The next two minutes
On playing longer scenes, as told by Cast Away (2000).
Q: How do you continue a two person scene after the [120 second] mark, when the initial thing we were doing is used up and we actually have to explore the relationship between the characters?
Many students learned improv by crushing short scenes. But I’ve long felt there’s a magical point in a scene at around 2 minutes (120.02±35.17s, to be exact.) Yet, for many players this point is where scenes become difficult and scenes start losing steam.
When you initiate scenes there is a burst of energy. In the “traditional” way of impro, the first minute or two is spent on Who Where What. That is establishing the characters (Who), building the world (Where), and pinpointing the moment (What). In schools like UCB they call it Base Reality. Everything seems safe, you are near the beach.
In shallow waters, you can wade with your feet to move forward. Past the 2-minute mark, it becomes open sea. No longer can you touch the floor. You have to own your propulsion. This is scary!
Embrace this scary part. This is where fun begins. You have the Who, Where, What, now work on The Why.
The Why
The Why is actually what the scene is about. The Why is the motivation why this particular scene happens to these people, this location and at exactly this moment.
For example, let’s have a rather straightforward one:
Example Scene 1.
Who: Brothers long separated
Where: Childhood home
What: Splitting inheritance
…
…
…
Why (nice): The brothers turn over a new leaf together.
-or-
Why (bitter): One brother feels the other always has gotten special treatment.
-or-
Why (absurd): The other brother had never actually existed.
Notice the space I put between the Who Where What and the Why. That is because the first 2 minutes is laying the information. The Why can be anything from those initial seeds depending on how the information is played — that’s why I gave 3 different examples and show you the opportunities.
The Why is the thing that will propel you through the scene. This is the extra kick about 2 minutes into the scene. This energy is enough to carry the scene to the end.
The Why is a big part of your discovery in the scene. For a 5-10 minute scene, it is normally not something from the initiation. You already brought in (sometimes quite heavy-handedly) all the information of Who Where What. You must leave something for discovery.
If you let discover the Why, chances are it’s something super fun to play. There’s a reason why UCB calls Who-Where-What the Base Reality, while the Why is THE GAME. Because it’s fun! It’s more fun than anything you can think of individually. I think a great scene has something you didn’t already know from the opening line. That, to me, is improv.
Laying down the Who Where What
When you lay good foundation — a specific Who, a specific Where, a specific What — the Why will naturally auto-pilot. You don’t have to engineer them. But first of all, when you established a strong Who Where What, the scene can take anything. Think of them as good preparation to face the open sea.
If you try to take on the Why before solidifying your choices, you need dexterity — or else your scene will capsize when the big waves hits you. Don’t rush it.
You might assume that one needs perfect Who-Where-What combinations, but actually these lead to copycat scenes from a movie you have seen before. It is rather uninspiring. You will be playing a script. Any combination works, whether it’s a very realistic combination or a very absurd one. Sometimes absurd combinations ironically work better.
Let’s say we have a Who.
Example Scene 2.
Who: President and a secret service agent
Let’s see a “realistic” combination of Where and What:
Example Scene 2A.
Who: President and a secret service agent
Where: A speech in the middle of town
What: An assassination attempt by a sniper
…Why: ?
This sounds like a really exciting plot story-wise! Yet improv-wise this can be uninspiring. Because this scene is a copy from the movie The Jackal. You have to dig in a little deeper to find the Why, because everything is so much in place. By the way, this scene is a little dramatic.
Let’s see if we choose a more unexpected Where and What:
Example Scene 2B.
Who: President and a secret service agent
Where: A Ray’s Hell Burgers joint
What: Ordering a hell burger
Why: “Mr. President, your obsession with hot burgers is compromising our national security!”
One scene is not necessarily better than the other, it’s how you play them. But it’s sometimes easier to find the core of the scene with a less stereotypical element. By the way, this scene feels a little more comedic.
If you can’t find the Why…
One thing I will departure from Tom Hanks’ Cast Away. In improv, you can still add information anytime. Even in the open sea. Even though you are already 5-minute deep into the scene, you can always add more Who Where What to your platform. Make the best preparations, but you can still live off the sea.
So when your scene is losing wind, not knowing where to go, go back to your Who Where What. Reinforce them and make it stronger. Be more specific. Then the Why will appear and provide the wind for your sails to carry you for the next 10 minutes.
With that, I leave you with a little Norwegian pride of Kon-Tiki, which sailed across the Pacific from South America to Polynesia, in nothing but a handmade raft… and much improvisation along the way.
“SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE IN FATE, OTHERS DON’T. I DO, and I don’t. It may seem at times as if invisible fingers move us about like puppets on strings. But for sure, we are not born to be dragged along. We can grab the strings ourselves and adjust our course at every crossroad, or take off at any little trail into the unknown.”
― Thor Heyerdahl, Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft
Dedicated to question by Frederik M.J.V