Transcript Chapter 7

Chapter 7
The Art of Acting
What Shakespeare says about
Acting
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.”
As You Like It
“Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it
to you, trippingly on the tongue …. Nor do not say
the air too much with your hand … Suit the action
to the word, the word to the action …”
Hamlet
Training to be an Actor
The Body
 Dance
 Martial
arts
 Fencing
 Stage combat
 Circus techniques
 Yoga
 Tai Chi
Training the Actor
The Voice
 Breathing
techniques
 Vocal technique in pitch, volume and
resonance
 Dialects
 International Phonetic Alphabet
 Singing
Training the Actor
The Mind
 Memorization
skills
 Engaging with the imagination
 Levels of empathy
 Keen awareness of surroundings and others
 Ability to analyze and synthesize information
quickly
Acting Methods/Acting Teachers
Konstantin Stanislavsky
and the Moscow Art Theatre
Michael Chekhov
Lee Strasberg and
Stella Adler
Sanford Meisner
Konstantin Stanislavsky
1863 - 1938
“The fundamental aim
of our art is the creation
of this inner life of a
human spirit, and its
expression in an artistic
form.”
Stanislavsky in An Actor
Prepares
Tadashi Suzuki
“The desire to impart
the significance and the
reality of human
experience, from birth
to death,… must all be
conveyed. One way to
do so is through the
theatre …”
Suzuki, The Way of
Acting
Acting Techniques for Everyone
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For expressing emotions
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Outside/in
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Inside/out
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Technical approach
Emotional memory
For creating character
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Use of costumes or props
Ability to visualize imaginatively the world of the play
Acting Techniques for Everyone
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Empathy
Substitution
Use of imagery
Recall
Given circumstances
Magic if
Through-line actions
Characterization
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Given circumstances
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Their
Their
Their
Their
particular situation
specific problems
limitations
hopes
Superobjective
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What is this character’s main driving force?
What does he or she want?
What is the most important thing to this character?
Characterization
 Public
Image
 Personal
Image
Characterization
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Inner conflict
 Character flaw
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Motivation stated
in the positive
The Actor’s Working Life
Actor’s Equity Association
 Screen Actors Guild
 American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists
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Auditions
Open call – “cattle call”
 Cold Readings
 Improvisations
 Callback list
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Rehearsal to Performance
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Table work
Blocking rehearsals
General working
rehearsals
Special rehearsals
Off-book rehearsals
Run-throughs
Tech rehearsals
Dress rehearsals
Preview
Performance
Acting
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“With acting, you get to do things that are
normally illegal. There are no repercussions and
nobody doesn’t love you.”
David Duchovny, actor
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“When I found acting, I finally found a place
that accepted everybody and all their dreams.”
Kevin Spacey, actor