Acting Secrets

Acting

There is hardly any one who has never wished to become an actor with all the trappings of glamor and celebrity. Acting is a craft and an art. However, being a successful actor is no picnic. (But could it be, easy.) You must be able to portray your character with deep conviction and panache.

An easy formula to do this is the GOTE formula or method. GOTE is an acronym standing for Goal, Obstacle, Tactics and Expectation. This method helps an actor to reduce the character to the basics.

The goal is the character's goal-what the character is pursuing in life. However this must be specific and concrete; not vague and general. A general goal of an actor may be the some notion of achieving fulfillment in life through marriage. A specific goal will be the idea of marriage to one particular person like Faith's desire to marry someone called Damon Bradley. An actor must concentrate and focus on the character's goal in order to portray it successfully.

The Obstacle is something or anything that prevents the character from reaching out and achieving the Goal or target. The obstacle must oppose the goal. Thus, Faith's obstacle in Only You is that she has never met the man she wants to marry. The actor must remember that the character's fight with this obstacle brings out the drama and therefore makes a production appealing.

Tactics of the T in the GOTE method are those employed by the character to overcome the Obstacle in the way of the Goal. These tactics establish the character's personality traits-whether he/she is funny, aggressive, depressed, etc. These therefore flesh out the character into a real, believable human being. Thus an actor must concentrate in this area.

Expectation adds to the flavor of the tactics making them more interesting and exciting. The character's enthusiasm for the Goal shows through his/her very human expectations-the tension as well as the anticipation.

A character's GOTE can be established through a careful reading of the play text or script. One must make a GOTE sheet taking notes in the course of reading. Along with these his/her name, sex, education, age, marital status, etc can be noted down as additional info. The GOTE method is the sure fire way to make any character appear human and believable. Only if the character seems real will the audience be moved. Persuading the audience is the key to success behind one's acting career.