Acting Is Believing: Outline

1928 Words8 Pages
Acting is Believing Chapters 5 and 6 Outline Acting is Believing Chapters 5 and 6 Outline Chapter 5 I. Developing Your Powers of Observation A. Each character created by such actors as Tom Hanks and Brian Dennehy has distinctive internal thoughts, images, desires, impulses, fears, prejudices, and points of view. B. As an actor, each of your portrayals must be a singular creation derived from three sources: the given circumstances as interpreted from the script and the surrounding production; your imagination; and your personal history, including everything you have experienced, felt, read, or observed in life or fiction. C. One of the most important parts of your acting training is the observation of life itself. You…show more content…
You cannot get away from yourself onstage without it leading to indicated actions. a. Simple manifestation of external gestures and movement serves no purpose unless you discover that you have behaved in a similar fashion under different circumstances. III. ADAPTING OBSERVATIONS THROUGH THE IMAGINATION A. Imagination is the power of the mind to form an inner image or concept of something that is unreal or not present. B. To stimulate your imagination, you must know how to retain observed behaviors, situations, and abstract qualities. C. Have the ability to separate and recall your observations before creating a new combination for the stage. D. While onstage, your artistic imagination helps you find appropriate actions for your character. Your imagination uncovers the hidden recesses of your subconscious. It helps you to recall and then adapt your observations for the stage. E. Your observed memories, combined with your creative imagination, lead you to physical actions and ultimately to truthful emotion. For this reason, your imagination is one of your greatest gifts. Without imagination, there is no art F. You must constantly rekindle your…show more content…
MAKING AN ACTION OF SPEECH A. Reading of the lines, no matter how intelligent or how beautiful, is only a part of your responsibility. B. One may be motionless, but, nevertheless, be in genuine action. Often physical immobility is the direct result of an intense action.” This expands our definition of stage action to mean something more than movement and physical activity. C. Speech is a variant of action. “The artist on the stage must be able to act not only with his hands and feet but also with his tongue; that is, with words, speech, intonation,” wrote Stanislavski. D. “The word and speech must also act; that is, they must force the other person to understand, see, and think just like the speaker does.” E. Later, Stanislavski points out directly that “the transmission of one’s thought is the same as action,” and he ceases to distinguish between “physical” and “verbal” action. F. The basic function of stage speech is to help you accomplish your character’s goals. You must know the purpose of every word, and you must know how each utterance relates to that purpose. G. You must have this relationship clearly in mind for every moment of the play, both during rehearsal and in
Open Document