When it comes to acting, great abilities cannot be formed overnight. Instead, significant effort and training are required to form an individual skilled in his or her craft. One of the most necessary and yet difficult components of great acting is learning to rip past the facade that covers the actors themselves and the characters they create to reveal the true identities within.
Both human persons and created characters share a multi-dimensionality and depth. The three dimensions, in particular, that compose the human person are the tragic flaw, the public persona, and our ubiquitous lifelong insecurities and difficulties. Training with an acting coach can both aid the actor in discovering these dimensions in himself as well as allow him to utilize these personal traits to create very real characters.
Carl Jung espoused the belief that the human person creates a public persona as a means of protecting his true self from others and conveying an image of strength and security as a means for survival. This persona is exemplified in all areas of our lives, from how we move to the way we speak and interact with others. Similar to actual persons, characters develop public personas that must be unraveled and good acting workshops are designed to teach students how to accomplish just this.
Although the public persona is the dimension that is the most easily recognizable and obvious in a character, it is only an exterior facade and not the core of the individual. However, the core of a person lies in their innate strengths, fears, and issues that travel with us from childhood into adulthood. Acting workshops are quite helpful in training students to come to grips with these important facets of their being, allowing them to create very real characters.
Our childhood challenges and situations mold us as adults and remain with us for the duration of our lifetime. Both actors and the characters they create form their public personas as a means of defending themselves from these insecurities. Covering up these vulnerabilities under a shield of stability is our means of appearing strong rather than helpless to others.
A great actor is one who succeeds in stripping away both the their own exterior and that of their character to reveal a deeper identity. This is key to producing real characters for the audience.
Every audience member, whether he knows it or not, has both a deeper identity based in past life situations and issues as well as public persona that he has created to combat these weaknesses. Regardless of whether or not they are aware of this fact, creating a dimensional character will never fail to hit a chord with the watcher. Being able to create characters such as these is what separates the average actor from the exceptional.
Both human persons and created characters share a multi-dimensionality and depth. The three dimensions, in particular, that compose the human person are the tragic flaw, the public persona, and our ubiquitous lifelong insecurities and difficulties. Training with an acting coach can both aid the actor in discovering these dimensions in himself as well as allow him to utilize these personal traits to create very real characters.
Carl Jung espoused the belief that the human person creates a public persona as a means of protecting his true self from others and conveying an image of strength and security as a means for survival. This persona is exemplified in all areas of our lives, from how we move to the way we speak and interact with others. Similar to actual persons, characters develop public personas that must be unraveled and good acting workshops are designed to teach students how to accomplish just this.
Although the public persona is the dimension that is the most easily recognizable and obvious in a character, it is only an exterior facade and not the core of the individual. However, the core of a person lies in their innate strengths, fears, and issues that travel with us from childhood into adulthood. Acting workshops are quite helpful in training students to come to grips with these important facets of their being, allowing them to create very real characters.
Our childhood challenges and situations mold us as adults and remain with us for the duration of our lifetime. Both actors and the characters they create form their public personas as a means of defending themselves from these insecurities. Covering up these vulnerabilities under a shield of stability is our means of appearing strong rather than helpless to others.
A great actor is one who succeeds in stripping away both the their own exterior and that of their character to reveal a deeper identity. This is key to producing real characters for the audience.
Every audience member, whether he knows it or not, has both a deeper identity based in past life situations and issues as well as public persona that he has created to combat these weaknesses. Regardless of whether or not they are aware of this fact, creating a dimensional character will never fail to hit a chord with the watcher. Being able to create characters such as these is what separates the average actor from the exceptional.
About the Author:
To learn more about how acting workshops in los angeles can help create fictional characters you can also read this article "Creating Dimensional Characters".
No comments:
Post a Comment