You`re acting funny

You’re acting Funny

Every since civilization started many people have been suffering from psychological disorders such as sadness and strange and awkward behavior.  There have been many of scientists that have tried to figure out the cure for them and treat these disorders.  Classifying psychological disorders have their roots back far in ancient times with the Romans and the Egyptians.  Even today, classifying psychological disorders follow a medical type model.  However, classifying psychological disorders is not very easy and is harder than it sounds and is very controversial.  Even though the classification system has disadvantages, I think it’s safe to say that the classification system outweighs the disadvantages.  It provides a means of effective communication between psychologists.  Also, the classification system can help psychologists make predictions such as the probability that a disorder will occur and about the individuals that are more likely to develop a certain mental disorder and about the rules for treatment.  To help make classifying psychological disorders easier the American Psychiatric Association came out with the first system of grouping psychological disorders in the United States in 1952. This manual was known as the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).  The 1994 edition is the most current version that I’m aware of and includes 17 major classifications and describes more than 200 disorders.  The DSM had undergone changes and probably will go more in the future which shows the advancement in knowledge of psychological disorders over the years. The DSM-IV has added and dropped categories from its manual which has caused some major controversial by psychologist you relied heavily on those techniques. An important feature of the DSM-IV is its multi axis features. It has five axes to accurately diagnose an individual with a mental disorder by characterizing them in terms of a number of factors.  The five axes of DSM-IV include:

Axis I:  Every diagnostic category except for personality disorders and mental retardation.

Axis II:  Mental retardation and personality disorders.

Axis III:  Most medical conditions

Axis IV:  Social and environmental complications.

Axis V: Current functioning abilities.

Axes I-II describes the majority of psychological disorders, and Axes III-V is not really needed in diagnosing a psychological disorder but they are there to consider the person’s over all life situation.  For example, an individual may have high blood pressure which is an example of Axis III, which needs special precautions to treatment because some mediation can worsen the symptoms for individuals. The DSM-IV was put together by a number of mental health professionals and included a diverse range of audiences which was something missing in the previous manuals because the majority consisted of mostly white male psychiatrists.  The biggest controversial part about the DSM-IV is that the symptoms are still described in a psychiatric manner. Even though more psychologists have participated in it then ever, it still shows a medical model of diagnosing patients which puts less emphasis on external factors such as environmental effects on mental disorders.  There are some common issues with labeling in the DSM-IV.  Some of the categories for mental disorders are what some people would include to be everyday harmless activities. For example, if someone has a hard time learning mathematics, or writing skills than that could be labeled as a mental disorder. Also, an addiction to some substances like a nice cappuccino from Starbucks would be classified as a mental disorder because the individual will be viewed as having a substance abuse problem.  Furthermore some individuals that do not have a mental disorder may turn out to believe that they do by a simple misdiagnoses.  The term that refers to when people believe that they believe something when it is told to them is known as the self fulfilling prophecy.  Labels can also have harmful side effects on the individual and cause them to lose self esteem when they think that they are mentally ill. A lot of time, individuals will avoid seeking help to avoid these labels because they don’t want people to think of them differently.  The DSM-IV may have its critiques and inaccuracies but it’s still the most comprehensive mental categorizing system currently available. Like mentioned earlier, there are many categories for mental disorders. A very common one that affects close to 19.1 million Americans is anxiety disorders. If you constantly worry than that could be an indicator that you have some type of anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is a psychological disorder that can cause a variety of abnormalities in the motor function. Examples of anxiety disorder include generalized anxiety disorder, phobic disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic disorder, and social anxiety disorder. I’m going to discuss generalized anxiety disorder first because its one of the more common anxiety disorders.  Take this case study for example.  Amy is a thirty year old woman and ever since she and her husband have been arguing she has developed a lot of built up tension and nervousness everytime she goes out in public. She feels trembling and usually be perspiring when she comes back from shopping.  These are the common symptoms of an anxiety disorder.  With phobic disorders on the other hand, the individual has an intense fear of a particular object or thing.  A lot of people are informed about some common ones such as the fear of spiders or Arachnophobia, and the fear of closed tight spaces or Claustrophobia. However there are a lot more bizarre ones that people may not be informed about such as Dikephobia or the fear of justice and Geliophobia or the fear of laughter.  A very interesting psychological disorder is obsessive compulsive disorder and the individual has these obsessions to do things in a particular way or order and it is causing them mental distress. For example, they may have a need to get dressed and take their clothes off in a particular manner and if they mess up than they must start over again because they ruined the sequence. These rituals will consume up a vast majority of the individual’s time.  Panic disorder is when the individual has periods of deep fear. This usually doesn’t last too long and some symptoms are the individual will tremble and experience a shortness of breath. Next, post traumatic disorder is the feelings of emptiness and depression an individual will experience after a traumatic event such as after a plane crash or abuse/rape. Even though men and women can experience this disorder is more likely to exist with females. Last, a social anxiety disorder is a fear of being in social situations and being evaluated by others. A classic example is being extremely uneasy and nervous during a job interview.

Acting Techniques - How to Find the Right Acting Method For You

There are so many acting techniques out there. How do you know which acting technique is right for you? Below are some quick pointers to make sense of it all and to help actors choose an acting class based on the type of acting training they want.
1) The Stanislavski System
First, note that all the major acting techniques currently taught in American acting schools are based on the work of Constantin Stanislavski, a Russian actor and director who developed an acting method to help actors be real on stage. Here are a few highlights of the Stanislavsky system you'll want to be familiar with as an actor:

In order to believe in the given circumstances of the play, Stanislavsky actors use the magic if: "What if this was really happening to me?"

Actors break down the script into objectives (what the character wants to accomplish) and actions (what the character can do to try to reach his objective). Each action is an active verb (to help, to hurt, to convince) that helps the actor concentrate on doing rather than feeling.

Actors learn to relax their muscles and practice concentration so they can focus on the given circumstances of the play and deal with stage fright.

Actors access their own memories to call upon emotions needed to play certain scenes and acting roles.

2) Method and Meisner
The other two major acting techniques taught in acting schools are method acting (also known as "The Method") and the Meisner technique. Both of these acting techniques were inspired by Stanislavski and both help the actor create real thoughts and emotions under imaginary circumstances, but they do it very differently.
Method Acting turns the focus inward. Actors learn to use their five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) to recall objects, experiences and emotional memories. These sense memory exercises allow actors to draw from their own experiences in order to create the character and connect with the play.
Meisner Acting turns the focus outward. Actors train to shift focus from themselves to their acting partners so they can react truthfully to what is happening in the moment. They rely on their imagination rather than their memories to prepare for a scene. (Stella Adler, another student of Stanislavski, stresses the importance of imagination in her acting technique.)
3) Other Acting Techniques
Stanislavski, "The Method", Meisner, Stella Adler... These are the acting techniques most actors have heard about, but if you've already explored these acting methods and want to try something new, there are plenty of acting classes that teach lesser known techniques like Anne Bogart's Viewpoints method, Viola Spolin's improvisation technique or Tadashi Suzuki's physical training for the actor, to name a few.
4) Which technique to choose
Is there one method that is superior to the others? Each one of the major acting techniques has been studied and used by great actors, so the point is not which acting technique is the best, but which one works for you.

Think about what you'll be doing in class. Are you more interested in doing a lot of solo exercises or do you respond more to improvisation and scene study? Also consider the kind of acting you want to do. For example, The Method works great for film acting while a Spolin class is a great choice if you are mostly interested in theater and improvisation.
Also think of your strengths and weaknesses as an actor when you decide what to study next. For example, a Viewpoints or Suzuki acting class is a good choice if you need to work on your presence on stage or if you want to get more comfortable in front of an audience.
Although it is important to try to pick the acting technique that speaks the most to you now, remember that acting school is not the end of your acting journey, but the beginning. As your career grows, you will adapt your acting training to different acting jobs and eventually develop your own method, a unique way of rehearsing, creating a character and finding the truth in a scene.

You can also discover lesser known acting techniques at http://www.acting-school-stop.com/acting-training.html

Why Method Acting Is The Most Successful Acting Technique

The Method approach to acting became famous when Marlon Brando and James Dean started to appear on the silver screen, changing the perception of what the acting profession was capable of. Their acting seemed so real you forgot they were acting. Since then, there has been a list of outstanding acting talent that has been enabled by the Method. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Paul Newman, Daniel Day Lewis, Meryl Streep and this year 'Best Actor' Academy Award winner, Forest Whitaker, all use the Method.
But why has it been so successful?
The Method creates a reality beyond the conventional reality. This means that instead of the actor adhering merely to the conventional thought of the character and situation, they are able to stimulate themselves, and indeed the audience, on a much deeper level.
Christopher Walken was asked what he was thinking about when he shot the scene at the end of the film, 'Deer Hunter', where he plays Russian roulette and kills himself. He said that when he was younger, he went to summer camp and his parents made him go - he hated going, and the experience filled him with a sense of abandonment, loss and anger. He said that he felt his character was experiencing similar feelings, so he thought about that event during the scene. He understood that events from his own experience could expose the experiences of the character on a much deeper level.
He was using an important tool within the Method called 'affective memory'. This is when an actor recalls an event from his own life using his senses. The rationale behind this is that we all experience the world through our senses - we see, we hear, we touch, we smell and we taste. If the actor trains and uses these senses in conjunction with their own memories, they can have a powerful effect on the actors' instrument - the human body.
The Method also allows the actor to create a completely different physicality and psychology from their own, using the animal exercise. Marlon Brando famously used the animal exercise in the 'Godfather' when he played a bulldog. He stuffed his cheeks full of tissue paper in his audition to recreate the jowls of the dog; he started to move around slower and heavier with the underlying menace of a bulldog. In 'A Streetcar Named Desire' he played an ape, scratching his chest and moving objects around with his knuckles and eating like an animal. The animal exercises allowed him to create the life of another human being in a deeper more complete fashion.
Using the Method, actors can go beyond the conventional and effective way to act, and make the work more human, more alive, more exciting, more amused and entertained - not on a light level, but on the utmost level which acting is capable of.
Author: Brian Timoney
http://www.themethodcentre.co.uk
email:info@themethodcentre.co.uk
Brian is an experienced actor, director and teacher of the Method. He established The Method Centre in London, an actors studio in the UK focused on the Method.

Use Acting Techniques For Success In Any Area of Your Life - Part Three

The title of this article is sure to raise the question, "How can mere acting techniques translate into success in real life?" Well thank you, I'm glad you asked.
To answer that question, let me first convey a story Anthony Robbins writes about in his great book on NLP, Unlimited Power. One day Tony happened to be on an airplane and found himself sitting next to Ken Blanchard, one of the co-authors of The One-Minute Manager series of books.
Blanchard happened to mention that he had recently taken several golf lessons from some of the world's best golf instructors. The problem was, Blanchard said, that keeping all the individual techniques and instructions in mind at one time was very difficult for him. In other words, he had trouble remembering how to hold his club, how to stand, how to move the club on the upswing, how to follow through on his swing, and on and on.
Tony Robbins, asked Blanchard if he had ever made a perfect golf swing. Of course the answer was yes. Had he ever hit the ball perfectly? Blanchard's answer was yes again. Had he hit the ball perfectly on many occasions? The answer was yes again.
Then, Tony said, all the individual pieces of information about how to perform a perfect golf swing were already stored in Blanchard's head. He didn't need to try to remember each bit of instruction each time he tried to hit the ball, all he had to do was re-create the "state" he had been in when he had previously hit the ball perfectly.
Acting techniques are an excellent way to put yourself into a desired state. Suppose you are a struggling sales person. You have been to all kinds of sales training courses. You know your product and your company very well. And you have a good personality in other situations.
But when it comes to actual selling situations, you come apart and cannot perform as a good sales person.
In a situation like this, all the information, all the selling techniques, all the times you have observed more successful sales people, and all the skills you have observed in relating to people, are already stored in your brain. Your difficulty selling will not be solved by taking another sales class. What you need to do is create a resourceful state in which all that knowledge is used and applied.
In all likelihood, you can create this resourceful state if you act "as if" you are a very accomplished sales person. If you walk into the next sales interview acting as if you are another person - or better yet - another version of you, who is confident and has already had thousands of successful sales interviews under your belt, you will find your results will be much more successful.
Acting "as if" enables your brain to pull all the information you already have stored in it together. Just as recreating a positive state can help a golfer pull all the golf techniques together in a single swing.
Try acting "as if" the next time you want to change your state. You will be amazed at your results.




Just a few years after attempting suicide, Charles Brown has learned to literally "re-wire" and "re-program" his brain to achieve success in everything he attempts. He now teaches others how to use neuro-linquistic programming (NLP), subliminal technology, self hypnosis, and other methods to make major changes in their lives. He is the author of the free downloadable ebook, The Science of Change: How To Re-Program Your Mind and Transform Your Life [http://www.geocities.com/chbrown56]. This ebook has 49 pages of transformational information and can be downloaded at [http://www.geocities.com/chbrown56]

Best Acting Technique

In my opinion, one of the biggest challenges in acting is how to approach 'emotional preparation', and as such, I feel that is the area that varies the most between techniques. Truth be told, this is pretty much what all acting coaches are going for...a reliable, repeatable method of achieving appropriate, realistic emotions to fit the scene.
Now, I'm quite biased here, but I have seen quite a few of these techniques put into play and I'm still convinced that Sanford Meisner's is the most effective. It is for me the most grounded, and more importantly, the most repeatable method that I've seen used.
I feel many techniques fail mostly due to two factors:
1- They are too external.
2- They are too internal.
Allow me to elaborate...in the first example, I've seen many acting schools preach the benefits of 'emotionalizing' through external means. That is, your emotional preparation is to come from 'infusing' some object, such as a scarf, or a painting, or even a room with associative memories. Now, this can work, but much like hearing a favorite song over and over, it eventually loses it's 'punch'. Not to mention the fact that if it's not working like you had hoped, you're then spent focusing your very valuable attention on an object. And, as we all know, an object is not an emotional thing.
In the second example, being too internal can work as well...just look at all the 'method' folk out there. The difference here is that instead of finding emotional preparation by infusing something external, the actor is asked to recall personal emotional memories from which to draw from. The big problem here is that, often things that really troubled us say, fifteen years ago, may not be such a big deal now. Plus, you are now placing your very valuable attention on yourself. Remember the last time you talked to someone that only thought of themselves? I think we call those people 'self-absorbed' to be nice...boring usually comes to mind for me though.
This is where the Meisner technique fills the gap. Instead of external measures, or pounding your emotional past into the dirt, Mr. Meisner suggested that you use your imagination to find your emotional preparation. Here the actor is always able to adapt, because our imagination is limitless. Plus, once imagined, we are now free to place all of our very valuable attention on our scene partner! And, if you doubt the power of your imagination, just start imagining your spouse, lover (or whatever) cheating on you.
Get specific.
Really picture it happening and with whom.
Now tell me you don't feel something! And that's just one example! The beauty here is that you know what it makes you feel, it's honest and you don't have to think about it. That gives you all the time in the world to focus on what's really important...what you need to do, why you need to do it and with whom you are dealing with.


D.L. White is a film and television professional with 14 years of experience in post production, working on hundreds of films from Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros. and Buena Vista, as well as dozens of network shows including Frasier, Seinfeld and Reba.
As a Director, D.L. White has shot and directed several commercials and music videos for clients from around the world and is proud to shoot on Kodak Film exclusively.
Mr. White's new book "Acting in the Real World: The Film Professional's Guidebook to the Job of Acting" is available as a free download at Film and Television Acting Book at ActingReality.com

Essential Acting Techniques Aspiring Actors Should Understand

There are many different techniques that actors use. These techniques influence how they approach a role and develop their character. Actors may use just one technique or they may use multiple techniques. The techniques helps them with the process of how they will play a character that they are giving. It helps them get into the role and to really become the character. Most actors do not simply get a role and just dive in.
Preparation is a large part of acting and without good techniques an actor could appear flat and not be able to produce well-rounded characters.
The Meiser technique involves reacting off a partner. Instead of focusing on the character they are playing, an actor uses the other actors to form their character. The idea is to not focus on what or who the character is, but to just become the character and let it develop off the other characters in a piece. It relies heavily on imagination and creativity for character development. Actors trained using this technique include Sandra Bullock, Grace Kelly and Leslie Nielsen.
Method acting is the opposite of the Meiser technique. In this technique an actor is encouraged to draw off their emotions. They are to react using all five senses. An actor is encouraged to draw from their own experiences and really embrace the character. With this technique an actor really gives depth to a character and makes it personal. Marilyn Monroe, Robert DeNiro and Jane Fonda have all been trained using this technique.
The Stanislavski method involves using a what if thought pattern. Actors are supposed to think as if they are personally going through whatever the character is going through and imagine what if it were really happening to them. They are to focus on the actions happening and to use personal memories or emotions to add to the performance. This technique is similar to method acting and actors who used method acting use this technique. This is a common technique, so many of the well known actors have been trained using it, like Denzel Washington, Sean Penn and Johnny Depp.
Improvisation or improv is a technique where actors draw heavily upon creativity and react in the moment. Improv involves coming up with unplanned responses and really practicing creative thought processes. Actors react to other actors and perform on the spur of the moment. In many improvisation situations actors are given some type of cue or suggestion to respond to. An actor that often uses this technique is Drew Carey. Improv is often comedic in nature because of its non-serious nature.
All these different techniques may be used alone or in combinations by actors. Typically an actor will train using one technique or they may simply find the one they feel the most comfortable with. Actors all use some technique, though, even if they have not been formally taught. The best actors will use a technique that they really feels works for them and that is why they are so good at what they do.

The "Booked It!" Book (A Children's Primer for Grown-Ups)
Alison covers the entertainment industry for working and aspiring actors and comedians in Los Angeles, Ca. From her home just minutes from the Hollywood Sign, Alison follows entertainment and industry news. Whether you're new to LA or have been here for yours, you need to stay sharp and attend the best acting class Los Angeles has to offer. Lesly Kahn has been consistently helping her students book the job for years and offers one of the most sought after acting classes Los Angeles actors have access to.

Improve Acting - One of the Most Popular Ways to Improve Your Acting Technique Today

How can I improve my acting skills? Well, there are schools, private acting coaches(pretty costly), books, etc. etc... of course you knew that already. All these are great ways to get better at acting. But you may not have the money for it. This article isn't about explaining to you all these different methods of learning to act. There are other articles for that. I'm just going to tell you one way of learning that seems to be getting more and more popular each day - especially with the younger crowd (teenagers and young adults).

Maybe you've done this already, maybe you haven't. OK, what seems to be catching on rather quickly and what a lot of aspiring actors are doing right now at this very moment as you're reading this, is recording themselves acting; for example, recording themselves performing monologues from movies and plays, or even come up with their own monologues. They read, memorize, act out the monologue on camera, then proceed to upload their videos on a video sharing website.

What's a monologue? "A part of a drama in which a single actor speaks alone"

Where can I find monologues? Just do a simple search on Google - type "monologues from movies" "monologues from plays" "monologues for girls" "monologues for men" etc.

Don't be shy, record yourself, this is a fantastic way to see where you need fixing. And if you're pretty good, you may even get noticed by casting directors and talent agents in the entertainment industry. I'm not guaranteeing it, but it could happen.

What do they use to record themselves acting? it can be their web cam from their laptop, PC or just a small digital camcorder. The picture quality doesn't have to be the best either, just good enough so that you can be seen clearly; and of course make sure your recording device has a microphone, I'm sure you knew that as well.

Benefits of sharing your acting videos is getting feedback from others who are watching your videos, many of these people who are watching your videos are aspiring actors themselves or just random people watching for fun. If they like your acting, you'll get comments like "That was sooo awesome!" "You're really good"...

But what if I get rude comments? They're losers, don't pay attention to them. And if you don't want to deal with these losers. There are free social networks specifically created for actors and would-be actors to upload monologue videos. If you join one of these networks with people just like you, your chances of getting those rude comments are slim to none.

So Remember: Don't be shy, get in front of the camera... and ACT

Gabriel Cabarcas - Social Network to Upload Monologue Videos