mental downloadables

the newsletter for to git gud in acting 'n stuff

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"Amateurs keep going until they get it right. Professionals keep going until they can't get it wrong."   Julie Andrews or Harold Craxton · Successful People

The Main Event

Fundamentals

Rote Recitation Really Works for Remembering Words

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Rote memorization has gotten a bad rep over the years.

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AI

Hard drives

The "Cloud"

Second brains

The Inter-webs

Executive assistants

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We have worked very hard as a species to NOT have to remember things, so no wonder it is becoming more and more difficult.

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Once upon a time a tribe's knowledge was held in the single brain of a roaming "library" called the Griot!

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They held generations of information in their brains, and they process to pass it down to their protege could be pretty intense.

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I am that griot.

You are the library in the the making.

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Let's dig into how you can get the words off the page and into your brains and, more specifically, your "muscle memory" as well. That way you aren't thinking about what to say next, you just speak out without hesitation.

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With this process you'll also:

• improve articulation
• strengthen your projection muscles
• discover cool things about the way your character speaks

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Know Your Lines & Don't Bump Into the Furniture

Spencer Tracy said those words last millennium but they still hold true today.

It's probably the best acting advice on the planet.

But how do we got the words into our brains?

Primary reading aloud …

… a LOT!!!

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SIDE QUEST:

According to Big Teacher Brains at —

reading aloud has many benefits like:

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ROTE STACKING

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I'm gonna teach you how to stack the lines by rote so you get the whole page in your mind with in a few hours but before we do that …

… a word of caution — ooooooooo

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the neutral tone

no emotion

no feeling

just words

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say the words without any kind of emotion.

monotone

this is extremely important!

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The reason is we are learning the words we don't want to memorize a bad acting performance at the same time. We can want the lines to be spoken neutrally so we can add nuance and color to their meaning and performance later.

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So here's how it works:

1. Read the first line aloud clearly in a neutral tone
2. Close your eyes.
3. Say the line you just read aloud from memory.
4. Read the second line aloud in a neutral tone
5. Close your eyes and say the second line from memory.
6. Go back to the top of the page.
7. Read the first and the second line aloud.
8. Close your eyes and say the first and second line from memory.
9. Read the third line aloud.
10. Close your eyes and say the third line from memory.
11. Go back to the top of the page and read the first, second, and third line aloud.
12. Repeat the line "stacking" until you can say the whole page with your eyes closed.

That's 1 "Download"

Repeat an entire Download 3-5 times.

Mundane -> Mastery

Greatness is found in doing the mundane well and consistently.

Muscle memory, myelin, scales, lay-ups, the basics, the fundamentals.

Muscle memory for know and saying lines confidently includes:

your face

mouth

tongue

diaphragm

lungs

abdominal muscles

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When you want to quit during this process remember:

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"Amateurs keep going until they get it right.

Professionals keep going until they can't get it wrong."

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See you next week!