On Authentic Reactions

There was something missing from my last post Authenticity of Combat on Stage: Pain. It's not the operator ("attacker") who convinces an audience that damage was done. No matter how accurately or fast they cut. No matter how much tension they hold in their muscles or how loud their battle cry. If the victim doesn't play the pain, then there's no injury. Let's bring the pain.

Genuine Pain

Take a look at the painful s-lock or “nikyo”:

When I went through the Intermediate Actor-Combatant training with Fight Directors Canada, this lock was part of the curriculum. Of course, I should say “creating the illusion of this lock”, but Fight Master Simon Fon taught us how to apply the real thing so that we could successfully simulate it. This is a common approach to stage combat: Teach real fighting techniques so that the students understand the intention, then teach the safety method necessary to perform it for entertainment.

Master Fon also took matters into his own hands if one partner couldn’t figure out how to grip properly or the direction to apply force. He asked for volunteers who wanted to “feel the real thing” as a victim. When he turned my wrist, an immediate stabbing pain shot from my wrist through my elbow, then skipped the rest of my body to stab me directly in the heart. My knees folded faster than Superman on laundry day. I heard myself make a sharp, high pitched bark. One second later he released me and the pain was immediately gone.

I was surprised by my reaction and how quickly it all happened. I memorized what my body did, and insisted on being the victim of that move in my choreographed fight. Later, when we were rehearsing in front of the class for feedback, I did my best rendition. The room went silent. Simon ran forward, “Are you okay?”

“Fine. I was acting.”

“Don’t do it like that again. We thought you were really hurt.”

How to React

Realism: Although the lesson I was supposed to learn was “tone it down,” when performing for film an actor should always look at their real reactions to actual pain and surprise. You can also learn from others by observation. In live theatre, you may want to show subtle ways that you are yet in control of your reactions, but to me it’s too easy to strip all life out of your reactions. Always strive for realism, and if you cause a few overreactions, take it as a compliment.

Loud Noises: Actors who focus on their choreography and save some of their breath to deliver their lines tend to be quiet throughout the fight and make few vocalizations. This is the opposite of what a fight scene needs: Every move should have an audible breath, a grunt of effort, an exclamation of pain, or an expression that conveys meaning. Some non-word vocalizations include:

• “Whoa!” - Surprise
• “Haha!” - I’m winning!
• “Oh” - Oops, I missed something!
• "Arrr" - I am a pirate!
• Many others, depending on culture and character

On top of those sounds with every motion, an injury should be louder, longer and always followed by a pause. Otherwise, the audience will miss that important plot-point within your fight.

Shock and Awe: When a person is seriously injured, sometimes they fall silent. Partly, it may be that their system is overwhelmed and they form a “silent scream” before they can open their vocal chords. Another reason may be that they choose to hold their breath. Whatever the reason, the sudden silence that contrasts with the previous fight noises can be just as impactful to the audience. Many films exploit this artificially by dropping the score and muting all sound while the closeup of the injury or the actor’s face takes precedence, often in slow motion.

Tell Your Story: Read the script carefully, especially the description of the injury or death scene. If you’re required to deliver a speech while dying, your pain must inform how your body moves and how you use your voice. Remember the elements of vocal technique, and try different combinations that best express what pain and weakness do to you:

• Pace: Do you talk more slowly because of blood loss? Do you speak more quickly because you need to say something before you die?
• Pauses: Does the pain overwhelm you unexpectedly and cause more pauses?
• Pitch: Do you whine because of the pain?
• Volume: Weakness or having a punctured lung may make you whisper. If deafened because of a gunshot, perhaps you yell.
• Articulation and Inflection: The pattern of words you emphasize will change with pain and weakness. Your character may also begin to slur or choke on some words due to many possible injuries or effects, such as: hitting the head, having too much saliva or blood in the mouth, broken teeth or jaw, and gradual loss of consciousness due to blood loss, etc.

In the end, your performance should serve the overall story as well as your character’s journey.

What is Authenticity?

Even modern fights in which audiences know what boxing looks like or have seen news footage of gun fights, our task in performance is not to deliver reality, but something the audience will believe is authentic. Separate realism from authenticity.

If you pander too much to their expectations, then it will seem to them too obvious and stereotypical. However, if you make it too idiosyncratic or hyper-realistic, then they won’t believe it because it is outside of their experience.

Performing, like all communication, is a meeting of minds. The mind of the author is trying to speak to the minds of the audience. The actor is a kind of intermediary, to read the script and interpret the author’s intention within your experience and then to express it with your skills so that the audience understands and believes. Where is realism in all this? The author’s reality, the performer’s reality, and each audience member’s reality are all different sets of experience, and each have different exposure and familiarity with the reality of the setting. If the setting is medieval Europe, we can only appeal to written historical accounts and previous depictions based on other documents.

Everything is constructed. Make your performance something that moves the emotion in every audience member by expressing your own reality and understanding of the world, and take the advice of your director who can tell you whether your particular expressions, voice and movement are conveying that convincingly.

Remember, everything is a conversation and a negotiation. Be honest. Be humble enough to change and try a new version. There are many ways to die.

Learn the Acting Skills of an Action Hero

To learn to make sword fights, fist fights and stick fights using the illusion of violence, join our Fight Directors Canada certification course called Combat Acting. It’s a two-week intensive starting October 12.

We're also holding a Stage Blood workshop on October 18, where you can practice your screams of pain while fake blood sprays.