Welcome to the blogspace for Specialist Skills 1. In this space you'll be able to post and share research, experiences or simple cries for help!! Use it as a forum for discussion and debate - disagree, fallout, explore the elements of the system we'll be covering in class ... and enjoy!
The given circumstance - this is what is given to you via the playwright or author within the play. Character name, age, the description of how the character looks - these are all given circumstances and can be proven as "fact" within the play. Opinions, such as posture and political beliefs unless definitively stated within the play, are not given circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe inner creative state is how an actor should prepare for his role using everything that surrounds them. The inner creative state - says that to be true to yourself and to not be false in any way. Whether this be the delivery of lines or over acting, stanislavski states that every thing from the audiences perspective should be as "true" as it can be. To be relaxed but in a state of readiness.
ReplyDeleteThe inner creative state is about the body being prepared for performing, the audience needs to believe in your character and the scene you are doing. This comes down to your body and being in a state of readiness, and completely letting go to your character, however if this state of readiness is ruined in any way the audience will automatically know and their focus will also be broken.
ReplyDeleteGiven circumstances is the information you recieve from the author or playwright about your character e.g. age, who you are, setting and why you are that character. This is all the information you need to build the character. However opinions are not given circumstances, the reason being they are not proven as fact within the play.
The inner creative state
ReplyDeleteThis is the mood in which the actor is in before performing. This can be effected by the actor having personal problems, poor health, habbits etc which can have impact on the actors performance. The audience need to have belief in the character an actor is trying to portray if the actor isn't in the proper state then the audience won't be able to connect with the character.
Given circumstances
The information given to make a character. Such as time period, backstory, norms, location etc.
This can help achieve the 'creative state' which more creative work can develop.
A given circumstance is information or a situation that acts as an actor's starting point to work with. When given their script, they may read through their character's lines and notice their personality, back-story and current dilemma.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a lot of information based on the time period, where the piece is set, the character's relationship with others, and how they act around others, then character-building can seem simple, but when there is little information provided, an actor must read lines more closely, gain a better understanding of what is happening in their scenes, and think harder about how they'd say things at certain moments.
They must then expand upon this, without adding what they don't know. For example, if there is no evidence as to whether or not a character can drive, then an actor can't decide it for them, as this is something that they've added, not the playwright. With that said however, the author might have left it open for interpretation, or left it out altogether because it's irrelevant to the piece.
An inner creative state expands upon the given circumstance. An actor needs to take into account their character based on the limited information they've been given, and create ways of portraying it, without stepping outside of what they began with.
If there is evidence that a character is shy, then that is how the actor must portray it, but they can still perform it in their own creative manner, as long as the audience believe that the character is shy. If there is little evidence of a character's personality, then perhaps the playwright intended them to have an unknown feel, unless they left it open to interpretation.
Stanislavski’s given circumstances:
ReplyDeleteConstantin Stanislavski believed that in order for an actor to become the character they are portraying, the actor must know and have a full understanding of the play, their character, the characters background and their role in the play. This information is known as the given circumstances. For example, an actor would need to know the plot, the events, their characters details, the location, setting and time of the play.
The inner creative state:
Stanislavski also believed that before a performance the actor should prepare himself physically and emotionally, as without this preparation, there are several things, such as bad habits or tension that the actor might take with him/her on to the stage which could ruin the entire performance. Some of these bad habits may include stage fright, poor health, agitation, shyness or embarrassment. Therefore, it is important for the actor to relax before performing and to get rid of their stress, worries, anxiety and bad habits.
Given circumstances: what the director has given each actor to work with; eg - where, who, what and why. Not the character in general but all parts of that characters life.
ReplyDeleteThe Inner Creative state: A state of readiness where the actor is mentally and physically in control so the audience believes what you are portraying on stage. This helps the audience o connect with you as a character.
Given circumstance
ReplyDeleteIs an actor posing a question to themselves in a certain circumstance how would I react as my character.
Inner creative state
The actor is mentally, physically prepared and focused on the piece the audience gets the best out of the actor if they are in they are focused on the role.
Physco physicality
ReplyDeletethe actor uses there physical and psychological life experiences together to express externally through the body.
This means that what you experience internally psychologically affects how the body is used externally when acting.
I find this a huge help while performing i often analyse the text and think of the character,setting, situation I am in, then think of a emotional event in my life that i can relate to the piece.
Stage ethics
the meaning of stage ethics is the observation of how the actor behaves inside the theatre and outside the theatre.
The actor should not do anything in there personal time that will affect the quality of the character or performance.
This also includes the relationship in a theatre building between the actors and the administrate staff.
I do think it is important to have a positive strong relationship amongst fellow actors,if not this can affect the performance.
Discipline
Is the ability to disregard everything of a personal nature. This is important because it could affect a actors focus and then produce a poor delivery.
Imaginary journey: to develop imagination and enable to sustain and interoperate a sense of belief with imagination.
Actors must be physically disciplined. It is useful if actor is healthy and have agility to some degree.
The most important discipline to learning is learning lines correctly.
If one actor does not learn no there lines this will affect the receiving partner.
Causing the receiving partner to have to adapt or manipulate lines to make sense of dialogue or prompt actor.
This will then impair the quality and delivery of the text .
Through observing the person I chose, I noticed how relaxed they were but at the same time ready, focused and open. This gave me the impression that his inner tempo and outer tempo complimented each other as he looked calm and true, if he was not calm I would have thought the inner tempo would be faster. The final exercise was quite difficult for me as I had to make sure I was not imitating them but embodying them. Therefore I used my body in different ways e.g. I would be sitting in an upright position to show how they were ready and open. Thinking of one of the objects that would be most important to this person was interesting as I could use my imagination fully into creating a story. Overall this was a significant exercise for me as I realised the difference of mimicking and embodying, also making this a good exercise for character building.
ReplyDeleteI person i chose to observe was a very still and relaxed person which in turn made it harder for me to discover how they would behave or react in different social situations. With the inner tempo, was quite hard to decipher however with him being sat at a computer screen and blinking quite fast i assumed that his inner tempo was going faster than his outer tempo rhythm. When asked to embody the person i had watched, the key difference was to not mimic them, as mimicing is a bad impersonation whereas embodying means to become them. When we were then asked as the embodied person, to then pick an item to have associated with our person and why. I found this extremely difficult compared to some of my classmates as previously stated, due to the fact that he was so still. But knowing i had to create a story i set off in doing so but was very hard.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion this was a very significant excercies in helping me to clearly define the difference between mimicing and embodying.
The person i watched was really interesting because she was sitting with 4 of her friends and she was the center of attention. She was using her hands a lot and i could see that she was really exited about the topic. i could clearly understand that her inner tempo was going fast but her outer tempo was only at a normal rate. Embodying a person sound like mimicking them, but there is a clear distinction where mimicking is only copying the physical motions of the person embodying is becoming them both physically and mentally and equating your inner and outer tempos with the observed person.
ReplyDeletePicking an item for the person was really easy for me, because i new i could rely on my imagination to help me associate the item with the person that i have observed.
Given circumstances
ReplyDeleteAre simply everything you can learn about the play or/and your character. Every information you can collect from the script about the situation the character is in and the condition of life for a specific year and/or country.
They can be; the facts, events, time and place of the action, bits, objectives, counter objectives, subtext and punctuation.
Given circumstances + Actions = Powerful Emotions ( GV+A=PE )
The Inner Creative State
Is being physically relaxed and mentally warmed up.
The actor should be aware of the actions around them. If every actor on stage can establish a relaxed but ready state all together they form a creative atmosphere.
Simply the inner creative state is the state of readiness.