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Constantin

Stanislavski

He invented a system used by some of the world's greatest actors

Stanislavski's Main Principles

THE CIRCLE OF ATTENTION

The World of The Play

The GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES

The setting

The period

The concerns of The Character

The other characters

OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE

The concerns of the actor

The Audience

"If everything around me were true how would I behave?"

This term refers to the fact that although the actor is surrounded by things which are not true (he is not really-married to that-woman, she is not really a murderer, the fire I not really hot, the crown is not really gold) s/he must behave as if everything is true. S/he must ask the question ...........

WHAT WOULD I DO IF I WERE IN THAT SITUATION?

ARTISTIC TRUTH

"the actor must first of all believe in everything that takes place onstage, and most all, he must believe what he himself is doing. And one can only believe in the truth." STANISLAVSKI

Understanding

OBJECTIVES (Wants)

The objective is WHAT THE CHARACTER WANTS.

The GOAL they want to achieve.

ACTION ORIENTED, not EMOTION ORIENTED.

-It is the ACTOR'S RESPONSIBLITY to focus on the objective and strive to complete it, no matter what stands in the way.

For example, an objective for a particular character may simply be 'to pour a mug of tea.' For each scene, the actor must discover the character's objective. Every objective is different for each actor involved because they are based on the characters of the script.

Super-objective

A super-objective, in contrast, focuses on the entire play as a whole. A super-objective can direct and connect an actor's choice of objectives from scene to scene. The super-objective serves as the final goal that a character wishes to achieve within the script.

Emotion Memory

Emotional Memory requires that an actor recreate an event from the distant past in order to regenerate the feelings they experienced at that time. These feelings that have been regenerated are then used in the current acting situation in order to play the role with “human depth and personal involvement”.

YOU DO NOT SIMPLY ACT THE EMOTION...

You don't act sad, happy, or mad.

You remember when you felt a similar emotion (substitution) and substitute that previous emotion into the scene

-Not the controversial "method acting" technique developed later by Lee Strasberg. IMPORTANT: The actor must not force a hurtful memory, it's a play...not therapy

Obstacles

Obstacles are the aspects that will stop or hinder a character from achieving his or her individual objective. For example, while the character searches for tea bags to make the mug of tea, they find that there are no teabags in the tin.

This is also called CONFLICT.

to help you develop your role

Thought-Tracking

Thought-tracking helps inform an audience about a character. You see it in action when:

a character speaks out loud about his/her inner thoughts at a particular moment in the drama

a character speaks out loud about his/her inner thoughts during a freeze frame/still-image

Variations of Thought Tracking

A group makes a still image and individuals are invited to speak their thoughts or feelings aloud - just a few words. This can be done by tapping each person on the shoulder or holding a cardboard 'thought-bubble' above their head. Alternatively, thought tracking (also called thought tapping) can involve other members of the class speaking one character's thoughts aloud for them. The technique is most often used in conjunction with image theatre or freeze-frames. Equally, thought-tracking is useful preparation for improvisation.

Hot-Seating

HOT SEATING

A character is questioned by the group about his or her background, behaviour and motivation. The method may be used for developing a role in the drama lesson or rehearsals, or analysing a play post-performance. Even done without preparation, it is an excellent way of fleshing out a character. Characters may be hot-seated individually, in pairs or small groups. The technique is additionally useful for developing questioning skills with the rest of the group.

Decision Alley or Thought Tunnel.

One person takes the role of the protagonist and walks between the lines as each member of the group speaks their advice.

It can be organised so that those on one side give opposing advice to those on the other. When the protagonist reaches the end of the alley, she makes her decision. Sometimes known as Decision Alley or Thought Tunnel.

Cross-cutting

Cross-cutting

This explorative strategy would be effective if you were using Brecht, TIE or Stanislavski as your chosen style.

Cross-cutting is what you do after you've created a series of scenes or sequences, and you re-order them to create a drama that goes forwards and backwards in time.

A speed run might be used if the dialogue is becoming too familiar or lacks pace and energy. It is a useful exercise when the performance is close as it can revitalize a tired scene.

Units and Beats

Units and beats are the division of the script into smaller objectives. For example, the entire section of a scene during which the character searches for a tea bag would be a unit. When he decides to call on a neighbour is called a beat. The purpose of units is that they are used as reference points for the actor because every individual unit should contain a specific motive for the character.

http://dramaresource.com/strategies

OFF TEXT ACTIVITIES

THE MAGIC IF

The Lights

The most fundamental principle of Stanislavski's teaching is that the actor must live the life of the character that he/she is portraying. The actor must learn to think like the character and behave as the character would; therefore the portrayal is not confined to the performance but will, to some degree, begin to overlap into the actor's own life.

The Real World

The System

Speed-run

The System

Relax!

Stanislavski stressed the importance of physical relaxation, as in his own opinion, muscular tension interfered greatly with the actors work, and his attempts to get into a role. He made a point of practising relaxing muscles on a daily basis, and getting into a habit of relaxation, both on and off the stage Stanislavski felt that an actor should be aware of the body, and have great control over its movements.

The Given

Circumstances

Day Lewis

This expression means the story of the play, the facts, the director's interpretation, and the production elements - all the circumstances that are given to an actor to take into account as he creates his role.

1. Where am I?

2. Specific Location?

3. What year is it?

4. What relationships do I have?

5. What has happened before the play begins?

Sometimes a drama that starts and carries on in a linear manner can be too predictable, which makes it boring to watch. With cross-cutting we can show the moment when something important happened in the past (using a flash-back), or we can move the drama forward in time (using a flash-forward). In this way the action can be broken up to enhance tension or the narrative.

OPEN SCENES ACTIVITY: GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES

>Where Am I?

>What is my specific location?

>What year is it?

>What relationships do I have?

>What has happened before the play begins?

1. You will find your partner using the green cards.

2. Once you find a match, you will receive open scenes.

3. Decide who is character A and who is character B.

4. Create given circumstances (backstory) for your characters using these questions.

5. WIP Performances

HOW STAN BECAME

"STAN THE ACTING MAN"

-Dropped out of acting school because it was unrealistic and over the top

- Started his own theater, "The Moscow Art Theatre" in 1898, which stressed naturalistic and realistic acting

-Restored Anton Chekhov's love of theatre with his play "The Seagull"

- Wrote the ABCs of Theatre:

An Actor Prepares

Building a Character

Creating A Role

Concentration

Stan...

The Man!!

Di Caprio

Russian Actor/Director

1863 – 7 August 1938

Streep

Taking the theory of concentration a step further, Stanislavski devised the 'circles of attention'. This was where an actor would create a 'circle' in his or her own performance where they would devote their entire attention. Anything outside the circle would cease to exist. This would mean the performance would be totally dedicated, without any disruption from anything else,

OPEN SCENES ACTIVITY: EMOTION CARDS

1. Find your partner using the green cards.

2. Get an open scene and decide which charcter is A and which actor is B

3. Each actor will receive a yellow emotion card

HOWEVER, DO NOT ACT THE EMOTION...

4. Choose a MEMORY and act the memory (substitution)

5. Create given circumstances

6. WIP Performances

Seyfried

De Niro

Why use cross-cutting? What can it add to a drama?

Ledger

Motivation

Through the use of system, an actor is required to analyze his or her character's motivations. Stanislavski believed that an actor was influenced by either their mind or their emotion to stimulate their actions and the actor's motivation was their subconscious will to perform those actions. Therefore, motivation has been described as looking to the past actions of the character to determine why they completed physical actions in a script.[1]

OPEN SCENES ACTIVITY: OBJECTIVES

1. You will be paired with a partner using the green cards (play title with the plot synopsis.

2. Once you've found a match, you will each get a pink objective card and an open scene

3. Decide who is A and who is B

3. You will find tactics (strategies) to achieve your objective

4. We will do WIP Performances and try to guess what your objective was.

....remember to create given circumstances!!

OBSTACLES IMPROV ACTIVITIES

-THE "IT" EXERCISE

Students choose a partner and sit facing the partner.

One of them has an imaginary object, which we won't name, called"it." The other one wants "it." Student who is asking tries many different methods as possible, i.e. begging, bribing, offering to buy, blackmail, asking nicely -- the other one says no in as many ways as possible, i.e. "it's mine," "I had it first," etc. Then they switch.

2. THE "IT"PERSONIFIED

Students begin to role play. One becomes, for example,

a parent and the other a teenager who wants to use the car --"it" becomes the car keys.

1. Teacher/student -- student wants grade changed

2. Policeman/driver -- driver doesn't want ticket

3. Brother/sister -- little sister wants to borrow

money.

......................or Have students think up their own...

Conflict Activity

You will WRITE a ONE MINUTE scene that has CONFLICT.

Be prepared to explain the TACTICS/ STRATEGIES THAT YOU ARE USING.

It needs to be at least one minute long.

We will do WIP performances today and finish tomorrow.

....remember, conflict is something both characters want and are fighting over.

for example,

1. Teacher/student -- student wants grade changed

2. Policeman/driver -- driver doesn't want ticket

3. Brother/sister -- little sister wants to borrow money.

4. Mother/Child: child wants to go use the car and mother wants child to stay home

5. Coach/Player: Player wants to be put in the game but coach is unsure.

OBSERVATION

-Stanislavsky was known as the "ultimate people watcher" and would disguise himself as an old peasant man.

-Encouraged students to carefully observe personalities and physical traits ot everyday people

-Observation can keep your acting fresh and believable!

MOTIVATION

-Motivation: the subconscious will to perform each action

-Stanislavski believed that the actor was influenced by either 2 things: their EMOTION or their MIND

-WHY they do the things they do

-Closely linked to TACTICS

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