Test your basic knowledge |

Acting Basics

Subject : performing-arts
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Stanislavski's physical approach to acting.






2. The condition of relaxed playfulness that some psychologists say allows for maximum creativity. When the inner parent allows the inner child to come out and play.






3. Everything an actor does in a performance has to be _______ by the character's internal need.






4. Meyerhold. The fusion of mind and body; teaching the 'body how to think'.






5. An actor's ability to put himself in the place of another person - both for purposes of observation and for applying the Magic If to a role. It is possible to empathize with someone without sympathizing with that person.






6. Relinquishing too much effort - chronic physical tension - a false voice - preconceptions about the work - personal fear - and most importantly who you already are.






7. The job a character was created to perform within a story.






8. Singular - Immediate - & Personal. (SIP)






9. Believed the qualities of a good play and a good actor should be: 1) Believable 2) Connect with the audience in a personal way. AKA Empathy 3) Immediacy 4) Communicate 'truthfulness'. Present experiences in a meaningful way relative to the audience.






10. Stanislavski's classic question. If I were in the situation of the character - and if I wanted what the character wants - what would I do?






11. Showing the audience something about the character instead of simply doing what the character does.






12. The ______ is what his or her character does to try to fulfill a need by attaining some objective. Stanislavski spoke of both spiritual (inner) and physical (outer). Note that speaking is one of the most common forms - in other words speaking is doin






13. Three finger widths below your navel. The origin of breath and therefore your voice - as well as all large motions of the body. The undistorted source from which our work begins in order to develop the unique ways of using our bodies and voice requir






14. Although it has a literal - physical dimension - being in a state of________ implies a unified sense of self that allows actions to involve the whole body and be well focused.






15. The great unifier of body - mind - and voice.






16. Heightening the drama of an action or scene by making it more significant or urgent.






17. The dramatic ______ is what happens in the story - scene - or beat in the most fundamental sense.






18. Actresses began to appear on stage.






19. The key to almost everything in acting. For an actor - _______ is not a reduction of energy but rather a freeing of energy and a readiness to react. AKA Restful Alertness. The first step in Letting Go. Awareness is at a high level.






20. Actresses began to appear on stage.






21. Finding in the character's situation some need or objective that has true personal significance.






22. Bertolt Brecht's idea that the actor does not become the character completely - but rather demonstrates the character's behavior for the audience while still expressing some attitude about it.






23. Immediate and urgent needs cause actions in the pursuit of objectives within given circumstances.






24. Recalling a significant moment in your past to fit a character. WARNING: Must be appropriate for the character.






25. Becoming the new version of yourself by needing and doing what the character needs and does.






26. The goal of a character pursues through action to satisfy a need. It is best identified using a transitive verb such as - 'to persuade him to give me a territory in town.'






27. A person fully committed to an important objective.






28. An actor devoted to searching for the truth of human behavior. The craft of working 'from the inside out'.


29. The great unifier of body - mind - and voice.






30. The acceptance of responsibility for your own development through systematic effort.






31. Meyerhold. The fusion of mind and body; teaching the 'body how to think'.






32. German word for power. The actor's physical and vocal tools.






33. The condition of relaxed playfulness that some psychologists say allows for maximum creativity. When the inner parent allows the inner child to come out and play.






34. Bertolt Brecht's idea that the actor does not become the character completely - but rather demonstrates the character's behavior for the audience while still expressing some attitude about it.






35. Becoming the new version of yourself by needing and doing what the character needs and does.






36. The exchange of action and reaction.






37. The ______ is what his or her character does to try to fulfill a need by attaining some objective. Stanislavski spoke of both spiritual (inner) and physical (outer). Note that speaking is one of the most common forms - in other words speaking is doin






38. This occurs when: Everything the actor does as the character should grow directly out of the needs of the character - so that the 'inner' world of the character and the 'outer' world of the performance are unified.






39. _____ causes an _____ directed toward an __________






40. A unit of action with it's own specific conflict and crisis. In each one a character has a single objective. They are formed of interactions and flow to create the underlying structure of a scene.






41. Showing the audience something about the character instead of simply doing what the character does.






42. The event itself. It is not 'about' something.






43. The dramatic ______ is what happens in the story - scene - or beat in the most fundamental sense.






44. Something a character lacks or wants that drives him to pursue an action to satisfy that lack or desire.






45. The exchange of action and reaction.






46. German word for power. The actor's physical and vocal tools.






47. Everything an actor does in a performance has to be _______ by the character's internal need.






48. Male choir groups began competing against one another reciting poems at religious festivals in Ancient Greece. Gradually the choir leader began to speak as an individual character and acting was born. As a second actor was added - dialogue emerged -






49. An actor devoted to searching for the truth of human behavior. The craft of working 'from the inside out'.


50. Although it has a literal - physical dimension - being in a state of________ implies a unified sense of self that allows actions to involve the whole body and be well focused.