An Actors Encyclopedia

Most acting teachers will make students study and practice the ideas of Stanislavski since he was a great Russian director and acting teacher. The ideas and techniques he used will benefit students later on when acting or performing, it will give them more to think about when playing their characters. I think it was a good idea for Stanislavski to first let his actors observe and imitate other actors that worked on stage to comprehend of what is expected. He also created a book and recorded all his approaches to acting which I think is a great opportunity for actors to use and should take advantage of it and embrace new methods that will help them. What I realized about Stanislavski is that he is more focused on an actor's emotions since he believes that an actors ability to find emotional truth. He's attention towards his actors are their internal thoughts and feelings which bring them out to be real actors. Even though Stanislavski paid more attention to the emotional and mental aspect of acting, I appreciate him for also turning towards physical actions and vocal expression, which he considered reliable part in acting aswell. One of the directors called Lee Strasberg embraced Stanislavski's techniques and use it to work with actors and their emotional memory. I noticed members develop their own theories but at the same time continued to refer back to Stanislavski's techniques. I think it's important for directors to look for sources and ther things to benefit their actors on their improvement and help them with acting, to make it more believable for an audience. There are a list of terms which are commonly used today to help actors to acknowledge the term more and to get a better understanding of what it is and what is expected.

Acting: I agree with the statement that acting is the behaviour that is believable. In order for an audience to believe in what an actor is doing an actor must believe in themselves first. An audience will accept an act, if the actor knows what he is trying to accomplish or knows what he is doing to make it as believable as possible, an audience will believe anything aslong as the actor is portrayin it well with the right gestures and facial expressions. It's important for an actor to know their character well and get familiar with their surroundings inorder for them to carry out their role.

Actions: I think Actions are important they are a series of events that occur throughout a play, normally the significant events that happen for example a conflict. I believe it's important for an audience to have an understanding of the plot which is essential for an audience to follow an order so that they can keep up with the character. Following a characters characterization and analysing them is known as a journey, where the characters change from beginning to end by the look of their communication, physica actions and the way they respond and approach to certain situations. Actors should keep this term in mind, since it's vital for an audience to know when a character transitions from what they were into something different, so that it makes more sense and it will affect their surroundings aswell. When actors are acting on stage I suppose they should always have an objective in mind which reflect their needs and what their aim is, there should be bonds between actions and specific reasons as to why the actors are doing what they are assigned to do. Often in conflicts characters are trying to gain something from the other character. What I love about actions is the beauty of acting sometimes actors won't know what they are trying to pursue yet to the audience they create an illusion as if they know what they are doing.

Beginnings, middles and ends- When acting actors should follow a specific pattern to make the play more believeable. I think actors can differentiate a beginning from a middle and an end by for example having a freezing moment and then beginning the action or having an impulse to do the action, actors have to find the need to do something for a purpose. We all physically show what we are going to do and how we feel before speaking. An audience can always tell by physical movement what is expected to happen next.

Blocking- I consider this term to be one of the most important, since it can tell a lot about a character. When acting there are certain rules when playing characters. The audience has to be able to see the characters face, a character can turn at a 45 degree angle but not more than that, otherwise an audience would only have a view of a side profile which is not as powerful as seeing their actualy facial expressions. Whenever an actor turns their body immediately voice projection is lost. Physical action is also associated with blocking, it explains what type of person the character is like.

Character- I deem it's imperative for a person to know their characters inside and out. Internally by really focusing on the characters emotions and state of being, while externally portraying the characters with makeup and costume. Even if the actor is playing opposite to what they really are, it's important for them to research them or maybe even ask a person who has been in similar situations that your character is playing. With practice actors habitually inhabit their characters from head to toe, actors also have important choices to make when playing a character, asking questions like how would they feel if this happend etc.

Choices- I think this is a difficuly aspect to follow, for actors to constantly make choices for their character. In real life we make decisions for ourselves where as acting they have to make choices for how their character is like, their needs and wants. They need to make choices inorder to portray their character as best as possible for an audience to really get a feel of their character and can even maybe relate to them. Whenever I act, I always ask myself questions, which I think most actors do themselves too if they are unaware of what to do. Actors should be mostly influenced by positive choices.

Conflict- I believe conflicts always draw the attention of an audience towards the play more, the audience would too then get involved and also ask questions like what's going to happen next etc. They want to know more about what's going to happen next, they are asking for more. An audience is always interested in a climax or conflict between characters it garuntees them a play worth watching.

Emotional Memory/ Truth- I really love using this term in acting, because I do this myself and it really helps me. It's where when actors are not sure of the characters they are playing, they need to think or recall a memory of when they were for example sad or frustrated. It would bring back a lot of feelings and it would almost be as if you are reliving it all over again in the moment. But it's important not to just think about it emotionally but also how your body responded to the problem at that time. Actors have to find their emotions deep in themselves and it has to be honest and come from them and should be controlled through physical actions. It's tough for actors to focus on both physically and emotionally portraying their characters because usually we only think about the emotional state.

Gesture- Gestures are essential movements and I think are noteworthy for actors, every move they make it tells something about their character. It will confirm to the audience about a characters attitude and communications to other characters and also the surroundings they are placed in. With practice, gestures will become natural once your body inhabits the character, your body will just speak through gestures.

Given circumstances- Is significant because actors are always thrown with decisions and choices to make, which I think is a tough situation but as the actors progress into their characters it will just come naturally. There are different ways of saying or portraying certain actions for it to make sense. But with the help of the mood and setting it makes the choices much smaller.

The Magic If- I love this strategy of Stanislavski's technique. I always or try and do something similar to this. When an actor is having trouble knowing what their character will do next, they normally ask 'if' questions which I think is very clever and a suitable exercise. What would I do if I were to do this character in this situation. Actors always have to put themselves in someone elses shoes, to get what the character will do physically and emotionally. Also the magic if can help with making choices too.

Physical Actions- I believe physical actions say more about a character than vocal expression, because an audience can autmatically realize if something is wrong by the way the actor is expressing himself through thier body postures. It's always good to portray the action as best as you can, to make it clear to the audience what you're trying to do or say. Sometimes people exagorate the action but surely the actors will learn to control it.

Risk- Taking risks is what I think acting is all about, I believe it's a way of making acting more interesting yet challenging for actors. Some actors are left with big choices to decide upon. Watching a fascinating act will become more memorable to the audience and make them think more rather than just sitting and watching the entertainment. Actors have to do what's best for their character, even if they get stuck, they should improvise with other characters or their surroundings so it won't look awkward.

Sense Memory- I think it's essential to have a great imagination when acting on stage, because you never know what might be thrown at you. It's important to know your senses, taste, touch, smell and sight and you always have to be alert about when to use it on stage. Actors have to become very familiar with their senses inorder to expose what they're doing or feeling. For example cooking and smelling food, actors have to enhance the smell of deliciously cooked food. Rather than just making it up on the spot, it's better to use a personal memory of when you smelt, touched, heard or saw a certain things to make it easier on the actors, and a bold memory will certainly stick out. I think it's difficult for actors to try and communicate that to an audience and making it make sense at the same time.

Transition- This is where actors transition what they're doing from one thing to another and also how they feel from one emotion to another. I believe it's hard for actors to find the right moment to do so and also physicall transforming so it can be evident to the audience that it's taking place. Sometimes you really have to expand on the action inorder for the audience to see a transitional phrase happening. I think it's a great opportunity to show an audience who you were and what you're trying to become by expressing it through physical movement and emotionally. The rapid switch from one emotion to another sensation will also draw in the characters. I find this really hard to do, because I need to think about what my character will do next and actors just have to go with the flow and do it straight away without thinking about it too much, actors have to be part of their characters always, to make it easier on them to do certain things. The playwrights intentions should be well understood to adapt choice making skills.