Evaluation Of The Stanislavski System

A very important aspect to Stanislavski's methods was subtext. He really wanted actors to pick up the underlying text of the dialogue being said. He wanted the actors to not say the subtext but show it through body movements, pauses in speech, gestures, etc. This is what was the main element for speaking to the audience, the subtext was something the audience could not read, it was something they had to pick up from viewing. In Chekhov's plays silence was one of the main forms of subtext, as it would enrich the scene. This also builds a connection with the audience because the subtext is almost as if there is a secret between the audience and the character and no else knows it but them. Thus heightening the audience's interest in the

The Given Circumstances and the Magic If in the Stanislavski System One of the most fundamental principles of the Stanislavski system is that an actor must always strive to achieve a sense of psychological and inner truth. They must have a clear understanding of the internal thoughts and emotions of their character, so that they are able to think and act as the character would to any given situation. He also believed that all action on stage should be done with a purpose, and that an actor must be aware of the motivations of the character and their overall objective with in a play, in order to make a performance as truthful and believable as possible: "All action in theatre must have inner

www.skillsforlife.co.uk also believe that a negative side to this is that not all professionals have time to learn about this and also a lot of the time our emotions, facial expressions and body language is sub-conscious and not controlled.

Over the past three months I learned how actors explore and use the human body to speak to their audience. As a class and individually, we observed how the slightest body movement changes the entire meaning of the line that is being delivered. Being able to control one’s breath greatly affect the text a perfect examples are productions from Shakespearean times or most Greek text. One Greek tragedy comes to mind that is. There are several examples of how the cast voice and body movement changes the entire meaning of the line that is being delivered. One method that was used in Antigone is called the breathing power.

Expression is universal. The majority of all people can interpret exasperated sighs, wide eyes, loud voices, clapping, etc. Even when characters are not physically speaking, movies emit numerous messages through actor portrayal. Audiences visually experience characters’ physical reactions which are not included in books. The actors’ individual portrayals of characters in Michael Hoffman’s 1999 film, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, enhance the extreme personalities of characters already established in William Shakespeare’s play.

In his book Sanford Meisner On Acting, Meisner teaches students in his class the techniques needed in acting. The book is written in a way that is enjoyable to the reader because it is written in third person, where an observer writes about what occurred in the class among Meisner and his students. In the book, Meisner teaches the students about the importance of being genuine; they should stop pretending and they should stop being polite. They should rather just do what feels genuine to them. I liked that the book was written based on observed experiences and not just laying down the acting techniques for readers to follow. By reading about the experiences, I felt as though I was in the class with Meisner and this enabled me to understand the techniques better.

It was Stanislavski’s and Strasberg's intent to make method the staple of acting. The method has single handedly elevated some of the greatest performances in history. It helped actors go from superb to immense. Robert De Nero is a method actor. Many will say De Nero had the greatest acting performance of all time in the movie “Raging Bull” in 1981. His performance changed his career and also won him an academy award that year. De Nero would go on to have a hall of fame type career and in many ways the method had a big part to play in it. As much upside there is to method acting there is a dark side to it as well. There is a danger in that emotional connection that many actors feared could be catastrophic. A prime example was an actor by the

Because I’m usually immersed in web stuff, it’s interesting to read a text whose ideas are still relevant to its target profession 70 years on. It was mostly a more enjoyable read than I expected — it’s written as if by a student of acting, reporting on a year of training. It makes clear how much more there can be to acting than just “pretending to be someone else”. Unfortunately I kind of lost it around two-thirds of the way through, when he starts talking about transmitting “rays” to each other, and things get a bit hazy and repetitive. Maybe that stuff makes more sense when the preceding chapters have been properly absorbed and used. (Also see my notes on Sanford Meisner on Acting and Uta

When individuals become self absorbed in his/her actions, it is evident one will become unaware of how they are behaving. . A primary of example of this is when Bottom emphasizes how excellent his acting skills are. He often only thinks of himself and believes that he is more superior then his peers. For instance when they receive their rolls for the play, bottom makes a scene. "That will ask some tears in the true preforming of it; If I do it let the audience look into their eyes.

2. According to Stanislavski, how does an actor find information about a character in a play?

evolved around using your imagination and bringing the script to life she has five basic

In theatre, performative somaesthetics is applied to the actor’s continued refinement of her craft; she improve her somatic movements with expressions that come with her own understanding building physical strength and integrity to their character. For instance, consciousness of breathing makes actors aware of their feelings as if they were angry, tense or anxious, and that may misdirect the performance in stage

When reading chapter 2, it discuss the methods of physical actions. A scientist named I.M. Schenov express that the body express what we are thinking and experiencing before we are aware of the body doing it. Stanislavski realized that an actor is equally dead as he does not express his thought and feelings physically. He expresses that it is impossible to understand a person or a character without understanding the person or a character’s thoughts and emotions first. It is impossible to build a character with just a body as thoughts and emotions are important to function an individual. The action of the body must be selected carefully on the basis of the play’s situation as the physical action is connect to the emotion that the actor must bring out of the character that he is playing. In theatre, words are an important element along with the gesture of the body. Human relationships is express by gesture, poses, glance and silence as words cannot be express everything. Gesture is express during the pause of the actor’s line or whole other people are speaking; it is what words cannot express. The gesture of an actor must be easily understood as the audience need to understand what the actor is telling them. The body and the emotion reflects on each other.

“I do not believe you.” These five words were used by Konstantin Stanislavsky in the late 1890’s in Soviet Russia to chastise an actor who was not convincing enough in his role. Although but a brief glimpse into the mind of Stanislavsky, the words help bring clarity to a technique and system that forever transformed the world of acting and drama.

actors we will lose all credibility. Actors are not just the people you see on the big screen, they are real humans that have to live everyday like we do. By persuading actors to use the method acting technique we are encouraging mental illness. Method acting has led to the death of the beloved actor, Heath Ledger. According to Mental Floss he prepared for his role in the Dark Knight by locking himself in an apartment in Paris. He kept a journal similar to the character's. He studied the mannerisms and slowly became insane. If he were preparing for the protagonist maybe it would of saved his life, but his role was the joker. Method acting is deadly and if you do not handle