The emotional memory
Lee Strasberg
«From a craft point of view, acting is responding to imaginary stimuli with the same truth and behavior one would in real life as though you would if you were in fact the character.»[1]
An exercise:
1st task, mental: Think about where you were yesterday at a certain time, solve a mathematical task, etc.
2nd task, muscle activity: Perform any muscular activity you command to yourself.
3rd task, sensory or emotional: Smell smoke in the room, try to be hungry or angry, hate, be jealous or outraged.
An exercise:
1st task, mental: Think about where you were yesterday at a certain time, solve a mathematical task, etc.
2nd task, muscle activity: Perform any muscular activity you command to yourself.
3rd task, sensory or emotional: Smell smoke in the room, try to be hungry or angry, hate, be jealous or outraged.
The first two tasks are easy to accomplish, while difficulties arise in the third category. What do I have to do? We can control the functioning of mental and muscular energy directly with our willpower, and we can do very little with our senses or feelings. They are not under our direct control. This is because there is always a stimulus in real life that sets our reaction in motion.
«The actor is the only artist whose raw material he is himself, using his own muscles, feelings, mind, voice, language and gestures to identify with another person and create him or her.»[2]
In order to authentically express (not play!) emotions in a scene, we need our emotional memory. Emotional memory is nothing more than an emotional reaction to an object. The object or the stimulus serves to recall past experiences in me and to re-experience the connected emotion anew and to be able to use it for the scenes.
«Emotional memory is therefore the emotional reaction to an object you are familiar with.»[3]
«The actor is the only artist whose raw material he is himself, using his own muscles, feelings, mind, voice, language and gestures to identify with another person and create him or her.»[2]
In order to authentically express (not play!) emotions in a scene, we need our emotional memory. Emotional memory is nothing more than an emotional reaction to an object. The object or the stimulus serves to recall past experiences in me and to re-experience the connected emotion anew and to be able to use it for the scenes.
«Emotional memory is therefore the emotional reaction to an object you are familiar with.»[3]
How do my emotions work?
My emotions do not react by themselves unless I receive a stimulus to which they can respond. They don't feel by themselves, they react to the information I give them.
However, there are very specific conditions for this:
Relaxation
If the actor wants to recreate and revive an experience, he must first relax.
Sensory impressions
The emotional memory is brought to life by sensory impressions.
«Emotions don't respond to orders, but to sensory impressions. If I would tell you: Produce a feeling of hunger, a watery mouth, you will not be able to follow my command. But if I instruct you to meditate on the sensory impressions of chocolate, you will soon have a watery mouth and look for a piece of chocolate.»[4]
Concentration on the object
The actor's concentration has to lie completely on the object (and not on the worry about how to express his emotions). For example, if I'm supposed to express fear, I imagine the object that causes fear in me. The actor is thus busy creating the cause internally and not the results. We should not insist on creating the same emotion. As soon as we pay attention to our reaction and not to the object, the stimulus is suppressed. So never concentrate on the emotion itself, but on the stimulus, the object that triggered this feeling. Emotional memory is a reawakening of memories and thus of emotions (and this with every performance, every take and every rehearsal). It is not a matter of just thinking about the event, but to re-experience it in this way.
Feeling with the body
Our body is a great help for the emotional memory. Where in your body do you feel your emotions most intense?
Physical pain is easier to feel than emotional pain and therefore easier to recreate on stage or on a film set. From psychosomatic illnesses we know that emotional events also express themselves physically. You can take a physical pain for strong emotional scenes, which you know very well e.g. stomachache, headache or toothache. Suppose you had to commit suicide in a scene with a gun. Since you have no experience with this, the most important thing at the moment is not suicide, but pain when the bullet enters your head. How do I imagine that?
I need to find a substitution of reality, a physical pain I know. For example, I am thinking of an ice-cold shower that I took on a hot summer day. This experience, this reality, I imagine. I imagine that the gun is now the shower head of the shower and that the ice-cold shower could start at any moment. That's what I'm focusing on. In this way I use my own experience, my own reality and try to create it in a very strong way.
However, there are very specific conditions for this:
Relaxation
If the actor wants to recreate and revive an experience, he must first relax.
Sensory impressions
The emotional memory is brought to life by sensory impressions.
«Emotions don't respond to orders, but to sensory impressions. If I would tell you: Produce a feeling of hunger, a watery mouth, you will not be able to follow my command. But if I instruct you to meditate on the sensory impressions of chocolate, you will soon have a watery mouth and look for a piece of chocolate.»[4]
Concentration on the object
The actor's concentration has to lie completely on the object (and not on the worry about how to express his emotions). For example, if I'm supposed to express fear, I imagine the object that causes fear in me. The actor is thus busy creating the cause internally and not the results. We should not insist on creating the same emotion. As soon as we pay attention to our reaction and not to the object, the stimulus is suppressed. So never concentrate on the emotion itself, but on the stimulus, the object that triggered this feeling. Emotional memory is a reawakening of memories and thus of emotions (and this with every performance, every take and every rehearsal). It is not a matter of just thinking about the event, but to re-experience it in this way.
Feeling with the body
Our body is a great help for the emotional memory. Where in your body do you feel your emotions most intense?
Physical pain is easier to feel than emotional pain and therefore easier to recreate on stage or on a film set. From psychosomatic illnesses we know that emotional events also express themselves physically. You can take a physical pain for strong emotional scenes, which you know very well e.g. stomachache, headache or toothache. Suppose you had to commit suicide in a scene with a gun. Since you have no experience with this, the most important thing at the moment is not suicide, but pain when the bullet enters your head. How do I imagine that?
I need to find a substitution of reality, a physical pain I know. For example, I am thinking of an ice-cold shower that I took on a hot summer day. This experience, this reality, I imagine. I imagine that the gun is now the shower head of the shower and that the ice-cold shower could start at any moment. That's what I'm focusing on. In this way I use my own experience, my own reality and try to create it in a very strong way.
One sip from the wine glass is enough to know what the contents of the whole wine bottle taste like - to impersonate a murderer, I must not have killed anyone.
«There's a big misconception in the acting. The actor thinks he must have the same experience as the character. But in reality, he only needs to have an experience in which he can create a similar feeling. This is then the actor's personal expression.»[5]
If I can activate my emotions in this way, they are not simply played but real. There is even a scientific study. Watch a video clip of the knowledge magazine "Einstein" from SRF: Crying on demand: look into the brain of an actor (German).
If you prefer it in written form, short and crisp in 3 minutes: Actors can order emotions or the more detailed newspaper article in the "Tagesanzeiger": Emotions are their secret of success. (both in German)
If I can activate my emotions in this way, they are not simply played but real. There is even a scientific study. Watch a video clip of the knowledge magazine "Einstein" from SRF: Crying on demand: look into the brain of an actor (German).
If you prefer it in written form, short and crisp in 3 minutes: Actors can order emotions or the more detailed newspaper article in the "Tagesanzeiger": Emotions are their secret of success. (both in German)
[1] Lee Strasberg "Schauspielen & Das Training des Schauspielers", Alexander Verlag Berlin
[2] dito
[3] Eva-Maria Admiral, Eric Wehrlin, "Vorhang auf!", Bundes-Verlag Witten
[4] dito
[5] dito
[2] dito
[3] Eva-Maria Admiral, Eric Wehrlin, "Vorhang auf!", Bundes-Verlag Witten
[4] dito
[5] dito