when you hear the word improvisation
what do you think of you may first think
of improv common but you may have also
thought of improvised jazz breaks
freestyle rap or even improvised
explosives
the reason each of these things still
counts as improv is because improv isn't
defined by the product but rather the
process for making the product
improvising is creating and performing
spontaneously and without any
preparation so in film any dialogue
camera shot or even a reaction that's
unrehearsed or unprepared can be improv
Anthony Hopkins got an unrehearsed
reaction out of Jodie Foster when he
went off script to make fun of her
accent you know father the idea Coleman
just Engle Elaine and Alan Rickman's
surprised expression in die hard comes
from the stuntman dropping him on the
count of two not three there's no doubt
that improv leads to hilarious
performances you know I know you're gay
how I saw you make a spinach dip in a
loaf of sourdough bread once an actor's
intuition can make for the best laughs
tears or surprises no matter how subtle
like the improvised clapping of the
Joker in this essay I want to talk about
the strengths and limitations of improv
and why filmmakers use different
cinematic techniques to make their films
appear improvised the best improvisation
is when actors play the game of the
scene in any improvised scene each actor
has certain rules for how to act and
react based on their character's
personality and what rules do is they
free us up to improvise right by giving
ourselves these constrictions that guide
our impulses it funnels our creative
process into some kind of product the
process of improvisation and those rules
help us create something the rules the
actor must follow along with the
conflict between characters makes an
improvised scene work well good improv
stems from conflict and personality with
each character playing the game hey when
you're the most annoying sound in the
world
Dustin Hoffman's reaction was improvised
when an actual taxi driver drove on set
during the filming of Midnight Cowboy
his reaction completely embodies his
character the conflict is realistic and
it adds to his character showing he's
not as smooth and cool as he tries to
appear the same applies to dramatic
improv Robert De Niro perfectly embodies
Travis's loneliness isolation paranoia
and aggression with this improvised
scene you're talking to me
talking to me play the game follow the
rules
improvisation doesn't work when
characters don't play the game in pixels
Adam Sandler has a meeting with the
President and other executives and out
of nowhere he just starts going around
the room insulting people the conflict
makes no sense and the insulting doesn't
go along with Sandler's personality I'm
convinced Adam Sandler partially
improvised the scene and it's painful to
watch because it doesn't come close to
playing the game grandpa we'll see you
around the nursing home one limitation
of improvisation is oftentimes the lack
of a resolution to the scene referred to
as the button the button is the final
moment before the end of the scene that
resolves the conflict with a final joke
or comment key and peele very
consistently has the button at the end
of their sketches that neatly ends the
game for example they have a sketch
where college football players state
their names and the game is that their
names get more and more ridiculous cow
roll smoochie-wallace university meiyan
the button is a resolution to the chaos
of the names and ends the sketch
perfectly Dan Smith BYU some improvised
scenes don't have the bunny
the result is scenes that either go too
long or have an unsatisfying ending
director Judd Apatow has great
improvised scenes with great jokes but
the drawback is the scenes don't really
end they sometimes kind of just stop the
nature of spontaneity means an
improvised scene can't always be
structured as well as a scripted scene
this isn't always the case for
improvisation though sometimes the
ending is perfect but it's not a
certainty with a scene that's entirely
improvised why don't you just make 10
louder and make 10 be the top number and
make that a little own these car to 11
Martin Scorsese likes to mimic
improvisation in his films despite them
actually being scripted he makes the
scenes look like a documentary as if
they're unrehearsed to the point where
he blurs the line between documentary
and fiction
the effect is films that seem extremely
realistic and spontaneous mean streets
appears very improvised the opening
title sequence in a home video aspect
ratio has characters act very naturally
the camera shots are all handheld the
music is nostalgic and even the text was
superimposed using blown-up typewriter
text a method commonly reserved for
documentaries and home videos the
opening sequence shows everyday life for
this group of Italian Americans in me
you
or the use of footage in action that
looks improvised makes the movie seem
more casual and realistic contrast this
movie was something like The Godfather
with an epic score dramatic deaths
intense acting and cryptic dark lighting
and you see how mimicked improvisation
gives a totally different mood to a
movie the fictional documentary style
goes as far back as Citizen Kane when
the news on the March sequence recreated
real-life news segments making Charles
Kane seem like a real world figure while
also establishing the contrast between
his public and private life my wife used
to fart when she was nervous she had all
sorts a wonderful Aviva secrecy he was
fused of hard and asleep improv does
more than just make us laugh
improvisation is a process that makes
for great scenes sometimes an actor's
best tool is getting into character and
seeing what can happen spontaneously and
even when it's imitated the improvised
documentary look adds realism to a film
so don't forget an actor can give a
great performance based solely on the
process they go through internally
Martha Graham Martha Graham Martha
Graham or Twyla Twyla Twyla or Michael
Kidd Michael Kidd Michael Kidd Michael
Kidd or Madonna Madonna Madonna but you
keep it all inside thanks for watching