To make acting look real through the quality of the accidental.

           Character can be out of control, but you the actor must always be in control, keep your skills. You must have great feeling, but stay in control of your instrument (your body, an actor has to learn to play the violin, figuratively.)  It's all about emotion.

         Use the principles you learned to work with, those are the tools. Most people learn them, but don't apply them.

         When it is working for you, don't do anything, don't make it better. The hardest thing for an artist is when to know when to stop, when is it enough. Don't guck it up.

         Don't start acting, once you remind audience you're an actor it's over. Cannot take every big moment and turn it into radio, vocalize or make it loudly. The problem is to deal with big moments, they don't have to be loud.

         Joy of doing the work is ART, not from torment, forget armchair psychology used by many actors and directors. To the actor a director says, 'I want this result, do it however you do it', is a better way instead of all that psycho therapy stuff in Method acting.

Method acting is too cumbersome.

          Something methody: people will tell you they do not teach method acting, but be careful there are many different branches of method acting out there.

          No interest in neurasthenic acting.

            People who make so big a fuss about acting, should not be acting.

Writer give actors something to interpret.

           Biggest mistake made by actors doing a scene is "what is the story"?

           Actors must know what story they are telling to be able to use all their resources.

           The character isn't simply an extension of yourself.

Love the craft and principles, not the image. 

           Audience should never know actor is scared.

           An actor must:

                                    1. light up the screen,

                                    2. have a buzz in themselves,

                                    3. be on,

                                    4. use energy for entertainment,

                                    5. look into special interesting things of the character,

                                    6. love them self; I'm great and I'm amazing,

                                    7. leave their talent alone and

                                    8. learn instant acting.

          Actors never ask themselves, "what would I do," but need only to think "who am I", who the character thinks he/she is. Acting is being other people, the actor doesn't come into it.

          Be aware of what is going on in the inside and the outside of the character.

	Learning the camera			How to stand on stage.
theatron -- seeing place -- Greek
http://www.vtheatre.net/acting/audience.html

         Acting on the stage and for the camera are the same, the difference is proportions.

         Each actor has to develop their own study habits.

is difficulty, that's the secret.

         When you do a drama look for the things that are ingratiating, look for the fun in it, and most of all look for the humanity in it.

Humanity is the secret in all acting.

Read books on anthropology.

          Actor must know about humanity to make the character real. Humanity is the whole principle of theatre.

          What makes an important actor? Find what other people don't. Actor has to have a profound understanding of humans.

          In acting don't do the opposite to humanity.

          How to plan the scene from a showmanship point of view?

          Motion pictures require motion, not just emotion.

          If you can't tell story in behavior, it won't work with words

          How to make a scene special, how to illuminate it? As an actor be a chef, be decorative. Acting a scene is like a chef planning a meal. He doesn't serve you the same thing. If you start with a asparagus, is the main course asparagus, does he give you asparagus fruit, and does he end up with asparagus cake.

Learn to act and how to sell it to generate money. If you can generate money, they will pay you money.

         Acting is being other people. It has nothing to do with you -- the actor is not the character.

	Find yourself in the skin or world of your character.
Tiny Ron

 

            Actor can't pretend things, it has to be emotional experience.

How to find emotions? We know what words mean: anger, envy, horror, anxiety, joy, etc.

         The emotion like "anger" is all the times you had this emotion in life, not just one instance in your life.

         Here is THE EXERCISE to learn how to make the emotion big enough to act with.

         Acting is having the emotion that best fits the scene. An actor can not try to play effects of scene. If actor works without emotion, it will look like acting. An actor can't lie or do it without passion. It is about true feelings and true objectives: do not to be artificial, but be real.

         An emotion isn't a constant, an emotion goes up and down, it goes all different ways.

         The whole idea is to see how much emotion and inner life actors can give their characters. The actors must give themselves over to the moment, they must soak themselves to be real.

         Approach your work with body relaxed so the emotion can take over.

         Use all your resources, not just emotion.

         Avoid compassion or pity as your character's emotion."

Definition of an objective: Objective is in character's words.

         Objective should be simple, active phrase, starting with the word "to".

         The objective is the conscious intent of the character.

         Objective must always be in the language of the character, limited to his own background and education.

         There's no one correct answer when you're looking for the objective of the character. Pick the one that seems best for the character and one that 'turns you on' as the actor.

         The objective is the conscious intent of the character; (he needs a woman to give him trouble).

          Objectives must always be difficult to attain.

Difficulty is the fuel that lights our acting fires.

          Actor must think of character's objective over and over to be oblivious of everybody; crew, director, etc.

          When you act you should concentrate on your character's objective and nothing else. Your discipline has to be complete, that is how you stay in character.

          The discipline in your mind is not to think, how am I doing? Because you'll forget. Instead, it is to concentrate on the character's objective. Thinking just that is: controlled obsession.

          Objective is not just what you think, but what you do.

          Think objective - the body knows what to do!

          People tell you to focus, but never tell you what to focus on. Focus on your objective.

           Don't act without an emotion, more important than words, even the objective.

          Learning how to listen in a scene: you can't make your mind a blank, so you must keep thinking objective and stay with the emotion, you'll hear the way we do in life.

          Really see and hear other actor, you will react.

          Never do anything without a plan.

          Not reality, but credibility. Principle is "that its got to be completely creditable" otherwise it can't work, it's not possible. What is the story?

          A scene is not a duplication of life, if it does you have monotony, but a reflection of life. Audience says, 'yes, I know I felt that way.'

..... Hot Tips .....

          Know the perimeter of what you can do, so you aren't miscast. Perimeters of what you are right for, what you suggest to the audience, otherwise, it's work, work and it still doesn't work.

Tiny Ron

            Performance is like a strip tease. The whole thing is foreplay, just maybe, not yes.

          If the behavior is correct, even a deaf audience will understand it.

            Just the most important note:          

Learn how to juggle only three things when acting:

                                                1. feel::::::::::emotion

                                                2. think:::::::objective

                                                3. the~~~~~~~wire

           An actor can only control their conscience for acting purposes, they can not control their sub-conscience. What the sub-conscience does is it does things to the actor.

          This is make believe (you're the cop, I'm the robber), just walk into it. You are just in this dream. There is no you the actor.

          In acting get yourself where you don't know what is coming next.

Tiny Ron

          Don't get ready to do anything, your body will do it.

          Trust your talent, don't instruct yourself.

          If you teach the body how to act, it will act.

          Character out of control, but actor has to be in control.

          Knowledge when to do nothing is a powerful weapon.

          Purpose of film today: play each moment fully. Don't over simplify in just dealing with plot.

          Don't make bad choices. If the choices are wrong, scene won't work.

          In making choices, it is where you are in the story and how much the audience should know.

          Recognize traps of scenes when they are there, so you know how to avoid them.

            Acting is the only art you cannot be caught doing.

No awareness of self is good acting.

          If actors go back in their past, they are aware of self. Total abandon must come from an actor while his/her instrument (body) is vibrating with feeling.

            Understanding Discipline of Acting - Actor must give up self-thoughts.

          Audience doesn't care about the actor's problems, only the character.

          An actor must turn their body over to the character, if they can't do that, they can't act.

          When you act you have to act not just with your will, not just with your thoughts and feelings, you have to act with your whole body.

          Act with your whole body, the feelings are going, and use your voice without burying dialogue trying to be natural. Use color and don't mumble.

          An actor must have a good vocal instrument, but not fall in love with it.

          The more inventive you are, the better actor you are.

          Overall effect in movies is seeing. We are a watching creature.

            Behavior tells the story.

The dialogue is the ornament on the garment of the actor.

Tiny Ron

Click Here for NEWSFLASH about acting

             Secrets of drama: what is recognizable to audience.

          Who is doing what to whom? That is the rubber band stretched in a scene.

          Audience like to watch people try to save themselves.

          Recall things in life that the audience has forgotten.

          Modern acting has a ragged edge to it.

          For a scene to resemble reality, it has to be conspired reality. A planned reality is not organized, it has a ragged edge, it is not smooth. That is the human dilemma. Do everything organized, but in life nothing is organized.     

           Turn on all your lights: bigger than you are and still look real.

          Actors must make choices from what scene should do to audience.

          From the emotion comes the imagination and from the objective comes the staging.

          Emotion (feelings) are separate from objectives (thoughts).

          The biggest principle of them all:

         An actor's job is to create people in an imaginary world.

Theatrical sense, not psychological conclusions.

Don't think up clever things.

Do all acting on impulse.	Tiny Ron
Use your sensitivity from your heart.
Body vibrating with feeling.
Brain to brain acting.

         When you are a star you have to be aware of certain things. If a moment is important, take your time. Clock in your head.

          Lead with your feelings, not your brain.

            Invention on invention.

          Turn your acting into something to watch. Recognize the moments, they are the lifeblood of drama.

          Each moment must be played with a beginning, middle and end.

          Scene isn't worth anything unless there is conflict.

          Conversation is not a scene, no matter how witty: a confrontation is a scene.

          You have to explore every moment with all your energy. Play all the values. To turn on your lights also means to turn on all your awareness. Every moment is brand new. Nothing has been rehearsed.

Acting is the work of imagination.

          Enjoy acting in the world of imagination. Remember you are putting on an entertainment.

          World of imagination is also known as having the actor stay inside the imaginary fourth wall of illusion.

            Feel, think, do technique is the way the actor wants to act in the imaginary world.

          Learn to do things with your imagination, that's what sense memory is. Dialogue is least important.

            Mesmerizing yourself with your character's objective.

          Story telling, don't take up time with things that don't matter, art of compression.

          Never yell in acting unless it is the only thing.

          Modern acting is talking with your body before you talk with voice.         

          Certainty is wrong. Do all your planning, work it out, learn the words and then step off into space.

          When the characters have goals that are easy to attain or if they give up trying, the audience loses interest in the character. The greater the struggle; the more the excitement. The larger the risk; the greater the suspense.

          Principle: Never allow it to be over, until it's over.

            Know everything for the first time, as if there was no rehearsal.

            Rehearsal can't be organized, it has to be spontaneous.

          To appear spontaneous, you must learn technique, technique, and then technique to cover the technique.

Tiny Ron

          You don't have to work at what you are. You are all ready good at it.

          The actor's brain is limited, their impulse is unlimited.

Stay with the truth of story.

            The answer is you have to make everything that happens meaningful; an attention getter. You have to keep the audience awake. Your first job is to keep them interested. You're not teaching them about humanity, you're entertaining them. You must keep them interested. So, if the director says to you, O.K., sit down over there and you sit down over there and there is nothing going on... make something go on that is important to the story and the character. That is your creative job.  That is what you get hired for. If I'm a director and I hire De Niro, I know that he isn't just going to bog down.  He is going to do something interesting. That is why he is worth all that money. That is why they hire him, they don't like him. Nobody likes anybody in this industry. They hire you because you are necessary, because you do something that is interesting that will sell tickets. Do you know why your basketball player makes so much money? People pay a lot of money to see him. That is why he makes more money than a brain surgeon. Brain surgeon only has one client that needs him at a time.  Right? But a basketball player has a multitude that need him at a time, that's why he makes more money. And the Stars that make more money are the ones who can do something interesting. The way to be interesting is to find out what is going on in the story, who is your character, what does he want, what does he feel and dramatize it. Don't just think about it, but do it. Your objective is not just what you think, it's what you do.  And you have to do it physically. It is not just a question of finding a place to settle yourself where you are the least target. An actor doesn't sit down because a character sits down, an actor sits down because he is half the target seated than he is standing. You fight your heart out to get in front of the camera, you want to be hidden when you get up there? It doesn't make sense, it is illogical. Why be an ostrich?

Don Richardson's Acting and Directing Workshop

     This particular critique in Don's workshop was all technical stuff with hardly any story suggestions, however, I do find the principles used here interesting.

     Officer and a Gentleman     Drama

     Director, an actor and an actress.       Sept. 6, 1990

     Scene: He is coming to propose to her.

                       __________her__________|_______him________

     Objective:   to make everybody jealous       to save myself

                       to save my face                       

     Emotion:     greed                                     hope

                       contempt

• Leave something for the audience's imagination.
• Back of mind understand camera.
• Story being told in images.
• The unusual is what it's about, not just beautiful.
• Vanity not beauty.
• Think camera. Think motion picture.
• Always simple.
• Do a thing once, then progress. All of it is revelation.
• Think of your objective.
• Director thinks in results: clinch mouth, etc.
• Actor thinks in causes; emotion and objective.
• Have to be precise - director says something, do it.
• Physical requirements - changes.
• Must make physical what's important. Otherwise, audience won't know it.
• Any change - be precise - always be actor when listening to director.
• Be aware of what is being seen. Where is the camera, what is it doing.
• Plan to be a big actor - be in charge - what to wear, etc.
• Give the audience time to focus, do one painting at a time.
• Good art achieves it overtime.
• Many years to become an absolute.
• Precision - comedians must learn precision.
• Good art is never muddled always focused.
• Study play, scenes, emotion, objective and who am I?
• Throw yourself into rehearsal.
• Your talent will work. How advanced you are, it will show.
• Get rid of everything that doesn't have meaning.
• Strip down to only the essentials.
• Dispense with everything that is dispensable.

If acting was easy, everybody would be doing it.

          Actors are born with the aptitude. A person has to have the aptitude to act. If it is not there, you cannot teach somebody to be an actor.

          Actors have a will. Adequate actors do their thing, even the triumph of no talent.         

            American actors are hung-up on a search for truth.

          Acting has nothing to do with actuality. This is where Lee Strasberg was totally wrong, you don't have to experience something to be able to act it.

How to play insanity in an easy and simple way.
	Tiny Ron

          An actor's choice of material can be unusual and startling, but then they go at the acting obeying all the best principles of acting.

          Avoid becoming a great thinker. The trouble with people who are talented is, they become great thinkers.

          Don't do mental acting, allow the body to do what it knows. Don't make pictures, be the character.

          You learn the words and forget that you know them.

           Be real people, don't be all over the place.

          As an actor you must reveal everything about the character.

          Learn how to play your instrument.

          Serve the author's intention.           

          The answer is the actor has to give a scene: meaning, be specific and make a point.

          Antidotes of life to apply to scenes.    

          Acting is being other people, not recital.

          Don't act with intelligent, but emotion. Audience is effected by emotion, not intelligent. Audience is caught up in emotions, not ideas. Bernard Shaw wrote ideas and it was dull, but he did add political bites in it. Audience moved by the emotion, dialogue is nothing, they are not moved by dialogue.

          The incomplete gesture is today's acting, not the complete gesture.

           WRONG way to act.