Best Acting Techniques You Should Learn When Joining Acting School



It takes a lot of hard work and commitment to learn acting. Acting is an art which always has a room for perfection. You can always learn and grow with mastery in different techniques. In addition, a lot of legendary actors have set great examples on constant learning and development by visiting acting classes. Today, you can choose an acting course to learn from different instructors while preparing for your theatrical, film and TV roles. Let’s find out about the best techniques of acting that have been the top choice for most legendary performers.


Stanislavski Technique

This systematic method was developed by Konstantin Stanislavski in Russia. It was the first of its kind technique until he discovered this approach. Acting had been focused on superficial, presentational and performative styles. But Stanislavski was the first to come up with the feel of realistic acting which took acting to another level. You should learn this technique as it is the foundation of most other approaches. The role is split into actions and tasks in this method. An actor keeps in mind certain circumstances of the character like “Who Am I”, “When is it”, Where Am I”, etc.

The actor finds the tasks or problem of the character in these circumstances by asking “What I need to make others do in the scene?” and “what should I do?”

The actors also develop stimuli in their mind with sensory elements. It helps them to enter into the character’s whereabouts. They usually imagine themselves in character.


Classical Acting

It covers a lot of acting techniques that you need to use together. It is based on every element like voice, body, and imagination of the character and how you analyze your script and personalize your character. It combines several approaches and it is not easy to learn. You will be trained to be vocally and physically free and open in this technique.


Method Acting

Originally developed by Lee Strasberg, American teacher and actor, Method Acting is aimed to make the performance as real and deep as possible for the actor. Strasberg was a fan of Stanislavski's method in his early career. He learned more important elements in his career, such as “as if”, sense memory, substitution, animal work, and affective memory.

In this technique, actors are free to use their own experiences. It covers recalling a very strong emotion from the past of an actor which results in raw and real emotion. It is a myth that method acting means getting so deep into the role that the actor stays in character both off and on screen. It was used by Strasberg. Now this technique is used by a few method actors.


Chekhov Technique


The nephew of Anton Chekhov, Michael Chekhov was trained by none other than Stanislavski. But he felt that it was too naturalistic to his likes. So, he came up with a unique technique to get into the subconscious mind and the feeling of universal humanity. It combines physical exercises to get into such notions. The actor physicalizes the inner desire or need in their gesture in this exercise. By using it and repeating the same, an actor can rebuild emotions with physical movement and then use the same in acting.


Meisner Technique

Developed by Sanford Meisner, who was the colleague of Lee Strasberg, the Meisner Technique was introduced in the 1930s. In this approach, the actor has to stop overthinking and get out of their head and respond to complete instinct. This technique is to help the actor to get rid of any affections or habits and to stay responsive and open. It highly requires actors to be in the moment. This technique covers a few different exercises which are built on one another.

Choosing the Best Acting Technique

You can use the above methods as tools whenever you need to embody and discover a character. Acting should be completely personal. So, you need to experiment and find something that makes you feel open and cozy on screen and stage.