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As an acting student, what should I learn?

What are the things acting students should be learning? The simple answer is to learn the things that make acclaimed and award-winning actors great. If you look at the performances of these actors, you’ll find a consensus of skills, traits, and behaviors. They know how to make and carry out dramatic choices with imagination, clarity, and purpose. The choices, which support the dramatic equations, propel the story to its greatest potential and create the desired illusion in the mind of the audience. Analyzing these acclaimed performances, one sees that certain elements dominate the craft. The following topics cover the most applicable elements of interpretation. There are, of course, many others, but these are the main stepping stones to greatness.

First is the ability to represent the character’s thoughts and feelings, what happens within the mind and body. This ability is transmitted primarily through the eyes, then through facial expressions, physiological features, and lastly through dialogue. Where the eyes look determines the area of ​​concern, whether it be a comfort zone, a problem, a memory, or a connection to another person. Another zone is the avoidance zone and is used when fearful or reluctant subjects arise. These areas clarify the character’s thoughts and feelings by placing them into departments.

Next is the ability to express simple behaviors such as awareness, interest, reflections, realizations, expectations, and pondering of options, when reaching a decision point. These simple behaviors are often overlooked, but they are the very essence of building believable characters. They are also difficult to assimilate, since the actor must go through the process of thinking, feeling, acting. It requires the actor to listen and react to what is actually happening within the scene. When practiced in isolation, these behaviors become easier to perform instinctively in a scene.

Dialogue delivery is a stumbling block for many actors, as they focus on the obvious: projection, articulation, and phrasing. These traits can follow public speaking, but to display the dramatic aspects, other elements must be considered. Pauses, tempo or rhythm, emphasis, dynamics, and contrast are other facets that give dialogue its dramatic appeal. In a great performance, the delivery of the dialogue portrays the thoughts and feelings of the character. He pauses to consider, stumbles into indecision, moves quickly into emotion, shouts in anger, and finds contrast and variety in the character’s shifting moods. Another aspect is time; the time it takes for the audience to fully engage in the joke set-up, or the time it takes to stretch the suspense to its optimal level.

A lack of memorization skills prevents many actors from reaching their true potential. They spend countless hours trying to remember the lines, thus leaving little time to practice skills that would improve their craft. Association, organization, reinforcement, and definition of learning aptitude are major memory considerations. The association takes what we know and connects it with what we want to remember. The more outrageous the association, the better the connection. Also, by noting this association in the script, you reinforced it. Organization refers to connecting sections of the scene to known compartments, such as rooms in a house.

Each of us has greater learning aptitudes. Some people learn better visually, others verbally. Some remember by seeing the lines, others by hearing them. A device slides a card across the page and calls out the lines that are visually covered. Another device is to use a tape recorder and whisper your lines while speaking the other person’s lines. On playback, this device becomes your performance partner and promotes greater participation in the scene. These memory techniques should also be applied to dramatic choices, blocks, and key business on stage. Memory skills require active exercise and practice to stay proficient.

Selecting the objective and emotion of the character is a fundamental part of the storytelling process. What each character wants and feels moves the whole story forward. These options are solved by reading the complete work and comparing them with what your partner chooses. Opposition is encouraged in both options. The strongest picks often have a selfish bias, as survival is our number one goal. In many scenes, something will happen that will change these options, and as such, new ones will have to be selected. Once again, the opposition may be necessary. Typical examples of objectives are: “Save myself. Win the case. Teach him a lesson.” Emotions are feelings so strong that they can change the character’s life and sometimes the direction of the story. Emotions can be played out in the open, suppressed, or anywhere in between. They can be implemented through sensory memory, emotional conditioning associated with the name of the emotion, and through mechanical actuation. Each of these methods has its time and place.

Not all performances are done the same. The genre of the presentation often dictates the performance style. Style is the selection and arrangement of elements and acting qualities to represent the dramatic truth, the purpose of the play. These elements include the degree of Reality (realistic to absurd), Dominant Dramatic Flow (informative or emotional), Tempo or Pace (speed at which interesting story materials are delivered), and Timing (subtle and loose to precise and calculated). .

The selection of intentions and emotions also depends on the acting style. In Drama, for example, intentions tend to be very dignified, meaningful, and motivated, but not always readable, and sometimes unfold slowly, drawing the audience into deeper engagement. Therefore, there is more subtext than text. In Comedy, the intentions are usually significant, but they are pursued with considerable vigor and enthusiasm. They are simplistic, apparent, and played externally. Emotions in comedy tend to be transparent, while in drama they are more independent. Another style factor is the desired audience response. In Suspense, it’s about creating uncertainty (a pleasurable pain) of almost unbearable tension as the audience seeks to solve a dramatic puzzle, while joining the characters anticipating success/failure and telling the consequences. In Farce, the desired response is to surprise the audience in a humorous way through recognizable characters in a panic, through their self-discovery, anguish, facades and ideas.

Researching, learning and mastering these topics are the main stepping stones to becoming a professional actor. Later articles cover these topics in more detail.