Chapter 2 Introduction to acting
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Created by:
sparkyyimo on September 28, 2010
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27 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Ad-lib | make up words or actions, usually to cover a mistake in a performance |
| Anticipating | reacting to something before your character has any reason to. Although you ( the actor ) know perfectly well that somebody is coming up behind you, your character, who is supposedly experiencing all this for the very first time, has no way of knowing until the other character makes a noise or says a line or walks where you can see him or her |
| At rise | The moment when the curtain rises, or the stage lights go on, or whatever happens to signal the start of the play or act or scene |
| Black-out | The end of an act or play, or the time between scenes of an act during which the stage lights are off and/or the curtain is closed |
| Blocking | The movement of the characters (actors) on the stage which is decided by the directors |
| Breaking Characters | Becoming yourself on the stage, instead of the character you're playing.Audiences can always tell when an actor breaks character. It's one of the cardinal（主要的）sins for an actor. Making eye contact with the audience, giggling or laughing, muttering（嘀咕）words to yourself or the audience or other actors -- these are some of the signs of breaking character |
| Compass directions | Some theaters, particularly those with audiences seating on all sides of the stage (theatre-in-the-round), use NSEW instead of the traditional Up, Down, Left and Right. Another variation is the "clock" system, assigning the 12 numbers of the clock on the stage |
| Cue | The line spoken just before your line, or the signal for you to enter or perform another action |
| Discovered | Already on the stage when the scene begins |
| Down-stage turn | Turning so that your body passes through the full front position on your way to your final position |
| Gesture | Generally, any action performed with the hands and arms, or the head (as in a nod) |
| Going up | Forgetting your lines on-stage |
| Holding for a laugh | Allowing the audience's response to begin dying away before continuing. You need to top the remaining laughter, rather that let it die away completely |
| Indicating | Telling the audience sth. instead of showing them; using cliches or tired generalizations in your acting instead of honest and revealing actions and emotions |
| Intention | What your character wants in a scene, best expressed in a vivid sentence with a strong verb. "I want to kick him down the stairs," for example, even in a scene where your character couldn't possibly engage in a physical attack |
| Interior monolog | The entire stream of thoughts that a character thinks while he or she is on stage, speaking or listening, moving or still |
| Motivaion | The character's reason for doing or saying a particular thing. The director may tell you to cross to the fireplace because he needs you out of the way before the star's big entrance, but it's up to you to figure out a a reason for the character to move (since the character has never been heard of the director) |
| Objective | What a character wants in a scene. See Intention -- Objective means goal, Intention means how to reach the goal |
| Observation | Studying other people as sources for your character's voice and movement. For example, watching the way older people walk and listening to the way they talk when preparing to play an older character |
| Projecting | Making sure your performance is audible and visible from every seat in the house |
| Picking up cues | Reducing the amount of time between speeches, usually accomplished by inhaling during the preceding speech (rather than after it) so that you are prepared to speak immediately. Cues can also be picked up physically, by a gesture or movement -- sth. that shows the audience where to look and assures them that nobody has gone up in his lines |
| Pointing a line | Drawing attention to a particular speech -- or part of a speech -- by vocal or physical means. For example, one item in a list can be pointed by a short pause before it, or by stopping a repetitive movement (such as a knitting, or pacing) just before saying the word |
| Reason and Thought | An intellectual approach to discovering appropriate movements and vocal traits. If your character is a retired professional football, for example, his accumulated injuries mights very well make him walk and move a little stiffly -- like a person with arthritis |
| Stage business | Activities performed on stage as a part of your characterization. Sometimes they are directly related to the action of the play (as tearing up the incriminating letter). Sometimes they are not directly related to the action of the play (as sweeping the floor during a breakfast scene) Business like this is sometimes called an independent activity. In either case, the business must reveal sth. aout your character to the audiece |
| Subtext | The thoughts that underlie the character's actual words (the text). The subtext often determines the specific way a line is said. For example, the exact meaning and delivery of the line, "What time is it?" will vary according to the sub-text. A condemned prisoner awaiting execution will be thinking, "How much longer do I have to live?" while a person attending a boring lecture might be thinking, "When will this be over?" |
| Top or Topping | Delivering your line so that it is stronger than the one just before it |
| Upstaging | Causing another actor to have to turn into a closed position so that the audience can't see his face, usually accomplished by moving upstage so that when the other person turns to face you he is in a 3/4 positon |
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