What is Acting?
Why would someone spend their entire life pretending to be someone else? Acting is defined as “an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character–in theater, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.” There are actors that perform well and there are actors that perform poorly. “Acting is behaving truthfully in an imaginary situation” — Sanford Meisner
There are some basic criteria that make some performances better than others. Some of the more salient qualities are to make your performance believable. The person watching should feel an emotional connection to the character. It could be important for your role to embody the character and have the physical traits of the character you are playing. For example, Tom Hanks in Castaway lost weight to embody the character he was playing of a FedEx employed stranded on a desert island.
The viewer should believe that there is a relationship between the character you are portraying and the other characters in the scene. The actor is a small piece from a larger part of the storytelling machine. Many areas of the scene must come together to enhance the actor’s character. The writing, sound editing, or poor cinematography will affect how the character is perceived. Analyzing Performance • Believability o Is the actor believable in the character they are playing? • Accuracy o Is the character accurate in the era or setting? • Relationship o Is there a relationship with the other characters in the scene? • Character o Physical traits and look of the character • Connection o Is there an emotional connection to the character? Here are some examples for your analysis and ask yourself the questions above to assess how the actor performed. See if the actor checked off all the criteria.
https://youtu.be/5-XqI7PcClo
In this scene, Daniel Day-Lewis won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In your opinion, what did Daniel Day Lewis’s performance look like based on the criteria? Did you believe his performance was accurately portrayed as a man who has taken an emotional journey throughout his life and is contrite about his actions as a father? Do you feel that his performance was accurate based on his movements, the setting, and the time? Was he able to establish a relationship with the other characters as he knelt down holding his hurt knee and nervously showed his somber and remorse as the other’s in the scene encouraged, reprimanded, or punished him while he asked for penance? Did he have the physical traits of a father who has aged and treated his body poorly as he selfishly acted while neglecting his children? Did you feel an emotional connection with the character?
Look at the following scene and ask yourself how Leonardo DiCaprio embraced the criteria described above.
https://youtu.be/GOlVRHsVzE4
Acting Techniques
Konstantin Stanislavski is known for his techniques as a teacher of acting. His techniques encouraged others to follow and embrace his techniques as well as build upon those important techniques. Stanislavski was known for his teaching of creating authentic acting performances based on asking the question “why am I saying this?” and “what’s my motivation?”. Three of his students: Sanford Meisner, Lee Strasberg, and Stella Adler had unique and interesting approaches to acting. Konstantin Stanislavski's subsequent areas of discipline through Sanford Meisner, Lee Strasberg, and Stella Adler consisted of repetition, emotional preparation, affective and sense memory, and emotional truth. Sanford Meisner’s method of Repetition Exercises and Emotional Preparation allowed for actors to practice repeatedly until they “organically” add emotion to their performance (Flanigan, 20). Lee Strasberg was known for his teaching of going beyond emotional memory and tapping into a technique he called “Substitution” allowing the actor to become the character they portray (Simon, 18). Stella Adler consistently worked on encouraging actors to use a creative imagination by creating a past to a character. It was important that actors not work on the emotion that they themselves experienced but one that can be imagined from the character (Simon, Acting Styles: Stella Adler's Technique, 18). Lee Strasberg, considered the father of method acting, is known for his method called the Stanislavski System. Based on the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski, his teachings bolstered the Affective Memory concept which involves a recollection of emotion to encapsulate the essence of a character (Webb, 2019).
Flanigan, M. (20, 09 07). Emotional Preparation Using the Meisner Acting Technique. Retrieved from Maggie Flanigan Studio: https://www.maggieflaniganstudio.com/meisner-acting-technique/#:~:text=Meisner%20acting%20classes%20are%20most,own%20nuance%2C%20and%20so%20on. Simon, A. (18, 01 03).
Acting Styles: Lee Strasberg's Method. Retrieved from On Location Education: https://www.onlocationeducation.com/blog/2018/1/3/acting-styles-strasberg Simon, A. (18, 01 03). Acting
Styles: Stella Adler's Technique. Retrieved from On Location Education: https://www.onlocationeducation.com/blog/2018/1/3/acting-styles-adler Webb, J. (2019, 09 04). 5 Basic Facts about Lee Strasberg.
Retrieved from AM Acting Magazine: https://actingmagazine.com/2019/09/04/5-basic-facts-about-lee-strasberg/ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed malesuada faucibus ex nec ultricies.
