Acting

Acting

1. Stage Acting

   • > Talent and training essential (sing/dance) > Everything wideshot > Rehearsals 3-4 weeks > Memorization skills required > Perform well each performance

2. Film Acting

   • > Photographic charisma/personality key > Often uses close-ups > Rehearsals few/none > Memorization not as important  > Allowed to fail - Takes and cuts

3. What Shakespeare Says About Acting

   • "Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue... Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand... Suit the action to the word, not the word to the action..." 

4. Acting in the Past

   • Thespis: considered first actor around 555 BC. > Women: appear in licensed, legitimate theaters during the restoration period (1662, during Charles II rein), but regarded as prostitutes. Some accepted into high society were mistresses of the King (ie. Nell Gwynn). > Not until later in the 18th/19th century were actors becoming more celebrated.

5. An Actor Must Have

   • > Talent > Good timing  > Desire  > "Thick skin" > Good imagination > Potential energy ("it" factor) > Strong power of observation > Emotional/intellectual commitment > Great concentration, focus, and discipline

6. Where to Train to be an Actor

   • Universities
     • (BA/BFA/MFA) degrees > NYC/LA/Chicago - Acting schools/studios - Conservatories >strive to become: - Triple threat: act, sing, and dance - Quadruple threat: act, sing, dance, and play an instrument
   • Training the Body
     • > Dance > Period styles movement > Fencing and stage combat  > Circus and gymnastics techniques  > Yoga > Martial arts/tai chi
   • Training the Mind
     • > Memorization skills > Imagination  > Levels of empathy > Keen awareness of surroundings and others > Analyze info. quickly
   • Training the Voice
     • > Breathing/relaxation techniques > Vocal technique in pitch, volume (projection), diction, and resonance > Dialects > IPA: international phonetic alphabet - pronounce get not git > Singing > Avoid vocal fry 

7. Konstantin Stanislavsky

   • 1863-1938 > Actor, Director, Co-founder of Moscow Art Theater in Russia > Involved in both stylized and non-realistic techniques and modern approaches to acting  > Stressed ensemble playing 
   • His Books
     • An actor prepares Building a character  Creating a role

8. Acting Methods Acting Teachers

   • Stella Adler
     • Conservatory of Acting (NYC)
   • Sanford Meisher
     • Neighborhood Playhouse (NYC)
   • Lee Strasberg
     • The Actor's Studio
   • Acting Techniques
     • > Gestural acting  > Concentration and observation  > Substitution > Imagery > Emotional recall > Sense memory > Magic "if"
     • Expressing Emotions
       • Outside-In: technical approach Inside-Out: emotional memory For creating character: use of props and costumes 
     • Characterization
       • > Given circumstances  > Super-objective (overall goal) > Objective (goal per scene) > Beat (a change in circumstance) > Public vs. Personal Image (how others see us vs. how we see ourselves) > Inner conflict  > Motivation (why we do what we do)
   • Acting Unions
     • AEA: Actors equity association  SAG: Screen actors guild AFTRA: American federation of television and radio artists  > Merged in 2012 SAG-AFTRA > Union vs. Non-union acting work

9. Stereotypes/Typecasting

   • > Ingenue- young female 18-25 > Juvenile- young male 18-25 > Young leading man/lady: >25-early 30s > Leading man/lady: older 30s-early 40s > Heavy: Villain  > Femme Fatale: female, sexual, dangerous > Straight or confidant: friendly, attentive, willing to help (ie. best friend roles)

10. Auditions

    • > Agents > Casting notices (EPA, chorus calls, open or "cattle calls") > Sides > Cold readings  > Prepared monologue > Improvisations > Sing/dance > callback list