Let’s talk about beats today. I am not referring to those very important objective beats that you should put into a scene when you break it down. I am talking about timing! One of the best ways to set off drama or comedy is with beats. (Obviously, you always do all of your homework first: character backstory, breaking down the scene, and using your imagination to get lost in the reality of the moment.)
I work with lots and lots of students. Most of them have one thing in common whether novices or professionals: Many actors don’t understand how important timing is. This is true for stage or camera. Timing is magical in drama or comedy.
When you listen to a song, you don’t want the same rhythm through the whole song. It would be boring. You orchestrate it to make surprising beat changes. If you wanted to be very dramatic, you might even stop everything for a beat and then start the music back up again.
Think of your scene as music and start to orchestrate it. These beats will usually push your buttons to cause you to be much more organic, because real people actually use timing all of the time…subconsciously.
Using Timing in Comedy Comedy is all about timing. Basic comedic timing can be achieved by
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