VECTORS, Part 3: Tension
This is part 3 of a 4-part VECTORS series.
Part IV: to be announced
In Part II, I had described character WANTS in terms of FIELDS, which make a character’s choices more consistent. Also both players can have a want. This time, we talk about how those fields interact. See Figure 1.
Figure 1A is when the two character Wants are perpendicular to one another. A pushes North, B pushes East. The scene goes North-East. The two wants are unrelated (A wants a nice picnic. B wants to win a lottery.)
Figure 1B and Figure 1C shows two extremes. Figure 1B is when the wants are opposite and naturally happens to new players. Scene running headlong into the unknown is scary. So we apply brakes, so that the scene stay in the comfort zone. Status quo is safe. Exploration is dangerous. This is our survival instinct that we have to beat out when we start learning improv.
Figure 1C is the opposite extreme. Figure 1B is when both character Wants are identical. The scene goes super fast. This can be plus or minus. The plus is agreement. The minus part is the lack of surprises or tension in the scene. I call this the famous “YES LET’S” exercise. We may have experienced how these scenes often doesn’t have any “bite”, or brakes — they just go like a runaway train without consequence. Still, this is an excellent exercise for beginners to not build conflicts and simply agree. It can still work on stage.*
*Advanced note: This is basically Game of the Scene’s “Peas in a Pod”. Taking the same wants are very enjoyable to watch if those wants are slightly unusual / quirky / funny.
What about something in between? This is how you get Comedy or Drama. See Figure 2.
In my opinion, scenes work because of interactions between Wants. Paul Vaillancourt has described this in the book Triangle of the Scene: “You have a Game, I have my Game, We have a Game together.” My concept is nothing new, it’s just put into Vectors.
Figure 2 (left) is when the two Wants (of Player 1 and Player 2) are not perpendicular, so they influence each other. Maybe this is like a Seinfeld episode. Elaine wants something, Kramer wants something seemingly uncorrelated – at first. By the end of the episode, each person’s actions influence the other, and the scene ends at an unexpected place. A COMEDY is created.
Sometimes the wants can be lightly opposite, and this creates lighthearted Tension. It’s an “odd couples” scenario — you know, the old disgruntled veteran cop paired with a young idealistic rookie scenario. The result is still comedy where they jaw at each other but eventually discover something in common.*
*I wrote about it here: “Enemies liking each other is comedy. Friends disliking each other is drama.”
At some point, however, if the angle is too big, it creates too much tension to ignore and becomes the central focus. This is when it becomes DRAMA. (see Figure 2 (right)). The scene grinds down. Many dramatic improv scenes don’t normally go far, plot-wise, because they pull at each other. But it can still be enjoyable to dramatic improv aficionados, because we’re interested in how they pull, who will win out or whether there is an angle of compromise. One can raise the stakes by making their wants more important. Opposite wants is the basis of good drama, but remember not to be directly opposite and leave room for the scene to go to.
I think of this angle when I play. I can adjust my wants, whether I think this scene is comedic or dramatic.
So there you have it, Comedy and Drama in Vectors. But how big does one player pull vs. the other, however? This will be visitedin VECTORS, Part IV: Status. Coming soon.