new key terms and concepts Acting 121 Test * What do we call `characterization'? * What is `emotional recall'? * What do we need Floor Plan for? * How do we call the last past of any dramatic composition? * When was the Method Acting developed? acthome 2007 -- no grade 1st test @ google.com/groupacting2 aTest (classes directory) eTest page Overview of Acting One: test1 and exam (no grade hometake test, left) updates : 2007 * "test" page in each sub-directory! ... updates are at google.com/group/acting2 ... 2008 class [test] ROSENCRANTZ: ... Do you ever think of yourself as actually dead, lying in a box with a lid on it? GUIL: No. ROS: Nor do I, really.... It's silly to be depressed by it. I mean one thinks of it like being alive in a box, one keeps forgetting to take into account the fact that one is dead ... which should make a difference ... shouldn't it? I mean, you'd never know you were in a box, would you? It would be just like being asleep in a box. Not that I'd like to sleep in a box, mind you, not without any air - you'd wake up dead, for a start and then where would you be? Apart from inside a box. That's the bit I don't like, frankly. That's why I don't think of it.... (GUIL stirs restlessly, pulling his cloak round him.) Because you'd be helpless, wouldn't you? Stuffed in a box like that, I mean you'd be in there for ever. Even taking into account the fact that you're dead, really ... ask yourself, if I asked you straight off - I'm going to stuff you in this box now, would you rather be alive or dead? Naturally, you'd prefer to be alive. Life in a box is better than no life at all. I expect. You'd have a chance at least. You could lie there thinking - well, at least I'm not dead! In a minute someone's going to bang on the lid and tell me to come out. (Banging on the floor with his fists.) "Hey you, whatsyername! Come out of there!" GUIL (jumps up savagely): You don't have to flog it to death! [ analysis for acting2 ]

THR221 Intermediate Acting Spring 2007. Acting I Review (no grade test)

* Why do we often call Method Acting -- psychological realism?

* What is "master gesture"?

* What is "Actor's Text"?

* What is "Forth Wall"?

* Define the term "Emotional Recall".

* Describe the character's objective in your monologues.

* What is "subtext"?

[ post your answers to google.com/group/acting2 ]

test(s)

1) Acting cycles are the sequences of events that occur in response to a situation involving a character. In terms of Meyerhold, the Cycle is a four-step process:
AIM--we let the audience know what we are doing by exaggerating our movement in reverse.
ACTION--our movement, often echoing or an exact reproduction of our character's Master Gesture or Inner Gesture.
RELEASE--like the follow-through in a golf swing, we complete the action by taking it as far as we can go and then...
STOP--we end it cleanly.

2) Method Acting is a style of acting developed by Stanislavsky that is best suited to tragedy. In Method, we use emotional recall to equate emotions stemming from our own experiences with the emotions our characters would be feeling. This gives our character's actions and reactions more sincerity and believability. Biomechanics is nearly the exact opposite; developed by Meyerhold, best suited to comedy. In BioMX, our character has what is called a Master Gesture, a movement that embodies the character. All of our following actions and speech are related to or filtered through this gesture. Method is internal, BioMX is external (physical).

3) An inner gesture is something the audience never sees, a theoretical movement that we only see in our mind's eye. It is this that is the root of all of our external movement, everything is based on this. Master gesture is the external manifestation of the inner gesture, but not necessarily the same thing. It is a frame of reference for the audience; all actions are framed by the Master Gesture.

4) Actor's text is whatever the actor uses beyond the original text. For example, if a scene contains only dialogue, the actor's text would include stage directions/blocking, motivation, obstacles, conflicts, and any other personal notes or references pertinent to the character in that scene. Actor's text also includes the breaking down of scenes into "beats" for the benefit of the actor, to establish flow.

5) BioMX is "Acting from the outside in" because our inner gesture frames our outer physicalization. The inner gesture remains hidden from the audience, it is only for the actor to know. This inner gesture manifests itself externally through other movements or the Master Gesture.

6) Method acting is called psychological realism because the main objective is to establish as much realism as possible for your character through emotions, subtext and conflict response. When using Method, you try to establish a psychological framework with which to balance your character; on top of this you add your own emotional recall to create a richly textured character. In tragedy when we need heightened emotion and heightened sincerity, this attempt at psychological realism brings an immediacy to the character (for the audience) that a simple reading of the text would not.

7) Pre-acting is the internal dialogue within an actor that prepares him for a scene. It establishes setting, situation, character, and prepares emotional recall if necessary (Method); or perhaps a quick reminder of the inner gesture (BioMX). It is what an actor needs to bring to a scene IMMEDIATELY so the audience forgets they're watching a performance; but it must be done ahead of time, it cannot be performed during a performance; hence, PRE-acting.

8) Physicalization is the external manifestation of a character. It is the way a character walks, eats, speaks, jumps, everything. During the pre-acting point it is important to establish how the character would look physically in any given circumstance or action; only after this has been determined can a consistent physicalization be achieved. (Also, visualisation)

9) Meyerhold means that emotion cannot be withheld from an effective performance. It is what separates art from artifice; simply acting LIKE someone is not good enough, and quickly wears thin for the audience.

10) My main acting areas are CS and DC; my character does not utilize much lateral motion in his movement, rather, he is a direct person, with direct points to make, and thus his movements are quite direct.

homework

Monologue Analysis [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead] : dramatic composition [ exposition, climax, resolution ]

"Actor's Text"

Emotion -- left, motion -- right margins (write your own stage directions)

"9 SQUARES" ideas (floor plan)

... ROS [act 2] -- monologue (right)

http://groups.google.com/group/acting2/web/test