Brian Timoney ActingMethod Acting Classes London | Brian Timoney Actors Studio

Empathy and Why Actors Need Some

oxbowseo — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:16:06 +0000

Empathy is a human quality that people define in lots of different ways. A simple definition is that it is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. It’s the ability to understand how others are feeling and why they behave in the ways that they do. That’s pretty much what you will be called upon to do as an actor.

Some people seem to be more naturally empathetic than others. Women score higher on empathy tests than men and it can be something that increases with age and maturity. Does that mean that older women have the edge in acting? Or that young actors have a built-in disadvantage?

The answer is clearly ‘No’. In fact, some psychopaths are hugely skilled in tuning in to other people’s feelings, but use this ability to manipulate others. Obviously most actors aren’t psychopaths, although you could say the actor’s role is to emotionally manipulate the audience – just in a good way.

You won’t have empathy instruction in your acting courses, but it is still relevant to you as an actor, in two principal areas. First, it helps you to understand the characters you are called upon to play: their dilemmas, emotions, personality and motivation. Second, it is relevant to how you, as an actor, relate to your audience.

Being an actor is about creating dramatic personae that are not like you. But research shows that it’s easier to empathise with people who are like us. How hard then is it to play a serial killer, as Charlize Theron did in ‘Monster’?

The thing about empathy is that it doesn’t mean endorsing another person’s standpoint or behaviour. Rather it’s a ‘what if?’ scenario, that draws upon your imagination. Without a doubt, acting courses in london can help you to develop that imagination and the creativity that you will need as an actor.

You may have read about method actors who immerse themselves in a part, even off set, almost trying to become another person. This is a popular myth. Empathy is about feeling for another person without losing one’s sense of self. That would be fatal for most actors’ performances.

Rather, acting courses in The Method will help you to bridge the gap between you and your character. Affective memory, a key concept in method acting, is very similar to empathy. It’s about finding common ground that will give your performance emotional depth and tone.

Corpsing: What You Probably Won’t Learn in Your Acting Courses

oxbowseo — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:15:30 +0000

Without the phenomenon of corpsing, TV out-take shows would be a lot shorter. There’s something infectiously funny about actors, TV presenters and other public speakers getting the giggles. And the more they try to control themselves, the more helpless they become.

Corpsing is an occupational hazard for actors, but it has its unfunny side. It wastes time, money and VT. It contaminates the other actors and inconveniences everybody involved in the production.

On stage it is particularly disastrous. The mood and atmosphere that has been carefully built up simply vanishes. The illusion shatters. The audience is jolted out of the world of drama, reminded only too forcefully that these are actors behaving badly – even if they truly can’t help themselves.

What makes an actor corpse? Psychologically, it seems to be related to anxiety. Freud argued that laughter provides a release of psychic tension. Support for this comes from the fact that the altar is a popular place for brides and grooms to start giggling uncontrollably. Or consider the much-viewed YouTube clip of MP Keith Hill in the House of Commons: every time he encounters the challenging tongue twister ‘short sea shipping’ in his speech he cracks up.

The fact is: you can’t make a living from out-take royalties and anything more than the occasional collapse into hysterical laughter starts to look unprofessional. Though the actual outbreak of mirth may be short-lived, its effects are longer lasting. Getting serious and back ‘in the zone’ is a huge challenge for corpsers, especially since the slightest trigger is likely to set them off all over again.

You can do dozens of acting courses but, however many you take, you won’t be able to insulate yourself from the possibility of corpsing. The best you can do is to hone your recovery skills so that you can get back on track as fast as possible. The skills of method acting can come in useful here.

There are two strategies you can use to deal with the giggles. One is relaxation, to release that psychic tension. The only way to stop cracking up again – and again – is to regain your focus and concentration. This is a staple of method acting. Your teachers will tell you that concentration, vital to good acting, is something you can learn if you know the techniques.

Controlling corpsing may not be the main reason that actors choose method acting classes over other kinds of acting courses but it can come in really useful in your acting career.

Interpreting Roles

oxbowseo — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:14:57 +0000

Give the same script to a dozen actors and every single one of them will play the same role differently. That’s partly a matter of individual acting style, but there’s more to it.

The words on the page don’t dictate how a role is played. Rather you, as an actor, make a bunch of decisions about how to create the character in question. In your acting courses, you will learn how to interpret those words on the page and translate the skeleton in the script into a three-dimensional being.

So – what exactly do you have to do? What do the critics mean when they rave about an actor’s interpretation of a role (or if they pan it as a misinterpretation)?

The script gives you guidelines to sculpt your character, as well as limits. You’ll have a tough time if you try to play Hamlet the ditherer as Hamlet the bold decision-maker – and your director probably won’t be happy if you try. Most directors have their own visions that you have to take into account – or ignore at your peril.

Even if your director is a dictator, you still have choices when realising (literally ‘making real’) your character. Your first step is to have a thorough understanding of the play or film. Then you can figure out how best to use your voice and body to give your character a physical presence, personality and inner life.

The best actors find ways to bring out new dimensions of a character or to breathe new life into a familiar one. You may have a gut feeling about how to proceed but it takes effort too. It’s an exercise in imagination and lateral thinking – plus good judgement and taking feedback on board.

Acting courses in london can help you to develop the skills you need to interpret roles intelligently. Method acting is a technique that will help you visualise those possibilities and enter into the character. Amongst the acting courses on offer, method acting classes will be especially helpful in giving you many of the tools you need to take your interpretation of the character and give it form, texture and soul.

Role Models

oxbowseo — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:13:14 +0000

As an actor, who inspires you? More importantly, what is it about Robert De Niro or Meryl Streep’s work that says to you ‘Wow! This is what great acting looks like’.

One of the great things about being an actor is that you can chalk up going to the theatre or watching movies as an extension of your acting courses. As an actor you’ll learn a great deal about your craft in acting courses in london, from your teachers and fellow actors, and from your own efforts to master roles. After hours, watching the legends of stage and screen can also be an important part of the learning process.

The thing about great acting is that it doesn’t look like acting. It’s hard to separate the actor from the character. If you ask ‘How do they do it?’ the answer may not be obvious – because the experts do it so well.

It’s worthwhile studying the techniques used by the actors whose work blows you away. You can download film scripts from the web and try playing suitable scenes yourself. Having the words in front of you may help you to identify just what the actor is adding to the scene.

That could be the emphases, tone and pacing of their verbal delivery. It could be the way they marry gesture and movement to the spoken word or the way they use the performance space. If you can get a sense of how different actors amplify and add texture to the roles they play you can use that insight to analyse and enhance your own technique.

Of course you can’t see an actor’s approach to the role and the way he or she prepares. No amount of watching films or plays will reveal how top actors achieve the task of dissolving the boundaries between their own persona and the character they are playing.

Luckily, one way to do this is an open secret, though not all acting schools teach it. Many of the most celebrated actors of our times use the techniques of method acting to prepare for a performance. One principle of method acting is that drawing on emotion-laden memories helps actors to focus and to break down those boundaries.

That results in the seamless performance that is the hallmark of the greats. If you take the time to study their performances, the actors who entertain and move you can also be role models and teachers, from whom you can learn a lot.

Internal vs. External Acting – Stimulation vs. Simulation

oxbowseo — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:24:41 +0000

First off, let’s start by examining the meaning of internal, external, stimulation, and simulation. It may seem obvious enough, but these four concepts are central in evaluating good acting from mediocre acting or worse, much worse… Though it may also seem obvious that good acting, like great beauty, has to come from inside to make the external shine, we’ve all seen bad acting enough to know that not all acting training is on the same page.

Basically, internal means from the inside. External means from the outside. Stimulation means an act that encourages a given response. Simulation means an act that imitates the appearance of a given response.

Now, let’s look at these concepts more closely to see how they apply to acting and acting methods.

The external is all about surfaces. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – the external is a given and a necessity for the actor. An actor showing up for a casting call, for example, automatically brings their external, visible selves. Strangers on the street are seen externally for the most part. It’ll take some kind of stimulation – an accident, a tantrum, a fight – to make the internal come out. Method acting aims for stimulating the internal to come out also.

With external acting, what you get is voice inflections, mannerisms, sad/happy faces, presence if the actor is charismatic enough, and other tools of projection. Don’t get me wrong – all these things are important for an actor. But not at the expense of the internal, the emotional truth from within. The external craft is there to support the internal characterization. They are not intended to cover up for – ‘simulate’ – something real. All good drama schools and acting classes know this.

By internal, we may think of the inside as opposed to the outside of a book. The outside is the cover, right? Usually it is an illustrative surface that covers the content. Take that analogy a little further and you get an act that ‘covers’ for something that may or may not be there.

Great acting is about tapping into internal resources, which we all have, and using it to the fullest. Acting from inside leads to believable characters simply because the emotions are real. That shows – how could it not? Humans are very good at spotting emotional truth – they can be fooled, but only when they allow themselves to be.

The most moving performances, the ones that really touch you, involve actors who bring themselves – their emotions, their experiences, their physicality – to the role.

Method acting stimulates the process by insisting on truthfulness from every angle.

Simulation in acting is a sham, a pretense, a shortcut that will only lead to mediocre performances at best. Stimulation, on the other hand, comes with hard work and years of great acting lessons to perfect. The approach of method acting classes turns out to be one of the most, if not the most, successful approaches for insisting on internally-driven acting brought to the outside. (Marlon Brandon, Harvey Keitel, Denzel Washington, Ellyn Burstyn, Al Pacino, Sean Penn – the list goes on and on – were trained in The Method.)

When it comes to solid method acting classes in London, I am renowned for providing top level instruction. By stimulating your inner tools, not simulating them.

Acting Courses

oxbowseo — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:53:06 +0000

Designed To Take Your Acting To An Exceptional Level

…Even If You Have Never Acted Before In Your Life!

One of the most common reasons I hear from people who want to start a career in acting but haven’t done so yet, is that they don’t want to make a fool of themselves.

Let’s face it, you don’t want to turn up to an acting class where everyone is experienced and you feel out of your depth, but you do want an environment that is serious about acting, and delivers a safe and encouraging atmosphere for you to start to develop your ability.

I realised some time ago that it is difficult for adults to find this kind of course, so I developed my own actors’ studio to allow people with little or no acting experience to begin their acting journey.

But I wanted to do more than just create a great environment. I wanted to create exceptional actors. To be honest with you, I have always been a bit obsessed with outstanding acting. Not ‘ok’ acting or ‘middle of the road’ acting, but truly brilliant, outstanding, eye-popping acting.

This is what led me to Method Acting many years ago, and it’s the acting technique that will allow you to take your ability from basic to outstanding.

I love Method Acting, and I love educating people in the approach and giving them the chance to understand and practise the approach used by the world’s top actors.

Now, I’m not saying that’s an overnight process, but I do have a process, and a process that is used by the top 1% of the acting elite.

Many top film actors like Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep all started just like you. They didn’t know how to achieve great acting, but they studied it in earnest. They studied Method Acting as opposed to any other acting technique because it has is proven to achieve outstanding acting.

I specialise in Method Acting, and most of my students start off with no experience and begin to develop their technique and confidence to a top professional level with me and my specialist coaches.

If this sounds like what you’re looking for, then the first step is becoming a beginner… Before beginner there is just wishful thinking and ‘what if’s’.

To start the process, come along to my Introduction to Method Acting Boot Camp, where you will have an inspiring and potentially life changing experience.

It’s called ShowBUSINESS for a reason

oxbowseo — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:50:48 +0000

One aspect that actors need to understand when starting a career in acting is that it is a business. We spend a lot of time and creativity perfecting our acting abilities to a top level, so we owe it to ourselves to be just as creative within the business of acting.

The problem is that the business and creative side often clash. Actors are artistic people and are not generally best suited to business. But it happens to be the best way to get your work seen.

As much as I loathe the celebrity media actors, we could learn a thing or two from some of the professionals in this arena.

Let’s take Jordan aka Katie Price and Peter Andre.

Ok, I know I might lose you here, but try and stick with this for a moment.

Some may say they have no real talent to talk of, are pretty shallow and are not the most intelligent people (I will come to that in a minute).

But, and this is a big but. They are never out of the media and they are making a fortune. Now that’s clever!

Katie Price is outstanding at the business of showbusiness. Like her or loathe her, that is a fact.

She dominates all the trashy media. You may think that is easy, but it’s probably not as easy as you think.

Now, if you are a talented actor and actually have something to shout about, you owe it to yourself and to society to get that talent seen. We need more outstanding actors with the ability to touch us, move us, make comments on our society and make a difference on a deep level.

Good knows we need something to balance out the Katie Prices and the Big Brother evictees.

Education on the business of acting is the essential ingredient missing from the mainstream drama school training and other acting courses and acting classes.

This is something I teach my students on my acting courses, as I feel I owe it to them to give them the best possible chance of success in this business.

So, no matter what acting training, acting classes or acting courses you end up doing, make sure they teach you how to get work at the end of it and how to get your work seen.

Want a Career in Acting?

oxbowseo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:36:46 +0000

The number one obstacle to having a career in acting is usually YOU!

A hard pill to swallow, but generally true.

But it’s not your fault. You may be influenced by those around you, telling you to concentrate on a proper job, informing you that actors never get work and reminding you that you don’t even know if you have any talent.
If you want a career in acting, DON’T LISTEN TO THEM!

No one would ever do anything in life if it depended on the opinions of others, especially those with no experience in the field.

There is nothing more soul destroying than an unfulfilled goal. So, if you want a career in acting, you need to take some massive action.

First, get some acting lessons. Take some acting classes and acting courses so that you can understand where your ability is. Then you may well want to apply to an acting school or a drama school to gain professional acting training.

There are many Drama Schools in London to choose from. London tends to be the hub of actor training in the UK, although there are some Drama Schools in the major UK cities.

After you have trained, you will want to venture into the big bad world of show business.

Here, you will need to master the ‘business of acting’.

You must think of yourself as a product, and market yourself as one. Understand your unique selling points, and then contact a large list of potential buyers of your product – in this instance, they’re called Casting Directors and Agents. Show your product off. Get your buyers to see your work, so they feel comfortable with their purchase.

Then once you have a foothold in the marketplace, things get a bit easier. It’s just like starting a new business – getting it off the ground requires time, energy and investment.

But your first stop is your acting training and getting involved in good quality acting courses.

Check out my acting courses at www.briantimoneyacting.co.uk/acting-courses which is my acting school, providing high quality acting courses in London.

Best wishes

Brian Timoney

Develop your acting potential through use of emotions

oxbowseo — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:24:38 +0000

Most people assume that actors use their emotions. Not so. Many actors come from the ‘faking it’ school of acting. In many UK Drama Schools and Acting Schools, they actually hold acting classes and acting lessons on how to fake crying and laughing.

The technique used by many of the drama schools involves the actor using their diaphragm (the area below your stomach) to fake crying and laughing. You basically pull the diaphragm in and out rapidly to stimulate your solar plexus to hopefully produce the desired result. It is also assumed that because the two emotions come from a similar physical area, the same approach can work for both.

There is another method acting school of thought.

In Method Acting, the actor is required to stimulate, for REAL, the appropriate emotion within themselves for the scene. The human being is a complex instrument and is capable of creating emotion at will – no need for faking.

The way that this is achieved is through the senses. We experience the world through our senses. We see things, we hear things, we touch, we smell and taste things. This is how emotion can be recreated.

For example, have you ever heard a song from your past that reminded you of someone or a particular moment, and started to feel emotional? Or, have you ever been really hungry, and started to salivate when thinking about your favourite meal? This is what Method Actors call ‘sense memory’.

Method Actors have acting classes and acting lessons on how to use their own memories in conjunction with their senses to recreate emotion, which they then fuse with the imaginary character and events they are portraying.

This is extremely effective for the actor in their actor training. It also allows a more interesting journey through their acting training. The actor works through a series of predefined exercises, and builds up a bank of memories which are then used when required.

In much the same way that a plumber or joiner selects the correct tool for a particular job, the Method Actor selects the appropriate memories for a particular scene.

Acting courses should be designed to empower the actor, and give them a way of working that is both creative and progressional. For the Method Actor, the more they experience in life, the more they have to bring to their acting. It is a continual process of improvement for the actor, and all actors should continually experiment in acting classes and acting courses.

Best wishes

Brian Timoney