Lesson – Ten Things to Think About – #2 Subtext

10 Things to Think About – from the book Thinking Animation by Angie Jones and Jamie Oliff.

This is one of the lectures I use at the online school ianimate.net. I created this list for my book Thinking Animation to help animators create a clear and solid message with their work.

I will post the 10 Things to Think About over the course of the next 10 weeks. ~Enjoy!

#2 Subtext: Adding subtext is one of the best ways to get depth and dimension into your performance. Human beings are multi-leveled creatures. Saying one thing while meaning another. The clip above is subtext acted within more subtext. Matt LeBlanc’s character is talking about the script, but he is really talking about his relationship with her… as is she. they are both using the script to describe their own relationship – Great stuff!

The Iceberg: The acting teacher above explains how the iceberg analogy works. If you create a bio for your character, you will have created the fodder to pull from for any subtext your character will be exuding when they speak. Again, we never really say what we mean. I can say “I love you,” and mean I really despise you. Think about it – it’s juicy scenes that have subtext.

Flaws: What makes us interesting are our flaws. Perfection is boring. Humans have flaws. They hid their feelings. They have a lack of boundaries. They have an agenda. They have a past that forms their perspective on the world, which can be skewed. Dig underneath the dialog to figure out what the character is really saying in between the lines.