Why Acting Matters

Author : David Thomson
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 191 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2015-03-01
Category : Drama
ISBN : 9780300213690

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Why Acting Matters by David Thomson Pdf

Does acting matter? David Thomson, one of our most respected and insightful writers on movies and theater, answers this question with intelligence and wit. In this fresh and thought-provoking essay, Thomson tackles this most elusive of subjects, examining the allure of the performing arts for both the artist and the audience member while addressing the paradoxes inherent in acting itself. He reflects on the casting process, on stage versus film acting, and on the cult of celebrity. The art and considerable craft of such gifted artists as Meryl Streep, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, and others are scrupulously appraised here, as are notions of “good” and “bad” acting. Thomson’s exploration is at once a meditation on and a celebration of a unique and much beloved, often misunderstood, and occasionally derided art form. He argues that acting not only “matters” but is essential and inescapable, as well as dangerous, chronic, transformative, and exhilarating, be it on the theatrical stage, on the movie screen, or as part of our everyday lives.

Author : Barry Pineo
Publisher : Skyhorse Publishing Inc.
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : UOM:39015047431526

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Acting that Matters by Barry Pineo Pdf

An invaluable resource for anyone wanting his or her acting to matter, this groundbreaking guide defies most modern acting methods by rejecting emotion as an acting tool. With the advice in this book, actors will see beyond the prevailing "objective-obstacle" approach and look primarily to the text the playwright provides. Actors learn how to dissect a text for key words and phrases, as well as how to score a script, find proper tempo and rhythm, modulate volume and intensity, use theatrical stillness effectively, find beat actions, listen to their acting partners, and much more. Expert tips are also provided for auditioning, cold reading, and taking direction.

Author : Peter Block
Publisher : Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2003-11-01
Category : Self-Help
ISBN : 9781609940409

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The Answer to How Is Yes by Peter Block Pdf

Modern culture’s worship of “how-to” pragmatism has turned us into instruments of efficiency and commerce—but we’re doing more and more about things that mean less and less. We constantly ask “how? and still struggle to find purpose and act on what matters. Instead of acting on what we know to be of importance, we wait for bosses to change, we seek the latest fad, we invest in one more degree. Asking how keeps us safe—instead of being led by our hearts into uncharted territory, we keep our heads down and stick to the rules. But we are gaining the world and losing our souls. Peter Block puts the “how-to” craze in perspective and presents a guide to the difficult and life-granting journey of bringing what we know is of personal value into an indifferent or even hostile corporate and cultural landscape. He raises our awareness of the trade-offs we’ve made in the name of practicality and expediency, and offers hope for a way of life in which we’re motivated not by what “works,” but by the things that truly matter in life—idealism, intimacy, depth and engagement.

Author : Robert A. Beauregard
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2015-11-03
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9780226297422

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Planning Matter by Robert A. Beauregard Pdf

City and regional planners talk constantly about the things of the world—from highway interchanges and retention ponds to zoning documents and conference rooms—yet most seem to have a poor understanding of the materiality of the world in which they’re immersed. Too often planners treat built forms, weather patterns, plants, animals, or regulatory technologies as passively awaiting commands rather than actively involved in the workings of cities and regions. In the ambitious and provocative Planning Matter, Robert A. Beauregard sets out to offer a new materialist perspective on planning practice that reveals the many ways in which the nonhuman things of the world mediate what planners say and do. Drawing on actor-network theory and science and technology studies, Beauregard lays out a framework that acknowledges the inevitable insufficiency of our representations of reality while also engaging more holistically with the world in all of its diversity—including human and nonhuman actors alike.

Author : Barry Pineo
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2004-09-01
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781621531005

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Acting That Matters by Barry Pineo Pdf

An invaluable resource for anyone wanting his or her acting to matter, this groundbreaking guide defies most modern acting methods by rejecting emotion as an acting tool. With the advice in this book, actors will see beyond the prevailing "objective-obstacle" approach and look primarily to the text the playwright provides. Actors learn how to dissect a text for key words and phrases, as well as how to score a script, find proper tempo and rhythm, modulate volume and intensity, use theatrical stillness effectively, find beat actions, listen to their acting partners, and much more. Expert tips are also provided for auditioning, cold reading, and taking direction.

Author : Isaac Butler
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 545 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2022-02-01
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9781635574784

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The Method by Isaac Butler Pdf

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner, Nonfiction NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022 BY THE NEW YORKER, TIME MAGAZINE, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, VOX, SALON, LIT HUB, AND VANITY FAIR “Entertaining and illuminating.”--The New Yorker * “Compulsively readable.”--New York Times * “Delicious, humane, probing.”--Vulture * “The best and most important book about acting I've ever read.”--Nathan Lane The critically acclaimed cultural history of Method acting-an ebullient account of creative discovery and the birth of classic Hollywood. On stage and screen, we know a great performance when we see it. But how do actors draw from their bodies and minds to turn their selves into art? What is the craft of being an authentic fake? More than a century ago, amid tsarist Russia's crushing repression, one of the most talented actors ever, Konstantin Stanislavski, asked these very questions, reached deep into himself, and emerged with an answer. How his “system” remade itself into the Method and forever transformed American theater and film is an unlikely saga that has never before been fully told. Now, critic and theater director Isaac Butler chronicles the history of the Method in a narrative that transports readers from Moscow to New York to Los Angeles, from The Seagull to A Streetcar Named Desire to Raging Bull. He traces how a cohort of American mavericks--including Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg, and the storied Group Theatre--refashioned Stanislavski's ideas for a Depression-plagued nation that had yet to find its place as an artistic powerhouse. The Group's feuds and rivalries would, in turn, shape generations of actors who enabled Hollywood to become the global dream-factory it is today. Some of these performers the Method would uplift; others, it would destroy. Long after its midcentury heyday, the Method lives on as one of the most influential--and misunderstood--ideas in American culture. Studded with marquee names--from Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, and Elia Kazan, to James Baldwin, Ellen Burstyn, and Dustin Hoffman--The Method is a spirited history of ideas and a must-read for any fan of Broadway or American film.

Author : Declan Donnellan
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 287 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 1559362855

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The Actor and the Target by Declan Donnellan Pdf

Author : Peter Barkworth
Publisher : London : Secker and Warburg
Page : 182 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 1980
Category : Acting
ISBN : UCSC:32106006696659

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About Acting by Peter Barkworth Pdf

This book is on every aspect of acting. Topics include the connection between speech and movement, how to cope with bad dialogue, the subject of concentration and more.

Author : Aaron Taylor
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Art
ISBN : 9780415509510

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Theorizing Film Acting by Aaron Taylor Pdf

This comprehensive collection provides theoretical accounts of the grounds and phenomenon of film acting. The volume features entries by some of the most prominent scholars on film acting who collectively represent the various theoretical traditions that constitute the discipline of film studies. Each section proposes novel ways of considering the recurring motifs in academic enquiries into film acting, including: (1) the mutually contingent problematic of description and interpretation, (2) the intricacies of bodily dynamics and their reception by audiences, (3) the significance of star performance, and (4) the impact of evolving technologies and film styles on acting traditions.

Author : Marian Botsford Fraser
Publisher : Second Story Press
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2014-10-13
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781927583500

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Acting for Freedom by Marian Botsford Fraser Pdf

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with this overview of its activities--sometimes quiet and sometimes strident--as a watchdog and safeguard for Canadians and their rights as citizens. Through a series of discussions and interviews, a picture of Canada over the last half-century evolves.

Author : Dan Fox
Publisher : Coffee House Press
Page : 170 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2016-04-05
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781566894289

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Pretentiousness by Dan Fox Pdf

Pretentiousness is the engine oil of culture; the essential lubricant in the development of all arts, high, low, or middle.

Author : Moni Yakim
Publisher : Hal Leonard Corporation
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 1557831610

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Creating a Character by Moni Yakim Pdf

Actor and mime artist Moni Yakim reveals his time-tested techniques and step-by-step exercises for physically evoking a character. Beginning with a chapter on looking inward, Yakim gives exercises on discovering aspects of one's own character. Then he teaches the actor how to identify with qualities outside the self. Finally, he shows how to apply these techniques to 12 classical theatrical roles.

Author : Sanford Meisner,Dennis Longwell
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2012-11-07
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9780307830630

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Sanford Meisner on Acting by Sanford Meisner,Dennis Longwell Pdf

Sanford Meisner was one of the best known and beloved teachers of acting in the country. This book follows one of his acting classes for fifteen months, beginning with the most rudimentary exercises and ending with affecting and polished scenes from contemporary American plays. Written in collaboration with Dennis Longwell, it is essential reading for beginning and professional actors alike. Throughout these pages Meisner is a delight—always empathizing with his students and urging them onward, provoking emotion, laughter, and growing technical mastery from his charges. With an introduction by Sydney Pollack, director of Out of Africa and Tootsie, who worked with Meisner for five years. "This book should be read by anyone who wants to act or even appreciate what acting involves. Like Meisner's way of teaching, it is the straight goods."—Arthur Miller "If there is a key to good acting, this one is it, above all others. Actors, young and not so young, will find inspiration and excitement in this book."—Gregory Peck

Author : Brian O'Neil
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 178 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2014-04-08
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9780345807076

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Acting as a Business, Fifth Edition by Brian O'Neil Pdf

The essential handbook for actors—a modern classic—in a newly updated edition. Since its original publication, Acting as a Business has earned a reputation as an indispensable tool for working and aspiring actors. Avoiding the usual advice about persistence and luck, Brian O’Neil provides clear-cut guidelines that will give actors a solid knowledge of the business behind their art. It’s packed with practical information—on everything from what to say in a cover letter to where to stand when performing in an agent’s office—including: -- Tactics for getting an agent, including preparing for the interview -- How to research who will be casting what—and whether there is a role for you—well in advance -- Examples of correspondence to agents and casting directors for both beginning and advanced professionals -- A detailed analysis of the current trend of paying to meet industry personnel -- How to communicate effectively with an agent or personal manager -- Creative ways to use the internet and social media O’Neil has updated Acting as a Business to keep up with the latest show-business trends, making this fifth edition a reference no actor should be without

Author : Deborah Gruenfeld
Publisher : Currency
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2020-04-07
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781101903964

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Acting with Power by Deborah Gruenfeld Pdf

“A refreshing and enlightening new perspective on what it means to be powerful.”—Susan Cain, bestselling author of Quiet We all know what it looks like to use power badly. But how much do we really know about how to use power well? There is so much we get wrong about power: who has it, what it looks like, and the role it plays in our lives. Grounded in over two decades’ worth of scientific research and inspired by the popular class of the same name at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Acting with Power offers a new and eye-opening paradigm that overturns everything we thought we knew about the nature of power. Although we all feel powerless sometimes, we have more power than we tend to believe. Power exists in every relationship, not just at the top of big institutions. It isn’t merely a function of status or hierarchy, either. It’s about how much we are needed and how well we take care of other people. We often assume that power flows to those with the loudest voice or the most commanding presence. But, in fact, true power is often much quieter and more deferential than we realize. Moreover, it’s not just how much power we have but how we use it that determines how powerful we actually are. Actors aren’t the only ones who play roles for a living. We all make choices about how to use the power that comes with our given circumstances. We aren’t always cast in the roles we desire—or the ones we feel prepared to play. Some of us struggle to step up and be taken more seriously, while others have trouble standing back and ceding the spotlight. In Acting with Power, Deborah Gruenfeld shows how we can get more comfortable with power by adopting an actor’s mindset. Because power isn’t a personal attribute. It’s a part we play in someone else’s story.