Emotion Management in Acting

First of all, let's figure out what emotions are. This term means a person's subjective assessment of a certain situation, a reaction to it. The signs of emotions are as follows:

1. Intensity, that is, the force with which a certain emotion is expressed;

2. Positive or negative coloring (valence);

3. Stenicity/asthenicity;

4. Physiology;

5. Feedback in the form of facial expressions.

A certain set of emotions is present in every person and is called basic by specialists. These are joy, surprise, guilt, shame, disgust, anger, contempt, sadness, grief. Basic emotions are realized and experienced by people, forcing them to act in one way or another.

Portraying the emotions inherent in the character, the actor involuntarily experiences them, which, of course, is a rather exhausting, exhausting process for the psyche. In this regard, it is extremely important for representatives of the acting profession to be able to manage emotions in order to preserve mental health. And, in addition, it is useful when it is necessary to artificially evoke certain emotions in order to realize the image in the frame or in a theatrical production. There are special techniques that have proven their effectiveness. First of all, these are exercises from the arsenal of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). For example, the “anchor” technique, which is basic. Its essence in short: a person regularly performs simple actions that cause him a certain emotional reaction. And then he fixes this reaction with the help of an “anchor” — a kind of ritual. Then, if it is necessary to feel some emotion, the ritual is reproduced. Simply put, a conditioned reflex is created for emotions.

But how to evoke an emotion in yourself for subsequent “anchoring”? With the help of memories of an already existing experience. One way or another, each person felt basic emotions in life in different situations. If you work with your own memory properly, you can recall a lot of options when you felt anger, joy, amazement, and then relive this emotion. So, you recall an emotionally colored situation. Imagine it in the smallest detail, feel the same feelings again. Relive a certain emotion while simultaneously creating a “ritual” — as a rule, this is some kind of gesture that only you should know about. As soon as you “anchor” the emotion, at the right moment you will only have to repeat the desired gesture-ritual.

There is also the opposite situation: you need not to cause an emotion in yourself, but to get rid of it. As a rule, this is associated with negative feelings, such as anger or rage. To get rid of the negativity, there is also a certain technique, and it is very easy to perform. When you feel that negative emotions are beginning to take hold of you and will soon “overwhelm” you with your head, do the following: as much as possible, strain all the muscles, or a certain group of muscles. Stay in suspense until you feel that you have reached the limit, that you no longer have the strength to do it. After that, start relaxing your muscles. Physical stress will take with it psychological stress.

There are many other, very useful and effective ways to manage emotions. Their description can be easily found on the Internet or in specialized literature. Do not neglect the development of these techniques, someday this skill may be very useful to you.