acting for television

Module 5A (Realism)

1. Brainstorm the difference between

television acting and theater acting

2. “Lyts, Camera, ACTING!”

• Choose a scene from a favorite drama

and show how it was presented on

television. Afterwards, the scene will be

redone in theater style.

• Comment on the acting styles adapted

by each group.

• Performed in front of cameras• Performed in a theater, in front of a live audience

• Aim is to make acting lifelike (smaller)

• Very little movements• Aim is to portray a role larger than life

• No room for mistakes

• The camera and the director do much of the

work

• Jobs different from those in theater• The director is the boss

• No need for long rehearsals to develop the roles• Rehearsals give the actors a chance to develop their roles

• Making a TV drama is more complex

• The producer is the boss

• Scene shots are not in proper order• Performance done from first scene to the last

• Acting may only take a few minutes

• The rest of the time spent waiting for crew to

setup the shot

• A good director can make a terrible actor look

brilliant. A bad director can make a brilliant actor

look terrible.

Constantine

Stanislavski

1863 - 1938

• Acting book incomplete without mentioning

Constantine Stanislavski

• Born in Moscow January 17 , 1863 as

Constantine Alexeiev

• Stanislavski is a stage name from a Polish actor

• Formed the Moscow Art Theater (MAT) – most

important 20th Century Theater “Russian

Revolution”

• Before him acting was rhetoric, stiff and

dcelamatory

• Age of Realism: birth of truth in acting

• Naturalism

• Focus was the actor’s inner life

• Realism was the way to act. – Stanislavski

• “Method” actors: James Dean, Marlon Brando,

Dustin Hoffman, Johnny Delgado, Christopher de

Leon, Gina Alajar, Nora Aunor

• Reputation of Realism Actors: being “inwardly”

concerned that they have lost sight of the

external importance of the craft.

• Other actors rebelled against Realism – creating

a generation of self indulgent actors who couldn’t

do other styles

• Realism – acting which looks for truth and

believability.

• Focus: own character’s “inner life”

• Awareness of objectives, motivations – hidden

objectives – of character.

• External & Psychological stimuli

• Actors seem they are the characters they play.

• Events seem real; time is real

• Rebelled against external, declamatory theatric

• Called “system” not “method”

• Many styles sprung from the system.

• Movement and thought cannot be

separated.

• The system is not a guarantee to make

great actors.

• Acting cannot be taught.

• The system is a means (process), not an

end.

• The system prepares an actor for the

elusive gift – Inspiration!!

1. Relaxation

• An actor’s greatest enemy is tension

• First step to acting is to RELAX

• Does not mean lifeless, dull, lazy energy

• Meant to be the heightened readiness an actor

has to spring into action

• Acting becomes tiring, wooden and predictable

when tense.

• Relaxation allows actors to release their

movements, thoughts, emotions FREELY &

ORGANICALLY.

“Live the part.” –

Stanislavski

“Be alive in the part”

Relate to real, given &

imaginary circumstances

• Everything in the physical world of the

actor

• Costumes, sets, sounds

• The five senses

• Given by the playwright to actor

• These are the who, what, when, where of the paywright

• Actor has the ability to believe in this reality.

• Believing in all imaginary aspects of the play and allows

them to affect his actions through imagination

• Travelogue

Imagination exercise

• An actor must always be doing something with a

purpose.

• “Acting is doing & doing with a purpose” – Stanislavski

• Your objective should lead to some action to play.

• Give actor’s action some purpose / scene-by-scene

• “object of desire”

• Actor stands

• An over-all object of desire – throughout the play

• Like the theme or main idea

Ex. Hamlet’s SO is to avenge his father’s death

• What is going on underneath the words

• The hidden meaning behind what the character is saying.

• Embarrassment, awkwardness & self-conscious surfaces

when an actor lacks concentration.

• Actor closes eyes – focus on one sound

• I read you tell a story

• Distractions

• I talk, you talk

• Public solitude