by Miranai
Inspired by Tick
Let's see, a rating...PG, a little harsh but it will do nicely.
Summary?: No.
Disclaimer: I own none of these: Farscape, the Stanislavski Method, or
Random House Webster. They have been borrowed temporarily and will be
returned in present or better condition.
Without further delay, enjoy.
*****
Method acting: Also called Stanislavski Method, Stanislavski System
- a theory and technique of acting in which the performer identifies
with the character to be portrayed and renders the part in a
naturalistic, nondeclamatory, and highly individualized manor (Random
House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary)
So, by reading the perfunctory statement above, you've proven two
things:
1. You care about Method Acting and/or Farscape
and
2. By recognizing this as a pertinent aspect of existence, the
following will be easier to digest from the silver spoon
Congratulations.
By now, two questions can be asked:
1. Why does Method Acting apply to me and/or Farscape?
2. How does it involve Farscape, and by general extension, all of
existence?
and
3. What silver spoon?
Okay, that's three, but all for the cause...all for the cause....
Method Acting is a technique utilized by many successful actors of
today. Don't ask for names, I don't have any. It will be easier that
way, all right?
All right.
From a limited knowledge of the subject, it can be concluded by almost
anyone that Method Actors draw on their experience to bring poignant,
gut-wrenching, and all in all stunning performances on stage and
screen. But most importantly, drawing from one's own experience is one
of the many avenues through which the beloved and ever-worshipped
Farscape actors and actresses may, just may, bring performances to the
world. The world being us.
The silver spoon is another matter entirely. It will be revealed later.
Concerning Method Acting, Farscape is a proverbial castle in the clouds
filled with goody-riches and plenty of trolls to charge you excise
taxes. The trolls are, of course, the scenes of dialogue and suggested
direction that can be employed and manipulated to bring about the
dramatic, dynamic, Oscar-caliber performance bestowed upon privileged
audiences with each episode.
So, without further adieu, the meaning of Method Acting and Farscape.
Take, for instance, a scene that could be played between any performers:
A. "Let me go."
B. "He's not worth it."
A. "I said I'd kill him and I keep my promises."
B. "No one needs any killing today."
Granted, such a scene would work out best being in accord with some
characters rather than others. However, with adaptations in portrayal,
this ambiguous piece could be manipulated any number of ways:
1. In this scene between, say D'Argo and John, in which D'Argo, person
A, wants to kill Crais, but John, person B, is standing in his way.
Already, the two first best places on which to start a scene are in
place: the premise and the motivation. The Premise, as defined in loose
theatrics by Miranai, is similar to the general gist of a story that a
friend or enemy gives you about a story. In this scene, it is the
conflict of wills about murdering Crais which occur between John and
D'Argo, the conflict between them entwines directly with the motivation
and thusly, the most dire element of any scene...the conflict. The
Conflict. THE CONFLICT. All of this arises because their individual
Motivations are very different.
Consider these situations with slightly different premises:
1. D'Argo wants to kill Crais to keep his promise that he would, and
for some reason or another, his window of opportunity has decreased to
about nil.
John doesn't want to him to kill Crais because he:
a. knows Crais is valuable in some way.
b. has developed a compassion for all life, in particular, loose
cannon Crais who has made his life a living hezmana for the past arn.
c. is fulfilling his own promise to keep Crais alive so another crew
member could do away with Crais.
d. wants to kill Crais himself.
e. has become a born-again Pa'u and is beginning the Seek.
f. has just realized that Crais is holding a rather nasty-looking
pulse rifle at John, and/or D'Argo, anyone else in the room, etc.
These disparate motivations cause conflict, which creates the
intriguing, winding, complex, and ultimately aweinspiring, stunning
plots of Farscape.
Referring back to the ambiguity of the scene, it could also be played
out by Aeryn and John. Please continue:
2. John wants Crais dead because:
a. Crais has committed a transgression that John believes is worthy
of death.
b. Crais will inevitably cause more problems for the crew than his
life is worth, i.e. reporting their plans to PK command
c. John is seriously miffed at Crais for... well, everything.
d. John has snapped and is as loopy as a plane full of Fruit Loops
felled in the Atlantic on a Thursday.
and
Aeryn wants to stop him because:
a. she knows Crais is, again, valuable in some way.
b. she is going to let D'Argo kill him so he won't have to break his
word.
c. she has grown to recognize the value and sanctity of all life.
d. she has become a born-again Pa'u and has foresworn all violence
except in defense, which this is not, and has decided to integrate pale
blue and really-neat-mask-things-which-crunch-when-you-break-them into
her lifestyle.
Any actor in these scenes must decide on a specific motivation or
motivations or vacillations in motivation to create conflict which will
fuel the story which will make fabulous, noteworthy, silver plated
performances which...yes, this road has been traveled before.
So, shall we continue to a different avenue, namely the purpose of this
journey, Method Acting. The climax of this journey into theatrical
analysis is nearing and an idea must be explained.
When actors with motivation and conflicts act in a scene, Method Actors,
as previously stated, place themselves into a similar situation from
their past and proceed to act for the audience's enjoyment at their
craft, and for their paychecks. Not to sell actors short in any case,
they develop considerable reputations for excellence when they excel at
their pursuits and promptly become very revered and coveted performers
for things like Shakespearean reenactments for cinema and...other stuff,
etc.
One of the better examples for the potential use of Method Acting is
seen in the following excepted scene from Family Ties in which Crais is
stealing Talyn and making his escape:
Rygel: "Crais, what the yotz are you doing?"
Crais: "Saving myself, Your Eminence. I'm sure to your envy...We'll be
fine where no one can follow us, you or the Peacekeepers."
Aeryn: "Crais, you listen to me now. You stop what you are doing and
you leave the ship now...You cannot take a child from its mother."
Crais: "You forget. It was done to me and it was done to you."
Throughout the course of this scene, as exquisitely portrayed by Ms.
Claudia Black and Mr. Lani Tupu, the complexity of their interaction is
woven through...
POTENTIAL use of METHOD ACTING.
In this actual scene from Farscape, it is entirely possible to enmesh
the principles of Method Acting into its performance.
Any actor portraying Crais might think back to a time in which he had to
do something he felt obligated and even justified in doing for his own
benefit and during which, possibly, encountered real antagonism.
Hopefully, such past deeds would not include serious crimes, even the
kidnap of a baby leviathan from its mother.
Likewise, any actress portraying Aeryn might draw upon her past
experience to enact such a powerful scene. She might place herself in
her memory when a dear friend was abruptly stolen from her life, when
she lost something of personal affection, or even, forbid, when her
infant leviathan god-child was abducted by her cretin PK ex-captain.
Such techniques could be employed by any acting person for purposes of
Farscape, though the performances of consummate perfection could only
attributed to:
Ben Browder, Virginia Hey, Anthony Simcoe, Claudia Black, Sean
Masterson, Gigi Edgely, & Lani Tupu.
Now that the line between reality and Method Acting has been
sufficiently cast doubt upon, and still no one knows why the author made
a reference to silver spoons and alluded to their importance, this
chapter of Method Acting, Farscape, and You is hereby concluded.
So, try these magnificent Method Acting techniques in real life. Feel
free to use you friends, co-workers, boss, local Secretary of Defense,
etc. as theatrical guinea pigs for your nascent Method Acting purposes.
Because maybe, just maybe, the performers on Farscape are Method Actors.
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