Description
Book SynopsisStarting from the idea that the main hindrance to a great acting performance is self-consciousness on the part of the performer,
My Character Wouldn't do That examines the ways in which some of our traditional and contemporary approaches to acting put us into a mind space' that can encourage self-consciousness. Examining evidence from a range of contemporary cognitive sciences, the book approaches acting and actor training in an entirely different way. Based on the latest research into brain activity and human behaviour, the book covers areas that standard acting texts do (character, emotion, memory, imagination, making active choices) but reconceives each of these elements through the lens of that contemporary research. The book is the first to look closely at what contemporary research tells us about: personality/character and how environment shapes us how memory works and how actors can work with (rather than against) their memory in preparing for performan
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction Acting Good And Bad What Does a Good Performance Feel Like? An Actor’s Brain Works In 3 Stages Acting Is a Holistic Process
The Actor’s Brain Our Specs Battling On More Than One Front Self-Consciousness And Fear Modes Of Thinking The Right Mode at The Right Time
Memory How Memory Works Text And Memory Memory And Mood Congruence The Blissful State of Automaticity Working
With Memory
Character Who Am I Anyway? Predicting Behaviour My Character Wouldn’t Do That Turn Your Prep on Its Head
Imagination And Attention The Fragile State of Attention 2 Types of Imagination The Impulse to Speak Mindfulness As a Weapon
Emotion Emotion And Feeling The WHOLE Emotional Picture: Primary, Background, And Social Emotion Learning From Sherlock Holmes
Performance Anxiety Your Brain Is Not Your Friend The Power of Accepting Yourself Letting The Mental Battle Go Selected Bibliography Index
