Part 3: Improv - Acting Class - Understanding Acting Technique In the previous blog, you were asked to open your mind to the thought of attending acting classes. You took it to heart and said, I want...no, I can be an actor. You’re correct, so now let’s look at some acting techniques currently being taught in acting classes today. The idea here is to have you find one that suits your personality, thereby allowing you to feel comfortable in learning that specific acting technique. Let’s start with “Method acting.” Developed by the Russian actor and director Konstantin Stanislavski, this style or “system” of acting encourages the actor to fully inhabit the role of the character and to remain that way for the entire shoot. In other words, if playing a nurse you would walk, talk and act like a nurse on and off camera. The actor Daniel Day Lewis spent his entire acting career remaining in character off camera, although that style of acting has recently fallen out of favor. Taking a different opinion of method acting was Lee Strasberg who was considered “the father of method acting in America.”  He believed that actors should make use of experiences from their own lives to bring them closer to the experience of the character they’re playing. Opposing his view was Stella Adler who once said, “drawing on experience from when my mother died, just to create a role is sick and schizophrenic.” She taught actors to stimulate emotional experiences by imagining a scene’s “given circumstance.” Actors were drawn to Stella Adler’s technique as a sanctuary from other psychologically manipulative methods of acting. You really can’t argue with success, seeing that a few of the actors that studied with her were Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel.  Another style of acting taught today is the Meisner Method. Known as the “real people” technique, this method was created to have an actor look and act like real human beings. The focus of Meisner is for the actor to “get out of their head,” whereby the actor learns to behave instinctively to the surroundings in the scene. As Meisner put it, “the actor should live truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” Two actors that are strong proponents of this acting style are Alec Baldwin and Diane Keaton. Most acting classes focus on one style or technique, so if you see one mentioned above that looks interesting to you, go for it. Remember, many actors have started taking acting classes with one style then shifted to another, once they found their comfort zone. Learn and grow; that’s the key! As an actor, I found it much easier when I was younger to stay in character the entire time I was on set. However, I also relied on childhood experiences to elicit an emotional response which I then applied to the character I was playing. As I got older, I realized a character’s emotional intention can be simulated. Therefore, I didn’t need an emotional experience from my past or find the need to continually stay in character.  That’s my experience but let’s look at what happened to Michael J. Fox while filming Back to the Future. He was asked to cry in a scene but couldn’t do it. The director told him to just think of something tragic in his past, like a death in the family, etc. Remember, Michael was young at the time. He explained to the director that he had a great upbringing in Canada and so far in his life, nothing really that bad has ever happened to him. Eventually, Michael pulled off the crying scene perfectly but the point here is that different techniques work for different people. The next blog will cover auditions and scene reading, both critical in understanding a day in the life for most actors.   Related Articles:- Part 1: Improv – Introduction Part 2: Improv - First day of class

Related Articles:- 

Part 1: Improv – Introduction

Part 2: Improv - First day of class