Stanislavsky: We have as many planes of speech as does a painting planes of persp ective which create perspective in a phrase. The most important word stands out most vividly defined in the very foreground of the sound plane. Less important w ords create a series of deeper planes. * BioMethod * The subdirectories (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) are not developed yet! * Acting: Click to View or Add Text. acting one * ActJokes: Click to View or Add Text. "Don't ask what they want. Show them what you've got. If you want more - give m ore." - Michael Scott Butler Motivation -- WHY you do what you do! Remember 5Ws? "Who" (is this character)? I say to my students -- you should know your characte r's past as well as you know your own! Not enough information in the script -- i nvent it! Your artistic work began; we need your interpretation! First, of course, get as much as you can get from the playwright. Look, how much do we know about Jack (The Importance of Being Earnerst) -- his past is the mai n part of the plot. Write it down. Still not enough? Think (imagination) and describe his childhood (see how it was done by the members of the cast in different shows I directed, using this famou s Stanislavsky technique of total identification with the character). "When" (action takes place)? Morning? On Mon. or Fri.? Do you see the difference ? Fall or Summer? (it will effect everything, including your costume and therefo re the stage business; getting dressed, undressed). How about the critical actio ns prior to this scene? Or simply the moment before your entrance? * one act fest Four Levels of Characterization: 1. Physical 2. Social 3. Psychological 4. Moral Questions: What is the difference between Character and Role? Notes: The Character's Mind (subtext) and Inner Monologue From "What" to "How" : from character to role. "Never let yourself get between you and your Character". -Michael Caine CHARACTER Visualization: Vocalization + Physicalization Act in your pauses. -- Ellen Terry (to Cedric What a pain to see actors on stage or screen, e doing! They do not understand even the text out understanding his or her character? = Chacterization (SHOW-business!) Hardwicke) who do not understand what they ar they say! How can one perform with5Ws: who, what, where, when, why -- establish during the exposition. See character page in 200X Aesthetics Character Past, Present, Future Must answer questions: where my character is coming from, where it goes? [ Within your monologue or scene 5W's questions ] Character' Story (invent it, if needed) a must! Bio! An Acting Checklist (Benediti, appendix C)I. The Givens: What, Who, Where, When: A. What happens in this scene? 1. What is the main event of the scene? How does it move the plot of the play fo rward? How does it contribute to the play's meaning? 2. What changes in the world of the play as a result of this scene? B. Who is this scene? 1. 2. 3. 4. What What Does What is the general relationship? is the specific relationship? your relationship change in this scene? is discovered about your character in this scene?C. Where is this scene? 1. How does the physical environment influence what happens? 2. How does the social envoronment influence what happens? D. When is this scene? 1. How does the historical time influence the scene? 2. How does the season of the year influence the scene? 3. How does the time of day influence the scene? II. Scene Structure A. What is the main conflict of this scene? How does it relate to the overall co nflict of the play? B. What is the breakdown of the scene, beat by beat? Be specific about each beat chamge. C. What is the crisis, the moment after which the conflict must be resolved? D. How does this scene grow out of preceding scenes? How does this scene lead in to following scenes? III. Objectives A. What is your superobjective? B. What is your scene objective? How does it relate to your superobjective? C. Break down your beat objectives in sequence. Do you begin to feel the logic o f their sequence, the score? D. Examine the sequence of your immidiate objectives through the scene. Express each in transitive verb as "SIP" (singular, immidiate, and personally important) ; try to think of each as a desired change in the other character. [ * more in Acting II and Acting III checklists ] Method: Actor = Character, i.e. Character is your main resposibility, actor! The Boor, Chekhov, comedy SMIRNOV: [Imitating her.] Not at all funny--vulgar! I don't understand how to be have in the company of ladies. Madam, in the course of my life I have seen more women than you have sparrows. Three times have I fought duels for women, twelve I jilted and nine jilted me. There was a time when I played the fool, used honey ed language, bowed and scraped. I loved, suffered, sighed to the moon, melted inlove's torments. I loved passionately, I loved to madness, loved in every key, chattered like a magpie on emancipation, sacrificed half my fortune in the tende r passion, until now the devil knows I've had enough of it. Your obedient servan t will let you lead him around by the nose no more. Enough! Black eyes, passiona te eyes, coral lips, dimples in cheeks, moonlight whispers, soft, modest sights-for all that, madam, I wouldn't pay a kopeck! I am not speaking of present comp any, but of women in general; from the tiniest to the greatest, they are conceit ed, hypocritical, chattering, odious, deceitful from top to toe; vain, petty, cr uel with a maddening logic and [he strikes his forehead] in this respect, please excuse my frankness, but one sparrow is worth ten of the aforementioned pettico at-philosophers. When one sees one of the romantic creatures before him he imagi nes he is looking at some holy being, so wonderful that its one breath could dis solve him in a sea of a thousand charms and delights; but if one looks into the soul--it's nothing but a common crocodile. [He siezes the arm-chair and breaks i t in two.] But the worst of all is that this crocodile imagines it is a masterpi ece of creation, and that it has a monopoly on all the tender passions. May the devil hang me upside down if there is anything to love about a woman! When she i s in love, all she knows is how to complain and shed tears. If the man suffers a nd makes sacrifices she swings her train about and tries to lead him by the nose . You have the misfortune to be a woman, and naturally you know woman's nature; tell me on your honor, have you ever in your life seen a woman who was really tr ue and faithful? Never! Only the old and the deformed are true and faithful. It' s easier to find a cat with horns or a white woodcock, than a faithful woman. (in class for this monologue): 5W's and Conflict * Objective * Obstacle * Action s * Choices * Given Circumstances * dramatic: JEAN: Do you know how people in high life look from the under world? No ... of c ourse you don't. They look like hawks and eagles whose backs one seldom sees, fo r the soar up above. I lived in a hovel provided by the state, with seven brothe rs and sisters and a pig; out on a barren stretch where nothing grew, not even a tree, but from the window I could see the Count's park walls with apple trees r ising above them. That was the garden of paradise; and there stood many angry an gels with flaming swords protecting it; but for all that I and other boys found a way to the tree of life--now you despise me. You say you don't, but you despis e me all the same. No matter! One time I entered the garden of paradise--it was to weed the onion beds with my mother! Near the orchard stood a Turkish pavilion , shaded and overgrown with jessamine and honeysuckle. I didn't know what it was used for and I had never seen anything so beautiful. People passed in and out a nd one day--the door was left open. I sneaked in and beheld walls covered with p ictures of kings and emperors and there were red-fringed curtains at the windows --now you understand what I mean--I ... I had never been in the castle and how m y thoughts leaped--and there they returned ever after. Little by little the long ing came over me to experience for once the pleasure of--enfin, I sneaked in and was bewildered. But then I heard someone coming--there was only one exit for th e great folk, but for me there was another, and I had to choose that. Once out I started to run, scrambled through a raspberry hedge, rushed over strawberry bed and came to a stop on the rose terrace. For there I saw a figure in a white dre ss and white slippers and stockings--it was you! I hid under a heap of weeds, un der, you understand, where the thistles pricked me, and lay on the damp, rank ea rth. I gazed at you walking among the roses. And I thought if it is true that th e thief on the cross could enter heaven and dwell among the angels it was strang e that a pauper child on God's earth could not go into the castle park and play with the Countess' daughter. Oh, Miss Julie, a dog may lie on the couch of a Cou ntess, a horse may be caressed by a lady's hand, but a servant--yes, yes, someti mes there is stuff enough in a man, whatever he be, to swing himself up in the w orld, but how often does that happen! But to return to the story, do you know wh at I did? I ran down to the mill dam and threw myself in with my clothes on--and was pulled out and got a thrashing. But the following Sunday when all the famil y went to visit my grandmother I contrived to stay at home; I scrubbed myself well, put on my best clothes, such as they were, and went to church so that I migh t see you. I saw you. Then I went home with my mind made up to put an end to mys elf. But I wanted to do it beautifully and without pain. Then I happened to reme mber that elderberry blossoms are poisonous. I knew where there was a big elderb erry bush in full bloom and I stripped it of its riches and made a bed of it in the oat-bin. Have you ever noticed how smooth and glossy oats are? As soft as a woman's arm. -- Well, I got in and let down the cover, fell asleep, and when I a woke I was very ill, but didn't die--as you see. What I wanted--I don't know. Yo u were unattainable, but through the vision of you I was made to realize how hop eless it was to rise above the conditions of my birth. [ MISS JULIE * A monologue from the play by August Strindberg * Plays by August Strindberg. Trans. Edith and Warner Oland. Boston: John W. Luce and Co., 1912. ] Forums: subscribe!: Click to View or Add Links. CZAR: Vera, the Nihilist in Mo scow! O God, were it not better to die at once the dog's death they plot for me than to live as I live now! Never to sleep, or, if I do, to dream such horrid dr eams that hell itself were peace when matched with them. To trust none but those I have bought, to buy none worth trusting! To see a traitor in every smile, poi son in every dish, a dagger in every hand! To lie awake at night, listening from hour to hour for the stealthy creeping of the murderer, for the laying of the d amned mine! You are all spies! You are all spies! You worst of all--you, my own son! Which of you is it who hides these bloody proclamations under my own pillow , or at the table where I sit? Which of ye all is the Judas who betrays me? O Go d! O God! methinks there was a time once, in our war with England, when nothing could make me afraid. [This with more calm and pathos.] I have ridden into the c rimson heart of war, and borne back an eagle which those wild islanders had take n from us. Men said I was brave then. My father gave me the Iron Cross of Valour . Oh, could he see me now, with this coward's livery ever in my cheek! [Sinks in to his chair.] I never knew any love when I was a boy. I was ruled by terror mys elf, how else should I rule now? [Starts up.] But I will have revenge; I will ha ve revenge. For every hour I have lain awake at night, waiting for the noose or the dagger, they shall pass years in Siberia, centuries in the mines! Ay! I shal l have revenge. I am done with half measures. I shall crush these Nihilists at a blow. There shall not be a man of them, no, nor a woman either, left alive in R ussia. Am I Emperor for nothing, that a woman should hold me at bay? Vera Sabour off shall be in my power, I swear it, before a week is ended, though I burn my w hole city to find her. She shall be flogged by the knout, stifled in the fortres s, strangled in the square! For two years her hands have been clutching at my th roat; for two years she has made my life a hell; but I shall have revenge. No wonder that I can't get to Biomechanics in Acting II class (Spring 2002)! You 're supposed to use BM, when you are done with everything Method can offer! Do y ou know how to use Method acting? Compare the characters of Jack and Algernon (write in your journals). What do we call "given circumstances"? Give examples, based on your WWWilde character. Homework Write your character's autobiography in your journals! Present = Past (your interpretation) + Future (public imagination) NB It's like a woman getting pregnant. This character, this person that I am to bec ome, starts to grow inside me and I listen. If I don't listen, he will die in me . Marcello Mastroianni Online with Yahoo: Film Directing & 200X Aesthetics * Stanislavsky: Click to Vie w or Add Text.The Boor (cont.) MRS. POPOV: But allow me to ask, who is true and faithful in love? The man, perh aps? [ SMIRNOV: Yes, indeed! The man! ] MRS. POPOV: The man! [She laughs sarcastically.] The man true and faithful in lo ve! Well, that is something new! [Bitterly.] How can you make such a statement? Men true and faithful! So long as we have gone thus far, I may as well say that of all the men I have known, my husband was the best; I loved him passionately w ith all my soul, as only a young, sensible woman may love; I gave him my youth, my happiness, my fortune, my life. I worshipped him like a heathen. And what hap pened? This best of men betrayed me in every possible way. After his death I fou nd his desk filled with love-letters. While he was alive he left me alone for mo nths--it is horrible even to think about it--he made love to other women in my v ery presence, he wasted my money and made fun of my feelings--and in spite of ev erything I trusted him and was true to him. And more than that: he is dead and I am still true to him. I have buried myself within these four walls and I shall wear this mourning to my grave. Film-North * Anatoly Antohin * eCitations * 2005 by vtheatre.net. Permission to link to this site is granted. print.google.c om scholar.google.com