Second, I wanted to open the floor for discussion of any thoughts, questions, ideas, etc. from the reading on DAYDREAMING from Bill's book.
Third, I wanted to open the floor for discussion of any questions or clarifications about your preparation for your MIDTERM SCENES.
The floor is open (whatever that means).
Jason
I really enjoyed Bill's speech on the magic word because. When I was thinking about doing the day dream exercise I found it over whelming. Boiling down the event with because to find that one feeling allows the actor to really focus on the moment before they walk through the door. If we did not focus our event down there would be an overwhelming amount of information to process in that moment and humans don't think about absolutely everything at once.
ReplyDeleteI love how daydreams are primal and really connect us with our instincts. what a great tool. It's interesting that we can't talk about our day dreams without feeling embarrassed. I guess there are some you can and others you can't. Some I wouldn't care if people knew but others are very personal. Should we be focusing on the ones that are extremely personal to work with the extreme because they will affect us more?
Interesting thoughts here, Lauren. I want to clarify what Bill's getting at when he says not to talk about your daydreams. The reason you shouldn't share them with others is because it may take away their power--their magic. They are deeply personal. You will censor yourself if you know you are going to share the daydream.
ReplyDeleteAnd to answer your question about why explore the extremes: why not? As actors we want to test the very limits of our experience and imagination. Why swim in the shallow water when you can dive into the deep end of the pool. Especially as you are training. Test the limits and then swim out even deeper.
Listen, what if you were cast to play Medea? You have to murder your own two young children and carry their dead bloddy bodies onto the stage at the end of the play to get back at the husband who has jilted you? Could you care that much? Could you go that far in the imaginary circumstance? You would have to.
Fellow dreamers,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really inspiring and relevant video that you should all watch. Its a lecture at CMU. Its amazing. JUST WATCH. NOW.
http://acting1bfa.blogspot.com/2010/11/meisner.html#comments
Catie
A thought on the reading:
ReplyDeleteIt was comforting to see a limit set to the seemingly infinite possibilities this excercise can lead to. When we were researching Strasberg we learned about the performers who drove themselves insane connecting their characters to their own realities. Espers and Meisner wanted the circumstances to remain imaginary. This "reeled in" the daydreaming excercise for me to make sure I use elements of my own life but let it go off into the unthinkable - which gets be excited. :)