On “Michael Chekhov’s Chart of Inspired Acting by Mala Powers”
Reading this chart of acting techniques, I cannot help but feel that I am understanding new concepts while simultaneously understanding that all of them are common sense and already planted in our subconscious. Taking a course like TPER 201 really teaches us to be aware of each technique by discovering them within ourselves. One of the techniques mentioned in the chart, Imagination, really struck my attention. I always wondered whether or not imagination could be used as a technique to transport the actor into a feeling. Logically, I would think that the more imaginative an actor might be, the better he might able to convincingly play his role by imagining that he is that character. However, this is not necessarily the case. This worked for me, as I have a very vivid visual imagination and am constantly picturing things in my head when people talk all the time. When I was doing the bamboo stick exercise in class and we had to do different types of movements, I would suddenly imagine myself getting out of canoe or putting down a heavy grocery bag. It was easy to me to associate many details; I knew the movement was happening at night or I knew the grocery bag came out of a blue Buick car parked in a suburb. I was associating with memory. When I commented about this to my class mates at the end of class, I was surprised to learn that others did not necessarily picture anything. This brought me to realize that you don’t necessarily need to have a strong imagination to be a good actor. Others, such as David and Isabelle, for example, said they focused more on a feeling and their body movements rather than imagination. Other factors can also affect imagination, such as the room you are in. When I was on stage and the cazalet, I felt it was easy to visualize things because they were very dark places isolated by spotlights. When I was in the CC building, the feeling was less imaginative and more emotional. I think this was due to all the natural light coming from the windows, and the wooden floor. It felt much more personal and realistic when I interacted with people. Of all of the mentioned techniques, I feel that everyone may have one that they can most relate to when they are discover the actor within them. For me it was imagination, but for it others it may be composition, form, style, gesture, focal point, objective, ensemble or any other one that might strike that match and spark their understanding of what is meant by “feeling it”. Once you connect one point and proceed, I feel that is easy to understand the other points and may have already connected many of them. It can then be apparent which technique is a weakness also and what can use improvement.
On “On Acting by Sanford Meisner”
In the text, the author writes “ Acting… is an emotional creating. It has inner content. Unlike the English, who know intellectually what the character should be feeling and indicate this verbally through the way they handle the text, we work from living truthfully, under imaginary circumstances”. When I read it, it struck me as something very powerful since this is my own personal acting philosophy. To hear someone write it out in plain text gave me a rush of inspiration, reminding me that it is OK to think this way. The text also mentions a charater ( Beth) saying that sometimes she finds herself forcing too hard to be something. The other person (Sandy) replies by asking her if she ever listened to a a record so many times in a row that if she were to hear the same track one more time she will break the record, so to change it instead. Come with different preparation, bring something different to the table. I truly believe in this. It can be applied to anything in daily life. Wear a color shirt you’ve never worn before. Listen to a kind of music you never had the chance to get into. Pick up that tennis racket and try tennis. Learn how to sew for goodness sake, even if you are a man, so what big deal! Cook up that interesting Malaysian dish you saw on that recipe site, its not too exotic for you. When we change our routines and habits, and explore new things we learn more about ourselves. Liz said, take every chance. Take a risk in acting! She said if she fell on her face right now, it would hurt but at least she will learn something from it and not do it again. This is a great habit for learning a progressive and optimistic view on things and inspire yourself in everyday life and in acting.
