Role analysis in 7 steps
Read the play for the first time.
Do some basic reading and research on the playwright and on the era in which the play was originally written and produced.
Read the play for the second time and focus on your role.
Analyze the structure and the content of the play.
The 3 W. Ask yourself and answer these questions about your role:
Who am I?
Where am I?
What do I want?
Visualize your character's physical appearance.
Fill in all character activity not provided in the text. (Where does he go when he exits? What he was doing before entering the stage?)
eing Specific
As an actor, you’re required to make choices for every second you are on a stage. Those choices are going to steer you through every performance and you should never be without them. Because of the importance that your choices hold, would you like to work off a vague decision? No. Every actor wants to be the best and you can’t be with vague or simple choices. When you consider a role and you ask yourself the questions that develop that character, you must be specific! I mentioned earlier that it is important to build your vocabulary and this is why: There is a huge difference between MAD and LIVID. To say that your character is MAD is vague. To say that your character is LIVID is much more specific because now you’ve nailed down exactly how mad they are. Never generalize in your choices, be specific and be decisive.
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School for Film and Television Tip: If you're a stage actor trying to break into film acting, here's an acting tip for you: Don't worry about projecting your voice.
In film acting, less is more when it comes to voice projection. On the stage, your voice needs to reach the back of the theater. But on a movie set, microphones will pick up even the quietest whisper.
The director will let you know if he wants you to speak softly or shout your lines as befits the story or your character, but you don't have to worry about not being audible. Keep your voice volume at a normal level unless told to do otherwise. This will prevent you from overacting, and you'll be able to deliver a more natural performance.
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Lose the Script!
Scripts are great to have your nose in when you’re sitting around before rehearsal, or waiting for your turn, but get rid of it before you hit the stage. Many actors have become so accustomed to have an off-book date set for them that they will cling to every available second of script they can get during rehearsals until that date arrives. Trust me, don’t wait, ditch the script fast. Learn your lines for a given scene in a given day. If you’re blocking Act I, Scene 1 then memorize that and nothing else for that day. It’s hard to do if you’re unaccustomed to it, but I swear by this method. It lets you learn your lines sooner, lets you become accustomed to moving in character without something in your hands and it lets you look your partners in the eye from day one. And if you can’t remember all those lines? Well, that’s why there are those wonderful Assistant Directors. “LINE!”
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Warm-up Your Face!
Like a professional athlete, actors need to get their bodies warmed up before performing on stage or in front of a camera. Yoga and other types of stretching exercises work quite well for full body toning. However, don't neglect the most important areas: your mouth and jaw! Lip, tongue, and jaw exercises are vital to an actor. Here's a quick combination exercise you can practice anytime: Clasp your hands in front of you at chest level as though you are about to arm wrestle yourself. Relax all the muscles in your face. Begin to shake your clasped hands rapidly toward and away from your body. Your lips and jaw should move easily, and your tongue should flop around in your mouth. Stop shaking your hands, and finish off by opening your mouth wide and relaxing it shut again to release any further tension in your jaw.
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Acting Tips on Listening
“Just listen,” is perhaps the best acting tip you can receive. As an actor a good deal of your work will be scripted, but just reciting lines is not acting. You must actively respond to the material you are given and to your fellow actors. Listening, constantly and vigilantly, is the best way to do this. Listening to your fellow actors helps you to respond naturally and flexibly. Listening to yourself provides an important check to your own performance, allowing you to gauge how well you are working with the material.
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Acting Techniques for the Jitters
First night jitters affect almost all actors. (Ed Sullivan was sick before every show he ever did!) As an actor, you need to develop your own personal strategy for defeating the jitters. Your method can be something as simple as going over your lines again or as complex as crocheting. Meditation and other breath control techniques often helps. What matters most, however, is that you come up with your own personal way of managing anxiety and stick to it.
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Acting Tips: Alexander Method
Alexander technique is another way of approaching acting. It involves a complete restructuring of the way your body responds to stimuli, re-realizing how your mind and body integrate through retaining breathing and movement. It was Alexander's belief that breathing and vocalization determine how the body functions as a whole. The technique allows actors to retrain any bad physical habits they may have developed and create more efficient ways of moving and breathing.
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Relaxed Acting Techniques
A crucial acting tip is to always remain relaxed and confident. Granted, you may play characters that display the extreme opposites of these emotions. What matters is that you approach the role with these attitudes. Learning to be relaxed within your role helps you to be a more flexible actor, allowing you to respond instinctively. Being confident helps to you develop your character more fully, even if you are playing a role that calls for a doubtful personality.
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Acting Tips: Stanislavsky Method
The Stanislavsky method, or method acting, is one of the most common acting strategies. It involves studying and living as the character you are portraying. Essentially, with the Stanislavsky Method, you are working to find common emotional experiences with the character. Once those common emotions are identified, you draw on your own experiences of those emotions to fill out your character. In this way the emotions of your character become more genuine.
Acting Techniques: Showing v. Telling
A critical acting tip is to remember that you are showing a story, not telling it. The advice may sound simple at first, but it's harder than you migh think to engage your audience. Simply reciting your lines and obeying stage directions won't be enough. Acting involves the whole of your persona. Each movement, each breath, and each spoken line contribute to your performance. When you are on screen or on stage, know that your actions must be deliberate. Everything you do (your "stage business," in other words) must work to show the audience the story.
Acting Techniques for Warming Up
A common warm-up acting exercise involves re-naming your surroundings. The point of the exercise is to break down external barriers in the hopes of challenging any inner barriers that you may have. Follow these instructions: Take a deep breath. Choose an object in the room, and rename it. It doesn't have to be a special name, just different. Move on to the next object, rename it, and repeat the new name of the first object. Repeat until you have renamed everything in the room.
2007-10-18 05:44:47
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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Closure is the key word here. If the husband and wife love eachother, they must understand you can't just move on until u know the corpse is actually dead and gone forever. Knowing that there have been miracles, and talking to the person in bed at the hospital help, also helps give closure to the wife and kids...they will feel that they did all they could and all they wanted to do before the natural end of life. I would have to say that leaving the family secure is sensible, but how comfortable are you really going to be if you have depression and guilt from not being there as much as you could have been until the TOD came???I'd be a mess personally. And money wouldn't matter to me much. Yes it would add to the stree, but when you are depressed, you could give two shits about anything.
2016-03-13 01:21:15
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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The first step is to look into taking a theatre arts class at your school. You will learn a ton, plus it's a lot of fun to do. Second, get involved with school drama, whether it's a play/musical or just a club.
Third, do a little research. Google the name Stanislavski, and study his method. Also, watch a few of your favorite movies or go see a play. Really pay attention to what makes the actors' performances convincing, or even what makes them crappy. But the best advice I can give you is to take theatre as an elective in high school, it's majorly beneficial.
Good luck, cheers.
2007-10-18 05:12:44
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answer #3
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answered by yvkujhbkuyb 3
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the first thing you have to do is get your parents on your side, you can do nothing without their help, at least not until you are 18. So act in all the school and church and community stuff you can, and take professional lessons, and read a bit about acting I will recommend a few if you read my profile and write me at my aol address. That will get you started and take care of a couple of years at least, and if will help you find out if you are any good at it.
2007-10-18 05:11:04
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answer #4
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answered by Theatre Doc 7
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it you like acting then thats all that matters! practise a lot set stuff up like plays! if u have a video camera film mini films and post to youtube!! look for auditions, ask at ur skl if they no of any! but most of all enjoy it and never let anyone ruin your dream
2007-10-18 05:09:18
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answer #5
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answered by frankfurtersonline 3
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go for it find some local plays to audition for take some class and get your name out there but mostly have lots of fun!
2007-10-18 05:05:34
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answer #6
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answered by Andria W 4
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same here..i really want to be an actor..
everyone always say i am an excellent actor...
2007-10-18 05:07:37
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answer #7
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answered by Rserak08 4
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