Blasting through Acting by (instructor) Adam Black

Covering four giants of the acting profession in four days is very tough. Each of the acting coaches we studied (Stanislavski, Adler, Strasberg, Meisner) deserve weeks and weeks of study each. However, in the Fundamentals of Acting class, the goal was to give the film makers a working knowledge of the types of actors they will come across. And, more to the point, give the film makers the tools they will need to direct those actors (or direct themselves).

Probably the most meaningful day this time around was day three, when we were studying Stella Adler. One of the primary tools she taught was to be THOROUGH with your imagination, creating the most intricate details of the scene you are in. The unique and inspiring information that came out of each student really brought to life the scene work. As most of the students in this class are planning to be film makers, learning the basics of HOW to pull new and fresh performances from themselves will eventually allow them to pull unique and moving performances from their actors.

One really funny exercise we did was the Gibberish Exercise. This is used when either the actor doesn’t fully know their lines yet, OR they are trying to come up with new interpretations of the lines. Put simply, the scene is performed in Gibberish language. This allows the students to focus on the MEANING of the moments in the scene, and not be encumbered by the lines themselves.