Scene Development - The VOTE Sheet
About two years ago, I was given a very handy tool called a VOTE sheet. The VOTE sheet is an analytical tool that an actor can use in the analysis of each scene in a script. Take a look at the PDF link down below to see a useable version of the sheet we’ll discuss in this article.
The VOTE sheet is so called because we’re using four categories of analysis:
Victory
Obstacles
Tactics
Expectations
Victory is what you want out of a scene. What is it that your character is after? What is it that you want the most from the other people on stage? When discovering what your victory is, remember to be specific. Ask yourself what is it that you have to achieve to conclude that you are victorious. What would have to happen for you to fail? The key to victory is measurability.
In Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Faust’s victory evolves over the course of the play. More than anything Faust wants power equal to Mephistopheles. To say knowledge or everlasting life is too narrow a victory. The question to ask is: What can those two things give him that he a) doesn’t have or b) wants. One possible answer is that he wants power equal to Mephistopheles. How will he know when he’s achieved it? When he can control Mephistopheles by keeping his soul. That’s one measurable victory. In the final scene, however, as he stands watching the clock tick toward midnight his victory changes. Faustus no longer wants power, nor does he truly want salvation. He wants life. How will he know when he’s achieved that? When Mephistopheles vanishes at 12:01am.
Obstacles are what you are going to have to get over, or around to achieve your victory. What is it, or who is it that stands in the way of your victory in any given scene? Keep in mind that obstacles can be people, things, ideas or circumstances.
In Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, what are the biggest obstacles to Lysistrata? Well, one of her obstacles is other people. Lysistrata must convince the other women to follow her plan to end the war and must keep the men from stopping that plan. How would you word those obstacles into a single sentence? How about: Lysistrata must overcome the sexual desires of the other women and the control of the men of Athens. That’s a fair statement of obstacles but what exactly do the men of Athens do to “control” the women? They use violence, so let’s say she must overcome the threats of violence from the men of Athens.
Tactics, or how you overcome your Obstacles, should be stated in terms of your partners on stage. The question to ask is: What pressure (emotional, physical, vocal) must I apply to my partner to make them give me what I want? Remember that on stage you cannot make choices that affect only you, you must word your tactics in terms of your desired effect on other people. There are two categories of tactics: Encouraging tactics and Threatening tactics.
Septimus Hodge in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia uses both forms of tactic in dealing with the annoyingly highbrowed Ezra Chater. Mr. Chater, having caught Hodge sleeping with Mrs. Chater, comes twice to challenge him to a duel. The first encounter between the two men ends with Septimus flattering Chater into submission; this is encouragement. By the second challenge, Septimus no longer has any patience and threatens to kill Chater; guess which tactic that is?
Expectation is what you will do once you have achieved your victory. Why do you want this victory in the first place? Always remember that your expectation must be positive to your character. It has got to be something that is positive or else it won’t give you enough of a push, enough of a drive to achieve this victory. Why does Jessie want to kill herself in Marsha Norman’s Night Mother? Is it to cause her mother pain? Is it to relieve herself of pain? Those choices are yours as an actor, but either is a viable option. Both are negative to the audience, but positive to the character and that is what is important.
The VOTE sheet is a tool that won’t do much to help you on the scale of the entire play, but when you use it for individual scenes it opens up many possibilities. Many times you will come up with multiple answers to the same question and that is an excellent way of identifying options you can play with. I hope this sheet helps you through your analysis of a character and feel free to contact me and tell me of your experiences with it. Break a leg and remember: Sin Boldly!
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2 Responses to “Scene Development - The VOTE Sheet”
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Do you have any more VOTE sheets? The link isn’t available anymore. Thanks
The link has been repaired, sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for pointing it out. –Daniel Roach