Ennio
Coltorti

Acting technique, COM MDP acting technique, text analysis

The course explores the concept of "Acting", seen in its facets, focusing on the emotional structure, analyzing what the student / actor and the student spectator experience on the scene.

The course canonically include a first theoretical part and a second, prevalent, practical part according to a traditional and at the same time experimental and innovative method.

Theoretical section:

• The concept of "Acting" is made as "scientific" as possible, it is codified and consequently made as "scientific" as possible.
  For each group an introduction of about two / three hours is foreseen in which the relationship between natural and universal tendencies to the activity of "pretending" are transformed into "profession".
• We will analyze facts and events of everyday life and film productions in which the concept of "truth" is enslaved to that of "representation / evocation of truth".
• Films and shows and emotional / situational experiences lived by the mass in relation to the concept of "memory" and "sharing" will be taken into consideration.
• We will analyze the various material and immaterial possibilities of the human instrument at our disposal to achieve the performance required in the various specifics of the acting activity: cinema (prevalent); dubbing; radio; theater; cabaret etc:

Practice section:

1st phase: Without camera

• Each student is invited to the platform / stage;
• The student is stimulated to face the "excitement / discomfort" of being at the center of attention in order to transform it into "excitement / pleasure / ease" and get him used to managing his "performance anxiety";
• The student will perform a monologue chosen by him from scenes taken from films or from theatrical literature that have provoked significant emotions in him;
• The student-spectators who attended the performance will be invited to focus on the emotions felt during the performance and reveal them as objectively as possible;
• The student will be asked to reveal the emotional movements and thoughts that invested him during the performance;
• The answers will be compared;
• The difficulties and impediments detected by the teacher during his performance will be indicated to the pupil;
• The student will be invited to repeat the exhibition using the suggestions and advice of the teacher;
• The positive / negative variations compared to the previous performance will be evaluated together with the student-spectators.

2nd phase: With camera

Each pupil will repeat the monologue this time recorded in the foreground;
The recorded work will be shown to the pupil himself and to the pupils-spectators commenting in detail every problem or every functional positive characteristic of the purely cinematographic interpretation requested and performed.

3rd phase: Conclusion

General considerations of the teacher

The aim of the course is to provide students with all the elements to manage "performance anxiety" in an optimal way, transforming excitement-discomfort into excitement-ease.