The third step on how to find inspiration is concentration. On the set of Terminator 3, actor Christian Bale had a beef with the Director of Photography. Apparently, the DP was fiddling with the lights while the camera was rolling. Bale blew up and now the incident will live in internet infamy because someone surreptitiously recorded it.

Stanislavski said that “an actor must have a point of attention, and this point of attention must not be in the auditorium.” Or on the DP moving lights! Bale cried foul when someone in his sight line was distracting him, “I'm trying to ------- do a scene here, and I am going ‘Why the ---- is Shane walking in there? What is he doing there?’ Do you understand my mind is not in the scene if you're doing that?”

Sometimes the crew is not interested in the acting one least bit because they are only focused on their jobs. During the scene, the costume designer is looking to see if the clothes look right. The set designer is looking at the set. Hair and make-up people are focused on that, etc...

The actor attempts to crowd out of his mind anything that doesn’t have to do with the story at hand. It’s impossible to believe completely in the imaginary circumstances or else you would be considered delusional. But the goal is enough focus and concentration to get the feeling of being ‘private in public.’

Here are some Stanislavski exercises to practice your acting concentration:
1) At the end of every day, in bed, go over everything that happened in great detail, both appearance and inner emotions. Also try to refresh earlier memories of places, events, and people.

2) When interacting with people, attempt to comprehend their inner emotional life through their actions, thoughts and impulses. Why did they do that? What did they have in mind?

3) Observe things in daily life and bestow them with imaginary backgrounds. For example, observe and handle your cell phone as if it were a piece of alien technology you’ve never seen before or as if it belonged to the long lost love of your life. (This last exercise works out your imagination as well.)

The million-dollar question, ‘What does the actor concentrate on during a scene?" will be answered in the fourth step to inspiration.

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Previous Articles in the series by Tom Draper
http://www.elatinoweekly.com/article.cgi?article_id=1511
http://www.elatinoweekly.com/article.cgi?article_id=1517
http://www.elatinoweekly.com/article.cgi?article_id=1540

Tom Draper's Blog
http://www.ActingProject.com