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onstantineStanislavski
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Constantine Stanislavski
Born in Moscow, Russia in 1863.
An actor and moved on to become a director
and teacher.
He developed a new approach to acting.
It took years of experimenting to get to what
is now known as the Stanislavski System.
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Stanislavski's System
As an actor, Stanislavski saw alot of bad acting - what hetermed as artificial.
He wanted actors to work oncharacters from the inside(instead of the outside) andthus create more of a "true" or
"real" (i.e. not artificial)performance.
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What is it?
The Stanislavski System is
an intense character
development process that
strives to make a
performance "real" andnot artificial by:
1. Bringing an actor's
experiences into the role.
2. Expanding an actor's
imaginations.
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Cont
Stanislavski believed that in orderto make a character true, thecharacter must be approachedfrom the inside. That meansdrawing on the real inside life of
the actor, most specificallydrawing on memories. The actoralso has to create the inside lifeof the character: the characterhas to have inner thought, backstory, beliefs, and so on, just as a
real person does. When the actoranswers questions about thecharacter, they should speak inthe first person. "I am..." "Iwant..."
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Given Circumstances
The given circumstances are
the character details in the
script - the facts the
playwright gives the actor.
What has the playwright
told us?
Location of the play?
Time/period/year it is set?
People in the play?
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Units (of action) & Objectives
Break the script down intounits (sections).
A unit (aka beat)is a
portion of a scene thatcontains one objectiveforan actor.
There can be more than oneunit that occurs during ascene.
Every unit has an objectivefor each character.
An objective is expressed
through the use of an activeverb.
Not necessarily what
happens, but this is whatthe character is striving for
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Super Objective
The Super Objective isthe main theme of theplay.
The subject of the play.
Everything drives
toward the SuperObjective.
When all the objectivesare strung together in alogical form, a throughline of action can bemapped out for thecharacter.
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Motivation
Stanislavski insisted that anactor was either driven byemotions or by the mind tochoose physical actions.
This in turn aroused thewill of the actor to performthe given actions. Thus, thewill became activated
indirectly through eitheremotions or the mind.
The will or motivation is inthe subconscious.
Motivation becomeimportant in realism, it isbased on the subtext andany hidden meanings.
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Subtext
Subtext refers to themeaning lyingunderneath the text/dialogue.
The subtext is notspoken, but is
interpreted by the actorthrough, gesture,posture, pauses orchoices in the action.
There is a clear
relationship betweenSubtexts & dialogue andbetween subtext andobjective
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Magic If
In Realismwhere the aim of theactor is to create the appearanceof reality or truth on stage.
Your character is in a specific
situation. The Magic If answersthe following question: "Whatwould I do if I were in the samesituation?
The "If" is very important. Thisabout your real life experiences,in combination with yourimagination.
The situation is not real, and thesystem doesn't assume you haveever been in that situation. Butknowing yourself, what wouldyou do? How would you act?
Take the imaginary situation andmake real life decisions as to howyou would behave.
It's crucial to determine the "do"in the question. What actionwould you take?
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UNITS & OBJECTIVE
Learning to divide the roleinto sensible units that canbe worked on individually,
and developing the ability todefine each unit of the role
by an active goal desired bythe character rather than asan entirely literary idea.
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Motivation or will, as Stanislavski called it, was part
of a triumvirate, the other two
members being feelings and mind.' In his earlier
techniques, he considered these three to be
masters or impelling movers in our psychic life
Stanislavski insisted that an actor was either driven
by emotions or by the mind to choose physical
actions. This in turn aroused the will of the actor toperform the given actions. Thus, the will became
activated
indirectly through either emotions or the mind.6 The
implication here was that the will or motivation was inthe subconscious. Stan would ask questions of
WHO? WHAT and HOW? to make a character treat it
as a journey
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Stanislavski Circles of Attention is a
theory devised by Stanislavski to helpactors feel less tensed on stage. It
comprises of three circles that an actor
can focus concentration on. An actor issupposed to focus on a small circle,
extend focus to the medium circle and
eventually extend focus on the largercircle.
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Name of technique Questions Your answers
Magic if If I was this character, what
would I be thinking, what
would I do if I was involved?
The given circumstance What time is it set
Culture
The story of the play
Historical
Conditions of life
Costume
Journey of motivation Where?
What u want?
Where you going?
Achieving?
After achieving?
Visualisation Look like, age, height,
resemblance?
Obstacles Whatsin the way?