http://www.actorswebsite.com/cms/ Actors Website is a community portal offering users with access to a rich collection of resources, including various communications tools, forums, shopping services, search services, personalized content and branded programming. en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss GuppY v4.6.5 webmaster@actorswebsite.com (Mary) webmaster@actorswebsite.com (Mary) http://www.actorswebsite.com/cms/articles.php?lng=en&pg=61 http://www.actorswebsite.com/cms/articles.php?lng=en&pg=61 Getting your act right!Acting began because of the man's need to express, emote andto tell stories. Acting is said to have found its origins inthe religious rituals of the primitive times and the firstperformers were the religious leaders of the tribes. Thedevelopment of theater, as we see today, is largelyattributed to the Greeks.Drama dates back to 534 BC. Contest were held to determinewho was the best actor. This person was called "Thespis"who was also one of the first actors. He played many rolesto perfection which ranged from women to children. None ofthe writings of Thespis are known today. The term"thespian" is desrived from Thespis.In those days, actors wore mask to portray differentcharacters. The chorus usually ranged from 15 to 50 people.Acting in the beginning was just about monologues. Actorsacted out the thoughts going on in the mind of thecharacters. Aeschylus introduced a new paradigm to acting byintroducing a second actor. This closely resembles theacting that we see today. The performances underwent a hugechange. From simply stating the internal voice, thoughts andmotivations of a single actor, the oncoming of the secondactor brought in face-to-face conversations as well asdramatic conflict. Later, Sophocles added the third actorand extras.Gradually, acting evolved to its present day form. Certainbasics of acting never change, like what goes into making ofan actor. The aptitude of the actor is chief determinant inthe acting of the performers. Acting is all about theability to visualize feelings. You can draw on your ownexperiences also to enact certain characters. Actors areborn with an aptitude but a good acting school can help tohone this skill.A misconception that people generally harbor is that actingis what they get to see on the screens, but that is justhalf the picture as you can find actors in theatre,television studio, circus, or comedy club. One importantthing that an actor nursing the dreams of making it on thebig screen, needs to keep in mind is that the going can betough initially. Thus, they should be prepared to takerejections in stride. They may also have to put up with longperiods of being unemployed. Experience counts a lot inacting thus you might even have to settle for lesser roles.Even the established actors during their lean times acceptsmaller roles or commercials. Acting might be a toughproposition for some, but the passionate ones endure therigors to get a chance to show their histrionics. About The AuthorArticle source http://acting-guides.com http://www.actorswebsite.com/cms/articles.php?lng=en&pg=60 http://www.actorswebsite.com/cms/articles.php?lng=en&pg=60 In this article we're going to examine the fine line between acting and reality and how the two coexist together. People watch TV, go to movies or theater to be entertained. The truth is, everyday life can be rather mundane and boring. Imagine watching a film of somebody going through their typical day. You'd probably fall asleep before the first 10 minutes were up. The fact of the matter is, people's lives are dull, at least most people's. This brings us to the problem of entertainment, especially in the movie or TV business and most especially in the theater. We need our entertainment to be just that, entertaining, yet at the same time we need it to be based in reality. If you were watching a cops and robbers TV show and suddenly you saw your favorite police officer pull out a skate board and chase the criminal down brandishing a laser gun, well, your reality would pretty much be shot to heck and the credibility of the show itself would be destroyed. The shows must be based in reality and yet must still be entertaining. This is a very hard line to walk. Actors have the hardest job when it comes to bringing reality to a part without putting an audience to sleep. The above example is extreme but the problems can even occur with more subtle things. Let's take a scene where the hero cop is interrogating a suspect. For starters, he can't go throwing him around the interrogation room. There are certain rules cops have to follow and failure to do so can lead to a case being thrown out of court, or worse, a lawsuit against the department. But during the interrogation the suspect finally admits to the crime, most likely a savage murder, and even smiles about it. The hero cop is outraged and he wants to just take this slime and wipe up the floor with him. Realistically he can't do that. But he doesn't have to. A good actor can convey that emotion and desire by the look he gives the suspect. Maybe he even starts to go after him but then stops himself, the look of pure hatred for this person in his eyes. That is great acting and how you bridge the gap between dull reality and exciting drama. Mixed in with a tense score and the scene will probably have more impact than if he punched the guy out into next Sunday. In order to pull off this kind of reality the actor must imagine how he would truly feel if confronted with such a person. Many actors think of things when playing scenes like this that truly do get them angry. Just like when an actor needs to cry he or she thinks of something that makes them very sad. This is a common practice among your more versatile actors. The truth is, all entertainment, even science fiction, is based in some kind of reality, even if it is the reality of emotions, which we all have. The ability to display those emotions in a realistic, yet entertaining way, is what makes a great actor and a great performance, the kind that we don't soon forget.* Copyright © 2006Michael Russell - Your Acting Guide http://www.actorswebsite.com/cms/articles.php?lng=en&pg=59 http://www.actorswebsite.com/cms/articles.php?lng=en&pg=59 The acting life must be a great pleasure for those who want to play it full time or even use it as a "9 to 5" occupation. Acting as a profession, seen from purely a theatre and movie goer's point of view, seems to have a certain amount of romance attached to it but, after saying that, I realise there is an incredible amount of hard work involved. Turning my attention first to the theatre, we look today at massive stage productions and it would be fair to say that musical productions seem to take the fore in a lot of cases, simply because the public demands it and, with the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Macintosh, their appetite may be sated on a grand scale. In this light we have to realise that acting in this form of theatre must certainly be extremely hard work. The participants - sorry the cast - have to not only memorise lines, memorise songs but also move around the stage with a verve and fitness that would outshine an Olympic athlete. All this for seven evening performances and two matinees every week. It is no surprise to me at all that understudies may be used on a regular basis, if only to let the actors they replace get a good rest. This form of acting would certainly have to be honed on a daily basis. Perhaps a certain scene was not up to the standard expected by the director, so more emphasis would be placed on making sure it "came out right on the night". Movie acting seems somewhat different to me. Astonishing and astronomical amounts of money are paid for the acting performances of some of the movie stars in certain productions if gossip column reports are to be believed. My opinion is that the movie acting fraternity do seem somewhat cosseted compared to their stage counterparts. My reasoning is that a movie production may stretch out and be allowed to be extended within budget parameters. This would mean that acting roles could be honed more precisely scene by scene. This would involve taking many "shots" of the same scene until it was correct. There is none of the "live" acting that we tend to see in the theatre. Mistakes in an acting performance are there to be seen by all in the theatre, whereas movie mistakes tend to finish up "on the cutting room floor". Fair enough, I suppose. The return on a movie is all box office and I guess the producers are looking at any particular time to see what is the "vogue" and demand of the movie-going public and hone the acting performances accordingly. Of course, the movie media has the added advantage of being able to use state-of-the-art technology and special effects to compensate for what might be perhaps a below standard acting performance. The result of course reflects in box office takings. I personally like any forms of acting. I admire tremendously the talent of these folk and indeed their nerve of being able to stand in front of either a live audience or a movie camera and perform to the best of their ability. The acting is what brings us all back and it has and will always give us much pleasure and the chance to slip away to some fantasy land for a while.* ----------Copyright © 2006Michael Russell - Your Acting Guide----------Article source http://acting-guides.com