Back to the Basics

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
Mark Twain
(1835 - 1910)

Today I spent a great deal of time explaining to a man the need for the study of theatre. It was irritating to say the least that I had to explain it at all.

We were in a lively discussion of Human Video.

He accused me of wanting to bring Human video back by not being pleased at the use of voice-overs and "splices" in their performance. It was nearly impossible to get it through to him that voice overs (and indeed most narration whether in movies, or T.V., or in Human Video) is lazy dramatics.

It occurred to me after this conversation that many people just aren't aware of what makes theatre or drama powerful. They lack knowledge of fundamentals not because the tools are not available, but because they do not believe that they need them. It is, they think, their perogative. They have seen hundreds of Human videos performed, they ought to know what makes a good one. The reason they are wrong is that merely seeing a thing doesn't make one an expert (nor does performing a piece, for that matter). If your eye is not attuned to what it is seeing, then how can it know the difference between good and bad? It is as if someone who sees only in black and white is painting a mural.

In order to see the difference between a good and bad human video, one must study the fundamentals of theatre. Knowing why things are done on the stage can only help and not hinder a person in search of a merit winning piece.

That begs the question, "What are the fundamentals?"

Acting, Directing, Design, and Theory. The problem with this is that many people do not want to take the time to study dramatic theory or the fundamentals properly. They want a McDonald's kind of theatre. "Just give me the answers, I don't want to find them on my own."

This attitude seems to me to also be behind the insidious attachment to narration and voice over, "Just tell me what you mean, I don't want to have to figure it out." or more appropriately, " I'll just tell them what they should think, they won't stick with me to figure it out."

It makes the road ahead seem long and challenging, but the end of my conversation gave me a glimmer of hope. "I'm starting to see where you could be right." he said.

It's a small victory, I know, but a significant one. If I can keep reaching people with this message of the necessity of actually applying themselves to the learning process, then I can consider my life spent in a worthy service.