Study your emotions

The Words of Wisdom this week are Study Your Emotions. Be aware of the inner feelings which you experience at different times in your life and which lead you to action. When acting or preparing for a part revive emotional memories of things that have happened to you. How did they feel, physically? What happened to your face? What happened, in particular, to your eyes? Observe how the interaction between the emotional and the physical runs both ways: if you are happy you smile, if you smile it makes you feel happy.

What are the emotions?
Fear. Surely the most basic of the emotions, because it is the survival emotion, protecting us from danger, and must go far back in our evolution. It has many relatives from worry, nervousness and anxiety to terror and panic.
Happiness. Something we all pursue and are fortunate if we find.
Disgust. Hatred if it applies to a person.
Anger. The whole gamut from irritation to fury and rage.
Sadness From regret to inconsolable grief.

Those are the five primary emotions. One on its own is surprise. Something which, by definition, cannot be planned for. A difficult one for actors to portray, though a sudden movement often helps.

Here are some less obvious emotions.
Confusion, or doubt,
Pride. Proper pride, as in believing that your team is the best, and arrogant pride, believing that others are inferior.
Gratitude. Being thankful.
Curiosity. This is a valuable one for actors to explore. We are curious creatures and are interested in any new thing. In any scene, ask yourself what is your character focussing on and where is their attention directed, particularly if it changes.
Inspiration. Feeling uplifted or transformed.

A word of warning. There are some drama teachers who seem to regard acting training as a form of psychotherapy. They have no compunction in breaking their students down and invading their private feelings. This is an abuse of authority and should be avoided at all costs.

Meanwhile: Study Your Emotions.