DOC 500 Years of Illustration: From Albrecht Duuml;rer to Rockwell Kent (Dover Fine Art; History of Art) by Howard Simon in Arts-Photography

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Must haveBy Eamon RocheAny actor looking to act better have this in their library. No arguments against it. You just have to know Stanislavski.0 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A Fine; Little-known FilmBy Ben MartinReally good; very quirky film. Early Scorcisi (spelling?); and unlike his later work; strangely. It follows the logic of a nightmare.13 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Easy to Understand; Great Introduction to StanislavskiBy Elan KesilmanBenedetti first outlines Stanislavskis Method of Physical action; a term which Benedetti does not think accurately denotes the idea it represents. He prefers to refer to it as the Method of Analysis through Physical Action because it recognizes that physical movement is not the sole ingredient for good acting. Nonetheless; how an actor moves partly determines how his audience will react. If the movements are believable and comparable to the viewers own movement; the viewer will be able to identify with the actors performance. In other words; although acting is a created behavior; it must appear real. Benedetti coins the terms; the "Real I" and the "Dramatic I" to illustrate the difference and the process of creating a character. He notes the actor must "create a Dramatic `I that will look and sound as human as a Real `I" (4). The most important factor in making this transition; according to Benedetti; is belief. The actor must believe his situation is true; and his attitude toward his movements and the treatment of other actors and objects will seem true. There are three phases in achieving this goal: (1) I am being; which involves creating past and future character histories for the play along with dividing the play into its thematic parts and exploring the subtext; (2) The Third Being; where the texts structure is examined in the context of its history and the text merges with the actors experiences and actions; and (3) The Creative Actor in the Play; which refines the actors performance and cuts superfluous movement. Benedetti then explains Stanislavskis system; or technique; to create the Dramatic `I. Stanislavski believed in continual practice of exercises to keep the actors body and voice finely tuned like a musical instrument. Benedetti presents a variety of such exercises that attempt to break movements into their smallest parts; thereby making the actor acutely aware of how his body works. These exercises later translate into the components of dramatic action. For example; if an actor was supposed to place a candle down (like Jim in The Glass Menagerie scene with Laura); he would not just simply bend over and put the candle on the ground. The actor might first look around for a suitable place; set the candle down; then adjust its position to prevent the wax from dripping. The exercises for mental action are perhaps the most important for creating the belief necessary to create the Dramatic `I. How an actor focuses his senses and concentrates on his surroundings is essential to a believable performance. The mechanics of focus and concentration are similar to the mechanics of movement; and Stanislavski encourages actors to dissect this as well. Understanding how one achieves this in reality also simplifies the process of creating an imaginary world for the actor. The actor imagines his characters past; present; and future memories along with much of his physical setting. With a trained imagination; Stanislavski believes an actor will believe he is the character. The section I found particularly helpful regarding creating this imaginary world dealt with subtext. It is similar to the GOTE method in its results; but is far simpler to remember once on stage. Stanislavskis initial analysis of a texts subtext involves creating an Inner Monologue that is accompanied by Mental Images. The actor predetermines his characters thoughts and sights for performance. Since; in reality; much of a persons thoughts are devoted to wants and needs; I have observed that the created inner monologue will map out the actors goals. The benefit of the inner monologue; however; is that is supplies the logical transition between these goals. For example; if an actors goal is first "I want to see X better;" then "I want to kiss X;" there is a significant mental jump. The inner monologue may be "I cant quite see Xs face. Oh; he just stepped into more light . . . my; hes very attractive. Id like to kiss him." Although it is a subtle difference; the inner monologue implies the goals while supplying a sensible transition between them (i.e. through-emotion; as Benedetti terms this).