Advanced Acting Tips – Recalling Your Sense and Emotional Memory for Breathtaking Performance

There I was, sitting in the front row of a community theater production. I wasn’t expecting much in terms of performances, but I was excited nonetheless. The curtains rose and the actors took their place. Over the course of two hours, these actors acted like a muse, guiding me throughout their personal journey and invoking a genuine emotional response from myself and others.

While these actors were local, and many of them held other jobs, each performer was so committed to their roles and held a solid understanding of the emotional requirements of their characters, they caused a real emotional response from the audience through their acting.

As an actor you must understand how to recall your sense and emotional memory I order to perform emotionally and physically logical actions. It is through this advanced acting technique that the performers in the aforementioned production were able to deliver such a realistic and believable performance.

What is Sense and Emotional Memory

Sense and emotional memory is just that – the subconscious memories you as a performer have in your own brain caused by the years you’ve walked the earth. Every circumstance, every piece of clothing and every drop of rain has etched a memory into your brain. While this memory may be vivid, others are nothing more than a “feeling” or a “sensation.” You as an actor may call upon these real sense and emotional memories to connect with your character and deliver lines and actions that are full of conviction and believability.

How to Recall

Many times, actors rely on rehearsals, character development and the interaction between their fellow performers to help create a realistic and believable performance; however, the harsh reality is sometimes these methods don’t work. Sometimes the desired response is not evoked through physical actions, relationships and objectives. When this occurs, you must learn how to recall past personal experiences to connect with the emotional landscape of a scene.

The first step in recalling your sense and emotional memory is to isolate a personal situation in which your emotional response is similar to that within the scene you’re working on. Write this information down. Describe the primary emotions you were feeling and why you were feeling these. Secondly, recall your physical actions within this circumstance. What were you doing? What were you wearing? How was your body positioned? What were your hands doing? How did your skin feel? By recalling the physical actions associated with a particular emotional experience, your brain will automatically place you back into that emotional state.


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