{"id":454,"date":"2025-02-19T20:17:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T20:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/?page_id=454"},"modified":"2025-02-27T21:00:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T21:00:57","slug":"sms-contents","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/?page_id=454","title":{"rendered":"SECRET MAGIC STUFF CONTENTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preface – xv<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

SPECIAL STUFF – 1<\/h1>\n

I<\/span> QUESTION AND ANSWER RAILROAD TRACKS – 3<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Discovering your character\u2019s private thoughts leads to spontaneous and improvisational thinking as<\/i><\/span> the character instead of for<\/i><\/span> the character.<\/p>\n

II<\/span> ATTITUDE LINES: PROCESS AND ARCHETYPES – 9<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Possessing the character\u2019s core attitude provides the character\u2019s physicality, personality, and essence.<\/p>\n

III<\/span> REFLECTION LISTENING – 27<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Listening with the whole body heightens authenticity, spontaneity, and presence.<\/p>\n

IV<\/span> PHYSICALIZING AN EMOTION – 31<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The wordless conversation between the body and the mind creates the desired emotion with countless possibilities that exist within that feeling.<\/p>\n

V<\/span> EMOTION ARC – 51<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Increasing the intensity of an emotion over the length of a speech, beat, monologue, or scene is forceful and compelling.<\/p>\n

VI<\/span> UMBRELLA ARC – 57<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shaping your character\u2019s emotional journey leads to more powerful scenes.<\/p>\n

VII<\/span> MONOLOGUES: BREAKDOWN AND REHEARSAL – 67<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Revealing something about the character that is not mentioned in the monologue intensifies the monologue\u2019s emotional impact.<\/p>\n

ALL THE STUFF – 77<\/i><\/span><\/h1>\n

VIII<\/span> DOING – 79<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

WHEN YOU NEED TO:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Play Drunk – 81
\n<\/i><\/span>Play Stoned – 84
\n<\/i><\/span>Pick Up the Pace – 85
\n<\/i><\/span>Do a Walk-and-Talk – 88
\n<\/i><\/span>Seduce Another Character – 90
\n<\/i><\/span>Think on Camera or Stage – 93
\n<\/i><\/span>Play the Story – 97
\n<\/i><\/span>Play the Subtext – 100
\n<\/i><\/span>Make a Monologue Compelling – 110
\n<\/i><\/span>Make the Exposition Compelling – 116
\n<\/i><\/span>Do It Again Just Like That – 122
\n<\/i><\/span>Do a Contradictory or Contrasting Direction\u00a0 – 125
\nDo the Director\u2019s Line Reading – 126<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

IX<\/span> EMOTIONS – 129<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

WHEN YOU NEED TO:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Play a Specific Emotion – 131
\n<\/i><\/span>Make a Sharp Transition from One Emotion to Another – 141
\nIntensify an Emotion Instead of Flatlining – 147
\n<\/i><\/span>Cry<\/span> – 152
\n<\/i>Laugh – 179
\n<\/i><\/span>Leave your Acted Emotions Behind and Go On to the Next Scene or Go Home – 182
\n<\/i><\/span>Deal with Being Nervous – 183<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

X<\/span> CHARACTER – 189<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

WHEN YOU NEED TO:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Quickly Change to the Director\u2019s Vision of the Character – 191
\n<\/i><\/span>Make the Character More Physically Distinctive – 194
\n<\/i><\/span>Make It More Quirky – 199
\n<\/i><\/span>Change your Relationship Status – 202
\n<\/i><\/span>Make a Decision About What Your Character Knows – 208
\nGet the Role on Track – 210<\/p>\n

XI<\/span> LESS IS MORE – <\/span>213<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

WHEN YOU NEED TO:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Take It Down – 215
\n<\/i><\/span>Tone It Down – 217
\n<\/i><\/span>Relax and Simplify – 219
\n<\/i><\/span>Just Talk and Listen – 221
\n<\/i><\/span>Stop Acting! – 222
\n<\/i><\/span>Just be Yourself \u2014 No Character! – 223<\/p>\n

XII<\/span> MORE IS MORE – <\/span>225<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

WHEN YOU NEED TO:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Be in the Middle of the Scene when \u201cAction\u201d is Called \u00a0– 227
\nDo a Pre-Scene Improv – 229
\n<\/i><\/span>Give It More Energy – 239
\n<\/i><\/span>Fill That Pause – 241
\n<\/i><\/span>Commit to the Moment – 244
\n<\/i><\/span>Nail a Close-Up (Listening) – <\/b>246
\n<\/i><\/span>Listen to a Monologue in a Compelling Fashion – 250
\n<\/i><\/span>Nail a Close-up (Speaking) – 251<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

XIII<\/span> CAREER – 257<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

WHEN YOU NEED TO:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Improve Your Self-Tapes – 259
\n<\/i><\/span>Accept or Reject a Job – 264
\n<\/i><\/span>Increase Your Opportunities – 266<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Appendix A Sample Umbrella Arcs – 267
\n<\/i><\/span>Appendix B Sample Character Arcs – 271
\n<\/i><\/span>Appendix C Sample Emotion and Attitude Choices – 272
\n<\/i><\/span>Appendix D Sample Attitude Lines – 274
\n<\/i><\/span>Appendix E Sample Action (Verbs) Choices – 276<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Acknowledgments – 279<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

About the Author – 280<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preface – xv SPECIAL STUFF – 1 I QUESTION AND ANSWER RAILROAD TRACKS – 3 Discovering your character\u2019s private thoughts leads to spontaneous and improvisational thinking as the character instead of for the character. II ATTITUDE LINES: PROCESS AND ARCHETYPES – 9 Possessing the character\u2019s core attitude provides the character\u2019s physicality, personality, and essence. III … Continue reading SECRET MAGIC STUFF CONTENTS<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-454","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":489,"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions\/489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenbook.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}