- Learn to express yourself physically
- Making exaggerated physical gestures
- Learning to cry and laugh dramatically
- Learning to flirt
- Voice control
- Speak and react strongly
- Pronounce the words correctly
- Relax before you act
Many people want to start their steps in acting, but don’t know how to act a drama. Good news! Mastering dramatic arts can be easy with these simple tricks. Do you need to act for a school play or project? Do you have big dreams of acting on the big screen? If so, you will need to master the basics of acting. For several centuries, actors and actresses have been perfecting different techniques to achieve dramatic acting.
Within the theater world, the drama genre is possibly the best valued by experts. Although it is true that doing comedy is not easy at all, the drama gives us the possibility of interpreting the characters in a much more profound way.
The art of drama can be used both for acting practices and for changing personality characteristics. But, if an actor or an actress is interpreting a dramatic scene and this is forced, it shows. The success or failure of the play may depend on it.
To be able to act correctly, first of all, it is necessary to know the body language, since this, together with the fact of demanding attention from others, are essential to be able to act dramatically. Take the initiative! Read on for some tips on how to take control of any scenario.
Learn to express yourself physically
The body is one of the most fundamental tools for an actor. Showing our emotions through it is the best way for the public to understand how our character feels and even empathize with him. An excellent way to practice dramatic acting is to rehearse the scene without saying the text, merely using our bodies to try to convey what we feel. Other tricks that can help are:
Making exaggerated physical gestures
This is basic if you want to learn how to act a drama. When you are going to act out, your physical gestures should serve to transmit emotions. It is recommended to learn how to gesture a lot with your hands.
An example of exaggerated physical gestures is moving your arms vigorously when you tell a story or jumping with excitement when you see a friend or loved one. These occasions are great for practicing how to act a drama.
Another example could be learning to jump into the chair dramatically. Sigh heavily often and roll your eyes. Study what other dramatic actors and actresses do in movies and learn to follow their example.
Feel free to give particular traits to your character. Does he/she walk with a slight limp from a war? Does he/she continuously play with his/her hair? Does he/she have a tic in his/her leg? Does he/she play with his/her fingernails? All this does not have to be in the script! Think about how your character would behave in everyday life. How do you glimpse his/her sitting in a waiting room? What could you be doing?
Use gestures and body language to express emotions. Don’t just stand with your arms stiff at your sides. If the character is angry, wave your hands and stomp. If the character is sad, he/she hunches his/her shoulders and bows his/her head. Use logic.
Of course, do not exaggerate, time is essential in this case, so each action, no matter how exaggerated, should be done at the right time. The idea is that people can believe you, so you should make your physical gestures as credible, as long as they are consistent with the situation.
Learning to cry and laugh dramatically
Crying can be easy for some and complicated for others, but in the case of dramatic performances, you must learn to cry easily, quickly, and consistently. The truth is that naturally dramatic people can cry without problems at the slightest provocation.
But, if this is not your case, you should learn to cry a lot in front of many people. One way to do this is to learn to focus on the emotions of the moment, on what you are supposed to be feeling. You should not be distracted by the audience or the recording equipment.
Find an emotion within you that equates to what your character would be feeling. Did his/her mother die? If your mother isn’t dead yet, remember when your pet or loved one died, and how bad you felt. Did you cry for days? Please tune in to it. The audience will not know what prompted you; they will only perceive that you are devastated and will probably relate it to the dialogue that occurs in the context.
Again, do not overdo it, sometimes we try to overexpose our feelings through physical actions, such as crying when it is not essential, just to demonstrate that we can do it.
As for laughter, it seems simple, but some actors and actresses have difficulties in expressing laughter naturally and dramatically. Drama does not always mean that they are sad or angry performances.
When it is necessary to laugh in acting because there is happening something funny or entertaining, you have to laugh loudly; this will ensure that you are going to attract attention, which is an essential part of acting dramatically.
One way to make it credible is to use your hands when you laugh or react to events. You can slap your thighs, clap, or do other things to get attention or make noise always work to increase laughter.
It is important to note that the intensity of the laughter must be adapted to the moment of the performance. If the laughter is too loud in a scene that only requires a short laugh, or that is not funny at all, you will notice that it is pretended or forced.
An excellent way to practice is when you are in a group of friends. When a conversation or a funny situation arises, you should laugh in the most expressive way possible. You can use your hands and body expressions; in this way, you can do it in a way that is more natural when acting.
Learning to flirt
If you are flirtatious or a little suggestive in your regular conversations, you will attract people. People who are naturally dramatic love when others are attracted to them, and also they want to get as much attention as possible.
One trick to do this is to stay close to people when talking to them, brushing their shoulder or arm, or winking. You can flirt in non-sexual ways, even when people are not of the gender that you like, you have to be very friendly and a little suggestive in the conversation. You can also add subtle mischievous phrases like “If you know what I mean …” along with a small eyebrow gesture.
This flirtation will keep viewers attentive, as it tends to cause a lot of curiosity. For this, it is good to be more suggestive than exaggerated; in this case, subtlety is the best weapon, as well as proper management of your body expression.
Voice control
Your dramatic performance will depend on your body gestures, but your voice will have a lot of influence, so you must learn to control it and modulate it to achieve a successful dramatic performance.
There is nothing worse than someone who speaks monotonously, and without emotion, that can completely ruin any performance. You must handle and control your voice according to each situation if you want to learn how to act a drama.
For example, you can speak in a shaky voice if you want to reflect fear. You can also manipulate the tone of your voice if your character is angry, you can make your voice sound louder and less controlled. If your character is upset or nervous, make your voice rise in pitch.
Speak and react strongly
If you need to be the center of attention and be perceived as a good dramatic actor or actress, you have to make sure you are heard. You will have to speak loudly if you are surrounded by a crowd or a group of people. You must ensure that your words are perceived as the most important in any conversation, even if they are not.
Likewise, having exaggerated reactions can be very useful when you want to show that you know how to act a drama. You must prepare to react to any situation or scenario that involves your character.
Making loud exclamations when things happen can be very eye-catching and efficient. It is essential that even if you speak loudly, do not yell if you don’t need to. It is very easy to confuse the two things, and no, it is about projecting the voice without having to raise it and shout, unless, of course, shouting is the appropriate reaction.
Projecting your voice is essential, for this, you can speak louder than you usually would so that everyone can hear you and the camera can capture sound. There is nothing more irritating than being in the audience and understanding just a few words
Don’t talk wildly; just make sure your voice is projected, and you’re not muttering or speaking in a muffled voice to other actors. It would help if you made sure that the entire audience or the production team can easily hear and understand what you are saying.
Pronounce the words correctly
When you are on stage or in front of the camera, you should pronounce your words clearly and make sure that all sounds are well defined. This is especially important in word endings, which are easily dispersed and acoustically lost.
Don’t speak too fast. This generally messes up your words, making it more difficult to understand what you are saying. Do not go too far in your statement either, as this can make you sound false.
Lastly, you need to make sure your voice is clear, but don’t overdo it. Check with the director or your acting partners if you are not sure if you are over-enunciating the words.
Relax before you act
Take a deep breath. Many people find it helpful to do so while tensing the entire body and holding it there for a few seconds. Then relax all your muscles. Another effective method is to take air in for 4 seconds, hold it for another 4 seconds, and then release it for another 4 seconds. This process will produce a general relaxation effect.
This relaxation makes it easier for you to position yourself emotionally at the moment of your dramatic performance. From the moment you take the stage, you should leave behind your romantic conflicts, money problems, or general tiredness. All this is off stage. You are only at the moment that is being created on stage.
Actors Takeaway:
how to act a drama
As the last tip on how to act a drama, you need to break free from all inhibitions. These can awaken your shy side, or even stop you from taking your performances to the next level of drama.
Something that can help you break free of your inhibitions is to practice relaxation exercises before interpreting your character, and stop worrying about how others will perceive you. You are not doing it because it generates anxiety! You do it because it feels great.
It’s not you anymore, so you don’t have to worry about what they think about you. Remember that when you do something, the audience is not seeing you; it sees your character.
Of course, you never should become a diva. Remember that acting is not just about you and that the entire production is a group effort. How would you be without the rest of the actors, props, technicians, and costume team? Naked and alone on a poorly lit stage, that’s how you would be.
Remember always that even though you are performing a dramatic performance, it does not justify generating drama around you. Now that you know how to act a drama, go and break a leg!
If you are going through a problem during the presentation of a play, use it as an escape. The theater should relax you, not add loads. Use this moment to become someone else and leave your problems (and attitudes) at the front door.
You can resume them a few hours later if you wish. Stop your thoughts, and begin to listen and locate yourself at the moment actively. The audience will perceive if you don’t.
However, if these issues happen to be in sync with your character’s events, you can take advantage of them to add even more drama to your performance.
Showing anger, crying, showing fear, or even laughing is much easier to do if you are going through similar situations.
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