Skills Development
Who is Stanislavski?
Konstantin Stanislavski was a renowned Russian actor and theatre director. He is best known for his work in developing the Stanislavski system, a groundbreaking approach to acting that emphasizes. Emotional truth and realistic portrayal of characters. His modern techniques have had a significant impact on modern acting and are still widely studied and practiced today. He was born on January 17th, 1863, in Moscow, Russia. Stanislavski came from a wealthy family an initially pursued a career in business. However, his passion for theatre led him to cofound the Moscow Art Theatre in 1898. Stanislavsky 's innovative approach to acting revolutionized the theatrical world. He believed in the importance of psychological realism and encouraged actors to deeply understand their characters, motivations and emotions. Stanislavski work laid the foundation for modern acting techniques and his influence can still be seen today.
The Stanivslaki method
The Stanivslaki method is a popular acting technique that focuses on emotional realism and character development. It is important for understanding and portraying complex emotions on stage and screen. This method helps actors by allowing them to deeply understand their characters and bring them to life with authentic emotion. It helps them connect with their characters on a personal level and create believable performances. It’s like stepping into the shoes of their character and experiencing their thoughts and feelings. It is also useful for directors as it allows them to understand the emotional journey of the characters and guide the actors in bringing out their best performances. This method is used to help actors delve deeper into their characters and create a cohesive portrayal.
In lesson we used this method in our work. We looked at the given circumstances (What is obvious about a character – Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?) and the 7 different steps to his method, which helped us create a more naturalistic piece. The first out of the seven steps were looking at who your character is. Then you would focus on where you are and what time it is. It is also important to see what your character wants and why your character wants that, but also how your character is going to get it. Finally, you want to look at the stakes. The stakes are what your character must give or to lose to get what they want. We thought about how the character was feeling and what emotions we wanted to portray to the audience. I chose to do an emotional scene so thinking about my characters given circumstances helped me to portray her in a more realistic way. Another thing we looked at today was emotional memory. We sat in a circle and talked about a time in our lives where we felt high emotion. This helped us connect to those feelings that we felt at that moment and allowed us to create a scene using those feelings. We notice that after using these feelings and using the emotional memory technique, we were able to create a more realistic performance. Using this technique, allowed me to embody my character. I was feeling emotions and I put myself into the characters surroundings. I thought about what my character really wants and how my character would get it. At certain moments, I pause to think about how my character feels. And what my character wants out of a particular situation. This help me have a more natural and relatable scene. Overall, I learnt that the Stanivslavski method is great for actors and directors to create a natural scene.
Character and actor preparation process’
Over the past few weeks, we have looked at various methods of naturalistic acting and how to prepare ourselves to play a character. Looking at our new script, ‘Unspoken Truths’, I will be playing the character of Adam and my scene partner will play Emma.
To prepare as the character of Adam and Emma, my scene partner and I have decided to focus on three different techniques: improvisation, repetition and using the scripted text as well as the Stanislavski method.
Through this method we think about our character. What do they want? How do they feel? Where are they? What will they need to give up to reach their goal? This gave us a starting point and allowed us to adapt to our surroundings as well as a character’s objectives. It links to emotional memory where we think of a time, we felt this feeling and convey it within our acting. This part played hand in hand with the Stanislavski method.
The repetition technique branches from the Meisner method. This is where behavioural changes and picked out between two scene partners and repeated. This technique allows you to become observant of your characters body and facial language as well as creating an easier route into improvisation by causing realistic emotions and setting stakes.
Improvisation allows you to use your imagination to see where the scene ends up. At first, I was quite unsure with this skill. I haven’t been great at using it before however I overcame this weakness by using the repetition exercise, which allowed me to get comfortable with my feelings which I was then able to portray through my own words. My partner and I work well with this skill now and we feel it lets us bond more. Bonding with your scene partner is extremely important because without doing that, your scene will feel very unnatural and dull.
Finally, we focus on the given scripted text. From improvisation, we can then switch into written dialogue. Here that means we don’t have to think about what to say but only how we say it and the emotions behind it. Luckily this would be covered from the previous exercises: repetition and the Stanislavski method.
Overall, I feel that these techniques work best for me as they allow me to create naturalistic and believable performances and helps me become the character.
In our mini B4 project, our brief was to create a 30 second commercial advertising a product for teachers. Some conventions we attempted to use were facial acting, music, a captivating storyline, humour, and call to action. I would say we successfully used these in our work. Using music helped to create mood and grab attention. The captivating storyline engaged viewers by creating an emotional connection with the audience. It also allowed us to communicate the message of the commercial in a fun way. One obstacle we came across was props. For example, one of our scenes were set in a bedroom which we did not have access to as we were filming in college. We made the most of our surroundings and asked permission to film in the sick bay where we used the bed to make it look a cosy and homelike bedroom. We included a call to action “more espresso, less depresso” making our commercial catchy and entertaining. Music played a huge part as its uplifting tempo was used to create a positive and memorable video. Based on the final product, I think we could’ve improved our use of conventions by researching into more. The more commercials we watch, the better our understanding would be, and it would allow us to use unique elements however I'd say that the dramatization and storyline was creative and appealing meaning it outshone any weaknesses we had.
Here is some verbatim work I did! click on the picture to see.
This week I studied the practitioner Uta Hagen. Uta was a German actress and acting teacher. She is known for her versatility in playing a range of characters within theatre and screen. Uta published 9 books, two of them being her key books: “Respect for acting” 1973 and “A challenge for the actor” 1991. Hagen then went on to founding her own acting studio, Herbert Berghof, named after her husband. I looked at Utas 9 questions – who am I? what time is it? Where am I? what surrounds me? What are the given circumstances? What are my relationships? What do I want? What is my obstacle? And how do I get what I want? Uta Hagen used these questions to connect with her characters and help bring in naturalism and realism.
During rehearsal of our given script, the first thing I did was analyse my character and the scene. I used Utas 9 questions to support me. The most effective question for me would be “what surrounds me?”. This helped me to envision my setting and let my physicality adapt according to the situation. I was able to relate any emotions I felt, to familiar emotions. By doing this I was able to connect and become my character.
Id say Uta Hagen's Techniques helped me immensely to improve my character development. I learnt new ways on how I could become so close to my character that I become it. I was able to release the feeling of the scene being scripted and I let my emotions flow. It led me to experiment with my physicality too, allowing me to feel free and open. I will definitely use Uta's 9 questions to prepare for a scene as the analysing and thinking outside the script helps me the most in becoming and understanding my character.
I also looked at another practitioner; Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was a German playwright, poet and theatre director. He is best known for developing the technique of ‘Epic Theatre’ which is used to provoke audience through critical analysis and self-reflection. This technique was created as a response to political climate. Brecht was a Marxist who was a supporter of Karl Marx and his theories. He wanted to make the audience think about their political view. Some of his notable plays are ‘Mother courage and her children’, ‘The threepenny opera’ and ‘The Caucasian chalk circle’.
One of the most effective acting exercises of Brecht I used in rehearsal was breaking the fourth wall. Our script consists of 3 characters who each have different objectives. By breaking the fourth wall we were able to give audience insight to how the character feels. This helped support the flow of the storyline and set the atmosphere for the scene. Another one of Brecht’s techniques I used was placards/signage. We incorporated this into our work by using signage to tell the audience the time, place and date. This allowed us to communicate with the audience and set the tone for the scene by describing the basics to them.
Bertolt Brecht’s techniques have helped improved my character development hugely. One of my favourite aspects of his work was the alienation effect. He would create an atmosphere where the audience would question what they were seeing in a striking and antagonistic way. He provoked audience through his plays, creating an immersive experience. Another aspect would be Gestus. This was movement demonstrating attitude; Brecht used this skill in a playful and objective way. I will adapt these aspects of his work into my future character development because as an actor, his skills allow me to connect with the audience on a unique level and communicate to them in a various way. Overall, his techniques help me become a better actor and create a better experience for the audience.
Lee Strasberg was a significant figure in American film and theatre. His main techniques involve method acting and emotional truth. Method acting is when an actor dives deep into their character using their own emotions. Strasberg became the artistic director of the actor’s studio in New York in 1951. He inspired famous actors such as Marylin Munroe, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. In 1974, he went on to earn an academy award for his role in “The Godfather Part II”.
In rehearsal, I found that Strasberg’s sense memory was most effective. Sense memory is when an actor draws upon memory of emotions from personal experiences which allow them to create a more genuine performance. My character Rose is a secretive yet caring friend, so I had to think of times where I had to lie to protects someone’s feelings so that my body would respond in that same way. I also did some improv with a random classmate – this allowed my body to react in a natural way and helped my acting flow as I didn’t have to “focus on the lines”. Lee Strasberg helped me to give a more naturalistic and genuine performance!
Strasberg’s technique helped support my character development greatly. Finding emotional truth and sense memory are my favourite elements that I will take away to use in the future. This is because through these skills, I was able to create an emotionally affective performance as well as creating tension. I’m excited to see where my new skills take me!
Suzanne shepherd was an American actress and acting teacher. She is hugely recognised in the acting industry and has contributed to the training of many actors. Her techniques emphasize the importance of understanding character and scene work. These include looking at character development, emotional truth, scene study, improvisation and voice and movement.
Shepherds’ technique of character development was interesting. She studied the progression of a character’s emotions and responses. This skill allowed me to familiarise myself with my character and supported me in becoming it. With my character Rose, I developed her character with the art of scene study with questions such as “what is her role in the story?” or “what is her relationship with the other characters?”. These questions helped me to understand her perks which helped me to create a matching response by recognising what surrounds her. Another of my favourite techniques of Shepherds was voice and movement. This was where you manipulate factors such as your pitch tone, volume and body language to embody a character. This helped me to not only be my character mentally, but also physically.
In future character developments, I will use Suzanne’s technique of scene study. This was the most effective skill for me as it heled me immensely to study my surrounding. The skill allowed me to enter my characters world and react accordingly. I will definitely be incorporating Shepherd’s techniques into my work!