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| Transforming beautifully into a character! Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer in 'The Woman in Black' |
Do You Know The Trick To Master Acting And Be A Great Actor?
Top Secret: Just Kick Yourself Out From 'YOU', Be Blank And Then Transform Into New Life!
Acting, to be an actor, as I have has been making me free for a while and become somebody else who I will never be. It is like living an alternate life for a brief period of time. It is a terrible struggle and an opportunity to win over ‘ME’ (Whatever I’m), all my inhibitions, imposed by society, religion, customs and release myself from them.
Here are Undisclosed Tips for Beginners
1. Empty your mind
If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many constraints, wandering mind, possibilities, but in the expert actor’s mind, there are none or few.
As the Zen masters say, if you try to fill a cup, which is already full, it will spill all over. To fill something new in a cup, first, it must be emptied.
Therefore, before a script and your character analysis, remove everything which is in your mind. Remove clutter and move with creating a new life (of your character)
Though may look difficult to throw away yourself from your body and mind and transform into a new ‘character’, not only me but hundreds of other actors have mastered this trick.
2. How to achieve this?
Practice relaxation techniques, including Yoga, self-hypnotism, and auto-suggestion
(If you don’t know how to do it, join our one on one coaching)
3. The fear of the camera, people and forgetting your lines
How to deal?
To deal with it and forget it: Concentrate on your role and think about nothing else. Learn to enjoy the location, crew, co-actors, lights, set, spotlights on the set and just do what you need to do! The fact is with your every performance you will get better at handling it. A little fright will always remain which is good and will keep you alert on a shoot.
4. Beware of Overacting or Faking Acting
Warning! What separates good actors from bad ones is their sincerity of emotion and belief in front of a camera. The audience can spot a phony actor right away! Good acting is not over-acting or mechanically saying lines. Words flow when real emotions bring them out of memory or imagination and it's not the other way round. Feel the emotion by identifying what triggers an emotion; connect with it, embrace it and words will then flow naturally.
An exception: to this rule is a “Star” who can fake it so beautifully that to an audience, it looks real. The other truth, in this case, is that the actor playing a character is audience favorite “Star” and that’s all matters to them
5. Belief and Creative Imagination for Acting
The acting is living a different life, as I said before. It is 'creating truth in an imaginary scene'. The audience is only going to believe that you are the person you are playing to be if you yourself believe that you are that person!
The actor must use his imagination to be able to answer all questions (when, where, why, how)
How to do it?
Learn the art of Observing: watch carefully people of different attitudes, note the details, let your imagination run wild, and create a small story with dialogs and practice it. This way your imagination will improve considerably to help you to transform into a character you intend playing
"The actor has to develop his body. The actor has to work on his voice. But the most important thing the actor has to work on is his mind." - Stella Adler
6. Why to Repeatedly Read the Script?
To get to the soul of the story!
Read the script thoroughly. Then, read it yet again. Keep reading till you get to the soul of the story. Understand the script first and think about what the story writer has tried to say through the script. This a view from the outside. Then again read the story from the angle of the role you are playing.
Don’t hesitate! Ask the director what exactly you feel about the story and clarify your doubts. This is very important, as you need to understand the people, the surroundings, the time of the story and its message.
The Process
A. The father: The author of the story or screenplay or script
B. The mother: That’s you (actor) who is pregnant with the role inside
C. The child: The role (Character) to be born.
And finally
D. The doctor: The director who helps in role (child) birth
7. Lose Yourself in the Role but Stay Aware
On a character level you must become that “character” and get involved, but your awareness as 'YOU', an actor should also be there, all the time while performing. What I mean here is being aware of the limitations on a set, camera –position, shots, angles, width and length, blocking; lights, props and their uses, where the co-actors are and listening to them and reacting.
You got to have a “switch on-off” mechanism in your acting instrument (mind and body) which puts instantly into a “character” or an “actor” mode
8. Why to Enjoy Acting in Films?
Last but not the least, to do it right, you must enjoy the process! A very important part is bonding with your co-actors and developing good chemistry on a set with everybody. A film is a team job and you need to be a team player. The success of a role or a film is directly proportional to how much the team enjoyed while preparing! Keep learning and always have the passion of a beginner's mind and you will never cease to progress.
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