"Process," Blocks, and the Art of Acting

-


From the moment we receive the pages of material, we have options. While one option is to start making decisions, choices right away, we also have the option to make a conscious decision to read through the piece and just take it in, like smelling a bag of freshly ground coffee. Then we can read it a second time and ask a QUESTION:  do we feel inside ourselves anything just from reading it? 

 Because the mind is well developed, the desire to succeed (in our work) is also well developed in us. Following this control/ result oriented approach can leave us prepared but empty. 

 However, we can also bypass this to some degree and nurture our CREATIVITY... 

 Want to know how to start on a piece of material? Follow your instincts, follow your heart. 

 But what to do with your mind? Simple. Get your journal out and start writing down any questions that come up for you and do this until after you have performed the piece. This keeps you connected to your inner voice, your cretaive side, your questions, your not knowing, and to the answers and discoveries you find.

 Who is this character?
What do they really need or want in their gut?
Why is this scene here at all?
What is the purpose of this scene between these people at this moment? (The rest of the script that comes after this scene will not work unless this scene is creatively solved.)
What has their life been up until this moment?
What are the obstacles they are dealing with?
What is the problem?
What is the change that they insist must happen now or never?
What is the place of the scene? What is my character's relationship to this place?
What is their moment to moment living look like in this place?
What is on the 4th Wall? 

 What connection do I feel with this character?
Whats aspect of me is being lived by this character?
Am I willing to reveal that side of me?
What fear comes up for me with this scene?
What do I need most when my fear comes up? (love, support, encouragement, etc)
Who can offer that to me?
Am I thinking of RESULTS of how it SHOULD be or am I willing
to trust my PROCESS of discovering how my CREATIVITY can approach the piece/
the character?

 What are the habitual blocks that are coming up for me when I work?
What teachers in the past have discouraged me or sent negative messages to me about me?
What music would this character listen to?
What music helps me?

 This character has been placed in my path so I can work on my EMPOWERMENT in choice making, in TRUSTING, in my TRYING and even in the moments that feel like failing, but which really are the source of true growth.

 You have the right to approach your work however you do. You have the right to ask for help or guidance. You have the right to experience your BLOCKS and to have patience and compassion with yourself when you are faced with them. The character and the writer can take you further. You are an artist. The writer brings their art and you do your art and together you will grow. 
You do not need to cause your self harm in order to do your art. You have plenty of experience and with that you can take one step after another in EXPLORING the work, TRYING choices, SEEING which choices take flight and which do not. By TRUSTING, TRYING, reading the plays, journaling, asking questions, emailing me, you will find that your PROCESS is yours and will take you to greater levels of creativity than the left brain (SHOULDS, RESULTS, COMPARISONS) and will bring you more joy and more freedom and will show what your instrument is capable of. And it will only continue to grow. 

You have a song in you, a music, a painting, a poem. Each have these have structure, just as acting does. However, what we are doing is taking you out of the box-like thinking you may have been placed in and even somehow kept yourself in, and outside of that box is not a patriarchal place, it is not being controlled, it is your creativity and what happens when it meets a new character, a new scene, a new obstacle, a new acting note, a note from a director. 

 STAY INSPIRED. WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO THIS, PLEASE STAY INSPIRED. 
DECIDE TO STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP.  ESPECIALLY IN YOUR ACTING.
ACCEPT THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT KNOW!!
FROM THERE IT IS ONE STEP AT A TIME. 
TRUST YOURSELF AND YOUR INSTRUMENT. IF YOU FEEL AN IMPULSE, TRY IT.  If you ever disagree with me, tell me. Don't fall into the actor habit of not speaking your truth when we do the work. I am working with what you give me. 
Jack Nicholson once shot a film with Rebecca Broussard and Jonathan Silverman. An interviewer asked Nicholson how he directs. Does he give the actors special notes before each scene? Nicholson said there is only one thing he wants from the actors and that is that they follow their impulses.



 Class is there to affirm you, assure you, find the answers from how your instrument responds to the work, to the moment. If you need more, ask for it. Let's do the creative process over and over until you hear it in your head and in your heart. We're doing this together. 


https://screencraft.org/2018/03/21/nine-brilliant-lessons-from-david-mamets-writing-staff-memo/
 Please read my other blog. There is so much info in there, I chose everything for  a reason. For actors.  theactorswork.com


Sincerely,

 Corey

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Personal Private Moment

-
PRIVATE MOMENT “ Stanislavski observed that, in the truest performances, the actor creates the illusion that his character is alone and unobserved. He's being private in public . Lee Strasberg was particularly inspired by Stanislavski's concept of ‘public solitude,’ so much so that he developed an exercise that would prepare and accustom the actor to being private in public. Strasberg called his invention the Private Moment.” --Susan Batson The Private Moment When we are in public, we have to put on a mask or cover when we deal with people. Otherwise they would see all of our true feelings. It is only when we are alone that we allow ourselves to take off the mask. In this exercise, we work to create a place where we are most private. T his means bringing in items that help you to create the place so that your belief system can work there. We also work to create the sense of privacy there. As the actor, you want to choose three activities that are very private, that y...
Read more

Nudity and undressing in class

-
Since we want to truthfully create the behavior of our character in the world of the character and in a specific space and in a specific time, there may be moments where the character would undress. Katherine made this discovery in rehearsal and it was a honest discovery. The simple solution for the women in class is to wear tights and a leotard under your clothes, then you can undress and never feel like you are crossing a line you don't wish to cross. You are protected and you feel safe.  In the world I came from, there was no option for tights and a leotard. Nudity was a peer pressure-related unspoken mandate, with the teacher leading the way. This exploitative loophole is not necessary. In our class the actress, the woman is completely empowered to make decisions that are true to her and where she is at. In our class the empowerment is the point, and the freedom that comes from it. 
Read more

Character Private Moment

-
The character private moment is a portable exercise that allows the actor to explore and create based on the super objective (overall objective) of the character. This drive is also known as the unfulfilled need of the character.  The actor can read and reread the play in order to get the character's heartbeat, their central purpose (objective) that drives them and affects every choice they ever make. The writer gives us the clues about what this central drive is, but we must find a way to not only recognize it but also to live it, but to put it in our body.  Think of a moment in your life when you were totally driven by a need. A need for love or for approval or recognition or security or control. How strong was it in your body? What choices did you make as a result of this heightened need? Need directly relates to the choices we make.  Once we are ready to try a choice for overall objective, we can get out of our analytical mind and into our body and our creativi...
Read more