How to Teach Body Language to Actors
- 1). Teach them to have the right posture when standing or occupying a space. An open posture indicates a person is non-defensive and confident, which communicates a strong personality to the audience. If an actor is trying to portray a weak or timid character, he should take a more closed-off stance.
- 2). Instruct them to sit in a way that communicates the personality and tendencies of the character. A confident, comfortable character will try to get as horizontal as possible while sitting, whereas an uptight, insecure character might sit straight up in the chair, looking tense.
- 3). Teach them facial exercises in order to warm up the most expressive part of the body -- the face -- before taking on a scene. Help them perform jaw, lip and tongue exercises to engage in before every performance. For example, clasp your hands at chest level, relax the muscles in the face and then shake the clasped hands away and toward your body, letting your lips, jaw and tongue move easily. After that, open your mouth and then relax it shut to remove tension.
- 4). Get your students to pay close attention to how they talk. A strong-willed character will talk slowly, deliberately and with a deep tonality that gets attention. The opposite type of character may rush words or speak in a high pitch. Conduct exercises with your students to help them see the difference in how one talks on the personality of the character.
- 5). Discuss the importance of eye contact. A character of great confidence will hold strong eye contact with the person she is talking to, indicating fearlessness. Drive the point home with exercises that use the same script but with different types of eye contact to demonstrate what a difference it makes on the acting.
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