House Scene Analysis

Here it is, my first go at scene analysis.  I’m including the scene in full so that my discussion of my choices will make sense.  I am uncertain as to the copyright implications (I’m gonna have to look that up).  But I am not using this scene from House for monetary gain, so I believe this is fine.  I will also be using Margie Haber’s script analysis method from her book “How to get the Part Without Falling Apart”.  You may find it helpful to get the book to better understand what I’m doing.  I have quite enjoyed it.  Since this is a very long post, you’ll have to click on the “read more” link to read it…

The Scene:

House:
You have restored my faith in the human race.  You’re lying.

Sarah:
No, I’m not lying.

House:
I just got your results back.  No GHB, no nothing.  It means you’re having
sex, and you’re lying about it.

Sarah:
No, and I have a new symptom.  I have a rash on my butt. [She smiles
triumphantly.]  Do you want to… [House nods, resigned.  Sarah lowers her
pants so House can see.]  What is it?

House:
It’s a carpet burn.

Sarah:
No!  It can’t be!  Doctor, I love sex.  I miss it.  I haven’t had any in over a
year.

House:
Well, you managed to keep this appointment, so you have no short-term
memory problem.  Multiple personalities?  Do you find yourself losing
chunks of time?  Do you wake up and you don’t remember falling asleep?

Sarah:
No, I just wake up really exhausted.

House:
Is something upsetting you?

Sarah:
No.  [House gives her a look.]  My ex lives in the apartment downstairs.
He’s always calling me, always wanting to get back together, complaining
about mixed signals.  Get out of my life, how much clearer can you get?

House:
We have a sleep lab in the basement.  If nothing else, it’ll get you away from
your ex for a night.

CUT TO:

House:
These were your brain waves at 2:45 AM.  Now, here it comes, there’s an
abrupt jump from slow-wave sleep.  This indicates partial sleep arousal.  The
most common type is somnambulism – sleepwalking.

Sarah:
That would explain why I’m so tired when I wake up.

House:
Yes, and also why you were pregnant.  And the hickies.  And the carpet
burn.

Sarah:
I had sex in my sleep?

House:
Sexsomnia is a documented disorder.  You said your ex lives downstairs –

Sarah:
I’ll kill him.

House:
Okay, but he probably didn’t know that you were asleep.  Sexsomniacs can
act pretty normal.  I’m going to write you a prescription for a low-dose
antidepressant.  It’ll let you sleep better.  If you want to save yourself the
$15 co-pay, you can have sex while you’re awake.

Sarah:
He’s my ex, I –

House:
You live in the same building, you haven’t had sex with anyone else for a
year, you sleepwalk right into his arms.  Call me crazy, but I’m sensing
unresolved issues.

The Breakdown:

The first step to breaking down/analyzing a scene is to read it.  I am stating the obvious (and if it’s not obvious to you, I’m worried), but I’d like to remind you that you need to read the scene, not just skim over it, or only read your lines.  The other character(s)’s lines provide crucial information, don’t skip or skim them.  I actually read the scene I selected three times before I started in on the analysis.  This may be overkill, but I’m doing this for the first time.  Margie Haber combines reading the script the first time with her step of analysis.  I believe that in the future I will tend to start the analysis on the first read for short scripts – a scene or two, but I imagine I will be reading longer scripts through once before I get too deep in analysis.

So, following Margie Haber’s ten step scene analysis process (I am breaking down the part of Sarah):

Step 1. Relationships

What’s going for my character in relation to the scene?

I want this doctor to help me.  I’ve got some weird illness and I keep getting new strange symptoms.  I don’t want to admit that there is still stuff between me and my ex-boyfriend.

What’s my relationship with the other main character and how do I feel about them?

He’s a doctor who has been assigned to me randomly – this is a walk in clinic.  I don’t know him very well, but he’s bossy, frustrating, and smug.  He thinks I’m lying, but he can’t possibly be right about what’s going on with me.  I want to show him up.  Prove that I’m not lying.

Are there other characters mentioned in the scene?  How to I feel about them?

I mention my ex-boyfriend.  On the surface I want him out of my life, I want him to stop bugging me and leave me alone.  Deeper down, I seem to have other things going on.  I am sleepwalking right into his arms.  I am not entirely ready to let our relationship go.

Step 2. Intention

What is my overall intention in the scene?

To get my mystery illness treated.

What do I want from the other character?  What is my action verb?  What are my opposing adjectives?

I want to force this aggravating but weirdly helpful doctor to help me without exposing me to the unresolved ex-boyfriend stuff I’m repressing.

What are my obstacles in the scene?

My refusal to acknowledge the unresolved stuff between me and ex-boyfriend.

What is my key phrase?

“He’s my ex, I –”

Step 3. History

What is my character’s background?

She’s a young adult, middle class.  She works as a waitress because she enjoys it and one day she hopes to open her own restaurant.  She likes to go out and have fun, she’s social but she doesn’t have a lot of close friends.

What is the history of my relationships?

I barely know House and I want to trust him because he’s a doctor, but I don’t want to believe what he is telling me.  House is forcing me to acknowledge and deal with at least the fact of unresolved stuff between me and my ex-boyfriend.  I tell myself that I want to move on, but it’s been over a year and now I’m sleepwalking into my ex’s arms.  We used to have a lot of fun together and the sex was really intense.  But we fought a lot and he didn’t support me in my dreams.  I didn’t see how this relationship was going anywhere so I called it off.

What is the history of the times?

It’s modern day times.  So Sarah showing House the “rash” on her butt isn’t a really big deal.  In fact, she’s a bit triumphant showing it because she believes that it proves she isn’t lying.

Step 4. Personalization

If I were the character in this situation, how would I feel?

If I were Sarah I would be frustrated with House and even more frustrated with my ex.  I would feel angry about the whole situation with my ex and angry at myself because I haven’t moved on.

What images and sensory work can I use to connect me to my character’s feelings?

I can recreate my last confrontation with my ex.  He stops me on my way up to my apartment.  Telling me he wants to get back together and he’s sick of all the mixed messages.  I’m tired from a long day at work and I’m trying to get my groceries upstairs.  I keep telling him that I just want him out of my life.  We both need to move on, but he’s not listening and he’s blocking my way.  It’s really frustrating and I’m getting pissed.  The groceries are getting heavier.

How can I, the actor, relate to my character’s situation?

I had a period of time where I was going through unresolved issues with my ex.  The situation was a little different, but I definitely felt the frustration of trying to move on from a relationship that wouldn’t move on the way I wanted it to.  I’ve never been quite so in denial about my own attachments to a relationship I was trying to end, but I have tried to pretend I wasn’t feeling attracted to someone when I really was.

What feeling or event from my own life can I substitute for my character’s?

Note: this is question is for when you aren’t connecting directly with the character’s circumstances.  You find similar feelings or events to help bridge the emotional gap.  I am using the messy break up experience from my life.  It resonates closely with what Sarah is feeling.

If I have more time, what imaginary incidents can I create through my senses to help complete my character’s history?

I can hear us yelling at each other.  Our voices are echoing off the buildings as we walk up the stairs to our apartment building. My boyfriend is  mad because thinks I was flirting with a guy at the party we went to.  But I was just having fun.  It’s not like I went home with the guy.  I can feel my stomach churn as our voices get louder.  I’m sick of this so I yell at him that it’s over and I run past his door and up the stairs to my apartment slamming the door and deadbolting it behind me.

If I had lots of time I’d recreate a happy scene of us doing something fun like ice skating at the park, laughing in the chill coming off the ice.

Step 5. V.I.P.S. (Values, Intellect, Physical traits, Social status)

What are the similarities and differences between me and my character?

Step 6. Opening Beat

What occurs the moment before the scene begins?  What physical life can I bring to it?

This scene is a little bit tricky because it actually has two opening beats.  The beginning and then again after the “CUT TO”.  In the first one I am waiting in the exam room for House to bring me my results, I am feeling smug because I have new symptom to show him – it proves that I have some mystery illness.  I’m thinking “Hurry up, I want to show you that you’re wrong”.  In the second one House is about to show me the results from sleep lab.  I’m excited cause this is going to show me what’s wrong with me.  I’m thinking “Good, now we’ll just get this taken care of and I can get back to my life.”

Step 7. Units and Transitions

I have marked up my script with these, in the future I hope to scan the script in for this info.

Where in the scene do the changes occur that cause the focus to shift?

I marked two major focus shifts: One at the “CUT TO” and the other when Sarah says “He’s my ex, I –”

Are there any baby beats?

I marked three: 1. on Sarah’s line that starts “No, and I have a new symptom.”  2.  on Sarah’s line where she describes the situation with her ex just before the “CUT TO”.  3.  Sarah’s line “I’ll kill him.”

What different tactics can I use to get my intention met?

I start defiantly, move to longingly when I talk about missing sex.  Then it’s resignedly when I talk about waking up exhausted.  Looking at the results I start off questioningly, and move to passionately stating “I’ll kill him.”.  Finally, I say “He’s my ex, I –” reluctantly.

Step 8. Core and Masking

What are my character’s true feelings?  In what ways does my character mask their core?

My core is still very attracted to my ex and I’m not sure I want to move on.  I mask these doubts with denial and frustration.

What is my vulnerable moment?

My vulnerable moment is my key phrase “He’s my ex, I –”.  I am admitting, for the first time, that maybe there is something still going on there that I haven’t dealt with.  I am still trying to make excuses, but I’m starting to crack.

Step 9. Humor

Where is the lightness in the scene?

The lightness runs through out the scene.  Sarah’s intense denial butting up against House’s knowledge and acute insight.  In particular, Sarah’s line about missing having sex and her surprise to find out that she’s actually been having sex in her sleep.

Step 10. Moment to Moment

You’ve done all the work, now trust it.

So this is the part where you let go and have faith in the preparation you’ve done.  Woohoo!!

Final Thoughts

So, now I’ve been through this process once, wow!  Yay me.  Congrats on following me down the rabbit hole.  Overall, I really enjoyed doing this and I’m looking forward to picking my next scene (or possibly doing this one again, except breaking it down for House instead of Sarah ).  A couple of things I noticed in myself while going through this process:

Resistance

Mostly I flowed right through the process, but I did encounter some resistance in the areas of History, V.I.P.S., and Units & Transitions.  In the first two my resistance came from how limited the information we are actually given on Sarah is.  When I worked on the history of Sarah’s relationship with her ex that came quite easily, but who she was before and outside of that relationship required more effort on my part.  I was really making stuff up about her for her history and for her V.I.P.S. and while I know that’s my job as an actor, I definitely heard the “what if you’re doing it wrong?” voice in my head.  It wasn’t strong and I got over it, but it was there.  It’s the same voice that spoke up when I was working on the Units and Transitions.  This is my first time doing this and so I have not built up confidence in my choices yet.  Also, there is an element of subjectivity to these exercises.

I am not worried by these little bits of resistance.  They feel like the types of resistance that pops up when doing something new.  It was weak and easily pushed through, I expect that with practice this resistance will quickly subside.

Focus

I was able to focus on the task at hand, but I wanted to jump around a lot.  I would be working on one step and then I’d find myself considering possibilities for other steps.  I didn’t allow myself to jump around.  I went through the process step by step because it has been laid out in this order for a reason.  For now, I am going to trust the order of the steps.  Once I’ve gotten more comfortable with the process I may revisit the question of order if I find myself still inclined to jump between steps on whim.

And there you have it.  My first time breaking down a scene.  It was fun and informative, I can’t wait to do it again.  I will be breaking down another scene sometime this week.  I have to pick my scene and make a few choices as to how to improve the layout of these posts.   You’ll be seeing another breakdown soon.