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    Sanford Meisner

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    Yudhi Faisal
    Sanford Meisner discusses the foundation of acting being "the reality of doing". He emphasizes actors truly listening, observing, counting, and computing rather than pretending or playing a character. Actors partner in repetition exercises where one repeats what the other says to build contact and spontaneity through instinct rather than intellect. The goal is for responses to come from impulses rather than the head. Independent activities are chosen to require concentration and induce real emotion from partner interactions.

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    Sanford Meisner

    Uploaded by

    Yudhi Faisal
    747 views4 pages
    Sanford Meisner discusses the foundation of acting being "the reality of doing". He emphasizes actors truly listening, observing, counting, and computing rather than pretending or playing a character. Actors partner in repetition exercises where one repeats what the other says to build contact and spontaneity through instinct rather than intellect. The goal is for responses to come from impulses rather than the head. Independent activities are chosen to require concentration and induce real emotion from partner interactions.

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    Sanford Meisner discusses the foundation of acting being "the reality of doing". He emphasizes actors truly listening, observing, counting, and computing rather than pretending or playing a character. Actors partner in repetition exercises where one repeats what the other says to build contact and spontaneity through instinct rather than intellect. The goal is for responses to come from impulses rather than the head. Independent activities are chosen to require concentration and induce real emotion from partner interactions.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    747 views4 pages

    Sanford Meisner

    Uploaded by

    Yudhi Faisal
    Sanford Meisner discusses the foundation of acting being "the reality of doing". He emphasizes actors truly listening, observing, counting, and computing rather than pretending or playing a character. Actors partner in repetition exercises where one repeats what the other says to build contact and spontaneity through instinct rather than intellect. The goal is for responses to come from impulses rather than the head. Independent activities are chosen to require concentration and induce real emotion from partner interactions.

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    SanfordMeisneronActing

    THEFOUNDATIONOFACTINGISTHEREALITYOFDOING. Areyoulisteningtome? AreyouREALLYlisteningtome? YourenotpretendingthatyourelisteningyoureREALLYlistening?Would yousayso? Thatstherealityofdoing. Howmanyofyouarelisteningtomenow? Now,justforyourself,listentothecarsyouhearoutside.Dothat.(1min) Ok,howmanydidyouhear? Didyoulistenasyourself,orwereyouplayingacharacter? Asastudentpartlegitimate,partacting? Wereyoureallypuzzledorwereyoupuzzledincharacter? Now,singtoyourselfnotoutloud.(1min) Howmanyofyoudidit? Foryourselfortheatrically? AsHamlet,asyourself,halfandhalf? Now,countthelightbulbs. DidyoucountincharactertheatricallyordidYOUcount? Computeinyourhead931x18(=16758) Didyoutry?Youmayberightorwronglikelifeyoumayhavecometo differentconclusions,butitsimportantthatyouTRIED. Itsoktobewrongbutitsnotokifyoudonottry. Observeapartner.(1min) WeretheobservationsdonebyYOUorbyacharacterfromaplay? Canyouholdontothat? Canyouhearwell? Canyourepeatwhatyouhear?Exactly?(Ofcourseyoucan!) Lookatyourpartner.Whatdoyouobserve?NOTHINKINGORREADINGS, justrepeatwhatyouobserve.(ex.Youhaveblondehair) NowIbelievethatyoucanbothhearandrepeatwhatyouhear. Thismayseemsillybutitisthebeginningorthebasisofsomething.A connectionisestablishedwhichisthebasisofwhateventuallybecomes emotionaldialogue. RepetitionFromtheOthersPointofView: Youhaveblackhair.Isthattrue?No. SothatswhatyouanswerNoIdonothaveblackhair. Youhaveblondehair. Yes,Ihaveblondehair. Yes,youdo. Yes,Ido Thisiscontactbetweentwohumans. Youcurlyourhair.

    Yes,Icurlmyhair. Yes,youdo. Yes,Ido. Yes,Icanseethatyoudo. Yes,youcanseethatIdo. Commentontheircomment.

    THEBASISOFACTINGISTHEREALITYOFDOING. Howdoesthisdefinitioncomparetowhatweredoing? Ifyousimplydoit,youdontfocusonyourself. Ifyousimplydoit,youhavenotimetowatchyourselfdoingit. Itbecomessomethingthatreally,reallyexistsspecifically. Whenyoudosomething,youreallyDOitratherthanpretendingthatyoure doingit.Andyoudontdoitlikeacharacter. Dontplayatbeingacharacteritisrightthereinyourdoingit. Itwillreveal itself gradually. Inwordrepetition,dontgotoofar. Dontdolinereadings. Silencecreatesanewmoment. Theverbalcontactbetween changesisbasedoninstinct. Apointwhereonehastopickupwhattherepetitionisdoingtoyoumustbe spontaneous. Youcancommentontheirbehavior. Lettheinstinctiveremarkscomeout. Dontthinktoomuchortrytocontrolwhatyouresayingjustlisten. Twomoments:cancomefrominstinct.Donotrepeatthesamelineagainifyour partnergivesyousilence.Usethenewmoment. Actingisnotanimitationoflifedontbepolite.Ifyourehit,retaliate,evenif youwouldnotinreallife. Truthfulnesscomeswhen: Youdontdoanythingunlesssomethinghappenstomakeyoudoit. Whatyoudodoesntdependonyouitdependsontheother. Itcomesfromspontaneity. Eliminatealltheheadworksoyoucanbeimpulsive. Inrepetition:listen,nothinking,nointellectuality. Yourrefusalsetsupanimpulseinmewhichcomesdirectlyoutof therepetition andmakesyourespond.(ex.Lendme$10.Lendyou $10.Ineed$10. Youneed $10.Imusthave$10.Youmusthave$10.Youmustgiveme$10.Goask someoneelse!) Graduallyasyoutrain,theresponsescomenotfromyourhead,buttruthfully fromyourimpulses. Apractitionerissomebodywhoislearningtofindhis/herinstincts,nottogivea performance.Likeamusicianwhoworksonrepetitionofscales. Iamanonintellectualteacherofacting.Myapproachisbasedonbringingthe actorbacktohis/heremotionalimpulsesandtoactingthatisfirmlyrootedin the instinctive.Itisbasedon thefactthatallgoodactingcomesfromtheheart,asit were,andthattheresnomentalityinit. PullingtheRepetitionExerciseTogetherWithanIndependentActivity:

    Lookupaphonenumberinthephonebook,ofagirlwhoyoumetapartylast weekwhohasinvitedyoutospendthenight.Youlostherphone#butyouknow hernameisSueSmith.Haveyourpartnerknockon thedoorinthemidstofyour searchingandask,Areyoulookingforsomething?anddotherepetition exercise. Chooseanactivitythatisdifficult,butnotimpossible. Youmusthaveareasontowanttodoit.Itisthesourceoftheconcentration, whicheventuallyleadstoyouremotionwhichcomesbyitself. Actingisnottalkingitislivingofftheotherperson. On stagewewantpublicsolitude (Stan) Pickanactivitythatistruthfulforyou. THREEKNOCKS Aknockhasameaning.Knocktruthfully,3times,10secondsbetweeneach,with 3differentmeanings.Askanotherstudent,whatdideachmean? Knocksothatithassomeresemblancetolife.Dontknocktheatrically. Firstmomentoftheexerciseistheknockthesecondmomentistheopeningof thedooryourthirdmomentistheinterpretationoftheknock. Thethirdmomentisthemeaningtheknockhasforyou,verbalizedbyyouasyou openthedoor.Thenyougobacktowhatyouredoing.Dowhateverthethird momentpermitsyoutodoandthengobacktoyourindependentactivityandlet theexercisecontinue. Afterthefirsttwoknocks,tellmewhattheymeantoyou(nottheknocker,butthe personintheroom).Afterthethirdone,openthedoor.Anduseverbally what thethirdknockmeanttoyou.Thengobacktoyourindependentactivityandthe exercise. Youdonthavetoanswerthedoor. Takeawaythelogicbecauserepetitionwillinducerealemotion. Youmustrepeatwhatissaidtoyouevenifyouredoingacancerexperimentand someonecomesinandsaysIlovespaghetti. Anindependentactivitymustbeurgent,truthfulandDIFFICULTtodopublic solitudeactivitynottooexaggeratedorfarfetchedknowthereasonwhy. Difficultyismostimportantstrengthensyourconcentration.Mustpracticelikea musician.20yearstomasterit.Youmustlearntouseyourinstinctsbasedon whatsomebodyelsedoestoyou.Giveyourselftimetomasterit. Inrepetition,thecontinuityisimportant. Dontact,dontfake,dontpretendwork! BEYONDREPETITION: Nexttime,thepersonwhocomesinhastohaveareasonforcorningin.Andthe reasonhastobesimpleandspecificandnotdeathdefyinginitsurgency.The knockshouldstillhavemeaning.Evenifitsjustfororegano.Ifyoucreatea studyforyourself,justletitROOTyoudontplayacharacter.3knocksthen continuewiththerepetition. AboutStrasbergheintrovertsthealreadyintroverted.Putallyourattentionon theotherandrepeatwhatyouhear. Anactorsfaiththeybelievethatthecircumstancesaretrue. Youdonthavetoworryaboutbeinglogicalbecausethescriptdoesitforyou. Actingisallagiveandtakeofthoseimpulsesaffectingeachperson. Maketheactivitymoreimportantthantherepetition.

    Trytotightentherepetition.Trytoletitmoveinitsorganicrhythm.Avoid playingascene. Saylinesfromascriptwithnomeaningorreading.Themechanicalapproach avoidscalculatedresultsRAW. Reduceyoutoaneutral,meaningless,inhumanobjectrobotsoonyouwillfill thosewordswithtruthofyouremotionallife. Remainneutralandrelaxedifpushedyouwouldberesponsive.Iffirmandtense, youcantbebudged. Soontheemotionwillcomeoutofwhatyourpartnerisgivingyou. Theexercisestripsyouofyourbadhabits. SCENEShandledimprovisationally,impulsetoimpulse: Takecurrentrepetitionexerciseandaddanemotionalcircumstancetothe characterwhoisenteringtheroom.Thismakesitintoascene. Pickuptheimpulseinsteadofthecue.Whenyouhearthewordscotchinthe sentence,begintoimpulsivelyrespond. LearnthelinesTHENpickuptheimpulses. Soonaddpreparationwhichistheselfstimulationofyouremotion. Anddonttrytoseethesnowfalloutside.Youwillseeflats!Makethe audiencebelieveitsforthemnotforyou. BEGINNINGOFPREPARATION Askwhattheywoulddowith $100,000. Iftoopracticalandnotimaginative:respondthatwishfulthinkingisbasedon stimulatedimagination,andisapreludeinpreparation.

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