and the last thing I want to talk about today is just about the most important thing that you're going to learn in this class and that's your character's objective well why don't you ask yourself right now what is an objective if we just use that term in life um what does it mean what's an objective an objective is the thing that you want right um another word for that is goal it's the thing that we want so I want you to start thinking that the that films that television is about a great want that your character has and it's a great want not for something big from the universe but for the individual people in the scene with them the character's objective is what the character needs to get from another character or characters on stage this is the single most important thing you're going to hear from me for this whole class I'm going to say it again it's so important the object objective is what the character needs to get from another character or characters on stage this is the driving force of being an actor what do you want in fact every time I coach an actor whether they're a beginning student an intermediate student or I also coach film stars and Broadway actors the first thing I say doesn't matter what stage of the game you're at is what do you want from the other character if you can tell me what it is you want want chances are you're going to have a good scene if you're like oh gosh I don't know or I hadn't really thought about that or you tell me something kind of like weak and wimpy it's not going to be good I'm at the stage of the game now where I can tell you if the scene is going to be good just by the way you tell me what it is you want from the other character if it's really specific if it's really compelling if you really really need something if it's life or death it's going to be a good scene if I say what do you want from him I want him to put down the gun it's going to be a good scene what do you want from them I want them to fall in love with me it's going to be a good scene what do you want from her I want her to take care of our mom because I'm sick of taking care of our mom it's going to be a good scene see how all these things are specific and they're all about what you want from the other person who's in the scene with you that's what it's all about so I want you to get into your head that no one ever ever is just on stage talking this happens all the time I'll say to to my actor what do you want well I'm just talking or you know uh it's it's my roommate and I'm just I'm just venting I'm just telling them how I feel um these that doesn't work because no talking or or or venting is about you and what you're doing not about how you're trying to change somebody I want you to start thinking that every time you are on stage you you are trying so hard to change the other person who is on stage with you when it's on stage when it's in the movie when it's in the TV show it's very very important your character needs something and one of the things you're going to be doing is thinking about what people want in TV shows in movies so one of the assignments I'm going to give you is to go and watch whatever TV show it is that you're watching currently or started new show and look at a scene pick a character to closely watch and go what do they want in this scene I guarantee you if it's a well-written uh piece of art which most things on TV these days are um it's going to be really clear who they're talking to and what they desperately need from that other person that's in in this in the scene with them um so it's very very important they need something that is life or death if it is a well constructed uh script I'm going to say it again so many ways because it's so important your character wants something from the people on stage with them it could be um one person it could be multiple people you might have a scene that has three people in it but even if it's three people I guarantee you that your energy is always focused on one person a little more than another think about when you're out with a group of your friends even though you might have five friends that out to dinner your energy is a little more focused on one person that one person that you want to have find your jokes funny or that one person who you kind of like a little bit and you want to be sure they like you too right even if you're in a group and you're talking to multiple people your attention always kind of homes in on one person a little bit more I think um so what you want from the other person or people on stage with you this is what drives your scene the want is huge your character needs something something from the other character that is life or death in its importance so I've just shown you some pictures of people looking like they want things this dude is having some kind of uh heated discussion with this uh this woman obviously he clearly wants something uh there's a discussion between a couple they may want different things right so we always need to know when we're talking to somebody what do we want so here's Here's a thought you want something all the time think about the last conversation that you had with somebody you wanted something from the person that you were talking to you might not even be conscious of it but we want things from the people that we talk to all the time if you're currently working think about the last conversation that you had with your boss or with your coworker I guarantee that you wanted something from let's say let's say your boss did you want time off did you want them to lighten up on your SK schedule did you want more hours what did you want if it was your coworker did you want them to you know to kind of you know pull their weight a little more uh stop screwing around um cover your shift what did you want we want things all the time think about conversations you had with your family recently or your friends or your roommate or your significant other person you wanted something and this always sounds like oh Laura your take on humanity is so manipulative we you know it sounds like you're using people all the time to get what you want we want good things too we want people to like us um my objective right now is to keep you engaged enough that you can pay attention to asynchronous online learning because asynchronous online learning can be deadly my objective right now is to keep you engaged I want something from you right now it's a good thing that I want it's an altruistic uh Noble thing that I want I want you to be able to pay attention and enjoy what I'm talking to you about we want these things all the time we want people to think that we're funny we want people to think that we're kind have you ever been in line at Starbucks Pete you I don't know name it you know Subway whatever it is and the person who was in front of you was being a big to the Barista to whoever was working in the register you want that person when it's your turn to realize that you are a kind person and you're not going to give them a hard time and be an we want something all the time think about the last time you wanted something from somebody I guarantee you it was sometime within the last hour the last human interaction you had so if we want these little things all the time from the people that we deal with your character wants a big huge thing again we're going to go to the Marvel movie or the action movie of your choice your character if they're Batman Superman Aquaman I don't care whoever they are Catwoman whoever they are I don't even know my Marvel movies I'm missing a whole bunch of people those are like old school people they want something they want something desperately from the other person think about that that's going to be one of the things I want you to look at is watch a TV show and tell me what your character wants so with that in mind let's go into some specifics this all sounds really easy right but the objective is the most important thing that we can look at in theater and in our craft as actors and it's the thing that actors kind of find the hardest so I want to drill down a couple of things when we're looking for our objective when we're looking for our goal because I'm going to say to you what do you want I'm going to ask this in your paperwork I'm going to ask you all the time as an actor you come take my class uh in person at SF state I'm going to the first thing I'm going to say is what do you want from from them what do you want from him what do you want from her and you're going to have to tell me that so the first thing I want you to keep in mind when you're formulating an objective when you're telling me what your goal is in the scene is that it is always always always about the other person who is in the scene with you so we're never going to say when I say to you what do you want you're not going to say I want to be rich well that's kind of amorphous that's not about the other person in the scene with you I want you to tell me what you want from the other person so instead of saying I want to be rich which is like this big thing that you want from the universe what do you want I want Jake to give me the money that's a concrete thing that you need in the scene from the other person and instead of saying you know I used to ask you what's your goal in the scene what do you what do you want say I want to fall in love well again that's General that's about the Universe versus I want want Julia to kiss me that's specific so your objective is what you concretely desire or want from the other person who is in the scene with you your objective should be compelling and specific so if I ask you what what do you want go well I kind of want this or you know I sort of want that or I don't know maybe I want this no you want uh you want him to give you the ice cream you want him to give you the keys to the car you want her to take you bowling whatever it is it's so important and it's so important that you get this one specific thing from the other person the next thing it is it has to be something that is potentially achievable under this circumstances in the play what do you want um I want him to take me to the Moon well if this is a work of Science Fiction that might be really really possible you have to make sure that it's an alignment with the world of the play and that it's realistic also it needs to be positive what's your objective tell me what you want not what you don't want it is so much easier to play what we want than what we don't want what do you want well I don't want him to leave me isn't it so much more active and easy to play to get this person to stay rather than to get them not to leave it's always easier to go after what we want rather than what we don't want want it should also be you can't see my last thing consistent with the playwright's intentions let's look at some examples of objectives that are strong and ones that are weak these come from actual students from their actual paperwork let's look at some strong objectives so here are things that are really playable really active to do on stage what do you want in the scene from the other person here are strong ones I I want to get him to admit that he's being a jerk great why is that great because it's totally about the other person he's either going to admit that he's being a jerk or he's not what do you want from the other person in the scene I want to get her to sleep with me crystal clear all about the other person I want this thing and it's all about the other person and has the test in the other person what do you want I want to get him to put down the gun that's Crystal Clear it's about the other person at the end of the scene I know if they put down the gun or if they're still holding a gun I can tell if it's achievable or if I haven't achieved it what do you want I want to get him to sign the papers what do you want I want to get her to confess to me these are all crystal clear objectives that I can play in the scene let's pause for a minute the character opposite you has a different objective and we're going to talk about that more later when we talk about conflict so if I want to get her to sleep with me and she wants to get me to back the hell off we have a conflict and that conflict is what drives the energy of the scene and makes us want to watch the scene if I want to get him to admit that he's being a jerk and he wants me to apologize to him we have a conflict this is what creates a scene that we want to watch is if I come up with a really strong objective a really strong thing that I need from this other person in the scene and they come up with an equally strong thing that they need from me in the scene and our goals don't align think about the last argument you had with somebody you wanted something from them and they wanted something really different from you and that's why the fur flew in your relationship and that would be whatever that ugly conversation was that would be we would be the audience sitting there eating popcorn watching you because it's interesting to watch people have tension and that is why what theater's about that's why we watch films that's why we watch TV so come up with a strong strong objective that you can play because that's what you're going to be trying to do the entire scene if the scene is 12 Pages for those 12 Pages I'm going to try to get her to sleep with me I'm going to try to get him to put down the gun I'm going to try to get them to sign the papers I'm going to try to get them to confess to me this is what I'm doing the whole time now you might say well Laura is there more than one objective in the scene sometimes so in an Ideal World we're finding one objective one goal that we can play for the entire scene every once in a while though we're going to win we're going to get what we want and then we can't play that objective in the scene anymore so if my objective is to get her to sleep with me and let's say the scene is 20 pages long and for the first 10 pages of the scene I'm trying to get her to sleep with me I'm doing doing all of these things and then she looks at me and she goes you know what I'll go home with you I can't play that anymore I got to find a new thing so maybe the next thing that I play is to get her to understand that I'm scared of commitment maybe that's what I play the rest of the scene you're not going to have more than two objectives in a scene but ideally again we're trying to find one thing one goal that we have for the other person that we can play for the entire scene let's look at some weak objectives these are things I've actually seen here are some examples of weak objectives these are objectives that are unspecific and difficult to play they don't lead the actor to something that they need strongly from the other person on stage here weak objectives to express myself to vent to tell a story to be angry to feel sad why are these not very good let me get down to my thing because they're all about you if I'm venting that's about me if I'm feeling angry that's about me if I feel sad that's about me and my behavior not about what it is I want from you and what I want to accomplish with you that I can win or lose so again we're not going to talk about emotion we're not going to talk about feeling angry happy sad depressed lethargic any of these things we're looking for what do you want from the other person I want to get them to give me the keys to the car then you're playing that for the whole scene find something that is fun and exciting for you to do and you're going to have a great scene