I’m watching Inside The Actor’s Studio with James Lipton interviewing John
Cusack. JL referred to BEING JOHN MALKOVICH as a “Very high concept film.”
I think he’s dead wrong, since John Cusack had asked WMA for the most unproduceable
script they had and it took 4 years to make. Love the film, but doesn’t sound
like a high concept to me.
A poignant moment of this episode occurred when a student asked if Mr. Cusack
ever got blocked. He answered by saying all actors go through that, but explained
that he learned later in his career about using Jungian archetypes and embracing
your shadow self–the self that embodies the things we want to deny about ourselves.
Personally, I use this method to devise characters, especially my antagonists,
false mentors, etc.
There are four books that specifically address this idea, which I think are
of great benefit to us as writers: Meeting The Shadow (exerpts
from various disciplines regarding the shadow side of our subconscious), The
Power of the Dark Side (using classic archetypes to create new characters,
namely villains), Psychology
for Writers (general psych studies for writers
who haven’t had therapy, j/k) and Archetypes
for Writers (more specific work in archetypes).
You don’t necessarily need all of them, but all are helpful in
tapping the subconscious. We have these for sale on our website.
Oh, the little interview with Heather and me made it to the official AFF website.
