acting skills vocab

Question 1

define volume:

VOICE

Answer 1

the loudness of your voice.
- good actors may be deliberately inaudible at times.

Question 2

define projection:

VOICE

Answer 2

making sure your voice can be heard by the whole audience.

Question 3

define tone:

VOICE

Answer 3

an actor’s choice of emotions to sue to express mood in their voice.
- actors need a wide emotional range and rarely want to be monotone.

Question 4

define accent, and what it can tell the audience about a character?

VOICE

Answer 4

• shows class, nationality, status, level of education, etc.
• received pronunciation = ‘posh’ english.

Question 5

define pitch:

VOICE

Answer 5

how high (falsetto) or how low/deep an actor speaks.

Question 6

define intonation:

VOICE

Answer 6

the rise and fall in an actor’s pitch.

Question 7

define resonance:

VOICE

Answer 7

the richness of an actor’s voice - fullest and most resonant from the chest.

Question 8

define stressed/unstressed:

VOICE

Answer 8

stressed/emphasised word/syllable is said more loudly.
unstressed one is said quietly.

Question 9

define enunciation:

VOICE

Answer 9

how clearly an actor pronounces their words; clarity of their diction. this can be broken down into plosive consonants, sibilance, etc.

Question 10

define flow/continuity:

VOICE

Answer 10

• can be deliberately, for effect.
• uses stutter, hesitation, fillers (um, er).

Question 11

define movement/gesture:

PHYSICALITY

Answer 11

movement: stillness can be very powerful. (you know what movement is, right?)

gesture: an actor’s choice of hand, head, or shoulder movements to give signals.

Question 12

what are four things you must describe about a character?

PHYSICALITY

Answer 12

• facial expression: (be as specific as possible when analysing this - break it down to specific parts of the face and specific emotions).
• posture: how can actor stands (slouched, shoulder’s back, head down, head up).
• body language: use emotion words (happy, sad, etc.)
• gait: an actor’s choice of how to walk.

Question 13

define reaction:

PHYSICALITY

Answer 13

shows interaction between 2+ characters, reveals a character’s internal emotions.

Question 14

give some examples of energy/tension:

PHYSICALITY

Answer 14

1. exhausted
2. relaxed
3. neutral
4. alert
5. tense
6. passionate
7. tragic

Question 15

what types of eye contact could occur, and what is gaze?

PHYSICALITY

Answer 15

• focused
• intermittent
• totally withdrawn for effect
• gaze = intense eye contact focussed on a specific object/person/space/distance.

Question 16

define mannerism:

PHYSICALITY

Answer 16

a small physical habit or tic used to make a character more unique.

Question 17

define gestus:

PHYSICALITY

Answer 17

a repeated, identifiable gesture or movement which sums up the character.

Question 18

how would you describe an actors’s positioning and proximity?

Answer 18

positioning: use names of stage directions.

proximity: choice of distance to stand from other actors/the audience.

Question 19

define use of levels:

Answer 19

an actor’s choice of how high or low to stand on stage, often in relation to other actors.
- shows role/status/mood.

Question 20

define blocking:

Answer 20

• not the rehearsal technique.
• getting in the audience’s sightline to other actors.

Question 21

define formation:

Answer 21

a specific shape of two or more actors on stage (in a line, circle).

Question 22

define choreography and unsynchronised/synchronised:

Answer 22

choreography: the organisation of a whole group’s movements on stage.

synchronised/unsynchronised: actors’ actions can be deliberately coordinated to matched each other or not for effect.

Question 23

define chairography:

Answer 23

the organisation of chairs within and between scenes (e.g. in Girls Like That).