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.