Actor Journey : 5. Voice and Breath

1. Through the breath, we discover what we are experiencing in our entire selves. Just try it yourself. Take one of the sense memories that we used in previous blog, and each time you discover a sensation or memory, concentrate on the breath. I think you will find that the breath opens up the experience and makes it more alive.
2. Actors give breath, a voice, and a soul to the character. When actors read script, they see them in their minds. They have impressions and ideas that flesh out the scenario and make it come to life. The imagination of the actor takes away special nuggets from this reading process, which it will use to begin the creation of the character whom the actor will eventually play. 
3. As you deepen your relaxation and direct your concentration to tighter and more refined circles of focus. The breath will give way to making sounds and eventually the voice. Theis is the beginning of the recognition of the impulses that are being released from within. You must constantly recognize your breath, especially when you are beginning work on a character. 
4. Proper breathing is an obvious fundamental acting technique, but what I’m talking about is how the moment-to-moment reality. In film acting, breathing and vocal patterns should be more as they are in everyday life. They aren’t consistent; they are surprising, and they often catch you off guard. This is one of the essential differences between film and theater acting.
5. In film, the breath and the voice can be more consistent with the details of the moment, rather than being a set of preplanned directions dictated by the demands of the play and the performance space. 
6. The film actor is asked to deliver the details of the moment as realistically as possible: a secret whispered and shared in the dark, intimate words that get stuck in your throat, screams and cries that would throw a stage actor out of the show for a week because of voice damage, long periods of intense listening that are photographed in close-up. All these moments must be filled with the subtle nuances of your own unique personality; they are rarely filled by words.
7. The camera has the power to perceive the smallest details, ones so subtle that they would never read on stage, but when they are photographed, these details become radiant. It is the breath that carries the details to the screen and communicates its meaning to the audience.
8. For the actor on the stage, vocal production and projection take precedence over the emotional moment when speaking. For the actor on film, the emotional moment and its details take precedence.
9. In film, when the pressures of performing create an intense atmosphere for the actor, the breath (and the voice) can become stilted and too controlled. When this happens, the actor must go back to the relaxation checking process, focusing the concentration and breathing into the moment. This happens to the experienced professional as well as the beginner. Wherever you are in the spectrum of acting experience, training, and technique, the approaches to managing the problems of shallow breath and stilted speech are the same. From the very beginning, work on these problems should be integrated into the work on yourself and the character.
10. To explore the process of how the breath and voice are integrated into a character, we should first choose a character to work on as a basis for doing the exercises. This is a discovery process, a discovery of yourself and you as the character.

Importance of McGuffin in Filmmaking

McGuffin : An object or device in a film or a book which serves merely as a  trigger for the plot.

•  Alferd Hitchcock referred to ‘the thing that the spies are after’ in spy films as a ‘MacGuffin’. The MacGuffin is, in Hitchcock’s own words: ‘The thing that the characters on the screen worry about but the audience don’t care.’ 
• The thing can be unspecified government secrets, papers or information – it really doesn’t matter what it is as long as the characters want it and are prepared to kill other characters or risk their own lives to obtain it!

• In Hitchcock’s 1959 film North by Northwest, the main character is the victim of mistaken identity. He’s pursued across the USA by agents of a mysterious organisation, who try to stop him interfering in their plans. It finally turns out that the spies are attempting to smuggle microfilm containing government secrets out of the country. But the precise object everyone wants doesn’t really matter.

Some of the movies with McGuffin:

1. Private Ryan in Saving Private Ryan 
2. The plans for the Death Star in Star Wars
3. The briefcase  in Pulp Fiction
4. The Maltese Falcon in The Maltese Falcon
5. The One Ring in The Lord of the Rings
6. The Holy Grail in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, etc
7. The Necronomicon in The Evil Dead franchise
8. The Military Secrets  in The 39 Steps
9. The Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark
10. Rosebud in Citizen Kane
11. Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects

What are your favorite movies with McGuffin, do mention in the comment section. Happy filming.

Actor Journey: 4. The Working Of Relaxation, Concentration and Sense Memory

1. Many actors begin to work on characters by asking a lot of questions. What should I do? How should I play this? What’s my activity, my action? And so on. All are valid questions, which they will try and answer intellectually and then create behavior that indicates the sum of their answers. However, they have predetermined how the character will act, and this can appear too artificial. Particularly in the case of stage actors, the resulting gestures are often too broad for the camera and the film medium.
2. However, for many actors, not knowing the answers to all the questions right away creates a lot of physical and mental tension that blocks their ability to focus the concentration on the more unique aspects of the character. If they were to learn to trust the sense memory, many of the answers they seek would be found, but in an ever-evolving form, brought about by the process of relaxation, concentration, and sense memory.
3. Film acting is usually quite small and subtle. There’s a gentleness to it that is magnified by the camera. The smallest thought, or change in expression of the eyes, is captured. The actor is often confined to an uncomfortable space during a shot, and a particular scene might be filmed dozens of times in different angles and takes, with the actor repeating essentially the same things over and over again. Often, there is little space in which the actor can move. Each time must appear fresh and real.
4. Theatrical gestures and many choices that one can use on the stage will not do under these circumstances. A smaller gesture, with its origins organically stemming from the actor, is required for this environment.
5. So, what starts happening when you stop doing these broader gestures and are only left with yourself? At first, it feels like nothing. Nothing is happening. It feels like there is a void. In actuality, that void is the open, fertile, planting fields of your imagination. Here, you drop the sacred seeds of your chosen concentration. It is very difficult to adjust to doing this. It takes courage to reach the point of relaxation wherein you can observe what you must stop doing and allow the space to open up inside, for the unknown possibilities of what at first feels like nothing. This is the beginning of concentration and the acceptance of the fact that you yourself are more than enough to play the part. The void is often associated with the dark, with uncertainty and not knowing what to do next. 
6. For a film actor, this is the perfect place to be. This is the beginning of the search. The chosen concentration in the form of sensorial memory is projected into this space like a laser. From this thin ray of light, something organic begins to develop and take over the whole being. It is from this resource that impulses will arise and the development of a character ready to go before the cameras starts to emerge.
7. This character must be a talking, breathing human being (well, most of the time anyway). It’s time to open our eyes, to start thinking about how the breath and the voice and the text come into this process and affect the relaxation, concentration, and the playing of a part.

Actor Journey : How to Increases Sense Memory for Acting

     We observe the world through our senses. Our five senses bring us through the world each day, translating everything that we experience into a language that we understand. Then, through our senses, we are able to communicate back to the world around us.
     Our senses have a memory, a ship’s log, of everything we’ve experienced, encapsulated somewhere within. To become aware of the power of that memory and its use in acting is a lifelong pursuit. The teachings of Lee Strasberg and Stanislavsky are hotly debated and discussed; I am not going to get embroiled in that here. 
     Certainly, one needs an excellent teacher to learn the complexities of sense memory, but there is a lot that can be done on one’s own to develop and strengthen the use of the senses.

1. Sight: The Sense of seeing

• We see through our eyes and also very strongly in our mind’s eye. If you close your eyes, the act of seeing often continues, with memories, colors, and dreams. Sitting in a chair as in the Mental Relaxation exercise you allow the eyes to wander through different places.
• Now, take your bedroom at home or the first room that comes into view in your mind’s eye is the right one to use now.
• How much of it can you see? If you look at the walls, can you see the pictures on them or the color of the paint or wallpaper? Ask yourself how much better your vision becomes if you focus your concentration onto a specific point or aspect by posing a question. Example: If I turn my mind’s eye to the left wall of my room, what is there? (Obviously, you know what’s there because it’s your room, but turn your focus to the wall anyway, and see what your inner concentration shows you.)
• Don’t assume you know the answer; allow the vision to reveal to you how much you know. This is key to developing the concentration and the senses. You may be very surprised by what happens when you pose a question and wait to discover the answer. Continue the process with the rest of the room.

2. Sound: The Sense of Hearing

• Hearing is accomplished by the ears, but unlike sight and our eyes, which we deal with in a more conscious way, hearing and the ears are taken for granted by many people because hearing is done unconsciously most of the time. 
• So, let’s consider the ear and its construction. Try and feel the ear canal and the outer part of the ear, which “catches” the sound. Now, place yourself in the same bedroom at home, still with your eyes closed (it’s easier to concentrate that way, we’ll open them later), and try and hear the sounds of that room. Again, pose questions: Am I alone in the house? If not, do I hear anyone else? If I look out the window, what do I hear? Does the room have sounds of its own? The water in the pipes, sounds of wind, the window blinds tapping slightly against the wall? If I concentrate on my ears, what do I hear?

3. Smell : The Sense of Smelling

• We smell things with our nose and the inside of its membranes. The sense of smell has been attributed to have the most powerful emotional recall capacities. I don’t know if that’s really true, but from my own experience, I have often found it to be.
• In the same room, your bedroom, with your eyes closed, take in a deep breath with all your focus on your sense of smell. As the air comes through your nose, pose the questions: What do I smell? Is there a linden tree blooming outside my window or someone cooking in another room? The lingering scent of someone’s perfume? A distinct smell, which I can’t identify, but that I associate with this place?
• Whatever you come up with, you might get flooded by the other senses. Memories or scenarios might appear that charge the concentration with data. Don’t worry about these things now, and don’t get sidetracked by them. Stay within the chosen task by asking questions. Acknowledge whatever goes on in your mind, and move forward with the concentration on the sense that you are working on.

4. Taste : The Sense of Tasting

• The mouth, tongue, and lips. What a trio! If you take some time out and consider all the functions of this triumvirate while moving your tongue over your lips and within the inside of your mouth, many interesting things may start to happen. Spend some time with this and explore.
• The first taste to introduce should be lemon. It’s a strong taste and causes many reactions within the mouth. Lick the tongue over the lips as if you had just sucked on a juicy lemon. Swallow; investigate the roof of the mouth. Ask questions: What happens to my lips if I taste a lemon? How does my tongue feel? Where do I taste the taste of lemon?
• Don’t worry if nothing happens. If you don’t taste the lemon, or for that matter don’t respond to any of the senses in your imagination at this point, remember these are concentration exercises.
• Try combining the senses of smell and taste. Think of one of your favorite foods as a child, something associated with where you come from. Now, try to smell its aroma. Even if it’s neem leaf, it has a smell. Move from the scent to the taste by moving the sensation around the mouth, tongue, and lips.

5. Touch : The Sense Of  Feeling

• Touch is an enormous field of experience. The skin, which we are encased in, is the obvious emperor of this sense, but the entire inner organism also experiences feelings, feelings like muscle ache, tickles, indigestion, and heartbeats. If we stop and think of all the things our hands do, all of the millions of things they have touched and experienced, we will quickly see how vast their work for us has been. 
• Let’s go back to the same “home bedroom.” You are still sitting in a chair with your eyes closed. Extend one of your hands out into the space before you, and imagine that you are touching the covering of your bed. Don’t know beforehand what it will feel like—that is to say, “Oh, now, I’m going to touch that soft, bedspread.” 
• Just let the hand reach into space, and in the mind’s eye, see it gently “touching” the covering on the bed. Then, pose the questions: Where do I feel it on my hand? If I move my hand back and forth lightly, can I feel the texture of the fabric? Am I breathing steadily and fully? If I take a deep breath and relax my shoulders, can I get more sensation from my hand?
• Explore the sensation. Bring in the other hand to touch the bed covering. Don’t let the fingers bunch together. Always leave a space between you and your imagination.

Actor Journey : How to Increases your Concentration for Acting

     Concentration and observation are entwined with one another. In order to concentrate, you need something to focus on. In order to focus, you must have observed it first. You have to be aware that something is their, see it, notice it, discover it, investigate it, wonder about it, and care about it to focus and turn your concentration on it. What one chooses to focus on, what one chooses to concentrate on, comprises the elements that will make up the playing of a character or part.
     To focus one’s concentration on the concept that “every man carries his entire creative genius within him, and he pours everything out of himself into the broad stream of life” is very important while doing this exercise. If we can suppose that everyone is worth observing, that through observing the world around us, we may find the way to observing ourselves, then the path to concentration becomes accessible right in front of us, so to speak.

1. Choose a public place where you can sit undisturbed for a long period of time—a cafe, coffee shop, bar, park, etc., anywhere there are likely to be many people. It’s best to choose a place where you are not likely to run into people whom you know.
2. Bring a notebook for writing with you, The notebook becomes an important tool in this and in many other exercises, because it is easy to forget or reshape after the fact ideas, impressions, and feelings that happen spontaneously. It’s best to write things down randomly, and then read and think about them later.
3. Once you’ve settled in your place, set your watch for 1 hr. Time is such a strange thing, and our judgement of it depends on how we feel about what we’re doing.
4. Observe the people around you, and write your observations in your notebook. Watch, observe and write. This is not continuous writing. Most of the time is spent observing.
5. While you are observing others, observe yourself and how you honestly feel at the moment. Start to write down these self observations in your Journal as well. Be honest, stay in the moment..
6. Start by writing about what you see around you, then move it to the observations. Write about the people— who you think they are, where they come from, what they’re doing, etc., or whatever aspects about them interest you. 
7. When your hour is up, close your notebook and go about your life. Don’t read what you’ve written just yet. Wait.

After at least a few hours, pick up your Journal and read it. You should try and be in some surrounding that will enable you to concentrate on your words and read them aloud without causing a problem. Try some of the Mental Relaxation exercises before you begin to read the notebook so you’ll be in touch with yourself a little more.

As you read, ask yourself some of the following questions:

• Was I honest, and if I was, how do I feel about it now?
• When I started to feel something, what did I do? Did I investigate the feeling further, or did I quickly move on to something else?
• If someone seemed to notice what I was doing, how did I react?
• Did I go as far as I could have with my observations of my surroundings?
• Was I able to concentrate on the task at hand, or did I “drift” and then find myself lost in my thoughts?
• If and when I did this, did I admit it in writing, or was this self observation omitted?
• Did I leave myself and my innermost feelings and observations totally out of this exercise? Why did I do that?
• Do I judge people so harshly that I tend to stereotype them, and if that’s true, how would I portray them as an actor?

   The answers to the above questions are not important. There is no right or wrong answer; there is only the development of a better question and the strengthening of your ability to ask. 
   The process of developing observation and concentration is like working a muscle; it gets stronger with use. You have set parameters around your concentration by doing this exercise. Within these parameters, you can gauge your own performance and development. Each time you do an exercise, you can go a little bit further into the relaxation and concentration process.

Actor Journey : How to Increases Relaxation and the Face Exercises in Acting

Close your eyes and allow the movie in your mind to travel through the land of your favorite film images. Allow your mind’s eye a free hand, and sit back and enjoy the show. Films from childhood, cartoons, adventures, love scenes, swells of music, and magnificent landscapes will dance in your imagination.

Mental Relaxation exercises 1

1. Sit in a chair, keeping your back straight, your head balancing straight on the top of the spine, feet flat on the floor, arms either on top of your lap with palms down or hanging at your sides, and your eyes closed.
2. Just breathe, letting the air come high into the chest, so that the rib cage and breastbone move with each inhalation and exhalation. Don’t let the air fall into the stomach area. Keep it in the upper chest.
3. Open your mouth slightly, so that the teeth are not touching. This is actually releasing the jaw.
4. Sigh three of four times without moving the head around or fidgeting. Just sit and breathe, and sigh without moving. 
5. Concentrate on your eyes. Imagine that the eyes are two soft pools of clear, calm water. Check for twitching or furrowing of the brow. If you find tension around the eyes, release it with a sigh or a deep breath. Make sure that no other part of your body is moving, that your jaw is released, and your breath is high in the chest and steady. Throughout the Mental Relaxation exercises, keep checking for ways that the tension escapes to other parts of the body, like feet that curl around the legs of the chair, or hands that suddenly grab the seat, or eyelids that uncontrollably flutter. Keep checking for tension, and release it, while concentrating on the eyeballs themselves.
6. Now, lift the eyeballs up as high as you can, while keeping the lids closed. You should feel the stretch of the tendons around the eyes. Do not lift the head up or bend it downwards, but try and keep it straight and easy as you keep the eyes lifted. Keep breathing and sighing, and hold for twenty seconds. Don’t lock the jaw. Then, release the eyes to their normal position.
7. Stretch the eyes to the left, and hold them there for ten seconds. Release them to their normal position. Repeat to the right. Stretch them down towards the tip of the nose. Hold for ten seconds and release.
8. At this point, check for signs of rising tension anywhere in the body, particularly in the face, head, neck, and shoulder region. The eyelids remain closed, but an inner eye is vigilantly at work keeping all the instructions in order. A small, quiet invisible director inside the mind’s eye is investigating.
9. Now, rotate the eyes to all extreme positions. Up, right, down, left, up, right, down, left, etc. Try to breathe normally, keeping the jaw released and the head still, as you stretch the eyes as far as you can in each position, rotating to the next. Do about five rotations.
10. Now, rotate the eyes in the opposite direction, up, left, down, right, etc., and repeat about five rotations.

Mental Relaxation exercises 2

1. Concentrate on your eyebrows. Raise them up and bring them down. Move up and down as quickly as you can. Repeat this motion in rapid succession for about ten seconds, and then stop to rest. Then, repeat it again.
2. Try to do the same movement with the eyebrows, only this time incorporate the entire skin of the scalp, so that it too moves back and forth. Repeat a series, rest, and do it again.
3. Squinch the face together, as if you had an extreme lemon reaction, and hold for a few seconds, then release. Repeat five times.
4. Spread the mouth in a thin, wide, tense smile, then quickly draw the lips together in a tight, round kiss position. Go back and forth between the two positions.
5. Concentrate on the upper lip. Tap it with your fingers. Pinch it and pull it into different directions. Now, without using your hands, imagine that the upper lip is divided into two segments like the mouth of a bunny. See if you can move the two sides independent of one another. Try to do this and breathe at the same time.
6. Now, pull the lips over the teeth like you were pretending to be toothless. Open and close the mouth, while stretching the lips over the teeth and releasing.
7. Now, do a combination of all of the above movements and incorporate the eyes, moving freely from one type of movement to the other. Don’t forget to breathe!