After knowing the concept of a good action, is time to pick the best action for a scene.
tree questions need to be answered for this
1. What is the character literally doing?
2. What is the essential action of what the character is doing in this scene?
3. What is that action like to me? It’s as if…
We have been given in class a scene that we shared with a partner.
I got the scene 3 from the play "Boys' life" and my character is Maggie.
I met with my partner already and discussed about all these questions and what we answered.
We together, analyzed the characters so we know we are on the same page.
We both concluded that Maggie's intentions are:
- she is tired of her asshole boyfriend
-she does not want to talk to anybody until Jack finally catches her attention
-she finds in Jack a person who she could rely on, he is so different from her boyfriend
-she ends up liking him and want Jack to seduce her so they could meet again.
Eventually Maggie and Jack will meet again.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
1) The Physical Action of Acting
"A Practical Handbook for the Actor" is a great book that we are using for this class. It tells you exactly the steps you should follow for actors to comprehend the word "acting" and what that involves as a character and on a scene. offstage and onstage.
Chapter 1
When you are acting, you have to always have something specific to do on stage, otherwise you will stop acting.
So, is a must to define a good action for the actor to do well, this of course requires a lot of practice.
-For an actor to be able to choose a good action he/she must know that he/she is capable of getting it done, I mean physically capable. Only if we are talking about a science fiction movie, we humans are not capable of flying so it will be impossible for me to show an action of levitation in front of class. Not going too far, I could not be capable of doing ten push ups in a row, because I know my limit has always been seven, and i wont do anything to change this fact, Ive never been interested on working my upper body and thats okay.
-Also when actors pick the action, this has to be fun to do, I mean common sense would help, this is not about being funny or making people laugh, its has to do something you enjoy and are comfortable with doing. The language you use is important, the way you use it, its how others will get it onstage.
-This action has to be specific. That way you can be clear and others will get your point as well.
-This action has to be tested with the other person ,this way you know how close you are from completing the action. This also has to be more that telling a message, because this is not something that you could fail at. It has to be a true action that involves feedback from your partner.
-No physical or emotional states can be presupposed. If that happens it would be a lie. Always work looking forward to an end on stage, because even if you cant accomplish your action, you will know when to stop.
-To pick the action the actor has to understand what the playwright's intentions are, so this way this can be in line with it.
With this tools you will be able to analyze a scene and finally get to know what the other person in the scene is doing.
Chapter 1
When you are acting, you have to always have something specific to do on stage, otherwise you will stop acting.
So, is a must to define a good action for the actor to do well, this of course requires a lot of practice.
-For an actor to be able to choose a good action he/she must know that he/she is capable of getting it done, I mean physically capable. Only if we are talking about a science fiction movie, we humans are not capable of flying so it will be impossible for me to show an action of levitation in front of class. Not going too far, I could not be capable of doing ten push ups in a row, because I know my limit has always been seven, and i wont do anything to change this fact, Ive never been interested on working my upper body and thats okay.
-Also when actors pick the action, this has to be fun to do, I mean common sense would help, this is not about being funny or making people laugh, its has to do something you enjoy and are comfortable with doing. The language you use is important, the way you use it, its how others will get it onstage.
-This action has to be specific. That way you can be clear and others will get your point as well.
-This action has to be tested with the other person ,this way you know how close you are from completing the action. This also has to be more that telling a message, because this is not something that you could fail at. It has to be a true action that involves feedback from your partner.
-No physical or emotional states can be presupposed. If that happens it would be a lie. Always work looking forward to an end on stage, because even if you cant accomplish your action, you will know when to stop.
-To pick the action the actor has to understand what the playwright's intentions are, so this way this can be in line with it.
With this tools you will be able to analyze a scene and finally get to know what the other person in the scene is doing.
Friday, May 6, 2011
KNOCK-KNOCK who's there?
While students were asked to perform this exercise in class, I noticed several things.
Reactions are not the same in front of an audience. Some people are forced to react concerning what it would be the best way to do so. Like we don't want to look bad in front of others.
We tend to fake our reactions in front of people. I believe that if that situation would have happened to somebody for real, they would have reacted in different ways.
You don't ask somebody that nicely to stop bothering you when you are un the middle of something and they don't want to leave you alone.
This exercise permitted us to see ourselves in those kind of situations. Most of us don't have the patience to hear somebody's problems when we are about to do something important.
The purpose of this exercise I think it was for us to become less aware of the public we had. Instead of using scenes from plays or saying a monologue, we used everyday tasks that happen to us normally without even rehearse them. This would make us think less of how we should say things or do them, it is just us being ourselves in front of spectators, wether or not that make us act different, we learn from it.
Reactions are not the same in front of an audience. Some people are forced to react concerning what it would be the best way to do so. Like we don't want to look bad in front of others.
We tend to fake our reactions in front of people. I believe that if that situation would have happened to somebody for real, they would have reacted in different ways.
You don't ask somebody that nicely to stop bothering you when you are un the middle of something and they don't want to leave you alone.
This exercise permitted us to see ourselves in those kind of situations. Most of us don't have the patience to hear somebody's problems when we are about to do something important.
The purpose of this exercise I think it was for us to become less aware of the public we had. Instead of using scenes from plays or saying a monologue, we used everyday tasks that happen to us normally without even rehearse them. This would make us think less of how we should say things or do them, it is just us being ourselves in front of spectators, wether or not that make us act different, we learn from it.
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