Book on Acting: Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater, and Television

Rating:
Summary: Offering ways to improve one's performance
Review: Book On Acting: Improvisation Technique by acting coach, teacher, and directory Stephen Book (long-time faculty member of The Juilliard School and the University of Southern California) is a "user friendly" handbook written especially anyone who serious aspires to becoming professional actors in film, theater, and television. Offering ways to improve one's performance with both scripted and memorized lines, and covering everything from using improvisation to liven one's monologues or improving one's chances at an audition in better displaying conflict, agreement, etc. on camera, Book On Acting: Improvisation Technique is an excellent and confidently recommended single volume instructional resource.

Rating:
Summary: Offering ways to improve one's performance
Review: Book On Acting: Improvisation Technique by acting coach, teacher, and directory Stephen Book (long-time faculty member of The Juilliard School and the University of Southern California) is a "user friendly" handbook written especially anyone who serious aspires to becoming professional actors in film, theater, and television. Offering ways to improve one's performance with both scripted and memorized lines, and covering everything from using improvisation to liven one's monologues or improving one's chances at an audition in better displaying conflict, agreement, etc. on camera, Book On Acting: Improvisation Technique is an excellent and confidently recommended single volume instructional resource.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Effective and Reliable New Technique
Review: I'm an actor and I've studied and practiced the "Improvisation Technique" outlined in this book and I can't recommend it more. Stephen Book has created a way for performers to create a workshop for themselves without the need for a "teacher" (or tuition!). The costs of acting classes can be very prohibitive; but now, with this book, a group of actors can commit to doing the curriculum at little or no cost and learn a very effective and reliable new technique.

Book's "Improvisation Technique" is different than other "traditional" methods:
1) It's a doable and reliable methodology that can be used solely or in conjunction with other techniques.
2) The learning is layered; it's a step-by-step, logical process. In every class, something new is added to what was previously learned.
3) Participants learn "acting focuses" independent of scripted work. Once an "acting focus" is learned and mastered, the participants then learn how to apply it to scripted work.

4) The "teaching" is never personal or critical so those learning are never put in a place of being judged.
5) The learning is experiential - participants learn by doing, not watching or analyzing. Every class, every participant works on their feet.

I graduated from one of the top theatre schools in the country. When I graduated and moved to Los Angeles, I took an ongoing class in Uta Hagen's approach as well as participated in a several general scene study classes. I had a mixed bag of different ways of working, but I didn't have firm grasp of a single reliable approach. Then, I was introduced to "Improvisation Technique."

Compared to other acting training I've had, I'd say the biggest difference is that my other training was mostly an exercise in being directed (which does have some limited value), while "Improvisation Technique" is much more about self-sufficiency.

And actors absolutely must be 100% self-sufficient in the professional world. On the sets of television and film production, there is often only time for a blocking rehearsal, and the director is often more concerned with the shot than the performance. My theater and scene study training did not prepare me for this reality.

I never had a reliable way to quickly and efficiently break down a script and make choices. Now I do.

I used to read scripts from "my character's" point of view and make choices based on "How would I respond if I were this person under these circumstances?" Now I read scripts from the writer's point of view and make choices based on facilitating the writer's vision of what is being dramatized, and my callback/booking rates have increased dramatically.

Used to be, intellectually, I had an idea of what my character wanted and what I wanted the performance to be, but I had no way of getting that into my body in any sort of consistent/reliable fashion. Now I do.

My acting used to be very reactive, very "in the moment." And if I was reading/acting opposite someone who wasn't very good, I wasn't very good either. I relied on external forces to create my performance. Now I can create spontaneous performances, nailing all the beats, whether I'm acting opposite a tired casting director or an award-winning actor.

Reaching high levels of certain emotions used to be very intimidating for me. But Book's technique allowed me to relax, do A, B, and C, and presto! they came easy and simply. Now I approach an emotionally charged scene with confidence.

And it's all because of this technique.

WARNING! This book is not meant to be read and considered. It's meant to be put on its feet! And Book takes participants through the curriculum one step at a time.

Book takes the fundamental improvisation principles of Viola Spolin ("Improvisation for the Theater") and extends them into dealing with scripted and memorized material.

The exercises in this book are presented in logical sequence. Each exercise picks up where the last one ended; so, I guess you could say that each exercise gets progressively harder. But, because they are learned one at a time, in sequence, participants only notice the current one they are learning as being difficult.

It's kind of like juggling. You first learn to keep one ball in the air. Then two. Then three. Then four. Then four with fire, etc. When you were learning how to keep two balls in the air, THAT was the hardest exercise. But when you move on to juggling three balls, two has suddenly become ridiculously simple.

The beauty of this kind of learning is that the goals are constantly being pushed higher, just out of reach. Participants are constantly engaged because there is always another challenge and it's only in retrospect that they realize how much they've learned.

All you need is some empty space, some dedicated friends, and this book, and you'll have everything you need to learn a new acting method that will get you out of your head and into a spontaneous improvisational state while you say your lines on cue.

Will it make a difference in your professional career? It has in mine.

Rating:
Summary: Splendid & thorough book on a stellar acting technique!
Review: Stephen Book's "Book On Acting" is a great achievement! With a clarity and thoroughness rarely found in books of this sort, this author/acting-coach lays out every how, why, what & where needed to learn this brilliant technique. Book explains how to learn the tools of improv and then take them to a new level by using them for the WRITTEN word. The technique gets an actor out of their head & into their body, increases their "stage" presence and allows them to deliver a fresh performance every time the camera rolls or the curtain rises. Whether you're an actor who wants to learn this technique or a coach who wants to teach it - this book will fulfill all of your needs. I can't recommend it enough!

Rating:
Summary: A Very Effective and Reliable New Technique
Review: Stephen Book's "Book On Acting" is a great achievement! With a clarity and thoroughness rarely found in books of this sort, this author/acting-coach lays out every how, why, what & where needed to learn this brilliant technique. Book explains how to learn the tools of improv and then take them to a new level by using them for the WRITTEN word. The technique gets an actor out of their head & into their body, increases their "stage" presence and allows them to deliver a fresh performance every time the camera rolls or the curtain rises. Whether you're an actor who wants to learn this technique or a coach who wants to teach it - this book will fulfill all of your needs. I can't recommend it enough!

Rating:
Summary: Splendid & thorough book on a stellar acting technique!
Review: Stephen Book's "Book On Acting" is a great achievement! With a clarity and thoroughness rarely found in books of this sort, this author/acting-coach lays out every how, why, what & where needed to learn this brilliant technique. Book explains how to learn the tools of improv and then take them to a new level by using them for the WRITTEN word. The technique gets an actor out of their head & into their body, increases their "stage" presence and allows them to deliver a fresh performance every time the camera rolls or the curtain rises. Whether you're an actor who wants to learn this technique or a coach who wants to teach it - this book will fulfill all of your needs. I can't recommend it enough!