STANISLAVSKI'S METHOD ACTING-PART 1

I hope you all safe and doing well in this Pandemic!! I know at times we feel fatigue or quite drained out, irrespective of not doing the actual work that you are suppose to be doing. But as an Actor, through my blog I'll be introducing well known term that is METHOD ACTING.

Many People find it inquisitive to actually know what is method acting. Today's Blog is dedicated to all those people who are interested in attempting it.

Well Method Acting was Previously Developed by Konstantin Stanislavski. Let me give you a brief about him, Stanislavski was a Russian Theatre practitioner and developed methodology regarding "Art Of Representation" or "Art Of Expressionism". In the Year 1898, He founded Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) and began his professional career. Stanislavski has written books like

• An Actor Prepares.
• Building A Character. 
• Creating A Role.

At the MAT's 30-year anniversary celebrations in 1928, a massive heart attack on-stage put an end to his acting career (though he waited until the curtain fell before seeking medical assistance). He continued to direct, teach, and write about acting until his death a few weeks before the publication of the first volume of his life's great work.

So the key attributes involved in acting are mentioned below and we will be covering in detail all these aspects one by one in forthcoming posts on method acting.

• SENSE MEMORY.
• AFFECTIVE MEMORY/ EMOTIONAL MEMORY.
• RELAXATION.
• CONCENTRATION.
• IMPROVISATIONS.
• CREATING THE INNER CHARACTER.
• CREATING THE OUTER CHARACTER.
• JUSTIFICATION.

Today we will be speaking on Sense Memory!!

INTRODUCTION

Method Acting is a pathway to find truth and honestly and imply it in your act!! By rehearsing it helps endure your performance. Method acting mainly focuses on character graph which can be attained through 5 senses inner characterization,outer characterization,emotional memory justification.
It is sad on the contrary that a play which is being performed in India protrudes under rehearsed play!! One of the biggest reasons for a play to get performed in such a way is the time constraints or time bound of a play. People want things work quickly and so intend to do 15 days of rehearsal or just a month and go on floors!!

On the other side,western plays are being rehearsed for 6 to 8 months. So on the contrary you got to witness yourself and improve calibre !!! Use your voice,body language and speech to emphasize a character and make it realistic. Method acting is not only specific to a particular genre but can be used in every genre you come across. Right from realistic play, stylized play, comedy, satirical plays, restoration comedy, farce etc.

Five Senses For Method Acting are:-

3 (S,S,S) and 2 (T,T)

Sight,Sound,Smell,Touch,Taste. Actor has body, mind, soul, sense, emotions muscle that needs to be worked on to conceive any situation. 

When it comes to a character play it might happen that only one of his/her sense is in use and not all 5 senses at a time.Also being present in an Environment one can engage his/her senses like for example-

If you are seated in a room try to first look around yourself, and that's how Sight is being used, observe every living or non-living object in your vicinity. 

Then move ahead with Sound that you encounter, it maybe of a pressure cooker that is under cooking, or maybe any vehicle that is running across a street and you are window seated in a balcony.

Now, When it comes to Smell you can definitely breathe aroma of a perfume, a vaporizer, or cooking meal!! 

Taste, one of the important factors over here is to be aware of every sort of taste no matter what if it is water though.Bitter, Sweet, Tangy, Crispy etc. Keep your taste buds active.

Touch can be of variety, depends on the texture that you come in contact with. It can a rugged sofa cover/ bed sheet, your mobile phone, pencil, ceramic, crockery etc.

                                           
EXERCISE ON SENSE MEMORY

1ST EXERCISE

Relax and sit on chair and make your body comfortable & should have no tension in body. Imagine a cup of tea (shouldn't have any personal attachment to cup for e.x:-a cup gifted on any occasion) imagine cup's touch,sense, size,color,texture,ring shape also you can use your thumb.Work on the detailing of aspect involved in your act.Take the aroma of tea inside the cup,look at the color,take a sip and observe!!
In case if you feel hard to recreate it you can actually go for something which is practical. Perform it live using an actual cup of tea and then again go back to performing it using imagination. Also when it comes to sound you can also hear the sip of tea when you inculcate it.
Complete this exercise for 10-15 minutes and beyond.

                                        

2ND EXERCISE

Tooth Ache exercise,
Imagine and observe your pain of tooth ache,the way how you feel,how does it protrudes towards the facial area.The way you intake any food particle or any liquid!!! Sense the ache and the nearby areas that are being affected,the more you seek towards honesty and truth, the more you get clarified!!

It is important to make yourself feel,only then audience will retaliate towards you!!
Being sensitive is important,you got to Express yourself. 

                                                             
         
So accordingly you can now, use any of your home objects to perform Sense Memory Exercise.

Alright, Now I'll be posting a Youtube Video regarding sense memory which will give you an insight on it.   

So here is a Video which explains sense memory in a quite different way!

Link- https://youtu.be/scGiHYpO808- Erric Morris.

Link- https://youtu.be/O2ZgZzp3Lfo- Demon R Jones.

Link- https://youtu.be/b-tDr0rFeWI -  Bennett Theatre Lab, The living Actor.

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THANK YOU,
LOVE AND LIGHT