Master the Craft of Acting with Acting Exercises

Acting is a craft that needs to be honed and developed constantly by aspiring actors. For this, there are various acting exercises an actor can undertake to keep his acting skills sharp and some of which are:

Freeze: This is a group exercise involving 4-6 actors, where two actors start enacting a scene suggested by the group. After a couple of minutes, one of the actors from the group says “Freeze” and the two actors freeze in a pose. The actors from the group then replace one of the actors who are performing. The actor must now begin a new scene based on the pose and improvise.

How does it help?

The ‘Freeze’ exercise helps an actor to create a relation between their physical movement and acting. It also stretches their imagination to improvise a scene.

Observation: Observation is an individual exercise, in which an actor needs to observe a total stranger and describe his/her behaviour. For instance, the actor must observe things like ‘what they might be thinking or how they might be feeling’. If they are having a conversation, then one needs to notice how they are talking or what is their body language. An actor should observe everything without them noticing the actor.

How does it help?

This helps an actor in observing his own and others’ character, while making the actor able to react in a given scene keenly.

Backward Scene: Here, a group of actors create an imaginary ending of a scene. Then, two or more actors work their way towards this imaginary ending, constantly creating and improvising scenes. The more the actors, the exercise gets more complicated.

How does it help?

In this exercise, actors have to constantly be on their toes and use their imagination extensively.

Picturisation: This involves one actor recalling and picturising an event from the character’s past. An actor needs to recall the event vividly and then as he goes further he needs to put himself in the character’s shoes.

How does it help?

This acting exercise will help the actor understand the character in depth, in turn owning the character.

For generations actors have followed these and many more acting exercises that have helped them improve their acting skills. There are various filmmaking schools, like Whistling Woods International, that help aspiring actors to master these exercises. Whistling Woods International’s Actors’ Studio can help an actor hone their acting skills and master the craft.