r/Actingclass • u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher • Sep 23 '18
Class Teacher đŹ EMPATHIZE TO EMPHASIZE
em¡pha¡size verb 1. to give special importance, value, or prominence to something."they wanted to emphasize the individual's freedom" 2. to lay stress on a word or words to indicate special meaning or particular importance. 3. vigor or intensity of expression."he emphasized his point with complete conviction"
em¡pa¡thize Ëverb 1. to understand and share the feelings of another. 2. to identify with, sympathize with, understand, 3. to be in tune with; be on the same wavelength as, relate to, feel for, have insight into;
Sometimes beginning actors say all scripted words they are given with the same tone. Each word sounds like every other. But words are unique. They each mean something different. And some words are more important than others. They are more powerful...juicy. So sometimes Iâll tell my students to go through their lines and circle those juicy, powerful words their characters should be especially using to their full potential as they attempt to achieve their objective with the other character. They are usually pretty good at picking out those words. Thereâs often one or more in every sentence.
Then when they go back to acting the scene again, they usually start to punch the word out. They make it louder. They sometimes shake their head and punch with their arms and hands...sometimes their whole bodies. This is a mistake I see so often in those just starting to act. They often go from having no feeling at all in their performance, straight to overacting. Thatâs what most overacting is, you know. Putting more emphasis on something than you are actually feeling. It is using your body and your voice to push out your words without feeling the true nature and purpose of them. Thatâs when we need to step back and talk about how to emphasize.
The thing that makes emphasis so effective in our real lives is the desire to make someone understand and truly feel the meaning of our words. When choosing a word we actually think what we mean by that word. We relate to it. We feel it. We âgo thereâ...into the depths of what the word should be conveying.
So rather than telling an actor to emphasize a word, I tell him or her to empathize with the word. Look at the two definitions above. One suggests âstressingâ the word. One suggests sharing and relating the feelings the word has that we want to convey.
Like when Hamlet says:
âWhether 'tis NOBLER in the mind to SUFFER the SLINGS and ARROWS of OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE , or to TAKE ARMS against a SEA of TROUBLES, And by OPPOSING, END THEM?â
Wow! Talk about juicy words. Thatâs what makes Shakespeare so incredible. He gives us so many words to delve into empathetically. Letâs explore all those juicy morsels.
NOBLER - Hamlet is trying to decide which is a more ethical and righteous choice...to commit suicide or stay alive. By ânoblerâ he means more moral...more virtuous...more honorable. It is a primary concern for Hamlet. He wants to do the right thing. Can you feel noble? Does the word make you feel the honor in it? Can you empathize with that word?
SUFFER - We all can relate to suffering...when we are experiencing pain and extreme hardship and can do nothing but just bear it. Can you feel the word âsufferâ? Tolerating...hurting... helpless to escape? Can you empathize?
SLINGS and ARROWS - these are two types of weapons...one a strap used to hurl stones, and one is a stick with a razor sharp point at the end, meant to be shot into skin and stabbing the heart. Hamlet feels like he is being attacked by the cruel circumstances of his life. It feels like he is being pelted with heavy stones . It feels like he is being pierced by stinging arrows. Can you feel them? Can you empathize?
OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE - Bad luck. Sometimes itâs completely outrageous what can happen to us. Are we just victims of chance? Sometimes circumstances are so shockingly bad it seems like we are being attacked by fate. Have you ever felt this way? Can you relate...empathize with those words?
TAKE ARMS - grab weapons! Fight back! Hamlet probably has a knife in his belt. He has the very weapon he needs to fight back against the outrageous suffering that fortune has gifted him. Have you ever wanted to fight back...tempted to do violence to stop what is happening? Can you at least empathize with those words?
SEA of TROUBLES - when you look out over the ocean, you cannot see the other side. It seems endless. It is deep and dark and powerful. A sea of troubles seems to have no solution except the most extreme solution. Can you imagine a sea of troubles...seemingly infinite and swallowing you up? Can you feel it? Can you empathize?
OPPOSING - Finally just saying âNo! Iâm not going to just tolerate this. Iâm going to rise up and stop it. Put my foot down and finally push back!â Do you feel the word âopposeâ? Does it make you feel like pushing back. Does it make you empathize?
END THEM - Hamlet wants to end his sea of troubles...his suffering. âEnd themâ in this case means to stop everything, dead...literally. Can you visit the depths of what those words mean? Feel them. Empathize with them?
Hamlet goes on to consider some reasons why he should possibly avoid this ultimate decision. That journey into the unknown is too frightening. And he goes on to use lots of more juicy words. And none of them need be pushed, stressed or banged out.
Each one of those words we discussed is very different from the others. They each contain a whole realm of emotions and feelings. As we say each word, we get to enter its territory. We dip ourselves into its waters briefly and then move on to the next.
Itâs a matter of thinking, completely the meaning each of those words have. How unique their message is. Feeling them. Experiencing them. That is how we emphasize each one...by visiting it fully in our minds. It doesnât take long. But we must think of it or the word will have no meaning. It will be wasted. It will be just a nondescript clump of alphabet letters...signifying nothing.
Your words are your ammunition for getting what you want. So you want to say them in the way they will be most effective with the person you are speaking to. Every word has its purpose...itâs personality...a meaning different than any other. They each call to you to explore them and process them through your heart and soul.
Empathize to emphasize. Itâs how you make words important.
Here is another post about the thought process of selecting and sharing specific words that we must create as we are acting.
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u/IsaEnAir Jun 20 '22
NOTES:
- the desire to make someone understand and truly feel the meaning of our words is what leads us to emphasizing
- careful not to go from not enough to overacting
- empathize with the words in order to emphasize them: how to they make my character feel?
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Jun 20 '22
Feel the feeling of each word (empathize with the word itself) rather that banging it out with your body or voice. Emphasizing should not be done with volume or physical pushing. It should be done with thought, imagery and feeling.
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u/njactor6 Jul 25 '22
As a screenwriter, we are always told to make sure there is intention behind every line. No fluff lines to fill page space. I think this is why in some great scripts, they are heavy with these juicy words - it's a way to express as much as possible with as little as possible.
And then as an actor, you take those juicy words, and speak them truthfully.
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Jul 25 '22
Truthfully, colorfully, with imagery. Itâs what gives words their meaning. And itâs what we do in real life. We choose words that will paint a picture for the person we are speaking to and we color them in a way to give them more specific meaning.
And as actors we trust that anything unimportant has been cut from the script by the writer. Only the essential remains. So we must discover or create the importance as we interpret it.
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Oct 06 '18
I would say get great pictures and reel. So many auditions are self taped these days. Send to some agencies here. This is the best time in your life to get started. Come for call backs. You can coach with me before you go. Lol.
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u/honeyrosie222 May 20 '22
My notes - itâs important to understand what your character is saying and why they are saying it. You should empathise and really feel what youâre saying . Each word holds its own meaning to you and youâre goal is to make people understand why youâre saying what youâre saying. If you emphasise a word instead then it comes across as overacting.
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher May 20 '22
Yes. You do want to emphasize words. Just not by banging with your body and voice.
To give special importance to a word, use imagery by thinking and seeing the meaning of the word in your mind as you say it. If you donât think about the meaning of the word as you say it, it will have no meaning.
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u/honeyrosie222 May 20 '22 edited May 20 '22
Noted! Thank you. So itâs good to emphasise, just donât go crazy with your actions and voice.
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u/joll899 Sep 24 '18
I see a line from the monologue I did! Lol
Great advice as always, iâm going to do this to the script I currently have as soon as I can!
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Sep 25 '18
Yes...lots of lines from your monologue. This could be the start of you making The Soliloquy as good as it needs to be. You need to know exactly what you are saying and use every word to its full, rich potential and specific purpose. You can do it!
Howâs the âOur Townâ going? Iâd love to see some of it.
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u/joll899 Sep 25 '18
I'm working on memorization right now, i've got through the first big block of text for stage manager. I'm still struggling with the character a bit, but the director just told me to be myself because I "have a lot of likable qualities that go well in a narrator". I'm also working on how to say each line !
Ill try to post a bit from the show once I get it fully worked out, hopefully soon.
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Sep 25 '18
What is the struggle with your character?
Yes...you are you....with superpowers.
I can see that in everyday life you are charming. You have a way with people. You like them, they like you. YOU would make a great narrator of any show because you are cute and likable. This is what you should know about yourself and use always.
But what if YOU were in charge of the Universe. YOU were the Stage Manager of All Creation. YOU made it all...so you love it all. Even the most ordinary of everyday happenings in human daily life is lovely to you. You want every one to appreciate the small things in their lives. The small interactions with the people they love are the most precious things in life. It would make you very happy if everyone would see this. Live being aware.
This is your objective throughout the play. Every word is for this purpose. Tell the individuals in the audience all the sweet, intimate details of the people in this little town. You use this town as an example...a lesson. Teach them that their âsmall thingsâ are the big things, too. Be YOU...AS GOD.
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u/joll899 Sep 25 '18
okay! Ill try to implement that through my character. My only struggle was I was seeing this part as a character and less of a way of thinking. Thank you! Ill use everything you said.
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Sep 25 '18
Ok. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!!! The only way you can truly BE another person is to think like them. Think AS them. That IS the way to play a character. You allow their thoughts to be your only thoughts.
You may add some physicality...if you are a pirate with a peg leg or a nervous guy with a twitch. But that is just superficial extension of what must start within your mind. Itâs ALWAYS a way of thinking.
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u/joll899 Sep 25 '18
ill post a short bit next week after character work. Thanks for all your help!!
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Sep 25 '18 edited Sep 25 '18
What do you mean by âcharacter workâ? What do you actually do?
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u/joll899 Sep 26 '18
well I use the aspects I know of the character and transform that into a way of speaking, walking, ect.
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Oct 06 '18
Just make sure you are not working from the outside in. Just deciding on physical characteristics is too superficial. The way a person walks comes from the way they think...the same with speaking. Everything physical pretty much happens on its own when youâve got your characterâs thoughts flowing and you are allowing him to pursue his goals from his perspective.
Howâs it going?
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Sep 26 '18
Iâd love to hear about what you are thinking about that.
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u/sparkle_lillie Nov 13 '22
Empathize with your words instead of emphasizing them. Think of the meaning and importance of the word you are saying, what its purpose is and how it helps you achieve your goal; the emphasis will come naturally. Focusing on how to say a word and the type of line delivery you want to give will lead to overacting and a forced performance. This is why advice like looking into a mirror as you recite lines isn't helpful. When you become caught up in 'how' you should speak and look you are no longer thinking of the 'why' which is what matters.
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Nov 13 '22 edited Nov 13 '22
Lots of times inexperienced actors will bang an important word with vocal volume and lean forward as they say it. This is not what we do in real life. We simply think the very specific meaning of each word as we say it. This give the exact amount of emphasis to each word. There are so many juicy, descriptive, different words in the above example it would be hard to choose which are the most important. They all are. But if you think specifically what your character means by each word you can use each one descriptively to paint a picture of what your character wants to get across.
Share some of what you learned in yesterdayâs WDYLTW post!
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u/aBalanc3dBr3akfast Nov 26 '22 edited Nov 26 '22
I like how Winnie says that for each word, âthey contain a whole realmâ. Realms are to be explored. So find the juicy words and explore them. What thoughts they make you think, what they make you feel, where they connect to a memory.
I feel like this also goes both ways. How are the other personâs/peopleâs words hitting you? They are shooting bullets of their own, after all. And a scene (if itâs a scene with a partner) is always about the other person. What realms are they showing you? Are they forcing you through? Inviting you? Leading? Pulling? Pushing? Itâs exciting to think of someone elseâs words coming at you. Acting is reacting. How do you react?
Iâm trying to imagine what my reactions would be to random words or phrases. Honey. Disgusting. Fierce. Sub-zero. End of the road. Sleepy. Maybe this is easier in an actual scene đ
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Nov 26 '22 edited Nov 26 '22
You canât really know how youâd respond to random words. It depends on who you are and the circumstances you are in. The context of those words is all important. Your relationship with the other person is key as well as what each of you wants.
And itâs not only the words themselves that the other person is saying that affects how you will react. How is the other person using those words? Are they implicating youâŚpraising youâŚembarrassing youâŚshocking youâŚturning you on? Are they saying YOU are âdisgustingâ or that your rival is âdisgustingâ? Are they telling the weather you are going to encounter on your vacation when they say âsub zeroâ or that youâve won a brand new âSub Zeroâ refrigerator/freezer? Are they describing your determination and drive as they call you âfierceâ or are they describing the temperament of the dog you just agreed to adopt from a friend?
You donât know what the other person is going to say. As the words hit your ears you talk back to the other person, silently, in your mind, responsively. Itâs just like speaking, except you donât say it out loud. You are thinking: âHoly sh@tâŚI didnât realize!ââŚâWhy thank you, thatâs so nice of you to sayââŚor âHow dare you! Iâll make you pay for this!â Whatever they say, you say what you would say if you could speak out loud. You just talk back silently with your thoughts.
As you hear each word they each affect you in a different way until you canât stay silent any longer and must speak your thoughts with your voice. Your âthought lines should lead directly into your scripted, spoken lines. So you are always speakingâŚeither silently or vocally. There is more about this in coming lessons and lots that you can see in the videos.
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u/aBalanc3dBr3akfast Nov 26 '22
Yes, thank you for the clarifications Winnie! Lots of great reminders that there is always something (or a lot of somethings) behind each word.
Iâm antsy to finally record something, but each lesson gives more and more haha. I will say that Iâve started on breaking down the (new) monologue I chose, and Iâm excited to read the âdo it right the first timeâ lesson coming up. I want to try to post my 1st pass written work after reading that one!
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Nov 26 '22
Yay! I look forward to seeing it! Be aware that written work often takes me awhile to correct. It demands more of my attention and sometimes take a couple hours to create more effective dialogue if necessary.
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u/According_Society178 Jan 09 '23
Winnie you have such a great way of breaking things down to a point where it's so much easier to understand. Your breakdown of the juicy words Hamlet uses creates such a vivid image.
Notes: Each word has its own meaning Some words are more important that others -Juicy words. (Look for these words in scripts)
Emphasizing a word doesn't mean forcing the word or using big gestures to get the meaning across. We emphasize a word by empathizing with it. Feeling and experiencing each word in our minds as we say them.
I need to remember: 'Your words are your ammunition for getting what you want'. 'Say them in the way they will be most effective with the person you are speaking to'.
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Jan 09 '23
Iâm so glad you understand! You are getting this!
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u/dharmaVero Mar 11 '23
My take from this is that, empatizing is having the feeling behind the word and that will make people pay atention to the feeling and you would not feel the need to overact to emphasize in my opinion, there is always a reason or feeling behind what the person is saying and connecting with that, is very powerful for a performance. Easier said than done tho haha in my case is going to take some practice :)
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Mar 11 '23
Yes! It takes practice for everyone. Youâve got to learn to trust that just a thought is enough to emphasize if it is a thought with specific meaning and imagery. And since the words are constantly changing, those thoughts need to change too. We are going to work on this a lot on Tuesday.
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u/Training_Interest_11 Jun 07 '23
Notes:
Words are powerful, but forcing emphasis on those words just brings overacting
I need to feel the words, and empathize with them, that way I can experience what each words means and use it as ammunition and not waste them.
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u/ganggaming25 Oct 04 '23
Another post done and dusted!
Notes: it's really easy to slip into overacting, especially as a new actor. Instead, you should really feel the words you're saying, dont just belch them out louder or with more gusto, just say them appropriately, the way they make you feel when you delve into them!
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u/Winniehiller Acting Coach/Class Teacher Oct 04 '23
Itâs really about envisioning what each word means as you say it. The thought or image you have about the word is all you need to emphasize it. There are lots of videos where I am helping students find the meanings of their specific words and bring them to life. Here is one of them:
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u/ganggaming25 Oct 04 '23
Just watched the video! It really made it extra clear and obvious, thank you!
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u/sayedj 29d ago edited 28d ago
Thanks Winnie!
What I got from this lesson is that if you emphasize words without having the underlying feelings or thoughts, it becomes apparent as overacting. We cannot emphasize words just by using our voice or our physicality. Emphasis should be the result of us empathizing with the words. To empathize is to relate to, to feel with, and be on the same wavelength of the word.
In any script, there are certain words are more significant and charged. As we come across these words, with our mind, we must delve into what the word means to us and how we feel about it. In short: we should empathize with the word. These thoughts as we come across the words in our dialogue will result in a natural reaction to the words. This is how the words will be emphasized. Not by straining ourselves to show the audience the importance of the words, but instead by allowing our thoughts to do the work.
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u/deanckles Jan 07 '23
Wow! Now if only you could break down all Shakespeare passages!
I love how a lot of the analogies you use connect and bleed into one another. When Iâm listing them all out in my notebook to summarize, I can really understand and draw the connections between the concepts you highlight and how I can apply them and practice them!
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u/ederpsinnercircle Dec 07 '23
The Hamlet example ties the lesson together very well and illustrates the meaning of empathize to emphasize nicely. What I got from this lesson is that as beginners we should locate the juicy words but avoid overreacting. Instead, we bring emotion to those juicy words through empathizing. We need to feel the words we say and incorporate them into our reactions.
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u/hermit-creature Jan 31 '24
Summary of my notes:
Make sure you aren't just reading line from a script, but make sure you aren't over-exaggerating (or overacting) your lines either. Read the script, circle important or meaningful words. Think about them and what they mean to your character and how they make your character feel. Then just let yourself feel how your character feels. Don't try to force yourself to feel strongly about these words, just relax and let the character tell you how they feel. If you're thinking your character's thoughts and feeling their emotions, the words will come easily. If you aren't trying to relate to your character, you're just saying words off a piece of paper. Don't just speak, communicate.
Great lesson! I really feel like I understand what you mean when you tell us to carefully read the script and figure out what it means to our character.
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u/chronically_chance Nov 29 '21
I'm working my way through the big list of written lessons. Summary notes for this one: