Eric believes that this book is the "craft bible," since it focuses entirely on the craft an actor must acquire in order to fulfill dramatic material. The book explores the seven major obligations related to material--time and place, relationship, emotional, character, thematic, historical, and subtextual--and from there goes on to define choices and explain how to use them to fulfill those obligations. The third element of the craft, the choice approaches, is the practical work the actor must do to create the choices. Out of the current thirty-one choice approaches, only twenty-two are explored in this book. The remaining nine are investigated in subsequent books.
Acting from the Ultimate Consciousness is Eric Morris's fourth popular book on the art of acting. His previous works have established him among the foremost innovators in the world of drama. His system, based on the Stanislavsky method but going far beyond it, begins with an exploration of consciousness and the instrumental needs of the actor and expands to dozens of practical techniques that enable the actor to utilize the full range of his talent. With complete sections on characterization, rehearsing and ensemble, this is a book that all stage or screen actors--beginning to advanced--should read, absorb and practice.
A collection of 125 acting exercises that are based on journal excerpts and dialogues from Mr. Morris' classes. These exercises teach the actor to systematically eliminate his or her instrumental obstacles -- tensions, fears, inhibitions -- and explore the "being" state, where the actor does no more and no less than what he or she feels. As the title indicates, many of the techniques herein address the actor's need to avoid falling into the traps of concept and presentational acting. There is also a complete chapter on sense memory -- what it is, and how to practice it and apply it as an acting tool. Co-authored by Joan Hotchkis, and with a Foreword by Jack Nicholson.
Acting, Imaging, and the Unconscious is the fifth in a series of books written by Eric Morris on his unique system of acting. In this book the emphasis is on imaging as an acting tool to fulfill dramatic material. The work begins with an exploration of the various uses of imaging and goes on to delineate very specific techniques and approaches on how to image, when to image and why. Involved in this process are dreams and dreaming, as well as subpersonalities, which all serve to access and communicate with the unconscious, where ninety-five per cent of an actor's talent lives. Also explored is a process of programming the unconscious to liberate the images that lie at the core of an actor's experience and talent, thus releasing the exciting wellsprings of creativity in the roles an actor plays. With complete examples taken from classical and contemporary plays and films, this book enters territories that had never before been tread upon, thus taking the art of acting into a totally new dimension.
Freeing the Actor is the seventh in a series of acting books by Eric Morris, which explain and describe his unique system of acting. In this book, which is totally aimed at the instrument, Eric has implemented a complete approach to eliminating the obstacles, dependencies, traps, and habits that plague and block actors from functioning from an authentic, organic place. By teaching actors how not to act, Eric leads them to understand that they must experience in reality what the character is experiencing in the material. In order to accomplish that, they must be instrumentally free to connect with and express their authentic emotional realities. Liberating the instrument allows them to access all of the colors of their emotional rainbow.
What does it mean to "act black" or "act white"? Is race merely a matter of phenotype, or does it come from the inflection of a person's speech, the clothes in her closet, how she chooses to spend her time and with whom she chooses to spend it? What does it mean to be "really" black, and who gets to make that judgment? In Acting White?, leading scholars of race and the law Devon Carbado and Mitu Gulati argue that, in spite of decades of racial progress and the pervasiveness of multicultural rhetoric, racial judgments are often based not just on skin color, but on how a person conforms to behavior stereotypically associated with a certain race. Specifically, racial minorities are judged on how they "perform" their race. This performance pervades every aspect of their daily life, whether it's the clothes they wear, the way they style their hair, the institutions with which they affiliate, their racial politics, the people they befriend, date or marry, where they live, how they speak, and their outward mannerisms and demeanor. Employing these cues, decision-makers decide not simply whether a person is black but the degree to which she or he is so. Relying on numerous examples from the workplace, higher education, and police interactions, the authors demonstrate that, for African Americans, the costs of "acting black" are high, and so are the pressures to "act white." But, as the authors point out, "acting white" has costs as well. Provocative yet never doctrinaire, Acting White? will boldly challenge your assumptions and make you think about racial prejudice from a fresh vantage point.
texts that document the Eric Morris system of “experiential acting.” This book is about SUBPERSONALITIES—what subpersonalities are, how they impact our lives and how we use them. It is exclusively written for actors. The journey of exploration starts with the origins and beginnings. Excerpts from books by Carl G. Jung, a Swiss psychologist who explored archetypes, are followed by the use and description of behavioral examples of personalities. The theory is then examined: who are the selves, how were they created and how do they function? The exploration continues with a technique that I created many years ago: THE ELEVENTH LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS, which is totally explained. Then comes EXPERIENCE HUNTING—CHOICE HUNTING, detailing the various approaches used to find experiences and choices that can be used in one’s acting. In the next section of the book, which is a very large section, I detail specifically the approach techniques for accessing subpersonalities, which are: VOICE DIALOGUE (a complete example of the process is given), WRITING IN JOURNAL FORM OR USING A TAPE RECORDER, USING MOVEMENT AND DANCE, USING ART AND DRAWING, USING CHOICES, USING MUSIC, AND ROLEPLAYING. All of those techniques and the approaches to them are explained in specific detail. In EXTERNALS I describe what that approach is and how to use it to access various subpersonalities. Externals is a "megapproach” and an important part of my work. A megapproach is such a powerful technique that it could be used as a total acting system. Externals is a process that includes getting a sense of animals, people, insects and inanimate objects and then translating that energy into human behavior. This technique is very impacting on eliciting various subpersonalities. The last of this group is IMAGING, also a megapproach. The next section explains HOW YOU KNOW WHEN YOU ARE INHABITED BY A SUBPERSONALITY. The actor must be able to distinguish between really inhabiting the energy of a subpart and faking it! The DAILY SUBPERSONALITY INVENTORY is an exercise the actor should do on a daily basis to be able to identify the difference between a mood swing and a subpersonality. The section on RESEARCHING THE CHARACTER explains how to identify the different character elements and find a subpersonality to fulfill those components. All of that is followed by a section about going back to historical events, such as the Second World War or the post-war years and exploring characters in plays and films o
Freeing the Actor is the seventh in a series of books by Eric Morris which explain and describe his unique system of acting. His previous books are among the most popular texts used by students and professional actors alike. In this book, which is totally aimed at the instrument, Eric has implemented a complete approach to eliminating the obstacles, dependencies, traps and habits that plague and block actors from functioning from an authentic, organic place. Historically most acting coaches and teachers have failed to adequately address the instrumental problems that cripple actors. By teaching them how not to act, Eric has influenced scores of people to become experiential actors. His teaching has led them to understand that they must experience in reality what the character is experiencing in the material. In order to accomplish that, they must be instrumentally free to connect with and express their authentic emotional realities. Liberating the instrument allows them to access all the colors of their emotional rainbow.
One of our most brilliantly iconoclastic playwrights takes on the art of profession of acting with these words: invent nothing, deny nothing, speak up, stand up, stay out of school. Acting schools, “interpretation,” “sense memory,” “The Method”—David Mamet takes a jackhammer to the idols of contemporary acting, while revealing the true heroism and nobility of the craft. He shows actors how to undertake auditions and rehearsals, deal with agents and directors, engage audiences, and stay faithful to the script, while rejecting the temptations that seduce so many of their colleagues. Bracing in its clarity, exhilarating in its common sense, True and False is as shocking as it is practical, as witty as it is instructive, and as irreverent as it is inspiring.
A fun and exciting workbook for actors to use in establishing a daily work schedule. Designed to help the actor integrate the two parts of the process, THE INSTRUMENT AND THE CRAFT. Which gives spontaneity, dimension, and authenticity to his performance. The numerous daily exercises deal with every aspect of acting including the actor's relationship to the business. Blank pages provide the actor with space to document his or her own involvement and progress. Being a workbook, every page is filled with a daily assignment and directions to practicing the exercises and applying them to dramatic material. Numerous photographs depict some recognizable actors involved in the work process. This is the second book by Eric Morris that chronicles his system of acting. It is a wonderful companion to "NO ACTING PLEASE" since it continues where that book ends
