It would seem that Stanislavsky’s system is a theatrical phenomenon that is not entirely applicable to cinema. After all, it’s one thing to perform a three-hour performance “in character,” and quite another to last a full day of filming in it. But, despite the obvious differences between theater and the “most important of the arts,” this method of acting technique (called in the West simply “method” or “system”) has loyal fans among many movie stars - it’s not for nothing that the International Moscow Film Festival introduced the “I Believe” special prize named Stanislavsky, who is behind last years Among others, Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Meryl Streep and Gerard Depardieu were awarded. We decided to figure out how the “method” works in Hollywood and which of the superstars there Konstantin Sergeevich could be truly proud of.

Let's start with an anecdote. The following story is told about the filming of the film “Marathon Man,” in which Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman came together. Hoffman, who fully believed in Stanislavsky’s system, had to play a man on the run and approached the role of a homeless man very responsibly: he stopped washing, shaving and eating normally, did not sleep for several days, and tore his own clothes and brought them to such a state that Olivier once could not He endured it and asked why such sacrifices were made. Hearing that Dustin was trying to get into the role as deeply as possible, the master grinned: “Try to play, young man, it’s much easier.”

Photos from the set of the film "Marathon Man"

It is not known what Hoffman’s answer was, who ultimately received the coveted Oscar, but he is certainly not alone in his approach: when giving interviews after high-profile premieres, Hollywood celestials often admit that Stanislavski’s “An Actor’s Work on Oneself” is their reference book. The snobbery of theater actors, who often spit condescendingly on their film colleagues (as, for example, Edward Norton’s character treated Michael Keaton in Birdman by Alejandro González Iñárritu), is not entirely justified, if only because many directors implement the “method” on the set is mandatory. Famous directors are interested in the most truthful display of scripted events on the screen like no one else, and therefore are ready to achieve the desired effect by hook or by crook. Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick, for example, were known for similar habits. About their harsh methods we'll talk Below, but for now let’s remember those who accepted Stanislavsky’s principles voluntarily.

Actually, actors tried to bring themselves to the required emotional states on stage thousands of years ago (there is a known case of an actress who, while mourning her brother in Sophocles’ Electra, did not let go of the urn with the ashes of her own son). Stanislavsky only clearly formulated the ways in which this effect can be achieved. Many actors, in preparation for filming, go to the “rocking chair”, gain and lose dozens of kilograms, put on an accent, learn dancing, magic tricks and other beautiful body movements - but this, so to speak, is only the “outer shell of the role”, its “costume”. To be more convincing, the responsible actor also has to do psychological work over yourself, which is much more difficult. For some, following the example of the Sophoclean actress, for a convincing performance it is enough to find in memory a similar incident from one’s own past and achieve “real” emotions (for example, Jack Nicholson on the set of “The Shining” easily became angry, remembering quarrels with ex-wife). And some go all-in, like Hoffman, who decided not only to build a role, but also to simulate the circumstances. When you live in these circumstances for weeks, without getting out of “someone else’s skin,” you feel more confident on set: if other actors “join” the process only after the command “motor!”, then the one who works according to the “system” remains “ online" all the time. Ideally, he does not even need to pretend at all, since after long and careful preparation, he is already, in some way, the very person who needs to be portrayed.

For example, Tom Cruise, playing a killer in “Accomplice,” began by putting on a wig, dressing up as a postal service worker and starting delivering packages - this is how he acquired the useful skill of “dissolving in the crowd.” Having learned to distract the attention of his interlocutors, Cruz reached the point where he was deliberately sitting down next to strangers in a cafe, chatted with them about various nonsense and still remained unrecognized! He learned to handle weapons in such a way that, if not for the blank charges that he had to work with on the set, he could shoot a full room of people in three seconds.

Ed Harris showed himself to be a real fan of Stanislavsky on the set of “The Rock”, where he got the role of a Vietnam veteran, who did not leave the character even between takes. Even though Harris is not the kind of actor who is often pampered with leading roles, this time even Sean Connery was amazed by his enthusiasm: not only did Ed address everyone around him like a soldier, nothing less than “sir,” he also forced the film crew to call him Also. And if he happened to forget his line, the actor would swear and rage so much that out of anger he once almost broke the phone he was “talking” on. A similar situation happened at a press conference after the screening of “History of Violence” at the Toronto festival: in response to the question “what is violence?” Ed began to furiously pound his fist on the table and threw a glass of water against the wall. The press conference was canceled immediately after this: savoring violence on the screen is one thing, but seeing it in the eyes real person- completely, completely different. Harris showed himself even better on the “Pollock” project: during the 10 years of preparing the film, in which he played the famous artist, Ed learned to paint paintings “like Jackson Pollock” (for which he turned his house into a real art workshop) and even started smoking. Naturally, he only bought Camel: the hero of the biopic did not recognize any other brands.

Adrien Brody, in pursuit of his Oscar, decided to impersonate the hermit musician Vladislav Shpilman to the maximum. In order to convincingly play a lonely, downtrodden man in “The Pianist,” he voluntarily abandoned all the benefits of modern life: he sold his car and a fashionable apartment, turned off his phones... In addition, Adrian broke up with his long-term girlfriend, reasoning that since Szpilman, who was hiding from the Nazis, had no sex it was, even if he doesn’t have it. He devoted the free time to mastering the piano and achieved such success that the actor did not need an understudy to perform Chopin on camera. As a result, Brody became the only American to receive not only an Oscar, but also its European equivalent, the Cesar Award.

Robert De Niro believed very much in the “method,” at least in his youth, when he had not yet turned down the slippery path of self-parody. For his role in Taxi Driver, he learned to shoot like a professional, and then received a real taxi driver's license and diligently worked 12-hour shifts, driving passengers around New York. While training his punch for the role of professional boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, he managed to knock out the real LaMotta’s tooth and break his ribs, and when he had to portray the aged LaMotta, he switched to a diet of meat and pasta and gained 30 kilograms of fat in four months. Portraying Al Capone in “The Untouchables,” he wore exactly the same clothes as the famous gangster, including silk underwear specially ordered from a tailor from the 1930s, which the actor admitted after filming. The viewer never found out what Capone's underpants looked like: according to De Niro, he bought them to complete his personal feelings, and not to show them on camera.

Photos from the set of the film "Raging Bull"

Hollywood knows a lot of similar stories, so a separate book could be written about the creative efforts of fans of the “system.” Shia LaBeouf admitted that he ate a brand of LSD before going on camera to convincingly play a drug addict in the film “Dangerous Illusion”, and in “Nymphomaniac” he had real sex in front of the cameras. For the role of paralyzed artist Christy Brown in My Left Foot, Daniel Day-Lewis spent 24 hours a day in a wheelchair, and for The Last of the Mohicans, he lived in the forest for six months, learning to hollow out a canoe and tan animal skins. Christian Bale turned himself into an anorexic in The Machinist and ate worms in Rescue Dawn. Hilary Swank, preparing for her role in Boys Don't Cry, pretended to be a man for a whole month, making her neighbor believe she had a brother. Jim Carrey, playing showman Charlie Kaufman in “Man on the Moon,” did not leave the character even in his free time and always annoyed those around him with idiotic jokes and pranks - after all, the real Kaufman did exactly the same. John Simm switched to a diet of coffee and cigarettes for the role of Van Gogh, and Raskolnikova decided to play with broken ribs - according to the actor, the constant pain helped him express the image more clearly. Forest Whitaker learned Swahili and several other African languages ​​for The Last King of Scotland. Scott Glenn, who played agent Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, based on real-life FBI agent John Douglas, before filming, listened to the tapes Douglas recorded for him with descriptions of the acts of serial killers - and was so shocked by them that he became an ardent agitator for the introduction of the death penalty.

Johnny Depp has never admitted that the “method” is close to him, but he prepares for roles with manic care - for example, to correctly transfer the novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” to the screen, the actor lived for some time with its author Hunter S. Thompson and, in his own words, “stole a piece of his soul.” For the mockumentary "" Joaquim Phoenix whole year pretended to be a rap fan, managing to convince all project participants of this. Frank Langella, himself not a fan of the “system,” found the role of Nixon in “Frost vs. Nixon” so difficult that between takes he hid in the dark corners of the set so that no one would “knock him out of character” with their random questions (studio workers knew this and they addressed him accordingly: “Mr. President, they are waiting for you on the site...”).

Filming of the film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

Martin Sheen got drunk while playing the hotel scene in Apocalypse Now and smashed his fist into a mirror, cutting his hand. Oleg Taktarov broke his head on the set of “Predators”, but did not leave the frame: according to the actor, whose stage talents many viewers are accustomed to being skeptical, he reasoned that the flowing blood would give his image more truthfulness - and in this, it must be admitted, turned out to be right. Leonardo DiCaprio, injured hand broken glass in Django Unchained, he decided to go even further and stained Kerry Washington with his blood, which was completely off-script, so the girl didn’t have to play shock.

For his role in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, actor Andrew Robinson wrote a 200-page biography of his character Garak, based on which he later released a full-length novel. Sylvester Stallone has been hospitalized more than once for asking his on-screen rivals to actually hit themselves. Tommy Lee Jones voluntarily rewrote all his lines in Men in Black without telling anyone, so his on-screen partner Will Smith also had to forget about the script and constantly improvise in response. Peter Weller on the set of RoboCop demanded that everyone call him RoboCop. Heath Ledger, before playing the Joker in The Dark Knight, locked himself in his apartment for a whole month and did not communicate with anyone, slept two hours a day, kept a diary on behalf of a comic book character, and eventually began to scare everyone with his crazy appearance . Tim Curry, who got the role of the infernal clown in It, spent a long time training his crazy look and brought the work on the character to the point that other actors began to avoid him. And Kate Winslet, while working on “The Reader,” frightened her children by reading them bedtime stories with a German accent, which she could not get rid of even at home.

Photos from the set of "The Dark Knight"

What do directors think about all this? In many cases, they consider the presence of fans of the “system” in their team as a complicating factor - if only because the views of the actor and the director on the same role can differ radically. Obviously, if an actor has spent weeks or months of his life “developing a character,” he will hold on to this interpretation of the role with a stranglehold, and it is useless to convince him that the director knows better. Naturally, no one likes to work with uncontrollable “stars” who dictate their vision of the project to everyone. Their habits are often ridiculed by colleagues in comedies - just remember the hero Edward Norton in “Birdman”, who wanted to drink real alcohol on stage and have real sex, the bearded Bruce Willis in “What Happened in Hollywood”, who flatly refused to shave off his “beauty”, which he grew up without asking the director’s advice, or Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Soldiers,” who surgically transformed himself into a black man for his next role and declared that he “wouldn’t get out of character until he recorded the comments for the DVD.”

But no matter what views a particular actor holds on the craft, all this loses its meaning if he is lucky enough to run into a director who believes in the “system” - in this case there is no way to escape from immersing himself in the script. How to make actors act convincingly? We need to let them feel everything that their heroes go through. Here, directors use a set of different techniques to achieve the desired effect. One of the techniques is called “playing blind” and is based on the fact that in order to more convincingly embody their roles, actors should not know what awaits their characters. Wes Craven likes to hide the last pages of scripts from actors: after all, if they know in advance who the killer is, they will not be able to react “normally” to his appearance in the frame. Stanley Kubrick repeatedly “forgot” to tell his charges what genre of film they were starring in: for example, Slim Peakins, who played the pilot, had no idea that “Doctor Strangelove” was a comedy, and Danny Lloyd believed for many years that “The Shining” was a drama ( until I reached adulthood and watched the tape myself). Neil Marshall hid the main trump card of “The Descent” - carnivorous mutants - from the central actresses until the last moment, so the first take with their participation caused the girls to run away screaming. The authors of “The Blair Witch Project” did not show the script to anyone at all (which they did not have): the actors received instructions every day before filming and actually improvised all the dialogue. They, like their characters, spent the night in the forest, and they were not warned that after midnight the directors would come there and start shaking the tent, so the frightened screams of the characters in the corresponding scenes were the most natural.

Photos from the set of the film "Alien"

Understatement, practical jokes, outright deception - all this good ways make the actor react to a situation as if it happened in real life. Believing that some things cannot be played well if you “pretend”, despot directors like to arrange provocations without warning the actors about the surprises prepared for them. Ridley Scott “distinguished himself” widely in this regard on the “Alien” project: he did not show anyone the actor who played the alien monster, so that every appearance of him in makeup would cause them a subconscious feeling of fear, and in every possible way sowed discord in the team (as a result, Veronica Catright slapped Sigourney Weaver actually slapped her, and Weaver herself told Iapeth Cotto to shut up, and it was all caught on film), and in the famous “chestbreaker” scene, he splashed a screaming Catright with real blood. The director even managed to prank the ship's cat: when it collides with an alien monster in the frame, it hisses - and this is not a special effect, as many thought, but a real reaction of a frightened animal.

William Friedkin likes to insert takes into his films that were described to the actors as “rehearsal” - as a result, they behaved in front of the camera without jitters and gave an excellent result the first time. Surrealist Alejandro Jodorowsky, by his own admission, fed the actors on the set of “The Mole” with hallucinogenic drugs and approved the actual rape of one of the heroines. Sometimes the best results are not produced by the actors at all, but by random passers-by who have no idea that they are participating in the filming of a movie. Such people appear, for example, in the “questioning” scenes public opinion"in "District No. 9": the director asked South Africans what they thought about Nigerian emigrants, and inserted the most xenophobic comments into the film (dedicated, as we know, not to Nigerians at all, but to alien cockroaches).

There are real legends about the methods of Alfred Hitchcock, who mocked all the actors accessible ways and tried to squeeze a scream out of them at any cost: they say that he bombarded actress Tippi Hedren in “The Birds” with real birds, and not the promised dummies, filming the finale of the film in a short time, but causing the actress a nervous breakdown. And in the famous shower scene in the movie Psycho, he changed hot water to the icy one, causing a wet Janet Leigh to scream at the top of her lungs. James Cameron did the same in “Titanic”: having decided not to pamper the actors, he plunged them, although not into ice, but still very cold water, so the discomfort on their faces was recorded by the camera as quite natural.

Photos from the set of the film "Titanic"

In order to force actors to react “vitally”, directors often persuade their colleagues to do something not according to the script: to inflict real, not “cosmetic” blows on the enemy, to be rude to him, to shock him in some other way. Sometimes actors, having played too much, can completely move away from the script and do something that they would never do themselves - hit a child, for example, like Ryan Reynolds in “The Amityville Horror”. Bruce Lee generally always beat extras in his films at full strength, so the future star of fighting games Jackie Chan once got a lot of trouble from him.

Nudity works well: when everyone expects an actor to appear in front of the camera in shorts, and he comes without them, the reaction of those present is simply impossible to be more natural (here we can recall Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct” and Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Terminator 2”). The famous naked scene in Borat, for example, occurred when the fighting protagonists were launched without warning into a theater full of unsuspecting Americans. If the actors are aware of what awaits them, but are embarrassed to expose themselves, the director (or even the entire film crew) can come to the rescue, as Paul Verhoeven did, for example, by taking an active part in the crowded shower scene in Starship Troopers; however, it was cut out of the film itself for obvious reasons.

Participants in pyrotechnic scenes are often “forgotten” to warn about how powerful the explosions will be - the director’s reward is the genuine fear on their faces. And scenes in the water often end with the actors having to be pumped out - this was the case, for example, with half of the participants in the famous swim in Alien: Resurrection, and although such a danger was not planned, it was only a plus for the film. Sometimes good shots are obtained by accident, as in the case of “Being John Malkovich”: the scene with Malkovich, who was hit in the head with a beer can by a drunk driver, was created thanks to a drunken extra who drove into the location without permission during filming and decided to “make a joke.” The director really liked the joke, Malkovich, judging by his obscene reaction, not so much, but the scene became a real decoration of the film.

Photos from the set of the film "Alien 4: Resurrection"

The worst situation is for the actors who happen to play soldiers: no one ever stands on ceremony with them, and they drill the poor fellows as if tomorrow they really have to go to war. When making “Full Metal Jacket” about the Vietnam War, Stanley Kubrick wanted everything to be like in life, so he forced the actors to live on a real training base under the supervision of a stern US Marine Corps drill instructor, run cross-country in the morning and fry under artificial tanning lamps , and their hair was cut by real military barbers. In "The Predator" the cast, portraying fearless mercenaries, were thrown into the Mexican jungle. Wanting to turn the actors into seasoned commandos, director John McTiernan brought in a military instructor from America, who in a short time gave them hell on earth. For the first two weeks, the standard morning of the film crew began like this: getting up at five in the morning, light breakfast, studying military disciplines, an hour and a half forced march through the hills of Puerto Vallarta, weighing, gym, military disciplines again, and only after all this - rehearsals. On the set of all the movie stars, in addition, they suffered from diarrhea due to dirty drinking water, so no one feigned tension on their faces: they managed to finish the takes to the end only by baring their teeth and gritting their teeth.

The well-known admirer of the “method” Steven Spielberg, who set the goal of making the most realistic film about war of all time, decided to keep up with his colleagues. The actors were sent to a training camp, where they were yelled at non-stop, fed only canned food, tortured with physical exercises, and all had to sleep in the mud in the pouring rain. The actors arrived on the set rather haggard, as befits war-weary soldiers... And only after that Spielberg introduced them to Matt Damon, whom everyone was supposed to hate according to the script. Colleagues really immediately disliked the clean “new guy” who “didn’t smell gunpowder” - this is clearly visible in the film. The “method” imposed on the actors worked one hundred percent.

Photos from the set of the movie "Saving Private Ryan"

In America today there are two competing acting schools that teach work according to the Stanislavsky system. The first acting studio, called the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, was founded by actor and director Lee Strasberg, who was involved in the development of Stanislavsky's ideas (graduates of this school include, in particular, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, Angelina Jolie and Marilyn Monroe). The second studio was founded by Stala Adler, a famous theater teacher and the only American actress whom Stanislavski taught his method personally (her students included Marlon Brando, Benicio Del Toro and Steven Spielberg). Disputes over whose school teaches the “real Stanislavsky system” are still going on, although after the death of both teachers the passions have subsided somewhat: actors increasingly agree that they teach the same principles in both places, the only difference is in style supply of material.

Experts say that in particularly extreme cases, Stanislavsky’s method can become dangerous for the psyche: “exemplary” roles leave an imprint on the personality of an actor who wants to truly live his character, and not just perform an act in front of the camera. The actors themselves understand this. Actor Sean Bean, who plays an undercover agent in the TV series “Legends,” urges us to handle the “system” with caution: “Of course, this does not pass without a trace: when my character tries to get out of the image, his consciousness is torn apart by conflicts. This also happens with actors working according to the Stanislavski system: it can be difficult for them to become themselves again, and sometimes this takes a very long time, say, months. Dangerous thing, as you understand. I won’t lie, it’s not so easy to part with the role. Sometimes you come home and your brain is still racing... I’m not complaining, but when you pretend to be someone else for a very long time, it doesn’t go away without a trace.”

Photos from the set of the series "Legends"

In Stanislavsky’s homeland, there is no common understanding today of what his “system” is, which has turned into a dogma for many, and whether modern theater really needs it. At the same time, stage masters note that the set of rules proposed by Stanislavsky has benefited the Hollywood mainstream: actors learn to take characters seriously, play memorable roles, and receive well-deserved Oscars for them. What is curious is that not all artists who are considered the most active fans of the “method” (such as Daniel Day-Lewis) confirm their attachment to it - they often note that they have never specifically studied the works of Stanislavsky and that universal systems in principle does not exist. But this, perhaps, only means that they themselves reached everything that the leading figure of the Russian theater recorded in his books, and this does not make Stanislavsky’s professional observations any less valuable.

One can only imagine how Konstantin Sergeevich would have reacted to the films “Monster”, “Taxi Driver” or “Man on the Moon”, whether he would have awarded them the verdict “I believe!” or would criticize. But the master himself noted that the technique of internal search he proposed is aimed primarily at gaining self-confidence - “so that the viewer believes that we really, and not as if we came to the stage, that we have the right to speak.” And that the final right to judge belongs to him, the viewer. So while the viewer believes the works of Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Christian Bale or Gary Oldman, there is no reason to believe that they are preparing for their roles in vain. Whether or not Stanislavsky’s nine-volume work is on their bedside table is, in essence, not so important.

The Stanislavski system is what many people refer to successful people. However, not everyone knows what it is and the essence of this phenomenon. If you like it, then you should at least theoretically know the Stanislavski system.

Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky

The Stanislavsky system is a theory of stage art, a method of acting technique. It was developed by the Russian director, actor, teacher and theater figure Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky in the period from 1900 to 1910.

The system solves for the first time the problem of conscious comprehension creative process creating a role, the ways of transforming the actor into the character are determined.

Naturally, Stanislavsky used important points in his work in general and in particular. This is despite the fact that at that time these areas did not exist as independent disciplines.

The goal of Stanislavsky's system is to achieve complete psychological authenticity of acting.

The system is based on the division of acting into three technologies: craft, performance and experience.

1. Stanislavski's craft is based on the use of ready-made cliches, from which the viewer can clearly understand what emotions the actor has in mind.
2. The art of performance is based on the fact that during long rehearsals the actor experiences genuine experiences, which automatically create a form for the manifestation of these experiences, but during the performance itself the actor does not experience these feelings, but only reproduces the form, the ready-made external drawing of the role.
3. The art of experience - the actor experiences genuine experiences during the game, and this gives birth to the life of the image on stage.

The system is fully described in the book by K. S. Stanislavsky, “The Actor’s Work on Oneself,” which was published in 1938.

Stanislavsky died in 1938, but his scientific achievements and creative thinking are still relevant today. In this article we will look at the 7 basic principles that make up the Stanislavsky system.

1. Action is the basis of performing arts

The Stanislavsky system is a rather conventional concept. The author himself admitted that a student can only learn skills and gain experience through close communication with the teacher.

That is, it is simply impossible to achieve a good result from a distance. It’s interesting that many people understand Stanislavsky’s system differently. Even its main conditions may differ for different actors or directors.

Action, in turn, is the basis of stage art, since any performance consists of many actions, each of which should lead to the achievement of a specific goal.

When building his role, the artist should not simply imitate his character, because then his acting will turn out to be false.

On the contrary, the actor is obliged to try to build a chain consisting of simple physical actions. Thanks to this, his performance on stage will be truthful and natural.

1. Don't play, but live

Truthfulness, in Stanislavsky's system, is one of the most important elements. No actor or director can portray something better than what exists in nature, in the real world.

Nature is both the main artist and the tool, which means it is what needs to be used. When performing in front of an audience, you must not just play the role, but live it entirely.

In the notes of Stanislavsky himself the following phrase is found: “During my show of Khlestakov, I also felt for minutes that I was Khlestakov in my soul.” Any role should become an important part of the artist himself.

But in order to achieve such a result, the speaker should use his life experience and imagination, thanks to which he will be able to believe that he is performing exactly the same actions as his hero.

In this case, all the components of the role and your acting tasks will not be far-fetched, but literally parts of yourself.

1. Analysis

A person is designed in such a way that he is often unable to analyze his own emotions. He fails to notice what he feels when he eats, walks or talks. We also do not tend to analyze the actions of other people.

An actor, on the contrary, must be a very good researcher. For example, he should examine in detail how his typical day goes. Or observe the behavior of a person trying to please the people he came to visit.

These and other observations should become habitual. Thanks to this, the actor or director will be able to collect certain information and gain experience. Among other things, he will be able to competently build a chain of physical actions, and therefore his character’s experiences.

1. Simplicity, logic and consistency

According to Stanislavsky, the score (chain) of physical actions should be as simple and clear as possible. Due to the fact that the artist has to perform hundreds of times in front of the audience, he must relive his role again and again, and with a complex scheme of actions, he will certainly get confused.

It will be much more difficult for him to express any emotions on stage, and for the viewer, in turn, it will be more difficult for him to analyze his performance. Stanislavsky believed that almost all people’s actions are very logical and consistent. Therefore, they should be the same during a theatrical production.

Logic and consistency must be present in everything: in desires, thoughts, emotions, actions and other areas. Otherwise, the same confusion will continue.

1. Overarching goal and cross-cutting action

One of the most important conditions of the Stanislavsky system is such a concept as super task. Neither artists nor directors should in any way neglect the ideas of the author of the play for the sake of their own opinions.

The director is obliged to fully reveal the author's idea and try to express it on stage. And an actor, in addition to this, should also be as deeply imbued with the ideas of his characters as possible. The main task is to express main idea works, since this is the main task of the performance.

All members of the acting team must try to achieve this goal. This can be achieved by identifying the main line of action that runs through all parts of the work and is called end-to-end effect.

1. Collectivity

The ultimate task will become accessible only when all the artists join forces to work on the performance. Stanislavsky argued that mutual compliance and understanding of a common goal are extremely important.

When an artist tries to imbue himself with the ideas of an artist, writer or director, and an artist or writer with the desires of an actor, then everything will be great. Artists must love and understand what they are working on, and also be able to give in to each other.

If there is no mutual support in the acting team, the art will be doomed to failure. Many of you have probably heard famous phrase Stanislavsky: “Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art”.

1. Education through theater

Art must certainly be a good educator, both for the acting troupe and for the public who come to the theater. Konstantin Sergeevich himself admitted that the main task of theatrical art is entertainment.

But at the same time, he supplemented his thought as follows: “The public goes to the theater for entertainment and, unnoticed, leaves it enriched with new thoughts, sensations and requests thanks to the spiritual communication of authors and artists with it”.

It is very important to remember that spectators will attend performances both as entertainment and in order to escape from everyday worries, family and work. But of course, this should in no way encourage the actors to follow the lead of the public.

After all, when the audience takes their seats and the lights in the hall are turned off, “We can pour whatever we want into their souls”, said Stanislavsky.

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1. System of K. Stanislavsky. Its role and significance in development

performing arts

1.1 Stanislavski system

1.2 The meaning and place of the K.S. system Stanislavsky in the light of the problem of development of theater systems

2. Director’s analysis of the choreographic number of the ballet “Spartacus”

List of used literature

1. System of K. Stanislavsky. Its role and significance in the development of performing arts

1.1 Stanislavski system

Stanislavsky system, the code name for the theory and methodology of stage creativity developed by K. S. Stanislavsky.

Conceived as practical guide For the actor and director Stanislavski, the system acquired the significance of the aesthetic and professional basis of the art of stage realism. In contrast to previously existing theatrical systems, Stanislavsky's system is not based on the study of the final results of creativity, but on identifying the reasons that give rise to this or that result. In it, for the first time, the problem of conscious mastery of subconscious creative processes is solved, the path of organic transformation of an actor into an image is explored.

Stanislavsky's system arose as a generalization of the creative and pedagogical experience of Stanislavsky, his theatrical predecessors and contemporaries, outstanding figures of world stage art. He relied on the traditions of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, A. N. Ostrovsky, M. S. Shchepkin. The dramaturgy of A.P. Chekhov and M. Gorky had a special influence on the formation of Stanislavsky’s aesthetic views. The development of the Stanislavsky system is inseparable from the activities of the Moscow Art Theater and its studios, where it went through a long path of experimental development and testing in practice. In Soviet times, Stanislavsky’s system, under the influence of the experience of building socialist culture, took shape into a coherent scientific theory of stage creativity.

Stanislavsky's system is a theoretical expression of that realistic trend in stage art, which Stanislavsky called the art of experience, which requires not imitation, but genuine experience at the moment of creativity on stage, the creation anew at each performance of a living process according to a pre-thought-out logic of the life of the image. Having revealed independently or with the help of the director the main motive (“grain”) of the work, the performer sets himself an ideological and creative goal, which Stanislavsky called a super task. He defines the effective desire to achieve the ultimate goal as the end-to-end action of the actor and the role. The doctrine of super-task and end-to-end action is the basis of Stanislavsky’s system. It highlights the role of the artist’s worldview and establishes an inextricable connection between the aesthetic and ethical principles in art. The purposeful, organic action of an actor in the circumstances of the play proposed by the author is the basis of acting. Stage action is a psychophysical process in which the mind, will, feeling of the actor, his external and internal artistic abilities, called elements of creativity by Stanislavsky, participate. These include imagination, attention, ability to communicate, sense of truth, emotional memory, sense of rhythm, speech technique, plasticity, etc. The constant improvement of these elements, which evoke in the performer a genuine creative feeling on stage, constitutes the content of the actor’s work on himself. Another section of Stanislavsky’s system is devoted to the actor’s work on the role, which ends with the organic merging of the actor with the role, transformation into the image. In the 30s, relying on a materialistic worldview, on the doctrine of higher nervous activity by I.M. Sechenov and I.P. Pavlov, Stanislavsky came to recognize the leading importance of the physical nature of action in mastering the inner meaning of a role. The method of work that developed in the last years of Stanislavsky’s life received the conventional name of the method of physical actions. Special attention The director paid attention to the problem of the actor’s verbal action in the role and mastery of the author’s text. In order to make the word a true instrument of action, he proposed moving on to verbal action only after strengthening the logic of physical actions preceding the utterance of words. Before memorizing and pronouncing the author’s words, it is necessary to arouse the need to pronounce them, understand the reasons that give rise to them, and assimilate the logic of the character’s thoughts. The largest theoretical achievement of the Soviet theater, Stanislavsky's system contributed to the establishment of the method of socialist realism in the performing arts. Enriched and deepened by the principles of the communist party, nationality, Stanislavsky, the system forms the basis for the education of an actor and the artistic practice of theaters Soviet Union. Without considering his system complete, Stanislavsky called on his students and followers to continue and develop the work he had begun to study the laws of stage creativity, and indicated the path of its development. Stanislavsky's theatrical ideas, his aesthetics and methodology have become widespread throughout the world.

1.2 The meaning and place of the K.S. system Stanislavsky in the light of the problem of development of theater systems

To begin our discussion on this topic, we want to draw attention to one, as it seems to us, interesting point: criticism of the “system”. The fact is that the most prominent representatives of both the “Sacred” and “Rough” theaters disputed. And although this is not actually an argument either “for” or “against” the “system”, to begin with, let’s present several “claims” to Konstantin Sergeevich from all sides, so that we can then try to understand them more thoroughly; “...pure realism tends to unnecessary repetition of life.” “And then the nihilists came, theatricality was banished from life by Bazarov, from the theater by Stanislavsky.”

N. Evreinov “Two methods of work immediately appear, strikingly excluding one another. One, born in the gyneceums of the Moscow Art Theater, born in the throes of psychological naturalism, in the clamor of mental stress, with bath-house muscle relaxation. Here are “sketches” and “improvisations” of home comfort with cradles, pots, teapots, “sketches” of old streets and boulevards with their bustle - and this is in the name of looking into the psychological essence of the phenomenon... Another method is the method of genuine improvisation, bringing into focus all the achievements and delights of genuine theatrical cultures.”

“According to Stanislavsky, there are no people who firmly know what is needed and what is not needed. That’s why things are bad in the theater.”

“Characters turn into phenomena, causation is hidden, fate itself acts, the detective begins to see the light instead of thinking, the mental act turns into a physiological phenomenon.”

We find a fairly deep understanding of the essence of the problem in the works of Brecht; dealing with issues of naturalism and realism (In an unconditionally purely Brechtian approach to the problem.), he divides theaters into Aristotelian and non-Arestolean. Approximately, we can assume that naturalism falls into the first category, and the “Sacred” and “Rough” theaters fall into the second (non-Arestotelean) category. First, let's pay attention to some points.

First, according to this division, interesting collisions are formed: the “Sacred” and “Rough” theaters turn out to be united in something important, but naturalism opposes them. This means that what unites them in a certain sense turns out to be “unnatural”.

Secondly, it is obvious that understanding the term “naturalism” according to Brecht requires a special understanding. In any case, the term "naturalism" is not a mere insult and disparagement of the founding fathers of the "system".

Brecht correctly notes that “the history of the new theater begins with naturalism,” meaning, obviously, the Meiningey troupe in Germany and the Moscow Art Theater in Russia. The latter fully applies to Brecht’s thought that naturalism “seeks to acquire a new social function. An attempt to master reality begins with passive playwrights (in Russia - A.P. Chekhov) and passive heroes. The establishment of social causation begins with the depiction of states in which all human actions are merely reactions. This causality is deterministic in nature.” Brecht (let us pay attention to this again!) points out that this was the beginning of a new theater; one might say, this was the beginning of the development of new ideas, material layers in art. With the advent of the naturalistic school, the theater received (or rather, acquired sharpness, acquired a new quality) the feeling that “everything decisive happens between the words, behind the scenes, in the subtext of the dialogue.”

In other words, we are talking about the fact that the Chekhov-Stanislavsky line opened up a new sphere for the theater of what is material in art, i.e. something that requires comprehension and meaning. Thus, a new sphere of signifieds was opened. B. Eikhenbaum wrote that with the arrival of Chekhov, “it suddenly became clear that literature was looking at us from every floorboard.” With the advent of Stanislavsky, it became clear that the objects of theatrical comprehension were such phenomena, things, levels of human relationships, psychology, which previously did not belong to the theater. The new theater began with the awareness of a new reality.

It was not so easy to make this new sphere of signifieds the subject of theatrical work. It is hardly worth considering in detail the already textbook story of the failure of “The Seagull” at the Alexandria Theater. The System gave the world an effective analysis of the play, i.e. developed criteria according to which it became possible to realize and grasp this new sphere of signifieds. Analysis of the proposed circumstances, principles of construction and development of the conflict, effective tasks for the actors, etc. - this made it possible to work with this new sphere of signifieds, which quickly and widely replaced the “outdated” spheres of signifieds. The theater began to look at things and phenomena much more deeply. The Stanislavsky system is a method of acting technique and stagecraft. Developed at the beginning of the twentieth century by director, actor, and outstanding theater figure K. S. Stanislavsky. To the present day No one was able to propose an acting system and classification of the principles of acting, although opinions here differ greatly. The division of acting into experience, craft and performance is taken as the basis for Stanislavsky’s teaching.

The method arose thanks to the talent and reform work of Konstantin Sergeevich Alekseev (Stanislavsky). It was conceived as a textbook for directors and actors and appeared as a result of the results of research by previous generations, stage colleagues and modern theater workers, Stanislavsky’s experience and knowledge.

The evolution of the concepts of beauty among the author of the system was influenced by the works of M. Gorky and A.P. Chekhov, foundations of N.V. Gogol, A.S. Pushkina, M.S. Shchepkina, A.N. Ostrovsky. The teaching was developed experimentally and tested in practice at the Moscow Art Theater.

The essence of the Stanislavsky method

Unlike its predecessors, Stanislavsky’s system is based on establishing the reasons that determine the appearance of the effect, and not on comprehending the results of creativity. Through the system, the method of acting transformation into an image is comprehended, and the conscious mastery of unconscious creativity is explored. The primary task of actors and directors is to accurately, intelligibly and deeply personify on the stage the idea and content of the work through the fusion of the actor with the role.

System K.S. Stanislavsky is divided into two parts:

The first part is devoted to the actor’s work on himself, targeted, natural work in the circumstances presented by the author. This is an ongoing training that involves elements of creativity:

• Will.
• Intelligence.
• Feelings.
• Imagination.
• Plastic.
• Emotional memory.
• Attention.
• Sense of rhythm.
• Ability to communicate.
• Speech technique.

The second is dedicated to working on a stage role. It ends with the integration of the actor with the embodied object.

Stanislavsky understood stage art and for many years looked for ways to systematize the natural creative laws of the actor, and having found it, he tested it for years. According to Stanislavsky, acting has three elements.

Craft

Here we mean ready-made clichés of acting, necessary to bring the game as close to reality as possible. These are facial expressions, gestures, voice. The craft teaches the actor how to play on stage.

Performance

If you rehearse a role for a long time, then the experiences initially not experienced by the actor become genuine. The experiences that arise that are necessary for the embodiment of the role, or more precisely, their form, are remembered and allow one to play the role skillfully and believably convey the image of the hero, even if the actor does not actually feel the expressed feelings.

Experience

Experiences help to recreate the life of the human soul and convey its life on stage in artistic form. It is necessary that the actor actually experiences and understands the sensations and emotions of the hero, then the embodied type of hero will be alive. An actor’s work on himself in the creative process of experiencing involves understanding the role through analysis of its components. This is a deep analysis of the role and the actor needs to understand this.

Principles of the Stanislavski system

Stanislavski describes two methods used on stage.

• One of these creative techniques is the similarity of the actor to the embodied character in appearance and personal qualities. In this case, the bet is placed not on the actor’s skill, but on his natural characteristics. The technique is called the “typical approach”.
• The second technique is to place the actor in the imagined circumstances of the role and work on transformation from himself. This is exactly the approach Stanislavsky advocates. This technique serves as a formula for life on stage: to become different while remaining yourself.

Super task

In other words, a super task is a goal, a dream, a desire for which an actor works. It is an idea introduced into people's minds through performing arts. The overarching goal is the goal of the work. A correctly applied super task will not allow the actor to make a mistake when choosing acting techniques and means of expression. The ultimate task serves as the idea and goal of the artist’s work.

Action activity

The fundamental principle, whoever did not understand it did not understand the system. There is no need to put on a mask of passion and image, you need to function in them. Stanislavsky’s entire teaching is aimed at activating the natural human acting potential in the process of organic internal creativity, so that the ultimate task of the work is fulfilled.

Naturalness

The art of acting is subject to the requirements of naturalness. An artificial, mechanical playing of a role by an actor will not impress the viewer, will not cause a reaction, and the ultimate goal of the work will not be conveyed to people’s consciousness. The artist needs to understand this.

Reincarnation

This is the result of creative work. Creating an image on stage through natural creative transformation.

Life truth

The basis of the teachings of Stanislavsky and all realistic art. There is no place for conventions and approximation on stage, even if it is interesting and impressive. At the same time, you can’t drag everything from life onto the stage. A super task will help to separate real truth from art - that for the sake of which a creative person tries to introduce an idea into the minds of viewers and listeners.

System training

A theatrical production is an actor's interaction with someone or something: be it another artist, an object, an audience, or the actor himself. There are no moments without communication on the stage; this is the basis of stage life.

In order for communication on stage to happen as naturally as in real life, the actor must leave behind the stage personal feelings, thoughts and experiences born of reality.

This approach will allow you to transform into the portrayed image, eliminate the possibility of interspersing the actor’s personal experiences into the character’s emotions, the role will be conveyed naturally, and not mechanically. The role must captivate the actor.

To live the role, to command the attention of a thousand-strong crowd of spectators, to ensure constant contact on stage, training based on the Teachings of Stanislavsky, his etudes and exercises, his method is called upon.

Attention

The training begins with an attention exercise. Initially, the actor is trained to perceive the world. Training for interaction with a partner is based on attention and vigilance of feelings towards the partner. In the process of stage communication, an actor must capture the slightest nuances of voice, smells and elements of features. Every time creativity should be new and unique, serve discovery. The development of attention is helped by sketches and exercises proposed by K.S. Stanislavsky.

Attention training begins with the exercise of observing oneself and communicating with oneself. It is necessary to learn to concentrate attention at one point - in the solar plexus near the heart, a kind of representative of emotions.

A thought passing through the emotional center will make interaction with your inner self complete. This is communication between mind and feeling.

Communication with a partner is easier than contact with yourself. When interacting with a partner, demonstrating sketches, you need to bring your attention to a point and concentrate on the inner world of the other person.

• Attention training is divided into elements:
• Observation of the object.
• Determining the point of attention when interacting with yourself.

Finding a point of attention when communicating with a partner.

There is not only one type of communication on the stage. The artist simultaneously communicates not only with his stage partner, but also with himself and the audience. Types of interaction:

• With another artist.
• With myself.
• With an item.
• With the viewer.

Micromimicry

In the process of interaction between partners, microfacial expressions are especially noticeable. The theater school calls it radiation in another way. Elements of falsehood in the game clearly appear when trying to translate facial expressions into micro facial expressions. To make the acting sketch organic, they use exercises to awaken feelings in oneself, called radiation or radiation perception without emotions. If the sketches are done with absolute truth and faith in the proposed circumstances, the acting method is successfully implemented.

Theater ethics

Professional ethics on stage are similar to public ones. At the same time, it is adapted to the conditions of the theater. The conditions are complex and multifaceted, the main thing in them is collective work, a group. Theater ethics implies the morality of the profession and does not allow for a disdainful attitude towards discipline. A creative group of people needs iron discipline so as not to destroy the intentions and thoughts of high art.

Theater ethics is needed so that everyone understands their role in the common cause. Ethics is needed so that the method, school and group interact harmoniously, to maintain moral character.

Stanislavsky's system is a doctrine of stage art; it is a unique philosophy of theater that formulates its tasks and goals. The art of theater is based on the interaction of artists with each other and with the audience. Interaction should be lively and natural. Theater training is communication training.

Stanislavsky's acting training, his system, will help not only the artist on the stage, it is useful in any communication. For a speaker, manager, psychologist, or salesperson, training exercises will help improve the skills of persuasion and communication.

For the first time, the system solves the problem of consciously comprehending the creative process of creating a role, and determines the ways of transforming an actor into an image. The goal is to achieve complete psychological authenticity of the acting.

The system is based on the division of acting into three technologies: craft, performance and experience.

• Craft according to Stanislavski, it is based on the use of ready-made cliches, by which the viewer can clearly understand what emotions the actor has in mind.
• The art of performance based on the fact that during long rehearsals the actor experiences genuine experiences, which automatically create a form for the manifestation of these experiences, but during the performance itself the actor does not experience these feelings, but only reproduces the form, the ready-made external drawing of the role.
• The Art of Experience- the actor experiences genuine experiences in the process of acting, and this gives birth to the life of the image on stage.

The system is fully described in the book by K. S. Stanislavsky, “The Actor’s Work on Oneself,” which was published in 1938.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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✪ [Creation#3]: Acting / Stanislavsky's acting system

✪ Stanislavsky K.S. - The actor's work on himself. Part 1

✪ After Grotowski: physical training of an actor

✪ “Stanislavsky died” No. 4 - Algorithm for training a dramatic actor.

✪ Stanislavsky’s teaching on the super task

Subtitles

Basic principles of the system

The truth of experiences

The basic principle of an actor’s performance is the truth of one’s experiences. The actor must experience what is happening to the character. The emotions experienced by the actor must be genuine. An actor must believe in the “truth” of what he is doing, must not portray something, but must live something on stage. If an actor can live something, believing in it as much as possible, he will be able to play the role as correctly as possible. His performance will be as close to reality as possible, and the viewer will believe him. K. S. Stanislavsky wrote about this: “Every moment of your stay on stage must be sanctioned by faith in the truth of the feeling you are experiencing and in the truth of the actions you are performing.”

Thinking through the proposed circumstances

The actor's feelings are his own feelings, the source of which is his inner world. It is multifaceted, so the actor, first of all, explores himself and tries to find the experience he needs in himself, he turns to his own experience or tries to fantasize in order to find in himself something that he has never experienced in real life. In order for a character to feel and act in the most appropriate way, it is necessary to understand and think through the circumstances in which he exists. Circumstances determine his thoughts, feelings and behavior. The actor must understand the internal logic of the character, the reasons for his actions, must “justify” for himself every word and every action of the character, that is, understand the reasons and goals. As K. S. Stanislavsky wrote, “the stage action must be internally justified, logical, consistent and possible in reality.” The actor must know (if it is not indicated in the play, invent) all the circumstances in which his character finds himself. This knowledge of the reasons, and not the emotional manifestations themselves, allows the actor to experience the character’s feelings in a new way each time, but with the same degree of accuracy and “truthfulness.”

The birth of place and action “here and now”

A very important feature of acting is the experience of “here and now.” Any emotion, any action must be born on stage. The actor, despite the fact that he knows what he should do as this or that character, must give himself the opportunity to want to perform this or that action. An action thus performed will be natural and justified. If the same action from performance to performance is performed every time “here and now,” then it will not become a kind of “stamp” for the actor. The actor will perform it differently each time. And for the actor himself, performing this action each time will provide the feeling of novelty necessary to enjoy his work.

An actor's work on his own qualities

In order to be able to invent the circumstances of the role, the actor must have a developed imagination. In order for the role to be as “live” and interesting for the viewer as possible, the actor must use his powers of observation (notice some interesting situations in life, interesting, “bright” people, etc.) and memory, including emotional (the actor must be able to remember a particular feeling in order to be able to experience it again).

Another important aspect of the acting profession is the ability to manage your attention. The actor needs, on the one hand, not to pay attention to the audience, on the other hand, to concentrate his attention as much as possible on his partners, on what is happening on stage. In addition, there are technical issues. An actor must be able to stand up in the light, be able to “not fall into the orchestra pit,” etc. He should not concentrate his attention on this, but must avoid technical complications. Thus, an actor must be able to control his emotions, attention, and memory. The actor must be able to control the life of the subconscious through conscious acts (“subconscious” in in this case- a term that was used by K. S. Stanislavsky, and the meaning of which is that the “subconscious” is a system of involuntary regulation), which, in turn, determines the possibility of emotionally filled living “here and now.” “Our every movement on stage, every word must be the result of a true life of imagination,” writes K. S. Stanislavsky. An important aspect of acting is working with your body. In theater pedagogy, there are many exercises that are aimed at working with the body. Firstly, these exercises relieve a person from bodily tensions, and secondly, they develop plastic expressiveness. Y. Moreno wrote that K. S. Stanislavsky “... reflected on how to invent means by which the actor’s body could be freed from clichés and given him the greatest freedom and creativity necessary for the upcoming task.” Stanislavsky's system is aimed at achieving freedom of creativity for a person, including at the bodily level. Numerous exercises are aimed at ensuring that the actor has free access to his own creative potential.

Interaction with partners

Creativity in the theater is most often of a collective nature: the actor works on stage together with his partners. Interaction with partners is a very important aspect of the acting profession. Partners must trust each other, help and assist each other. Feeling your partner and interacting with him is one of the main elements of acting, allowing you to maintain involvement in the process of acting on stage.

Actors who received the Stanislavsky Prize

• - Jack Nicholson
• - Harvey Keitel
• - Fanny Ardant
• - Meryl Streep
• - Jeanne Moreau
• - Gerard Depardieu
• - Daniel Olbrychski
• - Isabelle Huppert
• - Oleg Yankovsky (posthumously)
• - Emmanuel Bear
• - Helen Mirren
• - Catherine Deneuve

see also

• Brecht's system (Brecht, Bertolt)
• Vakhtangov system (