and analysis, you will also be facing a series of questions that are designed to determine the purpose, importance, necessity, meaning and value of the scene and how it supports the script which is attempting to tell your story in a compressed version. Regardless of the length of your story (10 minutes, 30 minutes, one hour, two hours, multiple episodes, etc.) each scene is consuming valuable storytelling time and needs to be essential to the story.
You’ll need questions such as this:
- Why is this scene necessary to the telling of this story?
- What is this scene really all about?
- Are all the characters in the scene necessary and/or what if we added more characters?
- Why is this scene placed in this location, this environment?
- What are the intentions and expectations of the characters in this scene?
- What are the journeys of each character?
And then you run into a series of ‘what ifs’ as you question all the elements in the scene and imagine how the scene would change if you made changes.
The Story/Script/Scene Mobius Strip
The Mobius Strip is a three-dimensional loop that has only one side. If you travel along the surface of the strip, you will find that you are moving on both sides of the strip at the same time. You never leave the strip to address ‘the other side.’ The side you are on is the only side.
As you are breaking down and analyzing a story, script and scene you will find yourself moving smoothly between the story, the script and the scene simultaneously. It is not linear. It is not sequential. One discovery or one decision in the story, script or scene will affect all other aspects. It’s unified whole. It’s the universe you need to be living in as you approach the directing of this story.
Character Development
Every story has characters, whether human, animal, imaginary or other-worldly. These ‘characters’ think and behave in a manner that is familiar to us even if their world, culture and belief systems are foreign.
These characters, usually portrayed by human beings, do not come to us clearly defined and fully transparent. Each of them is a mystery. No matter how much the writer has described them (and some writers give them little or no description) we still don’t know them. It is our job to figure out who they really are, on the surface and deep inside.
These characters embody and drive the whole story. Consequently, knowing who they are, what they want, what they belief, what their priorities are, etc. is essential to the telling of this story. Even though the writer has spent a significant amount of time and effort creating and defining these characters, the writer still has limited knowledge. It is our job as directors, along with our selected actors, to discover who these characters really are.
The alchemy of casting. As we approach the exploration and creation of characters we must keep in mind that a significant part of that process is the audition and casting process. Since each character is going to emerge from deep within the actor who has been cast in that role, the selection of actors to play the roles begins the process of character definition.
The Casting Process
There are many ways to approach the casting process.
- Cast the actors who come closest to how you imagine the character
- Cast the actors who will attract the largest audience and interested buyers or distribution
- Cast actors you’ve worked with before and who you trust
- Cast actors who surprise you and offer you aspects of the character you hadn’t considered
- Cast actors who look the part
- Cast actors who are available
- Cast actors you can afford
- … and the list goes on
Somebody said, “Casting is 80% of directing” and there is a lot of truth in that. Thus, the casting process becomes crucial. How you run the casting process and how audition the actors is a major test of your directing skills. Some guidelines to remember:
- You’re not casting people based on how well they handle or perform during the casting process.
- You want to cast the actors that can bring the best version of their character in the script to life.
- The audition process is an audition for the actors but for you it is the first steps of directing.
- Every actor that auditions can potentially be in your film and the audition process is the beginning of your relationship with them.
- Every actor wants to show you their best work. And they will if the conditions are right and working in their favor.
- In the audition process you get to demonstrate to the actors how you are going to work with them, so it’s an audition from both sides.
- Make it your goal to allow each actor the opportunity to let you see the script character that lives inside them without the restriction of the script. You want to see the character in raw, unadorned and unrestricted.
The Interrogation Process
The Interrogation Process is a director’s tool to support the work of the actors without making demands or citing expectations. By interrogating the character (not the actor) you are allowing the actor the freedom to release all aspects of the character with no limitations, no expectations.
The Interrogation Process is a skill that can be studied and learned. But it takes courage to shift from directing by making demands to opening yourself to the collaboration with actors.
The Interrogation Process begins in the Casting Process where it can quickly reveal the character that is residing in each actor. It is used throughout the rehearsal process and, with specific modifications in production.
The Power of Staging
Every scene must be staged. Yet what is often misunderstood is how powerful staging can be. Staging affects every actor’s performance and how the audience experiences or understands the dynamics of a scene.
As we move through life, we instinctively seek Comfort and avoid Conflict. This is essential as we move through the stream of human beings. But in the world of drama and storytelling we are looking for Conflict and Discomfort to give energy, tension and life to a scene and make it engaging and compelling. We can create the discomfort and conflict that the characters in the story are feeling just through staging. We can trigger authentic emotions in the actors and therefore in the characters and the audience through our staging. By generating authentic emotions, the actors are relieved of the obligation to ‘act’, meaning to pretend or fabricate emotions.
Like the Interrogation Process, directors can learn the art of staging through first understanding the basic concepts and practices and then hours of rehearsing. The hours of rehearsing are not for the actor, but for the director. Through repetition and experimentation, you can acquire the staging skills that will elevate every scene to a new and dynamic level.