A Blog of Brad: Episode 1: The Phantom Girlfriend

A Blog dedicated to assignments in SAC 423 at the University of Michigan. I play Brad. Below you'll find some analysis of Brad by me...whose name is not Brad.

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Design Assignment

This is an important scene for a few reasons. Aside from the obvious answer that it's a the climax and a crucial moment for Natalie and Brad's relationship; from Brad's perspective, his realization that he actually loves Natalie comes off screen, in the scenes between the phone call and the event room scene. Because we don't get to see Brad's decision to keep Natalie away, he must convey a desperation at the beginning of this scene when he's trying to keep Natalie away. 

When Natalie first enters, he must balance casualness with an insistence to go get a drink that will save both he and Natalie heartbreak and humiliation. 

When approaching this scene, it's important for me not to fit into some archetype of male romantic leads. I can't be so shallow so as to fall into a label like remorseful or sad. I don't want him to feel just one emotion. Nobody does. There's a mix. There are complications and memories. Brad's remembering his moments with Natalie while struggling with the pressures of his job and his own morality. The challenge will be portraying this complexity without overacting. Obviously. 

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Design Assignment 3

1. First Date by the Bean (Asking Questions)

Main Event: Brad learns a bit more about Natalie, but also manages to schedule a second date with ease and smoothness (word?). 

Objective: Earn Natalie's trust by keeping the focus on her own likes and dislikes. This also provides Brad an opportunity to act as teacher (Showing the bean) and interviewer (asking questions). 

Obstacle: As he gets to know Natalie, their dates become less about doing a job and more about the two of them, as can so often happen when you're with someone a lot.

Spine: Nothing has really tested Brad's spine yet, but this scene lays the foundation for what will soon be testing and blurring the difference between job and love (SO MANY ANALOGIES). 

2. In front of Natalie's Apartment

Main Event: Natalie asks for a kiss. Brad does so, reluctantly and only on the cheek.

Objective: This seems to be the first actual manifestation of Brad's internal conflict over Natalie. So here, he is just trying to keep is distance and remain professional.

Obstacle: He likes Natalie! She's beautiful and funny and warm, easy to get along with. The kind of person you want to kiss on the cheek and more. So Brad has to hold himself back. Maybe it's not the most difficult, but the seed has been planted.

Spine: Brad is consistently struggling with this internal conflict. Now Natalie is forcing him to struggle with it externally as well. 

3. Pizza Place

Main Event: Finally, we learn something about Brad! Plus, he reveals the improv tickets, which are the first indication that maybe he knows something we don't.

Objective: Trust. Trust. Trust. Brad is slowly building a rapport with Natalie while also telling her a little about himself. Trust. Trust. Trust.

Obstacle: This scene is a "getting to know you" scene. The obstacle with Brad comes when he has to feign surprise over her doing improv. He obviously already knows about that.

Spine: These kinds of scenes are what the audience will look back on later and wonder if they were real or not. I believe they are. I believe Brad is active. So, as an active participant, how is he genuine while also being deceptive? Or is this not possible?

4. The Date

Main Event: Brad gets invited upstairs, Natalie kisses him, he kisses back and then they break.

Objective: Brad must keep it professional while justifying the entire job to himself. Not an easy task. 

Obstacle: Natalie. He's falling for her. As his feelings for her grow, his will to resist disintegrates away. 

Spine: This is the scene where his entire inner conflict manifests itself and we see the first glimpse of Brad giving in to his desires, into his emotions. It's incredibly valuable for me as an actor and for the audience because it forces us to consider where Brad stands in relation to Natalie at this point. Why would he be pulling back? For the audience that's a red flag. For us, it's explained. But more importantly, how does Natalie view it? Brad is struggling between self-control and love. 

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DESIGN ASSIGNMENT 2

The main events in each scene:

Natalie with the men (p.1-2): Natalie goes out with several different men and dumps them with rather sharp one-liners. Establishes the rules of her practice.

Natalie and Laura (3-4): Laura asks Natalie to dump Brad. Establishes who Brad is and what the stakes are.

Natalie, Jamie, and David (4-6): Introduction to Jamie and David, Natalie's support system. In this scene, we are introduced to Natalie's ex-boyfriend Kyle and she decides to take Laura's offer.

Natalie and Brad at the bar (7-end): The first meeting between the two. The main event comes when they sneak out the backdoor together.

Because Natalie is making the first move, Brad must react to her advances without seeming to "in the loop" about them. He knows she's playing him, so how can he make his movement seem spontaneous while still charming? At the same time, because a man is angry at Natalie, it provides Brad with the perfect opportunity to play the hero, per se, and whisk Natalie away, out of the restaurant and to safety. This kind of masculine heroism may provide Brad with a realism to the situation that returns later in his actual feelings for Natalie. 

His objective in this scene is engrained in his reactions to her. Through his reactions - questions, body language, facial expressions, tone - Brad must convey his interest while also retained his nonchalance: all to gain Natalie's initial trust. He's supposed to be "perfect," which doesn't mean flawless, just perfect in the sense that he "seems" perfect.

Of course, Natalie is on a job though. That division between the two prevents any real connection, and will continue to plague Brad throughout the entire film as he struggles between doing his own job and being a good, honest person. This is the first scene that Brad grapples with the question, "When you are trying to seem like a good guy around Natalie, does that mean you're not actually a good guy?" Because Brad is, at his heart, a good person, this scene and all ensuing scenes when he is playing a part, really test his spine and challenge his ability to separate love from his work. 

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Brad and Natalie...

[jimothyandpamela]

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Woa conflicted!

[otakumusician]

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University of Michigan SAC 423Design Assignment: 

This scene of “The Office,” along with the preceding few minutes provide me with a fairly poignant example of how I picture Brad treating Natalie and how Natalie might react to Brad - especially from pages 43-47, namely the drunk portions. As for Brad specifically, I think it would be naïve to say that he never shows even the tiniest glimpse of remorse or hesitation before his actual backstory is revealed. Because Natalie has entire scenes (as the script stands now) to vocalize and display her ethical back-and-forth, perhaps it would be necessary for Brad to demonstrate a similar indecisiveness? After all, the final scene asserts that it “stopped being a job” for Brad the night he met Natalie. 

IF we were to go that route and observe Brad’s regret through reaction shots, we might use the techniques seen in this episode of “The Office” from 16:39 - 18:10. When a drunk Pam kisses Jim, he doesn’t react positively - despite the fact that he is in love with her - or so we later discover/can pretty easily ascertain from previous episodes. Just so, any progress made with Natalie is, to Brad, superficial. After all, he knows how their story is supposed to end. So this begs the question: How much can Brad endure? How easily can he compartmentalize his relationship with Natalie as a job, not a real relationship. 

One then might ask, “Alex! Why does Brad care? Doesn’t Natalie change him?”

To the latter, I say, “yes, of course. Don’t ask stupid questions.” To the former, I offer to you that Brad is unsatisfied with his current position, in life that is. He doesn’t like working with Laura or Glenda or any of his other employees. He doesn’t like the tricks or lies. 

I like to think Brad aspired to be a journalist with integrity, but along the way found himself as a junior producer in charge of vapid, fame-hungry reporters. Ironically though, Natalie works for just the magazine that you think would grow these soulless, parasitic tabloid generators. But Brad’s surprised to find how wonderfully “strange” Natalie is. Her oddities, mannerisms, and, well, awesomeness erode away Brad’s pretense and eventually do cause a substantial change in his character. He no longer has to “play the game” with his reporters, namely Laura. He chooses love over work (how nice) - which seems to be the decision that clarifies exactly where Brad’s backbone is. 

Other inspirations (not posted here) for Brad’s character might include Matthew McConaughey’s performance in “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days” and certain aspects Anton Yelchin’s performance in “Like Crazy.” 

This has been the first episode of Brad’s Blogs. Tune in next week for something completely different, but equally aimless.