b5f stanislavski

7/22/2019 B5F Stanislavski

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onstantineStanislavski


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Constantine Stanislavski

Born in Moscow, Russia in 1863.

An actor and moved on to become a director

and teacher.

He developed a new approach to acting.

It took years of experimenting to get to what

is now known as the Stanislavski System.


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Stanislavski's System

As an actor, Stanislavski saw alot of bad acting - what hetermed as artificial.

He wanted actors to work oncharacters from the inside(instead of the outside) andthus create more of a "true" or

"real" (i.e. not artificial)performance.


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What is it?

The Stanislavski System is

an intense character

development process that

strives to make a

performance "real" andnot artificial by:

1. Bringing an actor's

experiences into the role.

2. Expanding an actor's

imaginations.


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Cont

Stanislavski believed that in orderto make a character true, thecharacter must be approachedfrom the inside. That meansdrawing on the real inside life of

the actor, most specificallydrawing on memories. The actoralso has to create the inside lifeof the character: the characterhas to have inner thought, backstory, beliefs, and so on, just as a

real person does. When the actoranswers questions about thecharacter, they should speak inthe first person. "I am..." "Iwant..."


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Given Circumstances

The given circumstances are

the character details in the

script - the facts the

playwright gives the actor.

What has the playwright

told us?

Location of the play?

Time/period/year it is set?

People in the play?


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Units (of action) & Objectives

Break the script down intounits (sections).

A unit (aka beat)is a

portion of a scene thatcontains one objectiveforan actor.

There can be more than oneunit that occurs during ascene.

Every unit has an objectivefor each character.

An objective is expressed

through the use of an activeverb.

Not necessarily what

happens, but this is whatthe character is striving for


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Super Objective

The Super Objective isthe main theme of theplay.

The subject of the play.

Everything drives

toward the SuperObjective.

When all the objectivesare strung together in alogical form, a throughline of action can bemapped out for thecharacter.


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Motivation

Stanislavski insisted that anactor was either driven byemotions or by the mind tochoose physical actions.

This in turn aroused thewill of the actor to performthe given actions. Thus, thewill became activated

indirectly through eitheremotions or the mind.

The will or motivation is inthe subconscious.

Motivation becomeimportant in realism, it isbased on the subtext andany hidden meanings.


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Subtext

Subtext refers to themeaning lyingunderneath the text/dialogue.

The subtext is notspoken, but is

interpreted by the actorthrough, gesture,posture, pauses orchoices in the action.

There is a clear

relationship betweenSubtexts & dialogue andbetween subtext andobjective


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Magic If

In Realismwhere the aim of theactor is to create the appearanceof reality or truth on stage.

Your character is in a specific

situation. The Magic If answersthe following question: "Whatwould I do if I were in the samesituation?

The "If" is very important. Thisabout your real life experiences,in combination with yourimagination.

The situation is not real, and thesystem doesn't assume you haveever been in that situation. Butknowing yourself, what wouldyou do? How would you act?

Take the imaginary situation andmake real life decisions as to howyou would behave.

It's crucial to determine the "do"in the question. What actionwould you take?


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UNITS & OBJECTIVE

Learning to divide the roleinto sensible units that canbe worked on individually,

and developing the ability todefine each unit of the role

by an active goal desired bythe character rather than asan entirely literary idea.


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Motivation or will, as Stanislavski called it, was part

of a triumvirate, the other two

members being feelings and mind.' In his earlier

techniques, he considered these three to be

masters or impelling movers in our psychic life

Stanislavski insisted that an actor was either driven

by emotions or by the mind to choose physical

actions. This in turn aroused the will of the actor toperform the given actions. Thus, the will became

activated

indirectly through either emotions or the mind.6 The

implication here was that the will or motivation was inthe subconscious. Stan would ask questions of

WHO? WHAT and HOW? to make a character treat it

as a journey


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Stanislavski Circles of Attention is a

theory devised by Stanislavski to helpactors feel less tensed on stage. It

comprises of three circles that an actor

can focus concentration on. An actor issupposed to focus on a small circle,

extend focus to the medium circle and

eventually extend focus on the largercircle.


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Name of technique Questions Your answers

Magic if If I was this character, what

would I be thinking, what

would I do if I was involved?

The given circumstance What time is it set

Culture

The story of the play

Historical

Conditions of life

Costume

Journey of motivation Where?

What u want?

Where you going?

Achieving?

After achieving?

Visualisation Look like, age, height,

resemblance?

Obstacles Whatsin the way?

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