Acting Skills: Emotion & Memory

As I mentioned in my first post, as part of this blog I will discuss different performance techniques that I am working on with my students. Today, we will talk about one of the more popular acting techniques (The Stainislavski System), which relies on the use human emotions, empathy, and memory to create a truthful performance. Using this technique, actors are asked reflect on their own experiences or the experiences of others to help them to relate with their characters.

For example, if you were asked to be excited in a scene, you could recall the time you went to Disney World and, in theory, your acting would become more realistic.

The goal of the emotional memory technique is to help an actor’s performance become more authentic and less forced. Through this method, it becomes no longer necessary to “act things out” in the traditional sense. Rather, since emotions are visceral, this method encourages actors to feel the feeling - instead of faking it.

The downfall of this method is that it can cause individuals to focus on negative aspects of the past and ruminate on unpleasant emotions. Caution is suggested when working with emotions and memory. Whether you are an actor preparing for a role or simply want to get inside the mind of one of your favorite characters - feel free to try out the exercise below.

Apply the Emotional Memory Technique:

What primary emotions are displayed by the character in this specific scene of interest?

What secondary emotions are displayed by the character in this specific scene of interest?

What do we know about the character’s backstory? Any experiences or memories that may be influencing the emotions exhibited within the current scene?

Have you shared any similar experiences with your character? Write down anything that comes to mind.

Has anyone else in your life shared similar experiences? Write down anything that comes to mind.

—

Thanks for checking out this blog and I hope you will continue to check back for additional ArtsEd news, reflections, and exercises. If you applied the exercise above to a character of interest, was there a specific prompt that was most interesting and/or revealing to you? If so, please feel free to let me know in the comments.