THE INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY

Disclaimer and in full disclosure: I do not know, have never met nor spoken to the makers of the documentary "char•ac•ter".

From the last recorded interview with Sidney Pollack from "char•ac•ter" produced and directed by Drago Sumonja.

Greetings everyone,

Not long ago I posted about the documentary "char•ac•ter"

http://working-with-actors.blogspot.com/2010/10/character.html

Today, a very well regarded, highly respected, and fine actor colleague friend of mine sent me this email note after I recommended and he watched the movie documentary "char•ac•ter". He wrote:

"The film is wonderful, especially the supplemental footage.
Tell me, Pollack was fascinating about the "Independent Activity."

Care to elucidate?"

It would take volumes . . . to really get into it, but the questions raised
by Pollack's segment about the "Independent Activity" reverberate through Mamet's notorious "MASTER CLASS MEMO"

http://working-with-actors.blogspot.com/2010/03/david-mamets-master-class-memo.html

Which is to say that the "Independent Activity" impacts writing, directly, and acting in a most powerful way. It's a technical term and approach to expressing, finding and portraying the inner life of a character at all phases of the creative process.

It's actually a lot more than that too . . .

Sometimes questions are better than answers.

Good morning,
José

Note: The only issue I take with this otherwise extraordinary and essential documentary "char•ac•ter" is that it's devoid of a feminine perspective on the subject of acting and directing. This thus opens the door for that doc, that has yet to be made.

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"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."