The Theory Of Acting : How Do Actors Act?

Which is quite a clear illustration of the purpose or 'role' of stanislavskian actors. Stanislavski set out a way of preparing for a role so that the actor could fulfil his role of pure imitation. He started off by asking the actor to explore the character. He wanted to know what their objective was in each unit of action and what their super objective was. The super objective was the sum of all the units and their objectives.

Graduating from the Acting program courses is bittersweet and as it draws to a close there are a few things I want to reflect on regarding Acting in general as well as people who have made this experience worth every minute. This semester was a major growth spurt in terms of Acting, and I’ve worked to improve my confidence level and volume especially while working in “The Audition”. However, I still have some trouble really dropping myself into a moment or character without getting somewhat distracted or out of focus. I think in the long run this will get easier the more experience I have, and it mostly just requires more practice. I aim to keep in mind that an actor’s work is never done, and just like a person of any other profession, there’s always room for improvement.

Controlling performances both verbally and nonverbally can sway the audience into believing the actors view of a situation. Goffman’s concept of performance has two dimensions; for the most part the performance given is not one of deception but of truth and sincerity. “One finds that the performer can be fully taken in by his own act: he can be sincerely convinced that the impression of reality he stages is the real reality.” (Goffman 1959) This leads the author to believe that this is true for most of society, for the way in which people present themselves through their beliefs, actions and demeanour is who they believe they are. Secondly Goffman discusses the belief in a “cynical” performance in which an individual has no faith in their performance and no concern with the inclination of the audience, the performance is based on deception. A prime example of this is the salesperson that convinces a consumer to buy a defective or below average product to increase his sales figures. However in any performance given,

Therefor he believed it was important that all of the actors involved in the production to know and agree on the superobjective. The method of physical actions, This idea grew from Stanislavski's feeling that his actors were being overwhelmed by too much character and plot detail at an early stage of the rehearsal process. He believed this led them to try to hard, which resulted in physical and mental tension. In the last five years of his life Stanislavski explored a different approach to working on a production, in which the company began by telling the story of a play's plot through its main physical actions.

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.

Both authors examined the qualities of Brando’s acting that made his acting memorable. Neves investigated Brando’s acting style in the 1954 film On The Waterfront. Neves delved into how Brando’s method acting approach strengthened his role and focused on the psychological complexity Brando gave to the character. Whereas Krasner wrote about Brando’s role in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire and explored specific details in his acting technique, such as his usage of mumbling and his rebellious wardrobe choices. Neves’ points proved to be the strongest, with his extremely in-depth analysis and use of psychology to explain Brando’s character’s actions. In the future, historians could analyze how Brando’s acting improved and became more memorable as he became older. Altogether, there were many reasons for Brando’s memorability, as shown by Neves’ arguments that the method style enhanced his acting, and as shown in Krasner’s arguments that precise details in his acting made him memorable, and further information on his memorability could be gained by studying how his acting became better over time.

Sticking to the wall, she keeps her eyes on the ceiling to try and find any hidden security cameras like he had shown her before. Once she decides that it’s all clear, she makes her move; feet discreetly moving her down the hall. Teeth bite into her bottom lip as the nervousness racks her petite frame while her brain is swimming in a swamp of thoughts.

In 1931 there was three idealist named Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg. They were inspired to change the American theatre. The Group theatre was based on an ensemble approach to acting. It was first seen in Moscow Art Theatre. They mostly focus on the cast they believe that if they had a relationship off stage it would show on stage. Based on a Russian man named Constantin Stanislavsky, Lee Strasberg created “method acting”. Method acting is a series of physical exercises. This exercise is supposed to break a wall of the actor’s life on and off stage. Its first production of Group theatre was “The House of Connelly”. Then one day Clifford Odets wrote a play called “Awake and Sing” the group had finally got there voice. His

Stanislavsky wrote three novels that discuss his acting method; An Actor Prepares, Building a Character, and Creating a Role. These books are from the perspective of a

In acting or with guided imagery, transference in part, is communication between entities. Hagen (1991) emphasized the importance of imagination and application of transferences with the character. An actor increases their ability to be open to other actors because of a sensitivity of transference; creating a meaning in a story. An actor’s training can expose him or her to multiple realities which may enable one to gain greater awareness while in a guided imagery experience.

I believe this is one of the most effective ways of acting, but in modern cinema this techniques has often been described as “dangerous” to the actor’s mental health. This is because the actor creates a new character by using his own experiences and reawakens emotional trauma that is part of his own life, and not that of solely the character.

Constantin Stanislavski believed that it was essential for actors to inhabit authentic emotion on stage so the actors could draw upon feelings one may have experienced in their own lives, thus making the performance more real and truthful. Stanislavski then created the technique, method acting, to do exactly that. Not only can method acting be rewarding, there are psychological consequences as well. It is important to study method acting so actors can know the dangers and psychological effects it can create. It can also help scientists understand theory of mind; the ability to gain the mindset of another person. Another subject method acting can help with is emotional recall and the emotion regulation it takes to use

Method acting is often misinterpreted as an acting exercise where the actor “becomes” the character, and keeps the persona of that character until they have completed their work. This misguided thinking has been promoted by pop culture and even sometimes by actors themselves. The Lee Strasberg Film & Theatre Institute defines the Method as when “actors use their imagination, sense and emotion to conceive characters with unique and original behavior, creating performances grounded in the human truth of the moment.” This definition focuses more on the relationship between the actor and their character, rather than both being one and the same. Method acting is not a new idea. It is thought to have been considered an acting exercise for

‘When no words have been spoken, one is in a state of modesty which allows words to be born out of silence’ (Lecoq, 2009: p29). Acting without words is something we initially struggled with because as a performer we rely on our speech to convey stories and emotions. Yet when creating a physical theatre piece the best way to begin is without the voice and instead tell your stories with the body alone. To do this we turned to mime ‘American mime actors perform symbolic actions and express the feelings of their characters honestly through motivated movements they call form’ (Poetry of motion!, 2011) While working with this type of mime in rehearsals it is important to remember to not only convey what you’re are trying to say or story you are trying

Ever since I took drama classes in high school I felt that we always put on an act. A show almost, that we put out for the people we interact with daily. Erving Goffman, “Canadian-American Sociologist” (Encyclopedia In., 2017) also believed this, he compared social interactions to the theater, where individuals take a particular role. According to Goffman this “theatrical metaphor consists of a stage, actors, and an audience” (Crossman, 2014). It also consists of the onstage, backstage and offstage. These three stages show different behavior on a person.