Book on Acting: Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater, and Television [Paperback]

Stephen Book (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

Stephen Book is a top Hollywood acting coach and teacher and a theatre director. His students have won Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Obies, and Grammys. Thirteen of his present or former students are featured in either starring roles or as cast regulars in the current primetime television schedule. This book contains film and television scenes in which Book-coached actors, used his Improvisation Technique to create their performances. These scenes, showing the actors' performance choices, demonstrate the use of Improvisation Technique in different genres of acting. Well-known theatre and film scenes are included, as well as scenes from such TV shows as 'Frasier', 'Melrose Place', 'Star Trek: Voyager', 'LA Law' and 'The Practice'.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Improvisation is essential to acting and Book is a terrific teacher. -- William Hurt

From the Publisher

A new technique for improvising performances with scripted and memorized lines.

The ability to improvise a skilled performance while speaking scripted and memorized lines is of paramount importance to actors working in today’s film and television productions, which often allow very little if any rehearsal time. Through his innovative Improvisation Technique, Stephen Book shows the actor how to create a spontaneous performance by applying improvisation to traditional script-acting for film, theater, and television.

Book on Acting begins with immediate training in how to improvise. Book’s fundamental principle of improvisation is "Acting is doing, and there is always more to do." The actor learns what to do to keep himself in a spontaneous improvisational state.

This Improvisation Technique is then applied to exercises with scripted lines, developing sophisticated improvisation skills for enhancing character, emotions, conflict, and agreement as well as improving the actor’s audition process. Also included is a unique process for breaking down scripted scenes into improvisation choices.

Book on Acting contains film and television scenes in which Book-coached actors, used his Improvisation Technique to create their performances. These scenes, showing the actors’ performance choices, demonstrate the use of Improvisation Technique in different genres of acting. Well-known theater and film scenes are included, as well as scenes from such TV shows as Melrose Place, Star Trek: Voyager, L.A. Law, Frasier, and The Practice.

Book’s Improvisation Technique extends the work of Viola Spolin (author of Improvisation for the Theater). Book was Spolin’s student, assistant, representative, and her partner in the Spolin Theater Game Center in Hollywood, where he served as executive director and principal teacher in the 1970s.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 550 pages
• Publisher: Silman-James Press (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879505606
• ISBN-13: 978-1879505605
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #630,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Effective and Reliable New Technique, January 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Book on Acting: Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater, and Television (Paperback)

I'm an actor and I've studied and practiced the "Improvisation Technique" outlined in this book and I can't recommend it more. Stephen Book has created a way for performers to create a workshop for themselves without the need for a "teacher" (or tuition!). The costs of acting classes can be very prohibitive; but now, with this book, a group of actors can commit to doing the curriculum at little or no cost and learn a very effective and reliable new technique.

Book's "Improvisation Technique" is different than other "traditional" methods:
1) It's a doable and reliable methodology that can be used solely or in conjunction with other techniques.
2) The learning is layered; it's a step-by-step, logical process. In every class, something new is added to what was previously learned.
3) Participants learn "acting focuses" independent of scripted work. Once an "acting focus" is learned and mastered, the participants then learn how to apply it to scripted work.

4) The "teaching" is never personal or critical so those learning are never put in a place of being judged.
5) The learning is experiential - participants learn by doing, not watching or analyzing. Every class, every participant works on their feet.

I graduated from one of the top theatre schools in the country. When I graduated and moved to Los Angeles, I took an ongoing class in Uta Hagen's approach as well as participated in a several general scene study classes. I had a mixed bag of different ways of working, but I didn't have firm grasp of a single reliable approach. Then, I was introduced to "Improvisation Technique."

Compared to other acting training I've had, I'd say the biggest difference is that my other training was mostly an exercise in being directed (which does have some limited value), while "Improvisation Technique" is much more about self-sufficiency.

And actors absolutely must be 100% self-sufficient in the professional world. On the sets of television and film production, there is often only time for a blocking rehearsal, and the director is often more concerned with the shot than the performance. My theater and scene study training did not prepare me for this reality.

I never had a reliable way to quickly and efficiently break down a script and make choices. Now I do.

I used to read scripts from "my character's" point of view and make choices based on "How would I respond if I were this person under these circumstances?" Now I read scripts from the writer's point of view and make choices based on facilitating the writer's vision of what is being dramatized, and my callback/booking rates have increased dramatically.

Used to be, intellectually, I had an idea of what my character wanted and what I wanted the performance to be, but I had no way of getting that into my body in any sort of consistent/reliable fashion. Now I do.

My acting used to be very reactive, very "in the moment." And if I was reading/acting opposite someone who wasn't very good, I wasn't very good either. I relied on external forces to create my performance. Now I can create spontaneous performances, nailing all the beats, whether I'm acting opposite a tired casting director or an award-winning actor.

Reaching high levels of certain emotions used to be very intimidating for me. But Book's technique allowed me to relax, do A, B, and C, and presto! they came easy and simply. Now I approach an emotionally charged scene with confidence.

And it's all because of this technique.

WARNING! This book is not meant to be read and considered. It's meant to be put on its feet! And Book takes participants through the curriculum one step at a time.

Book takes the fundamental improvisation principles of Viola Spolin ("Improvisation for the Theater") and extends them into dealing with scripted and memorized material.

The exercises in this book are presented in logical sequence. Each exercise picks up where the last one ended; so, I guess you could say that each exercise gets progressively harder. But, because they are learned one at a time, in sequence, participants only notice the current one they are learning as being difficult.

It's kind of like juggling. You first learn to keep one ball in the air. Then two. Then three. Then four. Then four with fire, etc. When you were learning how to keep two balls in the air, THAT was the hardest exercise. But when you move on to juggling three balls, two has suddenly become ridiculously simple.

The beauty of this kind of learning is that the goals are constantly being pushed higher, just out of reach. Participants are constantly engaged because there is always another challenge and it's only in retrospect that they realize how much they've learned.

All you need is some empty space, some dedicated friends, and this book, and you'll have everything you need to learn a new acting method that will get you out of your head and into a spontaneous improvisational state while you say your lines on cue.

Will it make a difference in your professional career? It has in mine.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid & thorough book on a stellar acting technique!, January 14, 2003

By 

Sean Ogren (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book on Acting: Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater, and Television (Paperback)

Stephen Book's "Book On Acting" is a great achievement! With a clarity and thoroughness rarely found in books of this sort, this author/acting-coach lays out every how, why, what & where needed to learn this brilliant technique. Book explains how to learn the tools of improv and then take them to a new level by using them for the WRITTEN word. The technique gets an actor out of their head & into their body, increases their "stage" presence and allows them to deliver a fresh performance every time the camera rolls or the curtain rises. Whether you're an actor who wants to learn this technique or a coach who wants to teach it - this book will fulfill all of your needs. I can't recommend it enough!

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, November 21, 2008

By 

chicklit "chicklit" (LA, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Book on Acting: Improvisation Technique for the Professional Actor in Film, Theater, and Television (Paperback)

A smart, well crafted book about the basics. A must for anyone at any level of their craft. Doesn't substitute for actually taking a class with Book; however, well worth the read!