Acting is not Emoting and Using Gestures to Communicate – Acting Classes in NYC
Any actor interested in studying the Meisner technique should explore what’s known as the actors instrument. The instrument analogy can be helpful when breaking down all the various aspects that can determine how good an actor is. Audience members are quick to determine whether actors are portraying a new reality well enough to hold their attention. They don’t need a great deal of theatre going experience to sense when the acting is fantastic. In fact, it is the actors instrument and how well rounded and how well developed it is.
There are six aspects to consider when looking at the actors instrument. They are: physical expression, emotional expression, imagination, sensory expression, intelligence and empathy. Mastering the craft of acting with the Meisner Technique requires that all six aspects of the instrument are well developed. If you run down the categories mentioned, anyone even slightly interested in acting should be able to name successful actors who have mastered several of these aspects of expression. It is the true legends, the icons of stage and screen, that have mastered all six.
Take, for example, Sylvester Stallone who is know for his commanding physical presence and physical expression. This doesn’t mean that he can’t express himself emotionally, it just means that his physical presence is the most developed of his acting tools. As an actor he expresses emotional in a very physical, often external way. This is why actors must focus on learning about each and every aspect of the instrument, so that they can be as well rounded as possible.
Emotional expression is the most common aspect of the instrument that actors are focused on. How a character feels about something and delivering lines powered by that feeling is a very common practice for newer actors. One of the most important, but certainly not the only tool to master is the emotional expression aspect of the actors instrument. All six of the aspects of the instrument should be studied diligently until they are mastered.
Meaning in a story is derived mainly from the emotional expression of its characters. It clues the audience in to what the character is about, the conflicts they face, what their deepest needs are. It is common in classes teaching Meisner acting in nyc to create an emotional history of a character, imagine it in detail and then use all the aspects of the instrument to express them. Students of Meisner acting must study the range of human emotions in all their complexity. They in fact, build a library of emotions and reactions and methods for communicating them. When a specific character needs to be presented, these then delve more deeply and specifically into imagining (another aspect of the instrument) what the character’s emotions feel like. They create and live the emotional life that the character would live so that it is instilled in them and can be called upon at will.
Vulnerability, for example is an expression of the emotion of insecurity. Actors might work hard to develop this emotion and the complex ways it can be expressed. But, unless they have developed other aspects of their instrument, such as empathy or intelligence, the character will not be authentic. A single tear, without words can accomplish this, but how about a sense of vulnerability shown while one is smashing a clock to pieces? This is a subjective, creative process.
Acting is not pretending to have an emotion. However, acting is not simply reciting words using certain inflections and gestures to communicate emotions. Acting is DOING, as master teacher Sanford Meisner always said. You must be in the moment and allow emotional reactions and behaviors to appear, and you must follow them. It is a subtle yet, very important distinction. The best actors do not pretend to feel something, or coach themselves to do anything while in character. They feel genuine, strong emotions and a sense of grief or loss and images makes them cry. Developing a deep capacity to understand and feel the full range of human emotions and experiences is a great way to become an open, flexible acting student, the best kind of student. Actors must give themselves permission to feel strong emotions, and express them (or not, if the role requires it) in physical, intelligent, empathetic ways.