Bringing life to a scene: The actor's business

After finishing the master of professional writing/screenwriting program, I asked for permission to take classes in the USC School of Cinematic Arts. I learned that USC alumni may sign up for any class at USC, with permission from the school that offers the class.

While I eventually attended classes with graduate students (production/directing & screenwriting students), the first class I took as an alumni was Ron Friedman's beginning screenwriting. I approached the class as a master class, and I wasn't disappointed.

Like other great screenwriting teachers I've taken classes from, Mr. Friedman was more interested in the story than if the scenes he assigned were in perfect screenwriting format. In the project's early stages, what matters is if the content is as powerful as it can be, and if it can be captured on screen.

Mr. Friedman thinks more quickly than anyone I've ever met; in fact I once turned in a project that wasn't the best and he read it aloud to the class. Instead of tearing it apart, he created dialogue and storyline as he read, showing me what the scene could become. Brilliant and motivating!

One week, we were workshopping a nighttime scene a student had written. The characters enter a house where a party is taking place. After we had read the scene Mr. Friedman paused and suggested that the student give the actor something to do. Suggestions: take off a coat, fiddle with his keys, use a prop. He called this the "actor's business."

I've searched for "Actor's business" online, and can only find links to the business of acting. The actor's business must be a secret technique that actors learn about from the best teachers, directors, or mentors. Giving the actor something to do gives the actor another tool to shed light into what the character is thinking.

How powerful can the most subtle direction the writer includes in the scene be?

A few years ago a friend told me about an experience she'd while she was a resident. Staff taking care of a tiny infant were terrified when they examined the baby and monitoring alarms would sound. They would immediately put the baby back into the incubator and the alarms would stop. Finally someone realized that the preemie was controlling the situation. This wasn't mom or dad; he didn't want to be examined or prodded, or have a needlestick. He could control the situation; he had learned that when he held his breath the exam would stop and he would placed back into his warm, cozy incubator. NOTE: Another example would be how Martha Stewart chopped cabbage as she answered questions during the CBS news Early Show while answering questions about her sale of stock in 2009.

Just how does the character fiddle with his keys? How does she take off her coat? Giving the actor something to do with their hands is part of the artistry of film; it makes us not want to take our eyes off the screen for it can help deepen the audience's understanding of the character.

NOTE: These entries are inspired by the final assignment for "The Business of Writing for Screen and Television," a School of Cinematic Arts' course taught by Frank Wuliger. Hoping to help his students become working screenwriters, he asked us to create a personal, five-year road map into the industry.