The Pros and Cons of 'Method Acting'

Method Acting is based loosely on Stanislavsky's method, but utilizes 'Sense Memory' for emotional preparation. Stanislavsky himself experimented with 'sense memory' for the better part of his career and abandoned it for being unreliable.

'Sense Memory' in a nut-shell being the use of personal memories to affect and achieve appropriate emotional preparedness before engaging in a scene. Stanislavsky (as well as Adler and Meisner) eventually realized that personal memories and experiences alter greatly with the passage of time, as in, what mattered to you a great deal when you were four may present very little 'emotional' impact at the age of 45.

As it is based on personal experience, the preponderance of modern adherants tend to subject themselves to all manner of potentially dangerous situations to achieve a truly realistic experience to draw from. This has manifested in such things as experimental drug use (which actually lead to addiction and death in the case of River Phoenix) and placing themselves into actual, immediate physical stresses or harm.

A famous story regarding Dustin Hoffman (a purported 'method' actor) during the filming of 'The Marathon Man' tells of Mr. Hoffman running all around Manhatten during filming to force himself into a true state of exhaustion (which would be true for the character as well.) Sir Laurence Olivier on seeing this behaviour is quoted as saying "Good Lord man, just act."

While I think 'Method Acting' can be a valuable tool, and many excellent actors are staunch supporters. Me personally, I find it too dangerous and limiting to achieve a safe and more importantly, sane acting career. The pros are very realistic performances based on actual, lived experiences. The cons are potential mental and physical harm from engaging in dangerous behaviour and unreliable performances.

Whatever you decide to do as an actor, it is worth mentioning that there are many safer methods in existance to achieve wonderful results. Many of the finest actors of the last 100 years (like Gregory Peck and Rober Duvall, to name a couple) were trained by Sanford Meisner who employs an actor's most wonderful asset to achieve emotional preparation.

That asset being your Imagination

D.L. White is an entertainment professional with nearly 14 years of experience in the industry. He has worked on literally dozens of top network shows including Frasier, Seinfeld, Reba as well as hundreds of feature films from such studios as Paramount, MGM and Warner Bros.

He is also the author of the new book "Acting in the Real World: The Film Professional's Guidebook to the Job of Acting" which is available online at http://www.actorsconcentration.com

Prison and a Whipping for Acting Impudent in Saudi Arabia

At times news stories from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia seem more like tales with Alice in Wonderland themes than believable news coverage.

Some of the laws are so bizarre you come to expect freakish reports. A lashing sentence for the "Girl of Qatif" who was a victim of rape ... or poor guys like Haidi Al-Mutaif, a young Saudi whose jest about the prophet Muhammad earned him years in jail.

However a recent news report had me gawking.

Judge Saud al-Boushi sentenced 20 foreigners to prison terms of three to four months plus lashings for the crime of "impudent partying" in Jiddah.

What exactly is "impudent partying"? Revelers all waving their middle fingers in the direction of Mecca to the beats of Notorious B.I.G.? Group moonings directed toward the limousines of passing Saudi royalty?

No nothing quite so outrageous. These folks were dancing - dancing with members of the opposite sex in the usual time honored manner.

They weren't naked and gyrating in provocative ways. No table dancers or flashers. Just basic no-frills dancing. How outrageous! Ignore the rumors that sheiks in the kingdom have reportedly been helping to keep sex traffickers well heeled and get up to all manner of hanky panky in their palatial romper rooms ... focus instead on foreign infidels who have the impudence to dance!

It gets worse. The impudent ones weren't merely dancing - they videotaped themselves while dancing. This amounts to a charge of "aggravated impudence" since narcissistic voyeurism comes into it also. The evil doers weren't merely being impudent, but impudently videotaped their disco moves with the intention of impudently watching themselves afterwards.

No wonder judge Saud al-Boushi was deeply shocked. Some of them were even wearing tight fitting jeans and a few of the women impudently revealed tummy flesh when they raised their arms a few inches too high during We Will Rock You. How impudently out-of-control can things get?

To add fuel to the fire, drinks were served! I don't mean coke, I mean alcoholic beverages.The evil brew - which presumably raised the impudence aggregate to dangerous seismic levels.

Even though 20 of the impudence doers were sentenced to prison and lashings, the Saudi religious police actually arrested a total of 433 foreigners, 240 of them women. That's a lot of impudent infidels to cram into a cop shop.

Okay the kingdom enforces Islamic law. But why don't they focus on Muslims. Foreigners working in the kingdom who aren't Muslim and who don't abide by Sharia law shouldn't be harassed for socializing in the manner they see fit.

This type of cultural and religious tyranny makes it hard to watch Dick Cheney and other Bush people grinning and smiling (but not too impudently), as they stroll arm-in-arm with Saudi potentates. On one hand Bush harps about the sacred mission of exporting democracy, and on the other hand he's in bed with robed oligarchs who deep down, despise everything democracy stands for. A little bit of a paradox?

The last time King Abdullah was at the Crawford ranch there was a picture of him leading Bush around by the arm as though the President was a small boy who needed to be told a thing or two. Which is true ... just preferably not while sitting on the knee of Abdullah-of-the-Dunes.

What about the rights of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia? Shouldn't our embassies and even the likes of Condoleezza Rice have something to say when foreigners in the kingdom are threatened with lashing and imprisonment for "impudent partying"? A term that remains ambiguous at best.

Without Mecca and oil, Saudi Arabia wouldn't have a fraction of the influence it has today. Those two factors were fortuitous gifts that descended upon the Saudi generations and generated both wealth and power.

I wonder if there is any penalty for "impudent illusions-of-grandeur"?

Aidan Maconachy is a freelance writer and artist based in Ontario. You can visit his blog at http://aidanmaconachyblog.blogspot.com/

Ever Think About Taking Intensive Summer Acting Classes?

Total immersion in summer acting classes: A great experience!

I now know the difference between taking classes one at a time and totally immersing myself into the craft that I love for six full weeks of eating, sleeping and breathing acting.

Well, I kinda knew what it was like shortly after I had begun studying acting a few years ago. I first started studying in a theatre company in Milan, Italy. At the time I was working more than a full-time job and could only go to class in the evenings. Class hours were from 9 ? 11pm, three days a week. It was better than nothing, but often I arrived at class and I was tired. I probably could have gotten more out of it if I had had more energy. Nevertheless, I?m glad I had that experience.

Then, I took a ten-day workshop in Italy with an American acting coach and teacher. That was a mini-immersion for the ten-day period. The workshop was five hours a day of instruction for then straight days and then rehearsals. At the time, I had already saved enough money and quit my full-time job to pursue acting full-time.

And then?

I went to New York for a three month period and had put together my own program of all the different classes I needed so that I could totally immerse myself and have a full experience of concentrating on my craft. I put together a schedule of classes, a mix from different schools. I took acting classes in technique, sensory work, scene study, improvisation, audition technique. In addition I took mini workshops in different areas such as corporate videos, soaps, prime-time television as well as yoga classes, and I went to the gym regularly. That was my first sort of real immersion.

My Experience With Intensive Summer Acting Classes

I continued to study and then took the best set of summer acting classes to date. I had met Wendy Ward at the Ward Studio in New York back in 2003 when I was investigating schools to attend. At the time I couldn?t attend her school, because of time constraints on my part. It wasn?t until eighteen months later, that I would be able to take her summer intensive.

It?s sooooo different taking classes in this way. It was a six-week long set of summer acting classes that began in July and went through to mid-August. There were about ten of us in the class that summer of 2005 at the Ward Studio and we became a tightly knit group. Our schedule was as follows:

M/W/F
Meisner acting technique: 3 hrs
Voice: 2 hrs
Movement: 2 hrs

T/Th
Career Mentoring workshop: 2 hrs (This was great too, because we concentrated on what we need to do to get work, something that many programs don't focus on at all!)
Shakespeare: 2 hrs
Text & audition technique: 3 hrs

Talk about intense! There was always something to do for one of the classes. We had scenes to rehearse for, so we had to meet outside of class. There were monologues to memorize and prepare for. Props to acquire for scenes, monologues and class exercises. Homework to do for the career mentoring class, texts to memorize for the audition class. It was non-stop! Taking those intensive summer classes helped me grow as an actor more in those six weeks than I did in the whole year before that. It?s true.

There?s nothing like being totally immersed in your acting craft for a time. Nothing like it! Have a look at an example of a real program at a real school. Shop around for summer acting classes, know what you're looking for, consider pricing. But whatever you do, set some money aside and do it! It could be one of the best investments you ever make in your acting career.Anthony Smith left a successful corporate career as a senior manager in Nike and Levi's after 15 years to follow his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, writer, motivational speaker and actor. While enjoying success in his "new" life, Anthony shares his business insight and acting experience with young actors. Aside from acting work, he has created http://www.actingcareerstartup.com and his first book, Acting Career Start-Up: Four Key Factors For Success will hit the U.S. market in April 2007.

Acting

Acting...

The universe and all of history is your classroom

It takes a very strong and dedicated person to pursue a career
in acting. After all, you are doing it because you love it. You
couldn't imagine doing anything else. And of course, not many
people will understand this.

Some people cannot understand why anyone would want to do
something with such an unpredictable future. But you know it is
you future, it must be.

No one can quiet explain that feeling that you get when you
perform. One of the most exciting things about acting is that
you can be or do anything that you want. All the worries and
sorrows disappear. The stage is a very relaxing place. It's your
home. You learn, grow, and develop there, as an actor and as a
person.

The members of the audience come to be entertained and/or
educated. They are living out their fantasies through your
character. Therefore, your portrayal of the character must real
and truthful.

In order to act, you must be an observer of life. You must watch
people closely: how they talk, the gestures they make, and so
forth. You must observe and then be able to duplicate what you
see. This is real.

This is true life. You also must experience all that you can.
This gives you more knowledge and a broad area to work with for
understanding your character.

Try new things, experience life. Don't be the spectator, that's
not your job. The definition of to act is to do. As Miss Stella
Adler said, "You cannot afford to confine you studies to the
classroom. The universe and all of history is your classroom."


Addicted to acting? Me too! Tap into an ever-growing source of Free articles, resources, and insider career tips, visit my site at http://www.acting-1.com