Had my first acting class at the Performing Arts Studio last night. Sadly, there are no Mr. Hotty McHot-Hots in the class this time. Bummer. What am I supposed to daydream about now, huh?
Anyhoo, so we did a few exercises last night to learn subtext and intention. Now, I know many of you are not terribly familiar with the thee-a-turr, so I'll try to break it down in simple terms. (Those of us in the business are so giving...)
The first exercise was on subtext. We all had a line to say, and we had to say it in a way that would make our subtext clear. For example, you can say "I love you" in many different ways. The way you say it when you mean "Let's get married" is different from when you mean "and if I can't have you, no one will!" The inflection of your voice, the volume, etc., all are going to be different depending on your subtext.
The second exercise was on "intention." Pretty much every line of script has an intention behind it -- your character's goal for that particular line. So the instructor, Deborah, broke us up into teams of two, and we had to improvise scenes. Mine, with fellow classmate Sarah, was to improvise a scene in which I go into a jewelry store and buy a ring. Sarah's "intention" was to sell me the ring at all costs. My "intention" was to case out the place to rob it later. Of course, neither of us knew what our intentions were when we started the scene. It turned out pretty well.
The third, and last, exercise combined what we just learned about intention and subtext. We were given six lines of dialogue, and we had to create a scene with that dialogue. In Sarah and my scene, I was asking her to tell me whether a cake I'd baked was tastier than my competitor's cake, and she didn't want to tell me that she liked the competitor's cake better.
All in all, it was a fun class. If you've ever been interested in Hollywood, or even Broadway, I recommend taking an acting class. It's not something I'll ever pursue as a career, but it's interesting to realize what goes into acting. Certainly gives me a better appreciation of the craft. ("The craft" ... look at me, all professional and stuff...)
2 comments:
Sounds like a lot of fun. I am sure you will learn a lot of what it takes to be an actor. Sometimes "calling up" feelings is not such an easy task. My husband acted in local dinner theaters for quite a few years. Didn't make much money, just gas money back than as he called it. But, he loved it and met a lot of cool, interesting people. So if you really get into it, try out in your local dinner theaters, never know, who you might meet....... ; )
LaurieC
I've done a couple of "showcases" with the local theaters, but I think I really just enjoy the learning process, not so much the performing part. I guess I'm just meant to be a lifelong student. And that's ok. :-)
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