Modeling & Acting Acting 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does 'playing an objective' mean in Stanislavski-based acting?
- Focusing on the audience's reaction during a scene
- Pursuing a specific want or goal that drives a character's actions throughout a scene (Correct answer)
- Memorizing the scene objectively without personal interpretation
- Identifying the playwright's intention for a given act
Correct answer: Pursuing a specific want or goal that drives a character's actions throughout a scene
An objective is what a character actively wants in a scene; playing it gives the actor a purpose that generates truthful, motivated behavior.
Question 2: What is 'screen direction' and why must film actors be aware of it?
- Notes the director gives between takes about performance adjustments
- The consistent left-right orientation of characters relative to the camera, governed by the 180-degree rule (Correct answer)
- The angle at which an actor should face during close-up shots
- The movement path an actor takes from one set to another
Correct answer: The consistent left-right orientation of characters relative to the camera, governed by the 180-degree rule
Screen direction ensures that characters maintain consistent spatial relationships across cuts; violating the 180-degree line causes disorienting visual jumps.
Question 3: What is 'cheating out' in stage acting?
- Improvising lines that are not in the script
- Angling your body slightly toward the audience while appearing to address another actor on stage (Correct answer)
- Pretending to perform a physical action without actually executing it
- Memorizing only the beginning of scenes and improvising the rest
Correct answer: Angling your body slightly toward the audience while appearing to address another actor on stage
Cheating out allows the audience to see an actor's face and body while the actor maintains the illusion of speaking directly to their scene partner.
Question 4: In improvisational comedy, the principle of 'Yes, and...' means:
- Always agree with the audience's suggestions and then add your own ideas
- Accept your scene partner's offer as true and build on it with additional information (Correct answer)
- Say yes to every role offered and then negotiate the terms afterward
- Affirm the director's notes and then ask clarifying questions
Correct answer: Accept your scene partner's offer as true and build on it with additional information
'Yes, and' is the foundational improv rule: accepting what your partner establishes keeps scenes moving forward collaboratively.
Question 5: What is the primary difference between a monologue and a soliloquy?
- A monologue is always comedic; a soliloquy is always dramatic
- A monologue is addressed to another character or the audience; a soliloquy is private speech revealing inner thoughts (Correct answer)
- A monologue is scripted; a soliloquy is improvised
- A monologue is used in film; a soliloquy is exclusive to theater
Correct answer: A monologue is addressed to another character or the audience; a soliloquy is private speech revealing inner thoughts
A soliloquy is a character thinking aloud when alone (or as if alone), while a monologue is an extended speech directed at others.
Question 6: What does 'motivational recall' or 'affective memory' primarily involve?
- Recalling stage blocking from a previous production to recreate it
- Drawing on personal emotional memories to produce genuine feelings in a role (Correct answer)
- Using visualization techniques to memorize lines faster
- Recalling the director's motivational speech before a difficult scene
Correct answer: Drawing on personal emotional memories to produce genuine feelings in a role
Affective memory (emotional memory) asks actors to recall past personal experiences and the feelings associated with them to fuel a character's emotional life.
Question 7: What does it mean to 'play the action, not the emotion' in contemporary acting training?
- Focus on the physical choreography of a scene rather than how it makes you feel
- Pursue a specific transitive verb (e.g., to persuade, to comfort) rather than trying to manufacture a feeling (Correct answer)
- Avoid showing any emotion on stage to appear more professional
- React only to physical stimuli and ignore your scene partner's emotional state
Correct answer: Pursue a specific transitive verb (e.g., to persuade, to comfort) rather than trying to manufacture a feeling
Playing an action (a transitive verb directed at your partner) naturally produces emotion, whereas trying to 'feel' something often results in forced, untruthful acting.
Modeling & Acting Acting 5
What does 'playing an objective' mean in Stanislavski-based acting?