Stanislavski-Based Acting In Film

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Famous actors such as Marlon Brando and Dustin Hoffman are known to be method actors. This means they rely on their own emotions from their past in order to create believable emotions and actions in the characters they play. This technique was developed in the early 1900s by Konstantin Stanislavski, who was a famous Russian actor, director and teacher. Previously actors were grandiose with their tone and used exaggerated movements when on the stage. Stanislavski and his "Method "changed all that. In Stanislavski's book "An Actor Prepares" he defines the actor's "experiencing" as playing "credibly", which means the actor is "thinking, wanting, striving, behaving truthfully, in logical sequence in a human way, within the character, and in complete parallel to it", in such a way that the actor begins to feel "as one with" the role (“Constantin Stanislavski” 2016). Top acting coaches such as Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner, all taught workshops using similar techniques developed by Stanislavski, which many actors still use. Actors are trained to use “sense …show more content…

In the same manner, Dustin Hoffman, prepared himself to play the autistic character of Raymond, in the movie Rain Main by spending two years befriending autistic people. According to his biography, he took them bowling and to fast food restaurants. As he observed their mannerisms, Hoffman created certain character traits for Raymond. He developed a small shuffling walk, with his shoulders bent, making Hoffman appear smaller and older. As Raymond, Hoffman never made eye contact with anyone and flattened his voice to a dry nasal tone ("Dustin Hoffman, 2017). This method obviously worked for Hoffman as he won an Academy Award for his performance and endeared that character to the

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