CBI Actor and Filmmaker workshop Berlin with Robert Marchand

life. Discussions with the director, research by the actor and a great many improvisations enable both to construct a detailed character. There is no script and seemingly there is no emphasis on drama for its own sake – though all the elements of future dramatic development are being sown into the character’s very being. Initially, each actor works separately with the director so that the integrity of their character is not affected by knowledge of other characters: this ‘secrecy’ becomes another tool in the construction of character – and is a very effective acting aid. Because of the way the improvisations are structured, the actor’s understanding of the character – and the character’s emotions – becomes really strong. All the while the process is drawing from ‘lived reality’ – life as it is observed to be. The great value of the process is that individual parts within it can be used in isolation by the actor - whether working on conventional scripted material, ensemble pieces or improvised dramas. The tools actors acquire through the workshop will be of immediate practical use in their subsequent work. These include:
-Re-affirmation of the actor as artist Ownership of character
-Adding depth and complexity to performances
-Accessing spontaneity
-Improving communication with the director
-New perspective on texts
-Assisting with preparation for auditions

By the end of the workshop participants should have greater confidence in their own skills, a new perspective on character and character-building, and – through a complete understanding of the Character-based Improvisation Process – an alternative way of interpreting characters in scripted material. For Directors
The benefits are found not only in the specific steps of the process, but in a whole new foundation for director-actor communication. The ongoing interaction between the two means the Director has unusual depth of knowledge of the actor and the character, has a means of incorporating the actor’s contribution into the drama and has the addition benefit, through the many improvisations, of trialling dramatic solutions to narrative problems.

-Improving communication between actor and director
-Providing a new approach to script development
-Finessing Performance
-Demonstrating how improvisations can really deliver results
-Adding detail to scripted material
-Exploring the unexpected
-Auditions & Casting

For the writer, it provides an extra dimension to script development; demonstrates how character detail can be added to the script, and how bringing the character to life in non-scripted scenes throws up new possibilities for further writing. Of course the process also demonstrates how to create an entire film through on-going collaboration between filmmakers and actors.