Walter White Teaches Us Branding 101
A continuation from Kevin Hart’s Lesson.
There are no new plots. There are only new ways for people to negotiate and create relationships. — George Bernard Shaw
All the plotlines have been told from time in remembrance. Nothing new. Joseph Campbell proved this to be true with his life’s work — The Hero’s Journey.
But how we create and negotiate those relationships will be unique to each of us. We are drawn to stories not because of plot, but because we are wired to watch how characters navigate through relationships.
Robert Mckee, the screenplay guru, breaks down the relationship dynamics of different mediums.
- Novel is the dramatization of inner conflict.
- Theater is the dramatization of personal conflict. A great play is pure dialogue, 80 percent is for the ear and 20 percent for the eye. Nonverbal communication — gestures, looks, lovemaking, fighting — is important, but, by and large, personal conflicts evolve for better or worse through talk.
- Cinema is the dramatization of extra-personal conflict. Humans wrapped in their society and environment. Nonverbal communication is essential. Film best expresses itself visually rather than through dialogue.
You can look at these platforms as writing, audio and video. The backbone of any platform is still relationships albeit expressed in varied ways.
I have studied Acting under the Ivanna Chubbuck Method. I never attended her Los Angeles School, but my mentor is a certified instructor. He’s the most prominent acting teacher here in the Philippines.
Everything I’ve learned about acting is in the book Power of the Actor.
I tried to read the classic Konstantin Stanislavski books, but they were inaccessible. It was poorly written, or it may have been due to the translation. Most of the Acting teachers have a semblance of Stanislavski’s teachings.
Ivanna’s book is easy to digest. It’s conversational, and it is filled with stories from her experience as a coach. She has coached countless of Hollywood actors. Some of the most notable clients she had are — Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey, Charlize Theron, Halle Berry and Jared Leto.
In Halle Berry’s monumental role in Monster’s Ball, Ivanna helped crafting the character. Halle won an Academy Award for this role. In her acceptance speech, she thanked Ivanna for the work they’ve done.
Ivanna helped her prepare for the role of Leticia. She’s a Southern Black Girl who experiences racism, misfortune, and misery. Leticia husband dies on death row, her son in a car accident and then loses her job.
Halle was insisting that she should research and visit the South. She wanted to interview a woman who has experienced this kind of misfortune. She wanted to work on the physicality of the character — how Leticia would talk and move.
Ivanna acknowledged the importance of the external physical movement but she was missing the point.
You can only go so far from this kind of preparation. Anyone can do that. No amount of accent or physicality would suffice if you can’t connect with your character in a deep level.
You don’t need to interview people from the south, you need to introspect.
What will be unique to you and Leticia is your commonality of pain with her.
Find a time in when life has given up on you. When your pain and agony feels like it’ll never end. Find that in your life.
(I’m paraphrasing)
We will never know what it feels like to be a drug kingpin, a knight, a wizard, or a taxi driver.
But time and time again we have rooted for these characters — Walter White, Jon Snow, Harry Potter and Travis Bickle.
We root for them because we can resonate with their pain.
We watch, on the edge of our seats, because we see them use this pain to achieve a goal. We cheer for them.
Walter White is a complex character. In the finale of Breaking Bad, Walter reveals his reason for becoming a drug kingpin.
I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. I was alive.
In his terminal cancer diagnosis, he realised that he was drifting in life. Upon seeing that death is imminent, he decided to take the bull by its horns and live life to the fullest. He finds his life’s work and went all in.
Walter is a dead man walking — much like you and me. The pain of not fulfilling our true potential is universal. We can resonate with that. This is where we start cheering Walter in his journey. We are living our life through him when we watch another episode. We root for him to obtain power.
Life became less black and white when I began acting. It was not good vs evil. I saw life in myriad shades of grey.
I’m not saying to go out and make drugs or kill people. I hope you get the point.
People resonate with us when we show them our pain. But pain is not the end goal. We use pain to achieve a goal. And this goal leads us to the most important tool in acting — Overall Objective (OO). For simplicity’s sake, let’s call this bliss. (coined by Campbell)
Bliss should be primal and caveman-like.
- To find love
- To get power
- To survive
- To protect my family
That’s about it. Nothing fancy.
In real life, we want all those things — power, love and survival.
But focus on one primal need to make your brand complex. If ever you choose love, it will be so intricate it will take a lifetime to discover.
Walter White wants power, Jon Snow wants to protect his family, and Travis Bickle wants love.
In the development of your personal brand, be clear on what it is that you want. Are you looking for love, validation, power or survival?
Where is this coming from? Identify a commonality of pain that people will resonate with.
I have guided hundreds of actors find theirs. I have coached kids, teenagers, and adults. If you look hard enough and be willing to open up your emotional life — you will find it. It is time to uncloak your armor.
Stop telling your story like you are an omniscient being. You are not. We are all broken inside. But that is what makes us unique and colorful.
Own it.
Use that pain as fuel to finding your bliss.
