Fundamentals of pantomime. Memory of physical actions

No matter how much you put your teeth on the shelf, creative people need self-expression. And in order to reveal acting talent, improve stage skills, you need perseverance and patience. Acting exercises will help to acquire and hone all the skills necessary for a professional actor. After all, an actor on stage is not just a mechanical puppet that mindlessly follows the director's instructions, but a puppet that can think logically, calculate actions a few steps ahead. Professional Actor plastic, has good coordination, expressive facial expressions and intelligible speech.

Before you start to study and work out etudes and sketches to the fullest, you need to understand yourself a little. A real actor needs certain character traits that must be actively developed in himself. Other qualities should be hidden in the far corner and remembered very rarely.

Consider such a quality as self-love. It would seem - a normal state for every person. But this quality has 2 sides:

• Self-love - makes every day to develop and learn, not to give up. Without this quality, even a very famous actor cannot become a famous actor. talented person.
• Selfishness and narcissism is a dead end for acting career. Such a person will never be able to work for the viewer, all attention will be riveted to his own person.

A good actor cannot be distracted. He should not be distracted by extraneous noise while playing on stage. For acting skills inherently implies constant control of oneself and a partner. Otherwise, the role will simply become a mechanical representation. And attention allows you not to miss important details during training, watching theatrical performances, master classes and trainings. To learn how to concentrate, use the attention exercises from stagecraft.

Attention is the basis of a good start to a theatrical career

The development of attention does not begin with special exercises, and with Everyday life. A novice actor should spend a lot of time in crowded places, watching people, their behavior, facial expressions, and characteristic features. All this can later be used to create images.

Start a creative diary - this is a regular diary creative person. In it, express your thoughts, feelings, write down all the changes that have occurred with the surrounding objects.

After filling out the creative diary, you can proceed to working out scenes and sketches. A novice actor is obliged to convey as accurately as possible the image and facial expressions of the person he was watching. It is necessary to place prototypes in non-standard situations - it is such productions that show how much the actor was able to understand and get used to the character unknown person.

"Listen to silence"

The next exercise is the ability to listen to silence, you need to learn how to direct attention to a certain part of the external space, gradually expanding the boundaries:

• listen to yourself;
• listen to what is happening in the room;
• listen for sounds throughout the building;
• recognize sounds in the street.

Exercise "Shadow"

It not only develops attention, but also teaches you to move consciously. One person slowly makes any pointless actions. The task of the second is to repeat all movements as accurately as possible, try to predict them, and determine the purpose of the actions.

Pantomimes and dramatizations

A good actor is able to convey emotions expressively with words and body. These skills will help to involve the viewer in the game, to convey to him the full depth of the theatrical performance.

Pantomime is a special kind of stage art based on the creation artistic image through plasticity, without the use of words.

• The best exercise to learn pantomime is crocodile game. The goal of the game is to show an object, a phrase, a feeling, an event without words. Simple but fun game perfectly trains expressiveness, develops thinking, teaches you to make decisions quickly.
• Dramatization of proverbs. The purpose of the exercise is to show a well-known proverb or aphorism with the help of a small scene. The viewer must understand the meaning of what is happening on the stage.
• Gesture game- with the help of non-verbal symbols, an actor can say a lot on stage. You need at least 7 people to play. Everyone invents a gesture for himself, shows it to others, then shows some other person's gesture. The one whose gesture was shown must quickly repeat it himself, and show the next someone else's gesture. Who lost - is out of the game. This game is complex, develops attention, teaches to work in a team, improves plasticity and coordination of hands.

Exercises for the development of plasticity

If things are not going well with plastic surgery, this deficiency can be easily corrected. With regular performance of the following movements at home, you can learn to better feel your own body, skillfully manage it.

"Painting the Fence"

The exercise “painting the fence” develops the plasticity of the hands and arms well. It is necessary to paint the fence using the hands instead of a brush.

What exercises make hands obedient:

• smooth waves from one shoulder to another;
• invisible wall - you need to touch the invisible surface with your hands, feel it;
• rowing with invisible oars;
• twisting clothes;
• pulling an invisible rope.

"Pack it up"

A more difficult task is to “collect in parts”. It is necessary to assemble in parts some kind of complex mechanism - a bicycle, a helicopter, an airplane, to create a boat from the boards. Take an invisible part, feel it with your hands, show the size, weight and shape. The viewer must imagine what kind of spare part is in the hands of the actor. Install the part - than better than plastic, the faster the viewer will understand what the actor is collecting.

"stroking the animal"

Exercise "petting the animal." The task of the actor is to stroke the animal, pick it up, feed it, open and close the cage. The viewer must understand - this is a fluffy hare or a slippery, wriggling snake, a small mouse or a big elephant.

Development of coordination

The actor must have good coordination. This skill allows you to perform complex exercises on stage, perform several movements at the same time.

Coordination exercises:

• Swimming. Extend straight arms parallel to the floor. Perform with one hand circular motion back, the other forward. Move your arms at the same time, periodically change the direction of movement of each hand.
• Knock - stroke. Put one hand on your head and start stroking. Place the other hand on the stomach, lightly tap. Do movements at the same time, not forgetting to change hands.
• Conductor. Stretch out your hands. One hand moves up and down for 2 beats. The other one performs arbitrary movements for 3 cycles. Or draws geometric figure. Use both hands at the same time, periodically change hands.
• Confusion. Extend one arm, with a straight arm, make circular movements clockwise, while simultaneously rotating the brush in the other direction.

These exercises are not easy to do at first. But constant practice brings results. Each exercise should be repeated at least 10 times every day.

Scenes and sketches for beginner actors

A novice actor does not have to invent everything from scratch. The ability to qualitatively copy and imitate is an integral part of performing arts. You just need to find a movie with your favorite character, try to copy his facial expressions, movements, gestures and speech as accurately as possible, convey emotions and mood.

The task seems simple, but at first it can be difficult. Only regular classes help you hone your imitation skills. In this exercise, you can not do without attention and the ability to concentrate on the little things. Jim Carrey has a good gift for imitation - he has a lot to learn.

Exercise "Think"

The acting profession involves a well-developed fantasy and imagination. You can develop these skills with the help of the “Think Out” exercise. You need to go to crowded places, choose a person, observe, pay attention to appearance and demeanor. Then come up with a biography for him, a name, determine the occupation.

Scenic speech

Good stage speech involves more than just clear pronunciation and good articulation. A good actor should be able to scream softly and whisper loudly, conveying the emotions, age and state of mind of the hero with just his voice.

To learn how to betray emotions in a word, you need to pronounce a simple phrase from the point of view of different characters - a little girl, a mature woman, an aged man, a famous actor or politician. You need to find special intonations for each character, use typical speech turns.

Exercises for the development of stage speech:

• Blow out the candles. Take in more air, blow out 3 candles in turn. The number of candles must be constantly increased, the muscles of the diaphragm must be used when inhaling.
• Practicing exhalation technique. The poem "The House That Jack Built" is suitable for this exercise. In one breath, it is necessary to pronounce each part of the work.
• Improving diction. Slurred speech is unacceptable for good actor. You need to honestly identify the problematic sounds in your speech, daily pronounce tongue twisters that are aimed at eliminating the problem. You need to do at least half an hour 3-5 times a day. Tongue twisters teach you to speak clearly at a fast pace, which is extremely important in acting.
• Intonation plays a prominent role in creating the right image. For training, it is necessary to read aloud artistic dramatic texts daily.

Acting exercises can be studied independently, various trainings will come to the rescue. But it is better to study in the company of like-minded people - you can go to courses or arrange theater evenings at home. The main thing is to never give up, always believe in your own talent, move towards the intended goal.

Theatrical sketch

An actor must not only have a full-fledged embodiment apparatus, but also constantly improve it. However, in order to improve the incarnation apparatus, one must know its capabilities, the laws governing this apparatus, the laws of movement on the stage.

One of the ways to find out the possibilities of your "apparatus of incarnation" can be an etude.

Theatrical sketch is an exercise for the development of acting technique. Etudes are a necessary element in acting classes. They can be different in content, style, tasks, complexity. With the help of studies in acting, beginners are taught how to build a story, work on themselves, as well as with a partner.

The task of etudes is to teach the actor to work not only in unexpected conditions, for example, if on stage the actor or his partner forgot the text or another unforeseen situation occurs, then the actor should not be at a loss, but quickly pick up, by action or word, the scene, but also in the proposed circumstances. In the study, the actor learns to feel the space, to see the partner. Also, thanks to improvisational practice, you can learn your abilities and shortcomings of playing on stage.

An etude is an end-to-end continuous improvisational test by the actor of the proposed circumstances and event situation, or the actor's action in the proposed (invented, composed or reproduced from memory) event situation.

Etude - (French etude - lit. - study). In modern theatrical pedagogy, an exercise that serves to develop and improve acting techniques. It consists of various stage actions, improvised or pre-designed by the teacher.

AT educational process sketch is:

• - a means of "remembering life" and on the basis of this to create the truth of stage life; theatrical sketch
• - a means of comprehending the creative laws of organic nature and methods of psychotechnics;
• - a learning tool (comprehension of the basics of the profession: immersion in the proposed circumstances, mastering the concept of "action" and event);
• - a means of manifestation of creative initiative and independence.

An etude is an independent search for an effective line of behavior in given (invented) circumstances.

A stage study is an eventful, completed segment of life actor(actors), created on the basis of the life experience and observations of the actor, processed by his creative imagination and presented, or played, or shown in stage conditions.

The stage etude from the etude improvisation test presupposes the presence of the director's intention aimed at the realization of the super-task of creative display, while in the case of an improvisation test there is no such task. And in this respect, an actor working on an etude ceases to be just a performer, but becomes a full-fledged author and creator - the director of his role. In this concept, "stage etude" is close to the concept of "dramatic scene".

The event series of the etude is determined and fixed, its “turning points” - the initial, central and main events of the etude are determined, as well as the goal of the character. And the rest of the actor can and should improvise. And here it is laid fundamental difference stage etude from the etude test. Since nothing is invented in advance in the trial - on the contrary, everything should be born directly in the trial itself - improvisation - I rush into the circumstances and justify them in the course of the action, that is, actions and tasks are momentarily born in me, to achieve which my behavior is directed.

The acting school of V. M. Filshtinsky is based on the understanding of the sketch as a place of undivided creativity of the actor and his constant improvisation in circumstances without fixing actions and events. In his understanding, the “truth of life” of an actor on the stage is valuable in itself and therefore the actor, improvising, following the inner sense of truth, can absolutely legally change the course of events without fixing it and never repeating himself in his stage behavior.

The school of Z. Ya. Korogodsky teaches the actor, first of all, to tell the story that happens to the characters, and this story is the change and development of events flowing into each other, and therefore the definition of the series of events both as an etude and in the subsequent play is fundamental. And the "truth of life" of an actor in stage conditions is an important, but, nevertheless, a means of telling a story, a means that helps the viewer to penetrate deeper into the essence of the story, through emotional empathy with the characters.

An etude in a theater school or in a rehearsal is always a short segment of stage life, created by the imagination, “if”, which is fed by experience, a reserve of observations, a live feeling of the performer. An etude is, first of all, an eventful episode. The main thing in it, building the stage process according to the laws and patterns of life (in the most extravagant theatrical solutions), is to recreate the movement of events. From the etude, the idea of ​​analyzing the play by events was born. Their course is the movement of life from incident to incident. The event, taken separately and played by us, becomes an etude.

Sources or material for composing an etude are the actor's own event experience, his life event observations, his work. creative imagination and consciousness, inspired by a super-task - a certain idea, theme, thought that an actor or director wants to convey to the viewer with the help of a stage sketch.

Sketch construction laws

Stage etude has certain laws of construction:

Entering the stage Leaving the stage

central event

Place for improvisation

Starting event Main event

The fact that prompted me The fact that prompted me to go on stage to leave the stage

Fact - an act, the impact of external or internal circumstances, which made me change my previous behavior

Above is a diagram of the construction of a single study, where no beginning, climax and denouement are expected. dramatic conflict, which takes place in pair and group studies.

The initial event and the main event are the motivated and justified entry and exit from the stage. Something happened before I went on stage that put me in certain proposed circumstances and I have a specific task that I need to complete "right here and now" (on the stage). And likewise - something happened that made me leave this place.

The central event is a certain fact, or an external or internal circumstance, or an action of a partner that changed my behavior and qualitatively influenced my psychophysical well-being and emotional state.

It often happens that the central and the main event of the etude coincide - that is, something happens on the stage, and it was the central turn of events that caused me to finish or interrupt the previous action and leave.

Types of training studies

• · A study on a familiar matter (a study with imaginary objects). This is the first study task. In etudes, faith, continuity and consistency of line are especially important. physical life. After completing the exercise and showing the work on a familiar matter, it turns out that this is actually a played etude.
• Etude for a musical moment (by using a musical phrase or phonogram, it awakens the student's ability to fantasize and experience life circumstances from which this phrase derives)
• Three words: letter, fire, water (the task is to fanatize the circumstances in which the three proposed words are organically woven into single action, and these words are not pronounced, but played out)
• “For the first time in my life” provokes sharp, personal, exciting circumstances
• "Incredible event"
• Etude "Silently together" (a study task that does not allow you to talk. It gives a strong impetus to mastering the skills of communication and interaction with a partner. In addition, it leads to the next series of studies on the organic emergence and birth of a word)
• · ^ A study on the birth of a word (adequate behavior gives rise to an adequate word in a situation. After all, a word is born not by itself, but depending on one or another fact or event).
• Etude on the "chain of physical actions" based on literary material
• Etude-observation (wordless, with text) (based on the exercise "Observation")
• Etudes for a specific (specified event)
• · Etudes based on a fable.

Entrance exam for acting department any theater school includes a small sketch in which the applicant must demonstrate their acting skills. It is very important that it is he who leaves a positive impression with the selection committee, because this type of creativity is closest to those practical training waiting for you on the course. Usually, before preparing for exams, applicants do not encounter this concept and, on the whole, have a poor idea of ​​​​how to make a sketch for admission to a theater university and what exactly it will be evaluated by the examiners.

An etude is an exercise in the form of a small scene for practicing a certain acting skill (memory of physical actions, evaluation, interaction with a partner, etc.), with an average duration of 3–5 minutes.

Most often, an acting sketch has a full-fledged plot with a plot, a climax and a denouement, but in some cases it can also be plotless, for a plausible existence in the circumstances. Etudes are:

For reincarnation. Such sketches are built on the basis of the actors' personal observations of people, their reaction to events, the way they walk, talk, etc. The meaning of the exercise is to learn to notice, remember and reproduce as detailed as possible character traits person or animal.

I am in the circumstances. Here the student is invited to "play" himself in various life situations: invented, or actually taking place. As a rule, such studies are based on overcoming or adapting to non-standard circumstances. For example, a pipe burst in your house, five minutes before a date you tore your dress, etc.

To the memory of physical actions. In these sketches, the actor does ordinary things, but with imaginary objects. The meaning of the exercise is development physical memory sensations and the ability to use it (a trained actor does not play sensations on stage, but pulls them out of memory and reproduces them). For example, students cut vegetables without a knife and the vegetables themselves, clean the apartment without a mop and a broom, take a shower without water, etc.

Not every educational institution will allow you to show a sketch for a non-objective action that you have prepared specifically for this. It is possible that the commission will give the circumstances for the sketch right at the exam and you will have to improvise.

It is impossible to predict the type, theme and direction of an improvisational study, and besides, you will not have time to prepare. The examiner might suggest something along the lines of "sit in a chair and pretend you're in a very stuffy room but you can't get out." At the first request, you must join the study and exist in it until the commission stops you. It is better to prepare for this in advance, otherwise it will be difficult to enter a theater university.

How is acting sketch evaluated?

There are no strict criteria for evaluating a study at the entrance exam, but there is a list of factors that will surely affect the assessment of the examiners. Among them:

• realism,
• sincerity,
• entertainment.

That is, the qualities that distinguish good show from the bad, regardless of genre and specificity. You should also understand that you are being hired for training, not for work. No one is going to put your sketch on the big stage in front of the general public, and you are absolutely not obliged to perform it at the level of a Hollywood star. The acting sketch is assessed by the examiners not from the point of view of skills that the applicant cannot and should not have, but from the point of view of the presence of inclinations and prerequisites for creative growth.

realism or believability

Remember the famous "I do not believe!" Stanislavsky? An etude on a given topic must be prepared in such a way that your personal imaginary Stanislavsky will never shout anything like that. To do this, you should be attentive to details: if you show an etude “in the desert”, you must sweat. It doesn't matter that you can't actually sweat, the important thing is that your body acts like it's actually been sweating for hours on end. Forget about it for a moment, and you are no longer in a hot desert, but in a cool studio where the exam is taking place, and the viewer will definitely notice this mistake.

Sincerity

This is the most difficult skill, it is not given immediately and not to everyone. Most students have to radically reconsider their views on acting and ideas about this profession before they manage to master the art of inner experience. The hardest thing to cope with this task is for girls. They go to the theatre, cinema or theater arts studio under the impression of vivid images famous actresses and see themselves on the stage/screen the same: beautiful, charming, sexy, etc. Out of ignorance of the methods by which all of the above is achieved, the girls begin to play and portray beauty, trying with all their might to please the viewer. It turns out that this is always feigned and false, and if you offer such an exalted applicant to play a prostitute or a homeless woman, a culture shock will happen to her.

The hardest thing about acting is not acting.

In fact, beauty, and sexuality, and charm - all this can be (or not be) only inside. If this is not there, no matter how much you play, nothing will come of it, and if there is, everything will work out by itself, and you won’t have to play. In addition, the actor is a dependent and forced profession, it is unlikely that you will have the opportunity to choose your own roles. From here essential advice: Let go of yourself and don't try to impress the examiners, focus on completing the task as you would in life. You do not play for the audience when you clean the room or cook dinner.

entertainment

In acting slang, there is a more accurate word - "watchability". Despite all the other virtues of your study, such as deep immersion in the role, believable behavior in circumstances, etc., the study should be something interesting to watch. What exactly - this is your author's business, the main thing is not to show how the paint dries.

Remember that the theater first performs an entertaining function and only then all the rest. Everything that you do in the theater should be interesting for the audience.

What makes a study interesting? This is primarily the eventfulness and severity of circumstances. With eventfulness, everything is clear: a study in which nothing happens can not be of interest to anyone. Acute circumstances are those circumstances in which your character finds himself between a rock and a hard place. Everything he does is not just important to him, but vital. As an example, we can take the classic situation: an unfaithful wife and lover hear her husband open the door.

Choosing a topic for sketches

The possibilities of choosing a theme for sketches are not limited by anything, this is part of a creative work that indirectly characterizes your interests. You should choose a topic, taking into account, first of all, your own convenience: if you have never been to a construction site, the “builder” study is clearly not for you. If you have been only once, you can show the study “apprentice builder”, about an unlucky student who loses everything on the first day. Start from your experience and do not invent anything.

If your study is the observation of a person or animal, take the character that best suits you, and do not neglect personal sympathies. Art is a game, the most valuable thing in it is the pleasure derived from the game. While you are an applicant, a student theater school for adults or acting classes in Moscow, you are given complete freedom to choose characters and characters, use it to your heart's content.

Schematic example of a study

1. Exposure. The action takes place in the store. Showcase, telephone, shelves with goods. The seller sits at the counter and reads a newspaper. The buyer enters the store and waits for the seller to notice him.
2. Tie. The customer gets tired of waiting and coughs loudly. The seller lazily looks up from the newspaper and glares at the buyer with a hating look.
3. Development of events. The shopper, delighted to have received attention, fumbles in his pockets for a shopping list. Finds a list, opens his mouth to read the word "oranges", but suddenly the phone rings.
4. Climax. The seller rushes to the phone and starts chatting with someone friendly and enthusiastically about all sorts of nonsense. The buyer understands that he has lost the attention of the seller for a long time, and begins to inspect the store. He comes up to a box of oranges, looks sidelong at the salesman who is carried away by the conversation, guesses the moment and quietly takes out the box.
5. Interchange. The seller ends the conversation and finds that neither the buyer nor the oranges are in the store anymore.

Many professions are stressful, sometimes you need to maintain composure, and at important meetings you should follow the non-verbal signs given by the body and facial expressions of your interlocutor. Acting courses for adults will help you become a specialist in these skills, in which the teacher explains how to control emotions and “read” them from others.

One of the exercises proposed by K. Stanislavsky for the education of an actor is exercises for the "memory of physical actions." They are sometimes called affective memory exercises.” Their essence lies in the fact that the actor performs some external physical action or a series of actions, but the object with which he supposedly works is imaginary.

These exercises are currently not done in all courses. For many believe that it is possible to collect attention, to fulfill the logic of behavior when handling a real object, that everything happens a little differently with a real object anyway, and the object itself helps the actor better.

You can set other goals in these exercises. Some educators place great emphasis on the internal monologue that is required to complete these exercises (see: internal monologue.) And if they are done at the beginning of training, in the first year, then this is the first meeting with an internal monologue, and it is very useful. If on the second, when the student has already encountered an internal monologue in the etudes, these exercises can be a good training for him.

INTERACTION

Over the course of a hundred years of development, many concepts of Stanislavsky's "system" received new names and in theater theory and in practice, new names of familiar concepts appeared. In the article "Action. Counteraction. The "line of action" of the role can be found in different names that are used, meaning "organic action", and different phrases for the designation of "line of action".

The same thing happens with the term "interaction", which came into theory and practice later than the term "communication", but has the same meaning. K. S. Stanislavsky wrote about “communication” in all his works. Now the word “interaction” is used more and more often, especially in pedagogy. Maybe because the word "communication" in our everyday life means a very wide range of relationships, while "interaction" more accurately expresses the processes of the stage, although the interaction between people, of course, occurs at the everyday level.

Stage interaction is the process of interaction of partners with each other, their relationship. And not when it is indicated, but when it actually happens "here, today, now." Then we say that the partners are genuinely interacting.

The fact that these actions are mutual and interconnected is the nature of the theater. For the theater is the events in which the characters involved in the development of the play collide or, as they are called in the programs, the characters. A play is what happens between people living in its space. And this happening is revealed in their interaction with each other and with the surrounding world. If the character's actions are not directed at a partner, present or absent in this moment on the stage, they say that nothing happens on the stage.

Imitation, designation of interaction instead of genuine, unfortunately, is often found on stage. Or maybe now, even more often, actors make the appearance of interaction, but in fact they are busy with themselves and expressing their experiences, which, in the absence of a focus on a partner, are also imitated, because genuine emotions can arise only when they are directed at someone. When emotions are directed at something, anyway, their object is not the object (for example, when it is destroyed by someone), but the one who stands behind this object (whose it is).

Interaction is a continuous, constant, two-way, mutual, multi-stage process. K. S. Stanislavsky in the book “The work of an actor on himself” is the first who dwells in detail on its components, formulating five stages of the organic process of communication. In a condensed form, it looks like this: Attention - Action - Perception - Internal monologue (decision making) - Response action.

It can be seen from this diagram that without attention, action, perception, there can be no continuous internal monologue of interaction. (cm. Stage attention, Action. Counteraction. "Line of action" of the role, Perception, Inner monologue). Interaction is a kind of perpetual motion machine of stage life. It cannot be stopped, interrupted. Any break in the line of interaction (communication) automatically turns into a lie, a fake, and one fake entails another, etc.

STAGE ATTENTION

Psychologists define attention as an arbitrary or involuntary orientation and concentration of mental activity.

If we talk about involuntary orientation, then this happens in life. This or that process or object can attract our attention in addition to our plans.

With regard to the stage, one can only speak of arbitrary direction and concentration according to the volitional command that the actor gives himself.

The attention of the actor on the stage is creative in nature, because he chooses the object of attention in accordance with his goal or task, his proposed circumstances (see: Supertask and through action, It is very important to achieve stable attention on the stage - not formal in the form of a fixed gaze, but focused on the object, on what is happening to it. With genuine attention, the process of perception also begins (see: Perception). The most difficult thing is the requirement that the actor's thoughts be completely focused on the partner and his actions, his "physical well-being", etc. (cm.: "second plan" of the role).

The object of stage attention can be a partner, both present and absent on the stage, the processes taking place with them, inanimate objects, something that is important for the character, something that happens outside the stage, etc. Note, and this is very significant: when it comes to attention to a living object-character, the performer very often keeps his partner in general in his attention. Meanwhile, attention should be focused, as in life, on something specific in the partner-character, depending on what you expect from him, what you achieve. If, for example, you seek an answer to a love confession, then all attention at this moment is focused on the process of maturing the answer, if you convict of a lie, then attention is focused on the process of the partner’s search for a decision - to confess or not, and not on whether he is beautiful or not, etc.

The line of attention must be continuous, otherwise the line of perception and the line of action will not be continuous (see: D action. Counteraction. "Line of action" of the role).

Most of chapters on attention in the book by K. S. Stanislavsky "The work of an actor on himself" (Part 1) is devoted to "circles of attention". This is a set of exercises for attention, which was done a lot in the first half of the 20th century. And now, probably, someone else is doing it, but there are many other exercises to achieve the same result.

If we imagine the concentration of the actor’s attention on a small point of light, then expand the spot of light a little, then more and, finally, illuminate everything around (this is how K. S. Stanislavsky demonstrates this technique in his book), when the actor feels himself in these small ones, medium, large and very large circles of attention, as if isolated from everything else and, above all, from the viewer, then it will be possible to say that he is experiencing a state of “public loneliness” or that he is in the true “stage well-being” of a person, in no way working for the public (see: stage health). In the process of work, the actor continuously creates these “circles of attention” for himself, either expanding or narrowing, depending on the circumstances and goals offered, the space and the field located in this space, to which he pays attention with his will.

Of course, an actor must also be attentive in life, trying to penetrate into the essence of what he sees, what attracted his attention, trying to understand what he saw and fantasize what is not visible. Everything will give the actor material for future roles, connect him with life, with the truth of life. For this, the actor needs to develop creative observation.

INTERNAL MONOLOGUE

An internal monologue with all the clarity of these words and understanding of its necessity for the actor when creating an image (see: stage image)- one of the most difficult elements of acting, because the actor always latently has a desire to limit himself to only external spokesmen, familiar to this scene.

An internal monologue both in life and on stage is an internal speech, not spoken aloud, but to oneself, a train of thought, expressed in words, which always accompanies a person, except during sleep.

The process of continuous internal monologue in life is familiar to everyone. It is born from what is happening, from the goals facing a person, from the actions of a life partner, etc. It causes one or another of our deeds, from it those words are born outside that seem to be the most accurate, the most powerful in a given situation. In critical moments of life, these monologues become intense, emotional, conflict. And always the internal monologue goes on in the degree of tension in which a person lives.

The same is true on the stage, if we talk about the characteristics of this stage process. There is only one difference, but a significant one. In life, a person’s internal monologue is born on his own, except for the moments when he consciously analyzes the situation inside himself. On stage, this is an internal monologue not of an artist, but of a character. The artist must create this monologue, having previously understood what he is talking about, its nature and degree of tension, and appropriate it for himself, making it familiar to himself. It should be emphasized that the artist's internal monologue must be built in the vocabulary, in the language that is specific to this character, and not to the artist.

The primary source of the actor's work on the role is literature - staged prose or poetry and dramaturgy. If in prose in most works the writer, creating a scene, gives internal monologues of his characters, and the artist can use them, of course, not verbatim, but adapting them to his decision, his data, then in drama, as a rule, there are no internal monologues. There are pauses, dots, the text of the partner - what is called "zones of silence" in the theatrical process. The actor must, as mentioned above, himself become the author of the character's internal monologues. Having placed himself in the proposed circumstances of the life of his hero, having determined his super-task and specific goals in each scene, studying the partner’s text, and not just his own, the actor must think on behalf of his hero in a fantasized monologue (see: Proposed circumstances, Supertask and through action).

Based on the fact that the internal monologue, as in life, only achieves its goals when it is continuous, there is no need to strictly divide it into an internal monologue at the moments of pronouncing the text and in the “zones of silence”. The difference is that, firstly, in the "zones of silence" it is much more difficult to maintain an internal monologue and is possible only when it is well prepared and when the actor is completely absorbed in what the partner says and does. Secondly, when pronouncing the text, the text itself helps to keep the train of thought, and sometimes all or part of the internal monologue is expressed aloud by the character. As they say: what I think, I say.

The internal monologue, as a process that takes place in life, gives the performance authenticity, helps the actor to get carried away by the image and requires him to deeply penetrate into the inner life of his hero. Without an internal monologue, perception and interaction on stage is impossible, it helps to master the "second plan" of the role, the rhythm of the role, even changes the timbre of the voice (see: Perception, Interaction cmvue, "Second plan" of the role, Rhythm.Temp. tempo rhythm). Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko argued that how to tell depends on the internal monologue, and what to tell depends on the text.

Ideally, during the performance, the developed internal monologue comes to the actor in a variety of ways in the process of the scene development. But it would be a delusion to think that he generally comes to the actor himself.

Like everything on the stage, its appearance during performance depends on preparatory work in the process of rehearsals, especially during rehearsals at home, and at first even a prepared internal monologue comes to the actor by an effort of will, like everything he does on stage. A special role, according to Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, they play monologues-slander, as he called them.

IMAGINATION

K. S. Stanislavsky wrote: “... the task of the artist is to turn the idea of ​​the play into an artistic stage reality. Our imagination plays a huge role in this process.”

The main circumstances and events of the play, of course, are proposed by the author, but the director and actor must develop, enrich, enliven them with their imagination. Without the work of the imagination, neither the birth of the director's idea of ​​​​the performance is possible (see: director's intention) nor the creation of lively, interesting stage characters. The present and past of the actors, their aspirations, tastes, habits, the sharpness and significance of the events they live - all this is the result of the work of the creative imagination. The magical power of creative imagination allows the artist not only to study the circumstances of the role, but also, as it were, to “appropriate” them for himself, making them his own, personal, i.e. really accept them. “Only then,” Stanislavsky writes in “The Actor’s Work on Himself,” “the artist will be able to live with the fullness of the inner life of the depicted person and act as the author, director and our own living feeling command us.”

The imagination of each actor has its own characteristics, only this actor has quirks peculiar to him. From a wide range of proposed circumstances, the actor first chooses his own, the closest decoys that excite his imaginative thinking.

A rich, flexible imagination and, as a result, emotional excitability and a genuine stage temperament are a rare and happy gift, which some are endowed with less, others more. Stanislavsky wrote that the imagination of actors has varying degrees initiatives. Initiative imagination excites the artist, easily dragging him into the world of proposed circumstances. Imagination, devoid of initiative, needs directing prompts, it needs to be spurred, as it were, to captivate. Stanislavsky proposed three main conditions that contribute to the activation of the artist's creative imagination. First, the imagination cannot be forced, it can only be carried away. The second important condition necessary to awaken the imagination, Stanislavsky considered the presence of an important goal for the actor, mobilizing the possibilities of a person, i.e. we are talking about the closest connection of imagination with the super-task of the entire role (see: Supertask and through action), already found a response in the soul of the artist. And finally, the imagination must be connected with the action, and therefore directed towards the conflict. Indeed, in life, it is in a situation of conflict that the imagination, often against our will, works especially intensively. Imagination, directed at the conflict, gives the actor emotional stimuli for active stage actions.

EMBODIMENT

Cm.: Transformation, Expressiveness.

PERCEPTION

Perception is one of the fundamental moments of all acting activity. It is with perception that all the processes that take place in the actor when creating a role begin, the success of his activity as

professional.

AT explanatory dictionary V. I. Dahl, the meaning of the word “perception” is explained as follows: to take, accept, receive, assimilate for oneself.

There are many definitions of this concept - both simple and complex psychological ones. It can be said that perception is a direct sensual (with the help of five sense organs) reflection of reality by a person, the ability to perceive, distinguish and absorb into oneself, into one's consciousness, the phenomena of the outside world.

The definition given by psychologists R. Konechny and M. Bowhal in the book "Psychology in Medicine" seems to be successful. Perception is defined here as a set of "mental processes by which we can directly become aware of phenomena that are outside of us, based on the activity of our sense organs." Psychologists believe that perception involves not only the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste), but the entire biopsychosocial personality of a person. That is, his past experience, his memory, including emotional (see: emotional memory). Therefore, different podis perceive each external phenomenon somewhat differently.

The possibilities of perception are determined, of course, by the structure of the sense organs, but it is necessary that a person enter into certain relations with the object of perception, so that an image of the object forms in his head. Perception is an active process, because ultimately it is not the sense organs that perceive, but a person through his sense organs.

The emotional side of perception, its personal shade and the activity of this process are very important qualities it for the stage perception by the actors of what is happening on the stage now and what has happened up to this moment (see: Proposed Circumstances).

Perception is, along with the proposed circumstances, the "fuel" on which the actor's apparatus works. Moreover, the actor perceives not only something tangible (a person, objects), but also his proposed circumstances, absorbing them into himself.

Perception is also connected with the observation of an actor and director in life - this is their perception of life as a material for creativity.

On the stage, however, perception means the ability to truly, truly see, hear, touch, feel everything that happens in every minute of one's existence. The immediacy, the continuity of perception on the stage give authenticity to the whole existence of the actor, the authenticity of the life of a human actor in a stage situation. The richer the personality of the actor, due to the personal nature of perception, the brighter, richer, more unexpected will be the process of her momentary perceptions, the more contagious they (the process, and therefore the actor) will be for the viewer.

In conclusion, it should be noted that earlier the word “assessment” was used for the process of perception. It is still used today. However, the concept of "perception" focuses more on the continuity of the process, while "assessment" often involuntarily leads to an orientation towards simultaneity, and continuity can be broken.

12 « SECOND PLAN ROLIES

On the artist's way to a "living person" on the stage (Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko's expression), not generally "organic", from himself, simply speaking the author's words, but to a "living person" in all his originality - to the image, - an essential role is played by the work on mastering the "physical well-being" and the "second plan" of the role.

The concepts of "well-being of simplicity" and "stage well-being" (see: stage health) which denote the true creative well-being of the actor's freedom as a condition of his work, and the concept of "physical well-being" are not identical, since by the former we mean the well-being of the actor, and by the latter - the well-being of the role that the actor has to embody.

It is difficult to imagine a person in life without any sense of well-being - and in a narrow, domestic plan, and in terms of general self-perception. Therefore Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko considered that the main thing in the process of finding an image is the acquisition by an actor of psychophysical well-being, conditionally called “physical well-being”.

The sincere execution of the “line of action” does not yet create an image (see: Action. Counteraction. "Line of action" of the role). Conditionally dividing the process of creating an image into a number of components - "line of action", "physical well-being", "second plan", etc. - we use the concept of "line of action", and not the line of behavior. The second concept is much broader, it includes, in addition to the chain of actions, also how, in what way these actions are performed - in what state of health, with what “second plan”, etc. Similarly defined actions by different people can be performed differently in different proposed circumstances (see: Suggested Circumstances) and both “physical well-being” and the “second plan” of the role feed on them.

These concepts were very persistently developed by Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko in the last years of his life: he was afraid of a decrease in the emotional element in the work of an actor due to the actor's bare execution of a chain of actions.

The concepts of "physical well-being" and "second plan" are in inseparable connection. At Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who introduced them widely into theatrical practice, they always side by side, and sometimes he directly connects them, speaking of "health of the second plan."

The “second plan” is the psychophysical load with which the actor lives in the role, the undercurrent of life, the continuous (which is very important) the course of thought and feeling of the image. This is the result of the actor's activity, which affects, as it were, "splashes out" in the performance of the role, in some places it is obvious, in others it is more hidden, but in the ideal case, the actor always has it. During the performance, if it is acquired with preparatory work, it flows against the will of the performer, as it happens in life: a person carries something of his own continuously. We emphasize that the "second plan" is not played, it must be in place by the time of public creativity.

"Physical well-being" - something more tangible, concretely expressed in the behavior of the artist in the role. You can look for it at rehearsals, achieve it, even train it in order to educate yourself for a given role, scene, learn to directly feel it, and not portray sensations. It can be conditionally said that “physical well-being” is a specific expression of the “second plan”.

The term "physical well-being" cannot be understood only in a literal sense - warm, cold, sick, hungry, etc., although such physical sensations often help to penetrate into the inner world of the image. Everything is much more complicated. We are talking about well-being in the scene and even, as Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, about the "pervasive well-being" in the entire role, which he sometimes called "synthetic", or even simply "the well-being of the role." For "physical well-being" includes not only the circumstances of a given moment and a given scene. It includes the entire past of the character and his thoughts about the future, all his life, up to the moment in which the actor acts on behalf of his hero.

"Physical well-being" gives the actor a desire to act, gives the performance vitality, authenticity, helps to find the right rhythm for the role (see: Rhythm. Pace. tempo rhythm), this is a serious means of dealing with stamps (see: Actor stamps).

The main thing that determines the concepts of "physical well-being" and "second plan" is not their differences, but their commonality, their connection. First of all, this kinship lies in the fact that the source that feeds the process of gaining them by the actor is the proposed circumstances of the role, which determine the nature of the “physical well-being” and the “second plan” and their depth.

In addition, the ways and means of educating these most important components of the image in oneself are the same: mainly through mastering the proposed circumstances and through an internal monologue (see: internal monologue).

But not through an internal monologue, which is fantasized and mastered for a specific scene, for "zones of silence", but through a monologue in the process of mastering the role, a monologue-slander, in the words of Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. This is a monologue that the artist says to himself as a means of cultivating the right “well-being” and “second plan” in himself on the way to the role: “I am such and such, I have such and such plans, I want this, etc. » This slander should be not of a rational, but of an emotional nature, in order to arouse the nature of the artist.

Of course, this is not the only way, each artist develops his own techniques. But the main thing is that the actor, in the process of rehearsals, finds “physical well-being” and “second plan” in his nature, and does not play them effectively.

EXPRESSION

If the first period of work on the role - the period of cognition - K. S. Stanislavsky likened the meeting and acquaintance of future lovers, the second - to merging and conception, then the third period - incarnations (see: Re incarnation) - he compared it to the birth and growth of a young creature.

K. S. Stanislavsky, in his searches and theoretical generalizations, proceeded from the following (and this is still modern, and perhaps, due to the passion of many directors with questions of expressiveness, even more modern than before): in order to put into practice the results developed in the process rehearsals of goals, aspirations and desires, it is necessary to act not only “mentally”, but also “outwardly” - to speak, move in order to convey one’s thoughts and feelings, or simply perform purely physical external tasks: walk, say hello, rearrange things and much more. And all this for a purpose.

It can be considered an exception, and K. S. Stanislavsky wrote about this, when the living life of an actor on stage, or the inner embodiment of character, “the life of the human spirit”, although it is fixed in the “line of action” (see: Action. Counteraction. "line of action" roles), would manifest itself in word and movement. Much more often, he emphasized, “it is necessary to excite the physical nature, to help it embody what the creative feeling created ... Not only to survive the role, this is not enough, but also to embody it in excellent form - this is the task of the artist.” Here we are talking not about the internal, but about the external incarnation.

Of course, the form in which the character is embodied is influenced by internal processes - both the search for "physical well-being", and the upbringing of the "second plan", and especially perception (see: The "second plan" of the role, Perception), for perception includes the process of expression. Looking at a person, we can almost always, if he consciously does not hide it, we can determine how he perceives a partner, or, as they say, expresses a partner. These are the spokesmen born from the inner movement.

Although this process occurs impulsively when interacting with a partner (see: Interaction), the line of spokesmen must also be the result of a conscious search for them in their nature by the artist. One can cite the example of the great artist-singer F. I. Chaliapin: out of hundreds of speakers who appeared during rehearsals, he chose three or four who more clearly showed what was happening with his hero.

The external should not only express internal image, internal movement, but also be its pillar. The exact expression of the inner life of the hero, his character is the main task of all the work of the external incarnation, the search for means of expression. An external speaker can not only correctly convey the essence of the character's inner life, but also help to find a more accurate and emotional explanation of the action or a gap in the effective line. Trying different speakers in rehearsal work can also lead the artist to a better understanding of the character he is playing.

To go from the inner to the search for outer expression is not to wait. To "push" your body, your apparatus - without this, an image will not be born.

Violation of the connection between the internal and external in one direction or another leads to stamps (see: Actor stamps). If an inner life is not created, the artist has common clichés (he cries in general, he generally rejoices). If, however, he has mastered the inner life of his hero, but places it in a familiar, convenient for himself and, what is even more terrible, advantageous for showing the viewer, the same form for all roles, an individual stamp is born, which is even more dangerous, because it is not immediately noticeable.

One of the strongest expressive means of an actor is external character. This is a manner of behavior, some physical features of it, the creation of a unique, unusual appearance of the character. It simultaneously reveals the inner world of the hero, and draws his external appearance, thereby helping the actor to create an image, and the viewer to understand and feel him as a whole, in his unity (see: stage image).

Of course, for this side of the actor's creative work - the search for and implementation in the role of external characteristic - the requirements and rules common to all types of acting expressiveness remain immutable: by itself, if it does not reflect inner world characterization is not needed, but its exclusion from the means of creating an image greatly impoverishes the theater, weakens the power of its influence. Although it should be noted that sharp external designations, without relying on the inner world of the hero, are the result of a lack of internal technique or laziness of the artist.

The main thing in the search for external specificity in the theater of a “living person” is the understanding of it as a “path”, leading from the inside. The purpose of the search for external specificity is not to be once again an unrecognized viewer, but to find support for internal content in it.

Like all other facets of character that an actor looks for in preparing for a role, external characterization is closely related to the proposed circumstances in which his character exists (see: Proposed Circumstances).

Each actor, within the framework of a single methodology, develops his own approach to the role. Some go primarily from the inside, others in their reception more often depend on the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe external appearance of their hero. It's a matter of technique, not method.

Whether external specificity is created from within, intuitively, or introduced by an artist's or director's invention, and then merged with inner life, it is nourished in any case by the very life that takes place in the artist and around him. And the reality in which the artist exists, observations of himself and others, literature, life experience- all this is the soil on which the external characteristic grows, however, like the whole role.

Thus, external specificity is one of the necessary means of connecting an artist in his professional activity with life. This is also her great role.

Especially important is the ability to select the most accurate, capacious and expressive solution of the external manifestation of the internal pattern of the role. This applies not only to external specificity, but also to all the expressions of the artist when creating this or that image.

Currently ancient art pantomime is experiencing a new rise in attention to the ability to express events and feelings - posture, gesture, facial expressions. At its core, pantomime has become the art of talking about many things without saying a word.

Pantomime actors draw non-existent pictures, jump on an imaginary rope, drink ghostly burning coffee, try to climb through a window that does not exist.

The basic training of a mime actor is very similar to Stanislavsky's system of preparing a dramatic actor. Any actor needs to know acting skills: develop attention and imagination, learn observation and rhythm, understand the interaction of partners, work on images, be able to transform. At the heart of the basics - work with non-existent objects, exercises for the memory of physical actions.

Physical action memory exercises

1. Training the volume and shape of a non-existent object

It is necessary to start classes with the study of manipulations with real things!

Take a bottle or jar, unscrew the lid and close it tightly again. Repeat, carefully observing, all movements of the left hand, fingers, remembering at what angle the hand is in relation to the body, to the object. Then concentrate all your attention on the right hand, remember the movement of each finger. Don't miss even the smallest detail.

Set the item aside. Play all the movements in order.

Take the bottle again.

Repeat the work so many times until you achieve scrupulous accuracy.

Carefully, accurately, scrupulously, and most importantly, patiently repeating work with non-existent objects, you can achieve naturalness.

beware- laziness and approximation. Looks like - does not mean - naturally. The bottle gets narrower, then expands, fingers right hand twist the lid up and down.

beware- muscle clamps, stiffness of movements.

Take on arms- sincere belief in what you are doing. Remember your childhood, yourself as a child, or spy on the children on the playground. Faith allows you to make a boat out of chairs, fly on a sofa like an airplane, feed painted animals. Remember that an actor on stage without the ability to see and believe is completely helpless and insincere.

2. Action limit

Plug an imaginary plug into an imaginary socket, or insert an illusory key into an illusory lock.

Pay attention to the path of the subject. Coincidence in the movement towards the goal. Find the final point - the goal of the path, the limit of movement, beyond which it is impossible to continue. It requires increased focus

3. Item weight

The weight of an imaginary matchbox is very different from the weight of a non-existent pot of soup, and even more so from a 24-kilogram weight. Every kind of gravity causes contraction various groups muscles, and this determines the position of the human body.

Classes must be conducted with real objects. Start with a teapot. Take it. Pay attention to the position of all parts of the body, the condition of all muscle groups: face, neck, chest, arms, legs. Feel the sensations of the hand holding the kettle, the strength of the tension.

Grab an imaginary teapot. Feel it, try to convey its weight and movement.

Pour out half of the water. Take an empty teapot.

It is especially important to work out the moment of separation of their objects from the surface: table, floor, shelf. The reverse moment is also important - the return to the place. Focus on the moment of application of effort.

Advice from your stage: Record your exercises on video, show to other people. When an unprepared person can understand their meaning from your actions, only then can you say with confidence that you have coped with this exercise.

Watch a useful video from classes in the studio Your scene - sketches for the memory of physical actions

In general, for both adults and children, pantomime classes combine several advantages at once.

Firstly, a person learns to control his own body, becomes more relaxed and self-confident.

A person who owns his body trusts himself more - not only the ability to express thoughts through facial expressions and movements changes, posture and gait become more beautiful, confidence appears in his actions and words, and therefore in himself.

Secondly, pantomime develops and trains attention and imagination.

A person in the process of creativity becomes the author of an idea, finds a way to implement it, and realizes his plan himself.