The Actors Studio UK - Movement in acting

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Movement

Acting does not require you to be physically perfect. Actors need to reflect life in all its myriad forms, but actors do require, an intimate knowledge of their own bodies. What it can and can't do.

It goes without saying that it would be ideal for this body to be as fit and as flexible as it can be. After all the physical demands placed on an actor are many and can be extreme, although the casting process should take into account any specific physical skills a character may require.

It can sometimes be surprisingly tiring just to change even the smallest physical attribute to reflect a character trait and then maintain it for a whole play.

What an actor needs is control, most of the time this is just a matter of physical awareness.

I have seen many performances spoiled by actors making some small unconscious, habitual gesture every time they speak. This can be the smallest of movements, but to an audience it can soon become irritating and ultimately distracting.

If this habit has not become to embedded it can some times be eliminated by simply telling the offending actor about it. It is amazing how often an actor just being made aware of the habit is enough for them to expunge it, although it can also be very easy for them to relapse once they have had chance to for get again. These ticks and mannerisms can develop at any stage in an actor's career. They creep up on you when you least expect it.

I have also worked on productions where actors haven't been told of such actions because it is known that the actor concerned would become offended or angry by being told. It never ceases to amaze me how many performers mistake, direction and advise as criticism, and become defensive. It is usually the actors who would benefit the most who behave in this way.

If an actor cannot look truthfully at them self, then they stand little chance of finding the truth in any character they portray. As with the voice it is always advisable that the body should be warmed up before any production. This does not require you to break into a sweat or bend your self into any contortionist type shapes but it does require you to put out your cigarette stop nattering and to stand up. If anyone has seen the way dancers have to prepare before a performance you will understand just how easy this aspect of an actors life really is.

The Warm Up

Warm up rules: Always move smoothly, and don't bounce, and most important of all, if it hurts, STOP! If it's been over ten years since you could wrap your leg behind your head, twenty minutes before curtain up is not the time to try and recreate this party trick.

Start with a shake.

Gently shake out the tension from your arms and legs, lift up your shoulders and slowly rotate back and down into their start position.

Neck.

Slowly, rock your neck from side to side, starting with very small movements and gradually get bigger. Lower your chin down to your chest. And then lift your chin high into the air. Turn your head to look over either shoulder.

Face

Scrunch your face tightly, making it as small as possible they open it right up, yawning as wide as you can. Purse your lip into their biggest pucker then pull your lips back until you look like one of the aliens that Sigorney Weaver had so much trouble with.

Back

Starting at the top, tip each vertebra forward as independently as possible, your chin will end up on your chest as you roll down the spine, Keep your arms loose, when you reach your hips keep going and try and touch your toes, stay there for a moment while you congratulate yourself then bring yourself back up in the one vertebra way you got yourself down there.

Arms

Standing relaxed and straight and making sure you won't punch the leading lady in the mouth, (even if you want to) swing your arms back in a Windmill motion.

Wrists and Hands

Bend your wrists forward and back and then rotate them in both directions. Give your fingers a good wriggle in a piano playing type way.

Ankles and Feet.

As with you wrists move your feet from side to side and then rotate. You can also play the piano with your toes if you feel so inclined.

Waist.

With your arm out stretched gently from the hips twist your torso left and right. Then from the starting position dip gently to one side and bring your upper arm up beside your ear, and repeat the other side.

I have no doubt while you were reading the stretches listed above, a phrase about teaching your mother to suck eggs may have sprung to your mind. And I'm sure you could easily have produced a warm up plan of your own. We all, I suspect have this knowledge. But do we use it.

No.

I thought not.

So stop trying to be smart with me and start doing them. Go on, up you get, after four, one , two, three …. And shake.

The Alexander Technique.

Any piece of machinery that has moving parts has by some method to remain in balance, the spinning wheel works wonderfully well, but the slightest imperfection and its smooth flowing line is changed into a juddering wobble. The body is exactly the same, while centered and in balance, it is a remarkably reliable and effective piece of equipment, out of balance its functionality becomes greatly reduced and sooner or later it will become damaged by this imbalance.

In Australia in the 1890s a Tasmanian actor named Frederick Matthias Alexander who had a love of Shakespeare became afflicted by vocal and breathing problem that became so bad it began to threaten his career, his voice would become increasingly hoarse during a performance, until he could barely produce a sound at all. The doctors he consulted were unable to find any specific reason for his problem, and as such were unable to administer a cure. With no alternative he decided to cure himself. Alexander reasoned that his problem might be the result of how he was using his voice and maybe he was doing something wrong that was causing him to strain his vocal organs. He began to observe himself in a mirror while reciting Shakespearean sonnets to see if he could spot any obvious problem. After many years of this kind of study he began to realize that the answer to his problem lay with his posture.

"I saw that as soon as I started to recite, I tended to pull back the head, depress the larynx and suck in breath through the mouth in such a way as to produce a gasping sound," From this initial discovery he developed a technique that corrected poor alignment throughout the body.

The results have allowed performers to improve their stamina, voice and mobility, helped them to manage stage fright and enabled them to get rid of their bad habits and so improve their overall performance.

To get the most benefit from Alexander's techniques, you require a teacher who can help you realign and correct your posture. It has to be said that as complimentary medicines go The Alexander Technique lacks a certain glamour. There are no sharp needles or strange potions involved and the concept of just being told to stand straight hardly sounds like a miracle cure, but as is often the case with life, it is the small things we do that inevitably have the greatest impact, and the proof of the pudding is always in the eating, and there are plenty of people whose lives have been immeasurably improved by this technique.

The Inner movement.

Don't worry I'm not going to talk about that sort of inner movement. What I mean by the phrase inner movement is the tempos of a play, scene or character. This does equally not necessarily relate to the speed of speech or movement, but the inner tempo that is driving the characters actions and dialogue.

When preparing for a role the actor must try and establish the through line, what Stanislavski termed as the 'Super Objective'. This is the overall motivation of the character? Everyone has their own pace, think of the extremes, the laid back character who seems to deal with everything at the same unhurried relaxed way, the opposite, would be the character who lives on his nerves, his body in a state of constant tension, his mind spinning. We can recognize both of these traits in people we meet, although they generally present themselves in more subtle ways. As human beings we seem to have an innate ability to feel the energy that is generated by this inner tempo. The actor's job is to find the energy level that best relates to the character they are representing and then finding ways to generate this appropriate energy level as and when, it is needed.

One way of doing this is through music. We all experience the effect that music can have on our inner energy levels, I'm sure we have all felt the hairs on the back of our necks rise when our own personal favorite pieces, work their magic. Our moods can be lifted or depressed by certain songs. Find a piece of music that moves your feelings to a place that best reflects your characters energy levels. Listening to this before a performance or even carrying it around in your head can help immensely.

The same can be achieved by effective memory techniques. If your character is a 'high energy' person, try and recall moments in your life when you have been in a state of nervous anxiety, waiting for exam results or a job interview for example. The important thing to remember, when using this technique, is that it is only meant to provide an emotional reference point. It is not meant to actually put you into this anxious state. An actor must remain in control. This technique can also help with dealing with stage fright. Remembering the high points of your life can help quell the fear that eats away at your confidence as you stand in the wings.