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Image Maker: The Actor: Foritisnotagameof Charades, This Acting World of Ours It Is An Everlasting Search For Truth
Image Maker: The Actor: Foritisnotagameof Charades, This Acting World of Ours It Is An Everlasting Search For Truth
—Laurence Olivier
Chapter Summary
• Definitions of acting:
– “[L]iving truthfully in imagined circumstances”
(Sanford Meisner-American actor and acting teacher)
– “[A]n everlasting search for truth” (Laurence Olivier-
English actor and director))
• Foundation of acting: search for truthful behavior
• Acting is not:
– Showing
– Narrating
– Illustrating
– Exhibiting
– Displaying emotion
Acting Is Doing
• Spontaneous invention
• Exercises and games:
– Substitute own words for script
– Repetition between two actors of same word or
phrase
• Purposes:
– Frees creativity
– Hones concentration
– Spurs commitment to finding truth of behavior
Actors at Work: Movement Training
Stage Screen
• Audience more distant • Audience as close (close-
up) or far as camera
• Auditions focus on match • “Screen test” assesses
between actor and presence in front of
character camera
• Rehearsals explore • Rehearsals used to set
character, relationships, blocking for camera
interpretation
• Actors discuss role with • Production schedules
director, each other often rule out discussion
Core Concepts