Stanislavski video
1. Focus on the whole face and lots of quiet moments to see the emotions and let them sink in
2. Birds chirping in the background to add a sense of place and time
3. Different tones of voice to show different emotions
Brecht video
1. Droning from the lights and self narration (she said) to remind you that this is staged
2. Less interested in the items for their sentemental value and more so for their potential use (watch too small, takes the money from the wallet) which is kinda how Bretch views characters (not as real people to get attached to but vehicles for a political/social message.
3. Only focuses on parts of the face (or keeps it in shadow) to avoid being able to fully connect to the character
Friday, October 20, 2017
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Stanislavski Wrap-Up (In-class writing)
Stanislavski was a Russian actor who was bored by the overdramatic way actors performed, embellishing made up emotions as in the days of the Romans and Greeks. He wanted to see performances with actors who made their characters seem real, with complex motivations and emotions. This led him to create the now famous Stanislavski method, a way to help actors create and become the characters they were portraying. This kind of acting is called truthful acting.
Part of Stanislavski’s Method is using discovering every character’s super objective (ultimate goal in the pay) and germ (the core of the character). Bulding from there, the actor decides what the character’s objective will be for each scene, and what actions they will take to achieve it. The useful thing about this method is that it allows the actor to picture their character separate from themself, as a real person, rather than just a stereotypical role to perform. Audience members are more likely to relate to, understand, and sympathize with a character who acts like a complete person than a stock or token character. The one major con I see with this method is if a person were to go overboard in developing the character, and then try to shove more unnecessary details into the play than are needed. It is important to remember that, while each character has their own story, they must all fulfill their role in the production, first and foremost.
There is also the practice of emotional memory, in which an actor draws on their own past experiences to bring out real emotion appropriate to the scene. While this technique can be very successful for displaying real emotion on stage, it can be stressful for the actor if they have to draw on a dark time in their past to do it. More problamatic for Stanislavski, it creates a disconnect between the actor and the character, since the way the actor responded to that pas experience is likely at least somewhat different from how the character would respond in their current situation. This is the reason why Stanislavski ended up abandoning this method, though some of his pupils continued to teach it.
Stanislavski’s method was the foundation for what are now the standard acting practices in the modern world. Some actors will go as far as to remain in character even when not performing, a technique called “method acting” after Stanislavski’s method (Stanislavski himself would sometimes go out in public and pretend to be a certain- character). Thus, it is essential to cover his practices when learning about theater.
As a writer, I have always been interested in taking characters from media and expanding on them. Stanislavski’s method is essentially a more guided version of that, with th specific goal of improving the believability of the actor’s performance as a separate character. I will be sure to consider my character’s germ and super objective when stepping into a new role from now on, as a way to decide what kind of performance would be the most truthful.
Part of Stanislavski’s Method is using discovering every character’s super objective (ultimate goal in the pay) and germ (the core of the character). Bulding from there, the actor decides what the character’s objective will be for each scene, and what actions they will take to achieve it. The useful thing about this method is that it allows the actor to picture their character separate from themself, as a real person, rather than just a stereotypical role to perform. Audience members are more likely to relate to, understand, and sympathize with a character who acts like a complete person than a stock or token character. The one major con I see with this method is if a person were to go overboard in developing the character, and then try to shove more unnecessary details into the play than are needed. It is important to remember that, while each character has their own story, they must all fulfill their role in the production, first and foremost.
There is also the practice of emotional memory, in which an actor draws on their own past experiences to bring out real emotion appropriate to the scene. While this technique can be very successful for displaying real emotion on stage, it can be stressful for the actor if they have to draw on a dark time in their past to do it. More problamatic for Stanislavski, it creates a disconnect between the actor and the character, since the way the actor responded to that pas experience is likely at least somewhat different from how the character would respond in their current situation. This is the reason why Stanislavski ended up abandoning this method, though some of his pupils continued to teach it.
Stanislavski’s method was the foundation for what are now the standard acting practices in the modern world. Some actors will go as far as to remain in character even when not performing, a technique called “method acting” after Stanislavski’s method (Stanislavski himself would sometimes go out in public and pretend to be a certain- character). Thus, it is essential to cover his practices when learning about theater.
As a writer, I have always been interested in taking characters from media and expanding on them. Stanislavski’s method is essentially a more guided version of that, with th specific goal of improving the believability of the actor’s performance as a separate character. I will be sure to consider my character’s germ and super objective when stepping into a new role from now on, as a way to decide what kind of performance would be the most truthful.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
TIP Notes: Chapter 2 (Bretch)
Bertolt Brecht (1889 - 1956)
Brecht grew up in Germany and lived through both world wars
Wrote “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” in 1955
Brecht’s ideal performance was one that inspired the audience to take action in the real world for just causes, by having the characters deliver a political and social message, with actors building off of the Stanislavski methods.
Vocabulary
• Political = concerning the government of public affairs and the running of the state
• Social = concerning the relationships between people and communities within a country
• Economic = relating to the buying and selling, production and manufacturing of goods, and how wealth is achieved
• Narrating = the telling of a story
• Class = the position a person holds in society based on their wealth, upbringing, and level of education
• Left wing = socialist views; right wing = communist views
• Gestus = a gesture that defines your character’s place in society
• Gestic props = props used by the actor or director to send a specific message to the audience
• Externalization = to outwardly show thoughts and feelings using gestures, movement, and facial expressions
• V-effect = when the actor and director attempt to distance the audience from losing themselves within the context of the play, instead allowing actors to narrate proceedings and communicate the message of the play to the audience
• Epic theater = theater that uses Brecht’s methods and techniques to create teacher with a political, social, and/or economic message
• Historicization = setting the events of the play in a different time period as a way to help distance the audience from the given circumstances
• De-familiarize = a technique for making the audience stop and think about the social implications of the events on stage
• Epization = a rehearsal technique for creating a narrative style for delivering text
• Ensemble = a group of actors performing together
• Choral work = a piece of theater rehearsed with the ensemble performing in time and to the same rhythm
Exercises
Exercise 20: Use body language and facial expressions to help sell the message rather than relying solely on words
Exercise 22: Political, social, and class issues are still relevant to present today; they may simply be less obvious
Exercise 23: Use characters as a way to discuss those issues without directly stating them
Exercise 24: Use gestures that match the character and externalize their emotions
Exercise 25: Don’t be afraid to get comedic
Exercise 26: Shift the focus of the audience from the emotions of the character to the societal factors that put them in this position
Exercise 27: A lot can be conveyed about a character with a simple gesture
Exercise 28: When doing a first read through of the play, it is more important that you focus on what happens, who the characters are, and how it makes you feel, rather than immediately attempting to inject characterization in as you go
Exercise 29: Keep in mind what surprised you about the play, so that you can maximize that surprise for the audience when performing
Exercise 31: Doubling parts prevents the audience from associating one actor with just one role; don’t be afraid to use cross-casting to further de-familiarize the audience
Exercise 32: Brecht plays tend to be organized in an episodic structure so that each moment can carry its own message
Exercise 33: Decide on the overall message of the play, as well as a specific gestus that can be interwoven to represent that message, as a group
Exercise 34: Decide on the emotion in which you will read each line
Exercise 36: Consider each character’s perspective on the events of the scene
Exercise 39: The lighting of a scene can add to both the atmosphere and what it’s trying to get across
Exercise 40: Consider the effect adding sound and music has on the scene
Exercise 41: Have actors try other people’s roles as a way to see different interpretations; consider the physical positioning of the actors
Brecht grew up in Germany and lived through both world wars
Wrote “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” in 1955
Brecht’s ideal performance was one that inspired the audience to take action in the real world for just causes, by having the characters deliver a political and social message, with actors building off of the Stanislavski methods.
Vocabulary
• Political = concerning the government of public affairs and the running of the state
• Social = concerning the relationships between people and communities within a country
• Economic = relating to the buying and selling, production and manufacturing of goods, and how wealth is achieved
• Narrating = the telling of a story
• Class = the position a person holds in society based on their wealth, upbringing, and level of education
• Left wing = socialist views; right wing = communist views
• Gestus = a gesture that defines your character’s place in society
• Gestic props = props used by the actor or director to send a specific message to the audience
• Externalization = to outwardly show thoughts and feelings using gestures, movement, and facial expressions
• V-effect = when the actor and director attempt to distance the audience from losing themselves within the context of the play, instead allowing actors to narrate proceedings and communicate the message of the play to the audience
• Epic theater = theater that uses Brecht’s methods and techniques to create teacher with a political, social, and/or economic message
• Historicization = setting the events of the play in a different time period as a way to help distance the audience from the given circumstances
• De-familiarize = a technique for making the audience stop and think about the social implications of the events on stage
• Epization = a rehearsal technique for creating a narrative style for delivering text
• Ensemble = a group of actors performing together
• Choral work = a piece of theater rehearsed with the ensemble performing in time and to the same rhythm
Exercises
Exercise 20: Use body language and facial expressions to help sell the message rather than relying solely on words
Exercise 22: Political, social, and class issues are still relevant to present today; they may simply be less obvious
Exercise 23: Use characters as a way to discuss those issues without directly stating them
Exercise 24: Use gestures that match the character and externalize their emotions
Exercise 25: Don’t be afraid to get comedic
Exercise 26: Shift the focus of the audience from the emotions of the character to the societal factors that put them in this position
Exercise 27: A lot can be conveyed about a character with a simple gesture
Exercise 28: When doing a first read through of the play, it is more important that you focus on what happens, who the characters are, and how it makes you feel, rather than immediately attempting to inject characterization in as you go
Exercise 29: Keep in mind what surprised you about the play, so that you can maximize that surprise for the audience when performing
Exercise 31: Doubling parts prevents the audience from associating one actor with just one role; don’t be afraid to use cross-casting to further de-familiarize the audience
Exercise 32: Brecht plays tend to be organized in an episodic structure so that each moment can carry its own message
Exercise 33: Decide on the overall message of the play, as well as a specific gestus that can be interwoven to represent that message, as a group
Exercise 34: Decide on the emotion in which you will read each line
Exercise 36: Consider each character’s perspective on the events of the scene
Exercise 39: The lighting of a scene can add to both the atmosphere and what it’s trying to get across
Exercise 40: Consider the effect adding sound and music has on the scene
Exercise 41: Have actors try other people’s roles as a way to see different interpretations; consider the physical positioning of the actors
Thursday, October 12, 2017
TIP Notes: Chapter 1, p. 35-45
Working with the Text
Event = something that happens which affects your thoughts and actions
Through action = what the character does to achieve their super objective
Relationships = what you/your character think about others
Acting tip: relationships are subconscious; you have to be able to communicate them to the audience without just saying it
Exercise 12: Reach a consensus with your fellow actors on what you think the play is about
Exercise 13: Imagine what happened in your character’s past to make them the way they are now
Exercise 14: Decide what the character’s through action will be, basing it on their super objective (what they what to accomplish) and their germ (what kind of ways would be in character for them to go about it)
A play is divided into bits. A new bit starts when
• An event occurs
• A character enters or exits
• The character’s objectives otherwise change
Exercise 15: give each bit a name and a number so that you can easily remember what order they come in and what generally happens in each one
inner monologue = the thoughts going through a character’s mind
Exercise 16: Have an objective and action for each bit, which can be organized via chart
Exercise 17: Active analysis - look at and briefly analyze the scene in advance, then attempt to act it out without using your script
Experience = when you leave your acting self behind to become the character, with everything you do being a product of them rather than you yourself
Acting tip: focus less on remembering exact lines and more so on saying what the character would say in that scenario
Exercise 18: whereas the actors are focused on their own characters, the teacher/director can see the big picture and help the actors see things that they would otherwise miss
Event = something that happens which affects your thoughts and actions
Through action = what the character does to achieve their super objective
Relationships = what you/your character think about others
Acting tip: relationships are subconscious; you have to be able to communicate them to the audience without just saying it
Exercise 12: Reach a consensus with your fellow actors on what you think the play is about
Exercise 13: Imagine what happened in your character’s past to make them the way they are now
Exercise 14: Decide what the character’s through action will be, basing it on their super objective (what they what to accomplish) and their germ (what kind of ways would be in character for them to go about it)
A play is divided into bits. A new bit starts when
• An event occurs
• A character enters or exits
• The character’s objectives otherwise change
Exercise 15: give each bit a name and a number so that you can easily remember what order they come in and what generally happens in each one
inner monologue = the thoughts going through a character’s mind
Exercise 16: Have an objective and action for each bit, which can be organized via chart
Exercise 17: Active analysis - look at and briefly analyze the scene in advance, then attempt to act it out without using your script
Experience = when you leave your acting self behind to become the character, with everything you do being a product of them rather than you yourself
Acting tip: focus less on remembering exact lines and more so on saying what the character would say in that scenario
Exercise 18: whereas the actors are focused on their own characters, the teacher/director can see the big picture and help the actors see things that they would otherwise miss
Monday, October 9, 2017
Stanislavski’s Review of the Bushnell’s “Les Misérables” (Quick In-Class Post)
If Stanislavski had seen this performance, I think that he would have enjoyed the actors, though he may have thought the pit drowned them out at points. He definitely would not have liked sitting as far away from the stage as we did, since it was very difficult to make out the expressions of the actors, and Stanislavski would want to see the actors fully living out their roles. I’m not sure if he would have been a particular fan of the green screen effects and the tehcincally impressive sets; he may have seen them as distractions.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
The Glory of the Miserables: Review of Bushnell Theater's "Les Misérables" (2014 Revival)
Note: the names of actors listed here are based off of the program. I did not take note if there were any subs performing at the show we went to (other than Javert), so I apologize in advance if I am crediting the wrong people for their performances.
I spent yesterday afternoon at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford, Connecticut watching a performance of one of the most famous musicals of all time, Les Misérables, a fully sung-through show originally written by Claude-Michel Schönberg. The specific version we saw is the touring revival from 2014, directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell. My experience with this show prior to seeing this performance was minimal: I had read the plot summary on Wikipedia back when it was announced that we would be performing the musical this winter here at Cheshire Academy to learn what kid of story it was, but other than hearing from time to time about just how great the show is, that was basically it. Despite my plans, I had yet to even listen to a single song from the soundtrack before seeing this performance, and thus I went in with vague but high expectations.
As I learned shortly after watching the performance, the original novel Les Misérables written by Victor Hugo was based on a real event in French history, the June Rebellion in 1832. In the musical, the second half of Act One shows the build-up to this event, and the two-day rebellion and its immediate aftermath take up most of Act Two; however, the true focus of the story is on the characters that become involved in the tragedy. The large cast includes Jean Valjean (played by Nick Cartell), a former thief turned hardworking, kindhearted, respectable man; Javert (played by Andrew Love, who usually plays the Bishop of Digne), an officer of the law who has made it his life goal to put Jean Valjean to justice; Cosette (played by Jillian Butler), the sweet girl turned young woman Jean Valjean raises after the death of her mother Fantine; Marius (played by Joshua Grosso), an idealistic young man who falls in love with Cosette at first sight and eventually marries her; and quite a few more.
With such a large cast, it is important to make sure that no character feels unimportant, and Les Mis succeeds in this in three ways:
1. It ties its characters together through the story, as was demonstrated in the short descriptions above.
2. When characters disappear from the story, their parting serves as set-up for the next plot points. The Bishop of Digne is only in the prologue but is the one who sets Jean Valjean on the path to becoming a righteous man; Fantine's dying wish is for Jean Valjean to find and raise Cosette; etc.
3. The characters' personal stories all flesh out the world and relate back to the show's main themes, such as love, loss, struggle, freedom, and change.
The actors all gave phenomenal performances, as to be expected out of a professional company like this. In particular, Nick Cartell gave a fittingly passionate and moving performance as Jean Valjean, Andrew Love was very intense and surprisingly sympathetic as Javert, and I enjoyed the vocal variety that Phoenix Best provided as Eponine, even if she was a bit nasally at times. I felt somewhat iffy about the few child actors featured here, though the boy who played Gavroche grew on me in time for his unfortunate death. The pit was incredibly powerful and emotional, yet the singers still managed to rise above it most of the time, getting many of the tunes stuck in my head. The costumes were also very realistic.
This show is very different in scale from the first play I reviewed for this class, the Elm Shakespeare Company's performance of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet was outdoors and thus had both natural and artificial lighting, which required the show to make more creative use of its artificial lighting to add to the scenes. Les Mis was in a huge beautiful theater where they had full control of lighting, and in comparison, I found the lighting to be atmospheric and overall great but not as unique. The other downside of having a huge theater is that it's much harder to read the actors' facial expressions from a difference, which means certain subtleties can be missed from a distance. However, being in a proper theater did give Les Mis one huge advantage, and that as in the sets. With Romeo and Juliet, everything had to take place on the one large set, and while it was beautiful and worked for the show, Les Mis was visually stunning, with so many different pieces working together to make each location distinct, a necessity for a show with as complex a plot as this. They even made efficient use of a green screen in the background at certain points, such as when Jean Valjean drags Marius through the sewers or when Javert throws himself off a bridge, to make things clearer.
Other than my previously mentioned grievances, the one fault I had with this performance is that it seemed to go too fast at times, or failed to be clear about certain plot points. For example, early in Act Two, Javert goes undercover to sabotage the revolutionaries from the inside, but Mrs. Guarino had to mention to me that it was him before I got it. Similarly, when Jean Valjean shows up to help, it took me more time than it felt like it should have for me to recognize him, even if he was also undercover. These admittedly brief moments of confusion temporarily took me out of the moment, where otherwise the show's immersion was one of its strongest points.
In summary, the Bushnell's performance of Les Misérables was a great pleasure, and I am very glad that it was my first exposure to this wonderful show.
I spent yesterday afternoon at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford, Connecticut watching a performance of one of the most famous musicals of all time, Les Misérables, a fully sung-through show originally written by Claude-Michel Schönberg. The specific version we saw is the touring revival from 2014, directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell. My experience with this show prior to seeing this performance was minimal: I had read the plot summary on Wikipedia back when it was announced that we would be performing the musical this winter here at Cheshire Academy to learn what kid of story it was, but other than hearing from time to time about just how great the show is, that was basically it. Despite my plans, I had yet to even listen to a single song from the soundtrack before seeing this performance, and thus I went in with vague but high expectations.
As I learned shortly after watching the performance, the original novel Les Misérables written by Victor Hugo was based on a real event in French history, the June Rebellion in 1832. In the musical, the second half of Act One shows the build-up to this event, and the two-day rebellion and its immediate aftermath take up most of Act Two; however, the true focus of the story is on the characters that become involved in the tragedy. The large cast includes Jean Valjean (played by Nick Cartell), a former thief turned hardworking, kindhearted, respectable man; Javert (played by Andrew Love, who usually plays the Bishop of Digne), an officer of the law who has made it his life goal to put Jean Valjean to justice; Cosette (played by Jillian Butler), the sweet girl turned young woman Jean Valjean raises after the death of her mother Fantine; Marius (played by Joshua Grosso), an idealistic young man who falls in love with Cosette at first sight and eventually marries her; and quite a few more.
With such a large cast, it is important to make sure that no character feels unimportant, and Les Mis succeeds in this in three ways:
1. It ties its characters together through the story, as was demonstrated in the short descriptions above.
2. When characters disappear from the story, their parting serves as set-up for the next plot points. The Bishop of Digne is only in the prologue but is the one who sets Jean Valjean on the path to becoming a righteous man; Fantine's dying wish is for Jean Valjean to find and raise Cosette; etc.
3. The characters' personal stories all flesh out the world and relate back to the show's main themes, such as love, loss, struggle, freedom, and change.
The actors all gave phenomenal performances, as to be expected out of a professional company like this. In particular, Nick Cartell gave a fittingly passionate and moving performance as Jean Valjean, Andrew Love was very intense and surprisingly sympathetic as Javert, and I enjoyed the vocal variety that Phoenix Best provided as Eponine, even if she was a bit nasally at times. I felt somewhat iffy about the few child actors featured here, though the boy who played Gavroche grew on me in time for his unfortunate death. The pit was incredibly powerful and emotional, yet the singers still managed to rise above it most of the time, getting many of the tunes stuck in my head. The costumes were also very realistic.
This show is very different in scale from the first play I reviewed for this class, the Elm Shakespeare Company's performance of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet was outdoors and thus had both natural and artificial lighting, which required the show to make more creative use of its artificial lighting to add to the scenes. Les Mis was in a huge beautiful theater where they had full control of lighting, and in comparison, I found the lighting to be atmospheric and overall great but not as unique. The other downside of having a huge theater is that it's much harder to read the actors' facial expressions from a difference, which means certain subtleties can be missed from a distance. However, being in a proper theater did give Les Mis one huge advantage, and that as in the sets. With Romeo and Juliet, everything had to take place on the one large set, and while it was beautiful and worked for the show, Les Mis was visually stunning, with so many different pieces working together to make each location distinct, a necessity for a show with as complex a plot as this. They even made efficient use of a green screen in the background at certain points, such as when Jean Valjean drags Marius through the sewers or when Javert throws himself off a bridge, to make things clearer.
Other than my previously mentioned grievances, the one fault I had with this performance is that it seemed to go too fast at times, or failed to be clear about certain plot points. For example, early in Act Two, Javert goes undercover to sabotage the revolutionaries from the inside, but Mrs. Guarino had to mention to me that it was him before I got it. Similarly, when Jean Valjean shows up to help, it took me more time than it felt like it should have for me to recognize him, even if he was also undercover. These admittedly brief moments of confusion temporarily took me out of the moment, where otherwise the show's immersion was one of its strongest points.
In summary, the Bushnell's performance of Les Misérables was a great pleasure, and I am very glad that it was my first exposure to this wonderful show.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Research on Stanislavski's Method
All three of these videos focus on imagining yourself in the given circumstances, which is a major part of Stanislavski's method.
For this exercise, you have to spend a minute or two examining a coffee mug from every possible angle - the shape of the cup, its weight, the heat coming from the coffee, etc. You then have to apply this same critical thinking while drinking the coffee, analyzing its taste, texture, etc. After this, you must attempt to pick up an identical imaginary cup and experience the same sensations drinking from it.
When looking at the comments for this video, I was surprised to see how negative many of them were. Many people seemed to see it as a waste of time, since at first glance it has nothing to do with developing a character; however, that is missing the point. The idea of this exercise is to develop your ability to imagine. Personally, my takeaway from this is that it gets much easier to imagine and truthfully portray abstract concepts like a character's germ when you are able to imagine more concrete, physical objects as accurately as if they were real. This also makes getting immersed in the scene easier, and if you end up having physical props, it will feel even more natural since you have practiced just as effectively without them.
This video provides instructions for imagining yourself in a set environment - specifically, being outside in the snow. I noticed that this exercise specifically involved all five emotions, and although it served as a blueprint for the progression of the scene, it also provides multiple options (is it sunny, the sun reflecting brightly off the snow, or dark and cloudy?) and thus encouraged the participants to do their own thing. In everyday life, I feel there are certain senses that seem to overshadow others in terms of importance, so this was a good reminder that when acting out a scene, it helps to take all five basic emotions into account, covering all your bases.
Video 3
This video contains two exercises. In the first, the actors had to imagine themselves as being in a kitchen with imaginary props, very similar to an exercise from our textbook. In the second exercise, the actors had to hold a pen and some sting with their eyes closed and try to figure out what the objects where, then imagine that the pen is priceless and see how their relationship with the object changed.
These two exercises tie back to the two previous videos. The kitchen exercise is an expansion of the snowfall exercise, not just standing still and imagining the location in your mind but acting as though you are in that location. If you were to take the snowfall exercise to this level, I figure that you would have to start by walking as though you were trudging through snow or trying not to slip and fall on ice. The pen and string exercise is similar to the coffee mug in how it has the actor examine a physical object, and then use that to further their ability to relate to such objects in a scene.
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