What is The Meisner Technique: The Repetition Exercise (Part 1)
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2021
- Most people associate the Meisner Technique with the Repetition Exercise, and for good reason! It is the foundation from which the rest of the technique is built, but there's SO much more to it than simply repeating. Throughout the 2-year training, this basic foundation will evolve significantly.
In this series, I will take you through the Repetition Exercise, from the basic repetition that students learn on the first day of class, to the Moment-to-Moment work that lays the foundation for the improvisational style that makes Meisner-trained actors so valuable and talented.
If you haven't already, please consider subscribing to follow along this series, and feel free to ask any questions in the comments.
I totally agree with what you said at the end. Meisner helps get rid of nerves because you're so focused on on the other person and letting them affect you. You don't have space to think about "yourself". And then when you have those guidelines in your mind -- on the histrionic side of the character -- you can let however your scene partner affects you, filter through this pre-defined mesh of your character study. You need the research to make great choices and you need to listen properly to be moved honestly.
This is very interesting. Basically it is like being a musician and tuning with your orchestra.
Excellent insight! You can tell Jim really cares in the way he communicates. And it sticks with you. Love the nugget at the end: It's impossible to be nervous when the focus is off yourself.
Thank you for watching! We're glad you found it beneficial!
Thank you! Jim its beautiful the way you explain Meisner, so grateful. I teach Acting in Mexico. Love to hear from you!
Great! Thank you for sharing ✨
This is fantastic. There is indeed so much misinformation about the Meisner technique (especially online).... this is clear, thorough, and very well taught. Thank you.
Thank you for watching!
Thank you for sharing this with us for free.
Great video, thanks for sharing. Repetition is so powerful!
hi joe, thank you for watching and sharing this with me and i agree 1000% - jim
This is really great. It's clear the way you explain this work. Dancing with your partner is a great analogy.
My Mom always told me that part of talking is learning to listen and that really helps with my acting ability. You're video is very helpful for me to understand how and why to use the Meisner.
Thoroughly enjoyed this 😊
Great Technique!!!
Amazing video. You’re an amazing coach!
Thank you for watching!
I love the reference to the ‘leaf’ - I immediately recalled Leontes line in Shakespeare’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ - ‘I am a feather for each wind that blows’.
hi edward, thank you for sharing this with me and i am sending you my very best - jim
This isn't just educating but this is also inspiring. Imagine being the inheritor of the original teaching and you're almost oath to teach too to spread it. Amazing!
hi sebastian, it was truly been my honor and privilege to do so for over 30 years - i'm grateful you get it, too!
I love these videos
Thank you! I am the only acting studio in the entire state of Montana. Would love all the help we can get.
I would like to see and learn a little more of this technique sir . Really looking forward to it.
Thanks for watching! This is a multi-part series. More coming soon!
This is great, Jim! I teach theatre to kids and teens and I'm wondering what adjustments, if any, would need to happen to teach this technique to students this age?
Great video!!
Thank you! We're glad you enjoyed it!
This is great!
hi marcello - thank you! jim
Yo, love you're channel, this is perfect for the next generation of actors! Thanku so much.
Thanks so much for checking it out!
Jim you are super phenomenal and your explanation of these techniques speaks to that part of me that knows this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life. Thanks and see you soon.
hi casear, thank you so much for kind words and for taking the time to watch this and i look forward to seeing you soon as well - jim
Thank you sir.I just read meisner on acting.Your video to teach help me.thank you sir.i m from India
Thank you for watching!
Hi Jim,
THANK YOU!!!
I've been exploring acting after a pretty fruitful career in music. I'm now in my mid 40s.
I got the Meisner book. Which, to my shame, was a real struggle to comprehend. The was a documentation of a semester of beginner students.
I hate to say it, but the whole thing read like it was a self indulgent cult. BUT from your 14 minute video, the book, and the technique seems to make much more sense.
It's never explicitly said in the book what many of these exercises were actually for. To my slow-witted brain, the exercises came across as esoteric and self-indulgent.
In this video, the difference between listening and reacting, and being robotic, or changing things for the sake of it, is crystal clear. This is clearly a VERY good technique, which just can't work in book form. At least not to visually and emotionally driven people like me.
Is this a decent assessment of the goal of the technique? Making "acting" less of a performance, or a broadcast, and more of an (emotionally) improvisational, real and REACTIVE reality? Less predetermined, and more based on your partner? I'm sorry if this is obvious Meisner 101, I'm an old record producer.
And on that note, do you do intro courses for aging, slow-witted 46 year old people like myself? I know mastery takes years, but I'm a Brit in LA, I would be interested in coming up to join you for a while.
Bobby x
Hi Bobby,
Thanks for watching. Yes, Sandy's goal was always to create actors who reacted truthfully, from their guts, under imaginary circumstances.
Our classes are open to anyone! If you'd be interested in interviewing, our website is themeisnertechniquestudio.com
Please come build a proper Meisner school in the Seattle area!!!! The need is great. We don't produce much film, unfortunately, but have a robust theatre community and we need this kind of training.
Hi Jennifer, I can't start a school there as I am busy enough with mine in San Francisco and Hawaii but I would be happy to come up for a weekend of teachings for students and teachers of the Meisner Technique in Seattle. If you can organize something, I will come. Until then, thank you for the kind words and my very best to you - Jim
Thank you for sharing this its gold.
Question. What if I have a hard time reading the other person causing long silence after the other person says something? My mind goes blank and I can't think of simple behavior words to say.
At that point do I just give up control and repeat exactly what the other person says?
Hi Christopher,
Thank you for watching! This is the beauty of the repetition exercise - it's designed to get you out of your head and get your focus onto your partner. If you have trouble articulating a moment, the solution depends on the cause of the problem.
If you are struggling to find the word for someone's behavior, you could say something like "you're being confusing." Their reaction to that moment would most likely be something along the lines of "you're lost," and a new moment emerges.
If you are struggling because you didn't notice new behavior in your partner, then it's probably a sign that you are putting pressure on yourself to "discover" a moment. If the moment didn't change, don't force it to change. Just repeat and keep your focus on your partner.
No matter what, this exercise works like a muscle. The more you work at it, the easier it will become to pick up tiny adjustments in your partner's behavior.
Forward to 4:30
Hey Jim, thanks for the amazing video. Well articulated and put in basic, easy to understand format 🤌🏾
I wanted to ask: In repetition, how do you avoid being "mechanical"? What inner signs should you watch out for in your repeting or when watching others rep, that are signs they've gone mechanical?
I find that, when I'm working, things are happening to me, I feel open and responsive to my partner but I'm not animated in my responses.
I'm not sure whether I'm going back into a mechanical space even though in that moment, I feel as though I'm not doing anything until my partner makes me.
If I don't feel a conflict, issue, new moment or spark. I tend to bit chill with my response back. Should you always be annimated or with a sort of energy when youre doing reps? Or can you be relaxed and be speaking from chill space, "if" thats what happening to you from your partner is doing?
This is more so for single sentence rep rather than calling out behaviour.
Apologies for the really long message. I've been puzzling this for sometime and wanted to get clarity.
Thanks for your time.
Hi Jerry,
There's no right answer to this question. The only way you can really go wrong is trying to control or predict your response. Usually, people who are mechanical in their responses are not truly in the moment. Putting all of your focus on your partner will prevent you from spending time in your own head, waiting for your turn to speak, and it will remove the self-judging factor. When your focus is 100% on your partner, you won't have the time or the bandwidth to focus on yourself, and you'll find that your responses become infinitely more instinctive and human
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio Hey Jim,
Thank you for your response. It massively appreciated and make alot of sense. I'll incorporate what you're saying the next time I'm in Rep. I find myself watching a lot of the videos you've posted on acting and creating, well "earning characters". Thank you again.
I haven't finished my Meisner training. I got pulled away on a job in the middle of it. I'm only in the first year and had down maybe 10 weeks of classes.
What advice would you give someone in my shoes about earning a character with the meisner tools I currently have?
I've tried using "shared memories" and they seem to help alot in separating certain character traits that are specific to me. How to move on from here I'm finding interesting but equally tricky.
Thanks Jerry for the question, I was confused too as you and thank you Jim for the clarity.
As someone who is currently interested in an acting, I was curious how long the exercises should go back and forth for. Thank y'all for the amazing video!
Hi! Thank you for watching.
As the exercises become more advanced, they will go on for longer. The beginning repetition will not go longer than a few minutes generally. The advanced moment-to-moment work could go on for 30 minutes. In class, it generally lasts around 10-15 minutes. Ultimately it's the teacher's decision how long to let the exercise go on. As students become more advanced, they will often use this exercise as a warm-up and will be experienced enough that they will be able to end it when they have benefitted enough from the exercises.
Often, particularly as the activities are introduced, the exercise will come to a truthful end (Sometimes the activity is completed. Sometimes there is no reason for the person at the door to stay in the room any longer). In these instances, we watch carefully to ensure that students behave truthfully: do they actually leave the room or do they stick around because they feel the exercise isn't supposed to end?
I hope that helps!
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio I am asking for help and advice.
1) How to show during repetitions that my partner's opinion on my feelings was wrong and at the same time avoid correcting and lecturing him?
2) Whose truth is more true: mine when I feel and show compassion - or my partner who calls it a mockery. The one man can be wrong, but here the whole group nods and admits that yes, I'm making fun of him. Like I'm shooting blanks.
That reminds me of some exercises I had during my acting education in Berlin and in Wr Neustadt.
We made very often solo Impros for the attention circles and it took very long in the beginning till we stopped performing and starting to be truthful.
And it reminds me of also an impro we used to do with „I want to talk to you“ (says person Nr 1) and „later“ (says person Nr2).
It taught a lot. We had to go on till we stopped using our „repertoire“ and started to be honest.
And also of one impro where one had to do a movement and the other one observe it as precisely as possible and then tell the movement with every detail in the right order.
That were really some key moments.
I loved it.
Another impro was also very interesting: to talk and it is not allowed to negate anything the other one says.
I find this so annoying. I don't understand it
When do Meisner technique practitioners start their monologues/scene study?
Saw them do a repetition exercise in Barry, season 2, I think.
Thanks for the amazing session,
Q1- Can I ask questions during reps, for instance I ask why are you smiling and then repeating the question again or my partner should answer that or we will rep that answer?
Q2- How to follow your crash course, I mean how much days or time should I invest on each level of the exercise, on the basic reps than the 2nd level taking the partners behaviour personally and then including some activities as you explained in your further video of the course?
Hi Harry,
Thank you for watching!
Questions should never be asked, since it breaks the exercise. Questions also open you up to doubting yourself, instead of behaving instinctively from your gut. So instead of "Why are you smiling?" the moment could be
"you're enjoying this" or
"you think this is funny" or maybe
"you're mocking me"
And your partner could agree with you, saying:
"I am enjoying this" or they could doubt your statement saying
"I'm enjoying this?"
To which your response may be "you didn't agree with me"
The possibilities are endless, but questions limit these possible outcomes.
There is no right answer to your second question, since it depends on how comfortable you get with these exercises. Often, students will naturally progress from one level to the next within an exercises because some of the pieces came together. By the end of 3rd Session (one year into the training), all of our students will be able to work freely, connected, with moment-to-moment work that flows so easily that an outsider might confuse it with a scene.
I hope that helps
The introduction is 5 minutes long. They start at 5:30 for anyone wanting to skip the history and resume.
What a great exercise! Whenever I watch I react as I'm in with the actors. Do the actors exercise at home? How do you recommend to do it when they are alone?
Thank you for watching!
Our students are required to practice a minimum of 3 times per week outside of class, so they generally meet up for at least an hour at a time to practice. This technique is nearly impossible to practice alone. The best recommendation I can offer is to try to notice others' behavior in every day life, but this is no substitute for the opportunity to practice with another actor
Hi there,
What I find challenging in repition is seeing the other person, being present as you say. When I am however, I seem to reach a plateau where I cant go deeper.
It would be amazing to see part 2 of this video, you might touch upon it.
hi and thank you for watching. re:it being challenging to stay present, here's the truth - MOST everyone - especially actors - are rarely present. this is exactly why sandy spent 65 years creating "his way" - to turn us in to THE most present, moment to moment, world-class listening machines - BUT, this takes time so be patient and work hard and it WILL come.
i am sending you my very best - jim
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio
I have come to realise that and accept it.
Thank you jim
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio ironically, some of these methods are hypnotic therapeutic interventions. Reflective listening but also feeling the other person in real time in every moment. The mind needs repetition to reinforce (subconscious) learning however in this case it more or the vibe and emotion behind the words and not what's being said, but how. Fascinating
How long does the first repetition(Ping Pong) happen? A minute? Two minutes?
I studied at the Playhouse, in 91 & 92 with Pinter and Stetson and Sandy occasionally came in as a guest teacher. These actors are so net new at repetition. It would be more helpful to show two experienced actors repeating - showing the learning process second. (Or did I miss that video? Would have been interesting to see those clips spliced one after the other). That way the student (in this case the viewer) gets the END POINT TECHNIQUE straight. He doesn't instruct them to take in the EMOTIONAL TONE of the other person during the repetition - what are they saying with their TONE - and then responding to that. That's why it seems so mechanical. (And while, it's not about the words, the male student doesn't take the word "you" from the woman and make it "I". This distances him from himself. It's hard to have an EMOTIONAL opinion when you're distancing yourself. "I crossed my arms" is what HE should have repeated. Maybe he would have realized he was defensive.) Focusing on the other person and their emotional state is the best takeaway from this video. Meisner is the only technique that replicates human interaction - we respond to emotions first - words second. In life, we've all met people who don't listen and not actors can use this technique for much the same reason.
Hi I’m living in Sweden and I would really love to try out the meisner technique there is one 4-day course I’m going to sign up to but I’m wondering how I can keep consistent at home and how I can implement the meisner technique in auditions, acting…
Hi,
Thank you for watching! A 4-day course is an excellent way to jump into the fundamentals of The Meisner Technique, however it will be difficult to implement much that you learn in this class in auditions and in your craft because it will barely scratch the surface of what The Meisner Technique has to offer. We would recommend taking the 4-day class and seeing if the technique seems to resonate for you. If it does, we would recommend a longer-term class, which would allow you to really dig into the details and benefits of The Meisner Technique. Taking a more serious class would also likely help you find other people who would be interested in practicing outside of class, which is the best way to stay consistent when you're away from the training. We hope that helps!
Is that a loud bass booming in the background?
So basically what I understood from your video is that you have to tune into the co-conversationalist, not only that hut also sense their vibe and respond with the natural feelings that you feel arise from their part, right?
Hello Jim,
This brings back some memories, thank you for that.
I've done some additional meisner workshops after my one year training and I can confirm that there are great differences in the interpretation by the teachers.
Also i tried an on line class and that totally didn't work for me (not critique on the teacher btw, just all the technological humbug doesn't help, the inevitable delay of the connection and most of all the lack of physical presence of fellow students, there is not connection in every sense of the word)
I would love to know if you have any advice how to maintain the skill set? (apart from lot's of working of course)
Also I do agree with @SuvodipRoy the sound level is very low, and yes the volume button is at eleventhystupid. It sounds very far away, is because I'm on another continent?
Cheers, Pieter
hi pieter - how nice to hear from you and thank you for the feedback re: the volume. at this pint i don't know what to say because it sounds perfect after checking multiple devises but next time, we'll try and bump the audio even more.
RE: trying to learn the technique online, I couldn't agree more. I realize lots of people are trying to do it so if people reading this want to try it, check it out and see for yourself but in my opinion, other than a simple introduction to concepts, once the technique truly begins to evolved it can not and should not be taught online.
RE: how to stay sharp, there's nothing like the actual work but short of that, you can simply watch life unfold and call the behavior you see and hear - don't call it out loud but to yourself. so if a water is rude or flirting with a customer and you're watching this unfold, you can identify the behavior and that will help keep your instincts sharp - make sense? i hope this helps, jim
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio Thank you for the tip Jim. I'll definitely will do that, Pieter
Hi! I have a question, after watching Anthony Montes, teaching in Paris, the meisner technique, it seems he was explaining the opposite on the repeating exercises - that you had to have no emotion, which I found strange at first. So my question is, is it an example of what you said, the deluded understanding of the technique? Thank you.
Hi,
The mechanical, by rote, repetition is absolutely part of the technique, however it it the very first step of the repetition exercise, and students will progress quickly from that stage into the more advanced versions of the repetition. That mechanical approach is an important foundation to ground students, but since our technique is ultimately about connection and absolute truth in imaginary circumstances, it is also important to move to the next stage.
I hope that helps.
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio Thank you for the answer, helps indeed!
How would I bring this technique into the rehearsal process for the stage. I would concede I have limited formal experience in this technique however there have been many instances where Ive found myself reacting to my fellow performers actions, emotions, and character intent and allowed myself to react to them and respond based on them, changing what may have been a choice made in rehearsal to a response made in the moment. How do you value choice vs being in the moment?
Hi Louis,
Thank you for watching.
We'll make a more in-depth video answering this soon. I toured a stage show for 20 years to I understand that it can be a difficult concept, however the simplified answer is that, in The Meisner Technique, we do not make choices that predetermine how we will react in any given moment. We must make choices in order to prepare to come in at the beginning of a scene or an exercise, but we the need to let them go and not cling to our story. Clinging to the story closes us off to the possibilities that may organically arise from our moment-to-moment gut connection to our partners.
I hope that helps
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio How can you tell a story if you don't "Cling" to it? If it's not on the page, it's not on the stage, so to speak. What if the director wants a specific result at a specific point in the action or story. What if the author wants a specific reaction at a specific point in their story. Please with all due respect don't tell me it's a difficult concept, I'm trying to ascertain if it's a valid concept.
Hello sir .
Wanted to know that only being present and stimulated by other will we get the needed emotional experience?
And if the reaction is this instinctive won’t i loose the character and be myself only?
hi ritesh, this exercise is the very beginning of a two year journey where each class builds on the previous class, the previous week, month, and session. it is a brick by brick process and when presented properly, you will not ever "lose the character" because Sandy taught us how to EARN characters, not PLAY them and if that's true then you are working moment to moment form this new, earned point of view - i hope this make sense and my best to you - jim
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio Thankyou sir . Waiting for the upcoming videos . And is there any way i can go for your course in India?
@@riteshkothari3611 no there isn't - just keep watching all of these for now - jim
Starts at 4:30
where is your school in Hawaii? I'm on O'ahu, I'm interested
Hi there,
Thank you for your interest.
Our satellite school is on the Big Island. We generally use it most for intensive retreats. If you're ever interested, we offer updates to our newsletter community!
I am asking for help and advice.
1) How to show during repetitions that my partner's opinion on my feelings was wrong and at the same time avoid correcting and lecturing him?
2) Whose truth is more true: mine when I feel and show compassion - or my partner who calls it a mockery. The one man can be wrong, but here the whole group nods and admits that yes, I'm making fun of him. Like I'm shooting blanks.
I saw a tv news segment in March 2023 introducing the Pacific Playhouse here in Hawaii. But when i searched for it online i cannot find it. Does it exist in Hawaii?
Hi Nic,
We're not familiar with the Pacific Playhouse, so we're not able to guide you further on that. We wish you the best of luck in finding the school that's right for you!
You mention an acting teacher in LA, while I’m sure you don’t want to “out” somebody, I know that in-person exercises are critical to learning Meisner. Is there a teacher in LA you would recommend?
We work with Playhouse West and the William Alderson Acting Studio. This is not to say that there are not other excellent teachers, but those are the ones with which we have extensive experience, so we're confident in recommending them
The video starts at 5:30
i like this because the exercises remind me of blade runner's baseline test
hi too good - thanks for watching and sharing this with me - my best to you, jim
Just wondering. What if you’re playing a character that absolutely loathes your partner and is trying to avoid them in the scene. How do I give them attention when my character isn’t supposed to do that.
Good question!
You don't have to constantly be speaking with someone in order to be completely emotionally connected to them and their behavior. If you have set up that you loathe your partner, you would be aware of and respond to their behavior, even in subtle ways. For example, in a situation where you are stuck in a place with someone you dislike, you may find yourself hyper-aware of their activity, in an almost fight-or-flight defense mechanism. That awareness IS the connection we're looking for. You can connect with your partner while also being truthful to the relationship you have created
I hope that helps
How about if we add words during repetition? Like you have a dark hair: oh I do have a dark hair
You have a dark hair: well I have a dark hair
Etc.
Hi Jim,
Good session. But one thing I would like to tell you is you need not necessarily reply or repeat in the same tempo. You can take a random time lapse to reply.😊
Hope you understood me 😊
Hi Naga,
You may be referring to a more advanced version of this exercises, however for beginners, attempting an exact match is important and effective. The purpose of the exercise is to train students to remove focus from themselves and to instead put their focus squarely on their partner. For this reason, we don't allow students to spend time thinking carefully about their response. The exercise, in every form, is all about instinct-to-instinct interaction, and we don't want students' overthinking to stifle their connection to their impulses.
In this beginning stage, the best way for students to focus entirely on their partners is to attempt to match everything about their behavior. As the exercise gets more advanced, these restrictions will become relaxed, but at this stage, it is crucial.
Thank you for watching,
Jim
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio Thank you so much for that clarification ❤️ I love to be your student 🤗
Quick doubt: Say the partner and you playing a scene using this method. The partner gets the acting/emotion wrong or messing up, but you wanna do it better. How do you approach that?
what would the response if the fact is not factual, as in, the guy says "you have blonde hair" and the girl says "you have blonde" hair to the guy, but he doesn't have blonde hair. Does repetition continue even though it is untrue ??
Hi,
Thank you for watching. At this very preliminary state, which doesn't last long, you repeat EXACTLY what was said. The goal is not to be factually accurate but to precisely match the tone and intonation of your partner's statement. At this stage, we're not asking actors to be right. We are asking them to put their focus entirely on their partner, not themselves. Because it will feel like an exercise, not a casual conversation, it will often speed up the process of forcing a student to stop focusing on themselves
The meisner technique is just facinating and im very interested but i dont fully understand the goal of the excersise i understand that u have to be intact with the other persons emotions but i dont fully understand anyone reading this help ?
Hi Jay-Jay,
Thank you for watching! The goal is to strip away the thinking and the self-awareness that comes with many every-day interactions. Students are instructed to spend no time focusing on themselves and to instead put all of their focus on their partner. Once students develop this skill, they will be able to listen and react truthfully to the words their partner is saying and the partner's behavior, instead of deciding, planning, or judging how they, themselves, should behave. This allows actors to behave truthfully under imaginary circumstances
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio oh damn im freaking out right now the man that work derectly under sanford meisner reacted to my coment oh damn well thanks for helping looking forward to see more vids about the Meisner technique.
I’m confused. Who decides which person is the right person to mimic. I’d be so confused whether to copy them or do my own thing since I saw you guys doing your own thing at different times. And then wouldn’t they be confused whether to copy me or to keep doing things the way they were doing because I’m not listening to them by doing my own thing. The first exercise had a leader and that seemed to make sense, but then each of you kind of changed it up at different times and you weren’t upset about that and said that that was OK to do. I don’t understand how that works because it totally cancels the first exercise
Hi Nina,
Thank you for watching! The purpose of these exercises is to be present and connected to your partner. So you are supposed to work off of whatever your partner has given you. Since actors are human, they may not complete the exercise perfectly. If your partner were to inadvertently change the exercise, you would need to adjust to whatever new element they have brought to the table. It is not about being right or wrong. It is about honing in on that focus and that connection. We get a lot of people who are new to the technique saying things like, "the exercise wasn't done correctly, so I didn't know what to do." We ultimately want students to get past that awareness and instead focus on instinctive reaction. These guidelines are in place to help students learn what it feels like to put all of their focus on another person, but they may not always be followed perfectly. However, every thought of judgement or "you did the exercise wrong" will pull focus away from the partner. This is why we teach to let go any preconceived ideas of how the exercise will go and to instead work with whatever you are given.
I hope that helps!
And the longest intro to any CZcams video goes to… 😂
Sir the audio is not apt(low volume), kindly take this a humble feedback...Thank you !
Hi Suvodip, we've just checked the volume on our end, and don't hear any issues. Please be sure to check that the volume is turned all the way up on your player and that your computer volume is also on. Currently we are playing it around 2/3 maximum volume and it sounds clear. Thank you for your feedback!
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio ok
Sounds great to me
I dont understand. Theres something I am not getting. Can you explain in a different way?
Hi Ameera,
Thank you for watching. What part would you like to be explained differently?
When you have no partner..... :(
Currently im practicing the second exercise with myself, responding to myself like im 2 people. This is probably not how i should be doing it but i wanted to learn acting at home...
Hey, would you like to do online practice with me?
We love seeing the community come together like this! Some people have also successfully found online practice partners via Reddit. You don't have to be in the same place as someone to benefit from the moment-to-moment basics. If you ever do find someone who you're able to practice with in person, Jim offers consultation packages where you can either record the work and send it to him for in-depth breakdowns or do a live zoom consultation where he can give you feedback. It doesn't replace a real class, and the full Meisner Technique could never be covered in this way, but it's an excellent stepping stone
@@TheMeisnerTechniqueStudio Thank you ✨ I will definitely have a look.
@@niyatichoubey I would be down!
@@SarahMihelich I followed you on Insta 🙌
They were both mechanical
One thing that bothers me a little bit about this hyper-authentic approach though is it ends up being so "human" that it becomes...I'm not sure what the right word is. Ordinary? You simply begin to respond as you actually would, vs. your character. Maybe I'm too steeped in classical acting traditions, but I don't see this working if you're playing a character that's larger-than-life, like Thor, or Hamlet, or Luke Skywalker, or Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, etc. All these responses end up pushing an actor towards their own natural impulses, which aren't why we as audiences go see things like those other stories! We want pathos! We want BIG! We want STYLE! -- But Meisner gets SO down deep in the existential "focus purely on the other person", that there isn't room left for "How would this false cartoon-character persona do this?" pure execution? What's your thoughts on that? Sometimes I worry that the natural endstate of Meisner technique isn't really "acting" anymore at all, it's just "existing" and playing as yourself. Which ends up more like lightly stylized reality TV feeling vs. something truly operatic and larger than life.
Hi Eldrake,
This depends entirely on the level of training that the actor has received. The second year of the Meisner Technique is all about creating character far outside the scope of the actor. Though the behavior must always be truthful, second year exercises allow the behavior to become truthful to this person you're creating, instead of truthful to a "grounded" situation. If you're looking for modern examples of its success, Sam Rockwell is Meisner-trained and is extraordinarily versatile because he's both very talented and exceptionally well-trained.
Thank you for watching!
Not many people on this planet so obsessed with himself.
why is the meisner test ALWAYS about a BLUE suit..and..be damned ONE of the persons DOES wear a BLUE SUIT...!!
But what does this teach you..?
Hi Dannie,
Thank you for watching! This stage of the repetition teaches students to take the focus off themselves and put it on their partners. Most people are so rarely used to truly listening and reacting without outside distractions or without worrying about how they're being perceived. We can't move forward to more advanced moment-to-moment work until students master this basic challenge of focusing entirely on their partners. This concentration will become all the more important when they get to professional jobs and will need to tune out cameras, crews, lights, and the entirely inauthentic setting of a film set or many theatres. We hope that helps!
Not sure if it helped the person who posed the question. But it certainly helped me. Bless you for this🙏🏽
Explain it properly, it has nothing to do with repetition as it was about mimicking the tonality and the overt reaction and the noticing the replication that is signifier of interest and it is the intentional change to lead and test the intentionality of the other to mimic to signal further interest. Your kids are parroting, you are telling them it is about repeating, it has nothing to do with flat repeating but rather the signaling using emotional tonality! CHANGE the emotional tonality each time all the while saying the same thing but the CHANGE IN TONALITY and the other MATCHING IT to reciprocate interest flirtation signals and connection and harmony is what it is about. Your kids are lifeless parrots as you are instructing them to be, if they want to succeed then stop explaining it as parroting. Explain that the TONALITY is the key thing and more importantly it is the CHANGE in TONALITY and delivery each time. TELL THEM the DELIVERY is key and CHANGE the TONALITY every time and LISTEN use active listening to follow and match the other! ACTIVE LISTENING! The -- active listening is missing . CHANGE it up! DOCHANGE IT FOR VARIETY that was the POINT! To signal interest and when they CHANGE you again SIGNAL interest by mimicking to show you are in alignment with them. Kids be more PLAYFUL add some PERSONALITY!
Hi,
You may be confusing the later stages of the technique with the first steps (taught on the very first day of class). If you watch our subsequent videos, you will see these incredibly talented students displaying the evolution of the exercise. This is the exact same first step of the technique that Sanford Meisner taught me, both when he was teaching me to be an actor and training me to teach, so it's important to me that I keep this first step intact in order to preserve Sandy's approach to the best of my abilities. Thank you for watching
I watched so many videos about this technic and also tried it by myself. But at the end I must say, it's impossible to just repeat and don't become mechanical. Pure repeating is only an excercise not to do to much on the beginning and to start listening without purpose. But the meaning of this exercise is to be aware of the small differences in every repetition, the other does. So this excercise can only work if one of the two DOES something. So there has to be a leading. And leading means there must be an acting of one of the two persons at the first place that the other can react to, there can't just be listening and repeating, because than nothings gonna happen. And as you entered the excercise you did massiv leading, this was easy to realise. So, did I understand this right, that this excercise makes only sense, when differences in the behavior are added.
I hope I could make myself clear, because english is not my mothertongue.
🐁🐀 🤓
just threw up, the best of the best. this is why i fire any coach who does meisner
Hi, Thanks for watching! This is an exercise that is introduced on the first day of class, while the entire training lasts two years. We're not sure what upset you about it, but we hope your day gets better. Please let us know if you have any other confusion or questions!