subject index

a

• absolute - many years to become an absolute.

• act with your whole body.

• act I, II, III - plays and movies breakdown into three acts.

• actable - only find what is actable.

• acted as a child

• acting is story telling.

• acting and directing in house of entertainment.

• acting experience is not knowing how you acted.

• acting externally and internally

• acting talent is to imagine things happening in your feelings.

• actor is a professional story teller (showmanship).

• actor funny

• actor resource

• actors

• adrenalin going, is used for acting.

• affective memory - As a favor to me, forget using affective memory from method acting. 

• aggressor makes the scene go.

• aging - how to act it.

• aid in acting

• amuse the audience in Comedy.

• animal an actor's character resembles.

• animal characterizations

• animal natures

• antagonist is person(s) or things that audience will dislike.

• anthropology

• appear to be

• approach acting with honesty.

• aptitude to act.

• art of acting is to move the audience.

• art and reality - reality is not art, so avoid reality.

• art of acting

• articulate - character has to be articulate.

• artistic truths

• art of compression is not taking up time with things that don't matter.

• atmosphere is what an actor has to create in a scene.

• attitude of each character.

• audible in making the character understood.

• audience will give up illusions for reality.

• audience respond

• auditions - don't show personal anxiety.

• author is the star.    

• authors

• awareness of life. Awareness of other actor.

b

• bad acting is indicating and caricature.

• balance of  the scene has to have every point made.

• barrier

• basic joke throughout. Essence of all Comedy.

• basic joke list - no new jokes since the first days of the cave man.

• basis in reality for Comedy, no matter how kooky.

• beat must always be there to cue the audience, so they know when to laugh.

• be delighted, you are learning your art.

• be moved to tears in Drama.

• be tickled to laughter in Comedy.

• beginners in acting.

• beginning, middle, end in doing each behavior fully.

• behavior tells the story.

• being honest

• being other people, not recital and not imitating the character.

• better way for acting and directing.

• between the trapezes you don't know what is going to happen.

• big (broad) brush strokes when acting.

• bigger than life size for entertainment.

• Black Comedy is heighten people in heightened comedic situations, based on despair.

• blindness

• body relaxed so the emotion can take over.

• body language is making everything physical.

• body rebels when we act.

• body remembers

• brain to brain acting

• business can distract from joke.

• buzz in actor is the motor going with heart beat up and adrenalin pumping.

c

• cadence

• camera blows it up. Simple, simple, simple.

• caricature

• casting

• caught doing

• causes comes from the characters emotion and objective.

• center of character is life activity: hooker is pelvis, accountant is head, boxer is hands.

• center of focus

• change surprise, great enemy is monotony. Keep inventing.

• change emotion & objective

• character

• chocolate cake

• clean

• clichés

• choices of actors: what will make this interesting to the audience?

• choreograph each bit, perfect physical stuff.

• choosing objective that work.

• circumstances around scene.

• clarity of words, that is what writers want.

• classical

• classicial play vs. everyday reality

• Classic Tragedy - Exalted people in tragic situations, all central characters die/destroyed in the end. 

• clock in head - How long can it hold? Something's are worth 20 seconds, 5 seconds, etc.

• coiled snake is more frightening than one sprung.

• cold reading

• color is looking for every possibility of change.

• combat in every scene.

• comedians and comics - A comedian stays in the four walls.

• Comedy - A normal view of people in comedic situations.

• comedy clock is to know how long to hold.

• comedy beat - The track has to be continuous until the beat before the joke.

• Comedy of Manners - Heightened people in heightened comedic situations, based on one segment of society.

• comedy is an exact science, you must learn the science - Technically comedy is a science.

• compassion

• complexity

• concentration - Concentrate on your character's objective.

• condition reflex = Teach your body.

• conflict - Scene isn't worth anything unless there is conflict.

• confrontation - plays and films are not conversation but confrontation.

• conscious is our resource

• consistent to style.

• content of scene - Fill each moment with content.

• contest - Audience watches what is the contest.

• continuous track until the beat before the joke.

• control an audience

• controlled obsession - Acting is a controlled obsession.

• conversation is not a scene.

• coping in scene

• costume plays must have excellent posture.

• counter point in Comedy.

• create people

• creature

• creditability - Not reality, but creditability.

• crew know a lot about acting.

• crippled

• crutch

• crying out of a real problem, don't do clown crying.

• cues - Don't wait for cues, there are no cues.

d

• dangerous - How to be a dangerous person.

• deaf audience understand

• deafness

• death scene

• decisions - To make a decision based not on investigating our inner psyche, but on our theatrical sense.

• Delsarte Method

• derailment - Humor is total derailment.

• dialogue - Stop acting dialogue.

• diamond fields

• diamond in the rough

• difficulty - What you act is getting over the difficulty.

• disemboweling

• dilemmas

• directions

• director works with the head, but must have heart too.

• directors

• disabilities

• discarded drivel

• discipline - Your discipline has to be complete.

• don't act - Just feel. Stay honest.

• do the reverse

• do: talk or act - What ever you have to do.

• Drama - A normal view of people in dramatic situations.

• dramatic moment

• dream is another place and another person.

• drunk

• dumped beats

• dying

e

• effect scene has on audience. 

• effortless

• eighty%, twenty%

• electrical impulse

• electrodes - The wire, the little electrodes.

• elements in the scene  

• emanate - What you emanate. What you appear to be.

• emote - Emoting: change tone.

• emotion - Choice the emotion that best serves the scene.

• emotion bigger

• emotionalism is not a specific emotion.

• emotional range

• emotional state is like after an exercise.

• emotion & objective for your behavior.

• emotion first feel... think... do.

• emotion list

• energy for entertainment.

• energy of life - Don't walk into a scene with the same energy of life.

• entertainer - Actor is an entertainer.

• entertaining the audience.

• enunciation in clarity of speech.

• essence you emanate.

• exercise

• experiences  

• exploration - Explore each moment.

• exposition

• external acting

f

• face - It's all about the human face.

• falls and stunts - Planning falls and stunts.

• Fantasy - Real and unreal people in fantastic situations.

• Farce - Heightened people in heightened comedic situations.

• feel, objective and not too much legs.

• feel, think, do technique.

• feel: emotion, do objective. Let talent take over. Less the better.

• feelings - Imagining things and have them happen in your feelings.

• fill the space - You are not in a temple, you have to be entertaining, larger than life, occupy the space.

• films tell story

• find a scene

• find the emotion

• find the words

• five senses - hear, sight, smell, taste and touch.

• floor plan - Draw sketch of floor plan.

• focus on your objective.

• focus of scene

• foil

• foreplay - The whole thing is foreplay, just maybe, not yes.

• four pillars of acting - style, emotion, objective and sense memory.

• fourth wall

• frame the joke is high energy. It has nothing to do with normal behavior.

• frighten an audience

• funny - You can do funny things as long as you suffer. Audience says I've been there and laugh.

• funny man, clown and comic - Who is the funny person?

• furniture - Give yourself furniture. Have a playing area, so you don't box yourself in.

g

• gags - Start a gag, apply it out to its resolution.

• gems

• general stuff

• gesture

• get started:

• gold mines - Don't just walk over the land, find the gold mines.

• green light, red light - - Director gives green light and red light.

h

• half-baked potatoes

• handicapped - Look for ways to not appear handicapped.

• hear

• hearing

• heart - Actor must have heart.

• heart beat up - Build up an emotion, heart rate up, no tension. 

• help in acting

• hitting floor marks

• honesty - Just be honest as actor.

• horror is, there is no horror - A thing should reveal itself slowly.

• hot tip

• house of entertainment

• human funny - When an actor has human funny, they are twice as good as anybody else.

• human identification - How to make it human, so audience can relate.

• human truth

• humanity is the secret in all acting.

• humor is opposites.

• hype yourself up

i

• iambic pentameter

• idea - Speak from one idea to the next.

• ideal image of the character.

• identification of audience - Must be human beings that audience sympathize with.

• illusion - You are in the business of creating illusion, so it's behavior more than what you say.

• image - Create images for audience.

• imaginary  

• imaginary world - One of the first things you must learn is getting into imaginary world.

• imagination - Use your imagination: Tell a whole scene without talk. Leave something for the audience's imagination.

• impulses - Do acting all on impulse.

• indicating - Don't indicate. Whatever you are doing, do it. Looking out window, then look.

• individual self - How to make that individual self? Your personal  characters attitude toward others.

• inner ear

• insanity - Dim mind (objective) + alternate 2 emotions = insane. 

• insecurity of actor - Don't do things under insecurity, audience is not interested in actor.

• inside your head

• instant action

• instinct

• intellectually - Keen intelligent is an impediment to acting.

• intent - The objective is the conscious intent of the character.

• intention of author - Serve the authors intention.

• internal acting

• interpretation - Writer give actors something to interpret.

• inventive - Change and surprise the audience, great enemy is monotony. Keep inventing.

j

• jet-black water - How to relax. Close eyes, think of jet-black water, open and keep that imagination.

• job - Your job is to play your character.

• job on sitcom

• joke - When you have a joke sell it in neon lights. 

• juggle three things-Learn how to juggle three things: feel, objective and wire.

• just do it - Don't have a picture of it in your head, just do it.

• just feel, don't think

k

• keep it simple when you act for the camera.

• key - Entertain the audience. Key to play.

• kind of play

l

• language

• language play words are highly significant.

• laugh and cry

• laughing - Practice objective: to not laugh, pick any emotion and hold, then let the flood gates go with the emotion and laugh.

• laughs - You have to know where the laughs are and then define them.

• Laurel and Hardy

• learn the words

• leave no foot prints

• lesson

• life

• life activity

• life energy

• life force

• life's blood

• limited directors

• lines

• listen

• location

• loud and soft acting

• love scene

m

• magic you see

• make choices

• make-up

• main thrust of material

• manner

• mark in your script jokes

• marriage jokes

• mask

• master yourself

• matching action on film

• material

• meaning

• meaning of words

• memorize

• mesmerize yourself

• method cumbersome

• method is death to comedy

• methody

• mind

• minds eye

• miscast

• mixed emotions

• modern acting

• Modern Tragedy

• modern vs. old-fashioned acting

• moments

• monologue

• motivation

• motor

• move

• movement

• move people

• moves from actor

• move people

• movie acting

• movies Learn to act in them.

• must not look like acting

• must scene

• my boundaries

• Mystery

n

• naming the emotion

• natural laws

• nature of the play

• necklace of beads

• neurotic

• never elocution

• new event

• new information

• no change

• no new jokes

• no periods and commas

o

• objective

• oblivious of everything

• off the wall

• one man who knows

• opposites

• order of importance

• out of control

• outside the nine dots

• outside your limits

• overanalyze

• overlaps

p

• pace

• pancakes

• pattern of behavior

• pauses

• peak of exercise

• people of different periods

• performance

• performer

• persona

• personalities

• phone conversation

• physical behavior

• pictures have meaning

• plan

• play a saint, look for villain

• play comedy

• playing area

• plays of language

• play the game

• playwright is the real star

• plot

• poetical

• point

• point of view

• pose

• posing

• precise

• precision

• presence

• press toe in left shoe

• pretty pictures

• principle

• principle list

• private self

• prize fight

• problem of scene

• progression

• projection

• prop actor

• props

• proportions

• protagonist

• protagonist vs antagonist

• pulse of audience

• purpose of the scene

q

• quality you have

r

• ragged edge

• reacting

• real

• reality

• red flags of author

• rehearsal

• relationship

• relax

• resemble life

• resolution

• resonance

• responses

• results

• reveal

• revelation of character

• rhythm

• ride the laugh

• rot

• rubber band stretched

• rube your nose in it

• rule

• rule of three

• rules of opposites

• running joke

s

• scary

• scene

• scene analogy

• scene analysis

• scene in story

• shtick

• science fact

• Science Fiction

• scripts

• secret of drama

• secret self

• secrets in acting

• self-control

• selfish motive

• self-hypnotism  

• self-reliant  

• sense memory

• sense of movement

• sense of self

• sense of rhythm

• senses lost in acting

• sentimentality

• serve the author  

• Shakespeare

• Shakespeare's lesson

• shape of scene

• showmanship

• sight

• simple

• sit

• sitcoms

• situation

• skills

• slap under the ear

• smell

• smoking a joint

• specific things

• spine is part of who am I

• spontaneous

• stacked the deck

• stage

• stage and film acting

• staging

• staging objective

• stage positions

• start with:

• stand on edge

• stand on stage

• stand still

• statement of scene

• state of being

• state of heavy breathing

• state of illusion

• state of mischief

• state of obsession

• stay honest

• stay in character

• stay loose

• staying within the fourth wall

• step off diving board

• stimulus

• stop character at will

• stop rebellion

• stopwatch

• story

• story telling

• straight man

• strongest man in world

• structure

• struggle to accomplish things

• study acting

• study a script

• study habits

• style                                               

• style never changes

• style of the language

• styles

• subconscious

• subliminal

• substitutions

• subtext

• suffer

• suspense

• sustaining an emotion

t

• taboos

• talent

• task

• taste

• teach it to your body

• technique

• tell it to the fat man with the cigar

• tension

• theater

• Theater of the Absurd

• theatrical

• theme

• think

• think: objective

• think outside your limits

• third eye

• third variation

• thought

• three basic questions

• time period

• time urgency

• timing

• tone

• to think

• tool kit

• tools

• touch

• train of thought

• traps

• tricks

• truth

• turn around

• turn on your lights

• turns you on as an actor

• truth under foot

u

• uncertainty

• underplaying

• understanding the character

v

• values

• vanity

• variation

• variety

• various parts of the body

• veil

• verse

• versus

• vocal instrument

• voice

w

• what do I feel?

• what do I want?  

• what rather than the how

• where the pie lands

• who am I?

• who is doing what to whom?

• why it didn't work?

• will he or won't he

• wire

• wire: brain to brain

• without agony

• words

• words must be precise

• work in film

• working clean

• work in progress

• world of illusion

• world of imagination

• writer

• wrong

x

y

• yelling

• you're a fool, boy.

• young actors

• your emotion and objective                                    

• your language

z

        Don Richarson's Book       Subject Outline

"In the end, it can't look like acting."