Lord Liaden Posted August 21, 2018 Report Share Posted August 21, 2018 Well, as an actor who teaches actors, I have to qualify the above. Actors can approach a role from two directions. They can either work externally -- consciously and deliberately adopt mannerisms, facial expressions, tone of voice, costume etc. they've identified or imagined as appropriate to the character -- or internally -- imagine what they would think and feel if they were the person they're playing in a particular situation, and try to tap into comparable feelings in themselves. There's a synergy to that process: if you make your body act like your character it makes you feel like your character, and vice versa. There are a variety of helpful training techniques for either approach. Most actors I know work somewhere in the middle, taking whatever works for them from column A and from column B. Not every technique connects the same way for everyone. Some teachers and directors have a very specific approach to getting the performance they want out of their actors, but most are concerned with the end result and don't much care how you get there. But actors may spend months, sometimes years, playing the same role. If you're living in someone else's skin for that long, particularly someone who's going through extremely emotional experiences, it can become very difficult to dissociate yourself from said character's "identity-driven associations" and live your normal life as if nothing has happened. It's a little like police, health-care professionals, and the like -- you tend to carry the things you see and do on the job with you in the rest of your life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted August 22, 2018 Report Share Posted August 22, 2018 12 hours ago, Lord Liaden said: Well, as an actor who teaches actors, I have to qualify the above. Actors can approach a role from two directions. They can either work externally -- consciously and deliberately adopt mannerisms, facial expressions, tone of voice, costume etc. they've identified or imagined as appropriate to the character -- or internally -- imagine what they would think and feel if they were the person they're playing in a particular situation, and try to tap into comparable feelings in themselves. There's a synergy to that process: if you make your body act like your character it makes you feel like your character, and vice versa. There are a variety of helpful training techniques for either approach. Most actors I know work somewhere in the middle, taking whatever works for them from column A and from column B. Not every technique connects the same way for everyone. Some teachers and directors have a very specific approach to getting the performance they want out of their actors, but most are concerned with the end result and don't much care how you get there. But actors may spend months, sometimes years, playing the same role. If you're living in someone else's skin for that long, particularly someone who's going through extremely emotional experiences, it can become very difficult to dissociate yourself from said character's "identity-driven associations" and live your normal life as if nothing has happened. It's a little like police, health-care professionals, and the like -- you tend to carry the things you see and do on the job with you in the rest of your life. I appreciate you comments on craft and the actors experience. I would not dream of disputing it and find it illuminating. However, I was making a left-handed reference to something more specific and, in my mind, more culturally insidious. Ergo, assertions such as "to play a lesbian Jewish superhero you must be a Jewish woman who identifies as a lesbian." I'm Jewish and, quite frankly, I don't care if an actor playing a Jew is actually Jewish insofar as they are respectful and put in the study and work to do their subjects justice. Donald Sutherland did fine in Uprising, for instance. He himself expressed concern over playing a Jew until his Jewish co-stars told him to get over it. They wanted him there for his talent and what his name would bring to the movie. Some ethnic groups might be less convincing in terms of "how Jews look," but a lot of Caucasian, Latino, and Arab actors could pass for Jewish as easy as kiss-your-hand with a modicum of study and work. And, there are Kai-Feng and black Jews (the descendants of freed slaves from the American south) out there. They just aren't what people expect, but a good screen-writer could make it work and I wouldn't have a problem with it in most cases. To that same end, Sarah Shahi is straight and yet managed to play one of the most popular characters on the L Word. You don't have to be an avowed lesbian to play-pretend being one on camera. The current identitarian trend is, quite ironically, extremely exclusionary. Ideological didacticism produces inferior cultural product and makes qualification demands that have little bearing on the competence or quality of the artist. Four examples of transidentitarian acting... Lord Liaden 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted August 22, 2018 Report Share Posted August 22, 2018 Ah, I see. A different thrust from how I interpreted your previous comment, very clearly and thoughtfully articulated. I apologize for my misapprehension. But hey, the thread's for random musings, so my digression fits well enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted August 22, 2018 Report Share Posted August 22, 2018 The actor who played Robbie Rotten in Lazytown has died of cancer at the age of 43. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-45264994 Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 Since when did "funnest" become an actual word? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted August 24, 2018 Report Share Posted August 24, 2018 I have read and/or own 16 of the Hugo award winning books. tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archer Posted August 26, 2018 Report Share Posted August 26, 2018 On 8/24/2018 at 1:11 PM, death tribble said: I have read and/or own 16 of the Hugo award winning books. That's dedication. I love science fiction. But the books they choose to win Hugo awards often don't appeal to me. I like hard science fiction when I'm in the mood for science fiction and space opera when I'm in the mood to be mindlessly entertained. But those types of stories weren't what was winning Hugo's the last time I was really paying attention to the Hugo's a couple of decades ago. I mean, I looked in on them during the early Sad Puppy era but was looking at the controversy itself rather than the books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted August 26, 2018 Report Share Posted August 26, 2018 On 8/22/2018 at 6:27 AM, death tribble said: The actor who played Robbie Rotten in Lazytown has died of cancer at the age of 43. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-45264994 We used to watch that show a lot in our house, until the network here stopped carrying it. That's sad news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted August 27, 2018 Report Share Posted August 27, 2018 My wife is no longer an attorney, but she still gets junk email from continuing legal education outfits. Quote Legal marijuana sales are expected to exceed $24.5 billion dollars by 2021, and this course will provide a concise look at a wide range of legal issues, focusing on tax implications, for those involved in the medical marijuana industry. At least 29 states have legalized the use of medical marijuana, and 8 states have legalized recreational adult use. Attorneys attending this CLE will be able to navigate this thriving industry with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide guidance to cannabis producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and auxiliary businesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted August 28, 2018 Report Share Posted August 28, 2018 I took a shower this morning... then I woke up. Had to do it again for real. One of God's great practical jokes there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted August 28, 2018 Report Share Posted August 28, 2018 When in doubt, assign a research project. tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted August 29, 2018 Report Share Posted August 29, 2018 Quote Whiteout conditions could occur on the new lava field due due to steam produced by heavy rainfall on still-hot lava flows. What happens when a hurricane drops 40 inches of rain in three days on a newly-erupted volcano? Now you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted August 30, 2018 Report Share Posted August 30, 2018 The verdict on the lime chicken enchiladas: Quite favorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted August 31, 2018 Report Share Posted August 31, 2018 Has anyone else heard of Baby Shark ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted September 2, 2018 Report Share Posted September 2, 2018 Keep the pics. tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted September 6, 2018 Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 Hitting the road today for a ridiculous business trip. It will be nice to be back in Colorado, though. Thinking about a zip-line adventure while there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted September 6, 2018 Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 Doing web searches of phrases I free-associated together in order to get quasi-random new ideas for gaming scenarios, and I had one of the top hits be an item in Dave Mattingly's blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 I have just about become dissatisfied enough with Word, that partially-decomposed-remnants-of-droppings-from-unhealthy-yaks, and its developers, those prime-candidates-for-retroactive-parental-sterilization-to-prevent-further-degeneration-of-the-species, that I am looking hard at downloading and installing TeX and relearning it, so that I do not AGAIN have to rekey in all my teaching handouts to work around the new collection of brain-addled misfeatures built in as cornerstones of their new release. Because their goals (to drive captive customers to pony up for new training courses) are satanically opposed to mine (to continue using stuff that worked just fine, thank you). So guys, if anyone wants to nuke Redmond, gimme 48 hours notice so I can get out of the blast zone. In all other ways, I will support you in your righteous work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archer Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 2 minutes ago, Cancer said: I have just about become dissatisfied enough with Word, that partially-decomposed-remnants-of-droppings-from-unhealthy-yaks, and its developers, those prime-candidates-for-retroactive-parental-sterilization-to-prevent-further-degeneration-of-the-species, that I am looking hard at downloading and installing TeX and relearning it, so that I do not AGAIN have to rekey in all my teaching handouts to work around the new collection brain-addled misfeatures built in as cornerstones of their new release. Because their goals (to drive captive customers to pony up for new training courses) are satanically opposed to mine (to continue using stuff that worked just fine, thank you). So guys, if anyone wants to nuke Redmond, gimme 48 hours notice so I can get out of the blast zone. In all other ways, I will support you in your righteous work. Do you also want notification if I just send them a sternly-worded letter? My armory is depleted at the moment, along with my uranium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted September 11, 2018 Report Share Posted September 11, 2018 How we made Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Phil Hoad https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/sep/10/how-we-made-bill-and-teds-excellent-adventure-stephen-herek-alex-winter?CMP=twt_gu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 I just found this Google Doodle tonight: When I ran my cursor over it, I got a birthday greeting from Google. Nice gesture, but should I be freaked out about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 On 9/11/2018 at 2:25 AM, Cancer said: I have just about become dissatisfied enough with Word, that partially-decomposed-remnants-of-droppings-from-unhealthy-yaks, and its developers, those prime-candidates-for-retroactive-parental-sterilization-to-prevent-further-degeneration-of-the-species, that I am looking hard at downloading and installing TeX and relearning it, so that I do not AGAIN have to rekey in all my teaching handouts to work around the new collection of brain-addled misfeatures built in as cornerstones of their new release. Because their goals (to drive captive customers to pony up for new training courses) are satanically opposed to mine (to continue using stuff that worked just fine, thank you). So guys, if anyone wants to nuke Redmond, gimme 48 hours notice so I can get out of the blast zone. In all other ways, I will support you in your righteous work. LaTeX? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 LaTeX is a layer on top of TeX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted September 13, 2018 Report Share Posted September 13, 2018 Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted September 15, 2018 Report Share Posted September 15, 2018 "Hey, imagine a long-running TV series called 'Emo Days'!" "That would have to be about the 1990s, not the 1950s, and no one would wanna watch *that*." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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