Continuing with Image Trickle Down

~ PART 7 of the Series: ReV up Your Improv Scenes ~

As promised, let’s get to the details of the tools described in the previous post.

Image Trickle Down is a simple method of going one or two steps down the association track to further define or refine the visual. If asked "what image do you see?" and the answer is "a fireplace," a number of progressive questions could be asked and answered.
Now, the initial image of "fireplace" might be more than enough to go on, and the improviser could now incorporate (reveal) a fireplace into the scene. Sometimes the initial image is not so defined or is quite large - a parking garage. That's simply an image that came into my head at that moment. If our scene is just starting - perhaps that's where the scene might take place. But if I desired to go a little deeper for an image, I would just ask - "what do you see in the garage?"
Again, I guarantee there will be a follow up image or visual from this. It can be anything - I see a car (or truck, or elevator, or painted lines, or someone dropping their car keys, or I hear a car alarm).

Perhaps the follow up image is the ticket booth at the exit or the arm that goes up and down.

All this imagery is wonderful and any single piece can be fodder for your next reveal. Whatever is seen can be used as the next (or first) reveal into a scene. If you want - go one more level of visual association. I see a parking garage - I now see a Mercedes Benz in that parking garage - I now see the shiny Armor-alled dashboard in the Mercedez. Suppose I take the image of a bottle of Armor-all and that is what I reveal into the scene? It took me but a moment to get to that image, and I certainly wouldn't expect that I might have just come up with a bottle of Armor-all as my initial visual image - but it doesn't matter. All I'm after is something. It doesn't matter what it is. It just matters that I grab something from my brain. With this exercise, I guarantee you will never be at a loss for something - an image - an idea. You will never be stopped with the excuse "I couldn't think of anything." Once you start on this path, it's even easier to visualize more things to help you creatively populate your new environment. You'll never be out of ideas. Image Trickle Down says - see something. Use that or use the next associated image - or the next. Who knows how many levels you could go?

Of course, in order to get a scene going, you want this to be quick, but as you get better at training your creative mind to work in such a way, all this associating will become second nature - even imperceptible to you or the audience and happen within a tiny fraction of a second - but will guarantee a host of ideas will be right there waiting for you whenever you need them.

Plus, when you combine the offerings of your partner as jumping off points, the possibilities are truly endless. That's why we do those exercises in rehearsal and improv class. Word association, rapid fire lists of seemingly disparate things, orchestrated story, tag team monolog, spontaneous generation rant, etc. Taking new and fresh images and quickly turning them into your own and zooming forward from there. They turn your brain into a Niagra Falls of creative ideas.