The Improvised Movie

Show Format

History:
The Improvised Movie is a format created by legendary troupe The Family under the coaching of Del Close at iO in Chicago. 

Description:
After a section of elaborate scene painting, which establishes the plot of the ‘movie’ at the start, the improvisers make teh connections in real time to play out the story. 

The Improvised Movie is also part of The Three Mad Rituals show which consists of The Deconstruction, The Harold, and The Improvised Movie for a 90-minute show

Opening:
After the troupe procession to a major studio fanfare (20th Century Studios, Universal, etc.) the show then begins by asking an audience member for the lyrics to their favorite song or lines form a poem. 

Scene Painting Three Settings (around 5 minutes):
Using the lyrics as inspiration, one of the troupe members enters the stage area and begins to scene paint the first setting/location and the characters that inhabit this. The scene painting should be done by several troupe members who pick up immediately from where the prior one leaves off, with no gaps in the descriptions. 

Example:
George: 

Linda: 

The setting is painted in this order using film script descriptions as much as possible:

  1. Long Shot – this establishes the location. On a beach. In Manhattan. etc. As the narrators describe, members from the troupe should portray any physical objects that are being painted as well as play with any camera shots that are being described. 
  2. Medium Shot – gives the specific location where this scene is taking place: an office building, in a convtertable, etc.  Use improvisers as props, sets, etc to help paint the scene.
  3. Close Up – now you’ll paint a few characters who inhabit this space. None of the characters are talking at this point, just existing as described. We’ll come back to them later for their dialogue. 

Do this three times. The first time is your protagonist – the hero of this story – and their supporting cast. The second scene is your antagonist – they will oppose the protagonist at some point and are considered the villain of the story. The third setting that is painted will be whatever location or situation that brings the conflict together. It’s the glue of the story. 

Movie Title
At the end of the third round of scene painting, establish part of the set or other creative way to establish how the title of the movie is presented. 

“We see in the bowl of alphabet soup the title of the film is spelled out: ‘Nobody is Perfect’ and we fade to black…”

Play Out First Three Scenes
Return to the first scene that was created and let it play out, this time with full dialogue. Start with the original two or three characters, but new characters can also be introduced. For this round, go for relationships rather than laughs. You will probably get laughs, but don’t be jokey. Establish who you are to each other and how you feel. 

Cut to the second scene and do the same. Then the third scene. Breadcrumbs for how these three settings and sets of characters are related can be dropped along the way. 

THAT’S OUR SHOW!!!