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Getting Your Character's GOTE: Goal Lives The Life The Goal Should Be Specific!

Getting Your Character's GOTE outlines the four basic principles of developing a character: Goal - the character's main objective or quest, which should be specific like "keeping Frederic in the pirate band." Other/Obstacle - the other characters who make achieving goals difficult and create conflict, usually the chief obstacle. Tactics - the character's means of pursuing their goal, which can be threatening, inducing, or a mix to flexibly overcome obstacles. Expectation - gives the character passion and confidence that they will achieve their goal, even if mistaken, to define characters who refuse to lose.

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Javier Valdez (SELFMADE RENEGADE)
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64 views2 pages

Getting Your Character's GOTE: Goal Lives The Life The Goal Should Be Specific!

Getting Your Character's GOTE outlines the four basic principles of developing a character: Goal - the character's main objective or quest, which should be specific like "keeping Frederic in the pirate band." Other/Obstacle - the other characters who make achieving goals difficult and create conflict, usually the chief obstacle. Tactics - the character's means of pursuing their goal, which can be threatening, inducing, or a mix to flexibly overcome obstacles. Expectation - gives the character passion and confidence that they will achieve their goal, even if mistaken, to define characters who refuse to lose.

Uploaded by

Javier Valdez (SELFMADE RENEGADE)
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Getting Your Character’s GOTE

GOTE is the acronym that stands for the four basic principles of approaching an
acting assignment and developing a character.

Goal – otherwise known as objective, “what am I fighting for?,” intention, action, purpose.
It’s the character’s principal quest. The actor lives the life of the character by vigorously
pursuing the character’s goal. The goal should be specific! For instance, Joe Bloggs is
playing the role of the Pirate King in “Pirates.” Instead of Joe stating his goal as “I want to
have a good bunch of swabbies and putter about on the seven seas,” Joe needs to be more
specific by identifying his goal as something like “I want to come up with a plan that will
keep Frederic a member of our pirate band until my dying day.” To help you identify your
goal or action, ask “What do I want the other person(s) on stage with me to do, feel, or
understand?” Then ask, “To what end?” The goal should be active, not emotional. For
example, “to be loved” lacks specificity and action.

Other or Obstacle – the other is the person or persons with whom, for whom, or from who
you seek your goal. There is always an other in acting; you can’t achieve a goal by yourself.
In drama, all the victories must be hard-earned and must be achieved through interpersonal
struggle. The other in a scene is what makes achieving goals difficult. Often the other is
your chief obstacle. The struggle to overcome obstacles and achieve the goal is CONFLICT!
Conflict creates much of the dynamics of acting. The struggle should make you sweat!

Tactics – the character’s means of trying to achieve goals; they give acting it’s “guts.”
Trying to achieve goals through tactics makes acting real to the actors and makes actors
indistinguishable from characters. They are the actor’s own; they come out of the actor’s
life experience, not out of the script.
They can be divided into two types:
• Threatening – commanding and forceful
• Inducing – magnetic and charming

They can be divided into ranges


• Extreme range – where the climaxes occur
• Broad, middle range – where you will play most of your stage life and where humanity
plays much of its human life!

In using tactics, the idea is to be able to move back and forth flexibly between
threatening and inducing tactics.

Expectation – gives excitement, enthusiasm, and energy to the dramatic pursuit of goals
and the quest for victory. It creates characters who, deep in their hearts, are sure (even
mistakenly sure) that they will win in the end. They define characters who have not only
wants, but passions. They refuse to be losers, even if textually they know they don’t
achieve their goals.
GOTEsheet

I. Study the script! Read the ENTIRE play first!

A. Basic information about the character


1. Name
2. Sex
3. Age
4. Educational Level
5. Economic/social status

II. Use your imagination! Often the play is silent about matters crucial to the
character.

A. Goal:
a. What do I really want?
b. When do I want it?
c. What am I fighting for?
d. What do I want the other person to do, feel, or understand?

B. Obstacle/ Other:
1. Who holds the key to preventing or allowing me to get my goal? From
whom or what (in the play) do I want it? Who is/are the other person(s)
who affect my gaining it?
2. How can they help me?
3. How can they hurt me?
4. What are my deepest fears?

C. Tactics
1. How can I get it?
2. How (and whom) can I threaten?
3. How (and whom) can I induce?
4. How can I overcome the obstacle they pose?

D. Expectation
1. Why do I expect to get it?
2. Why does it excite me?
3. What will I do when I get it?

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