Actors: how do you remember lines?!?!?

[slackerinabox]

Is there any trick to remembering 3 or 4 pages of lines? I have to do a monologue and I'm freaking out!

 

[minendo]

Read it out loud over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

 

[amcdonald]

be smarter

 

[Amorphus]

get into the mindset of your character. if it's not overly important, just memorize the premise of the monologue, and all the main points, and then ad lib the actual wording. make sure you get everything in there, though.

at least, thats the easy way out. otherwise, just read though it until you know it like the back of your hand.

 

[Lager]

They take short takes between every scene, like tv show for example. You only memorize like 2-3 sentence.

 

[Jzero]

Minendo has it, pretty much.
But don't just memorize it. LEARN it. You don't want to sound like you are reciting pre-written text, you want it to sound as if the words are coming to you right then and there.

For some, it helps to make a tape recording and listen to the tape recording. You can also tape yourself to hear how it sounds and improve your delivery.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Amorphus
get into the mindset of your character. if it's not overly important, just memorize the premise of the monologue, and all the main points, and then ad lib the actual wording. make sure you get everything in there, though.

at least, thats the easy way out. otherwise, just read though it until you know it like the back of your hand.

Pretty funny considering I wrote the monologue and it's about me 😉 Good idea though, I'm going to highlight the main points and try to memorize them...

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: coldcut
They take short takes between every scene, like tv show for example. You only memorize like 2-3 sentence.

Yeah, every play I have been too constantly has breaks every 5-10 minutes.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: coldcut
They take short takes between every scene, like tv show for example. You only memorize like 2-3 sentence.

This is a staged monologue- I'll be sitting in front of 24 hot girls (all drama majors are hot for some reason), sweating my ass off under the hot stage lights and trying to deliver this with wit and grace.. so, yeah, I just gotta commit it to memory..

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: coldcut
They take short takes between every scene, like tv show for example. You only memorize like 2-3 sentence.

I've never done any TV, but I've done lots of stage acting. Not everyone breaks between scenes. My last drama was a "memory play" called DANCING AT LUGHNASA. I played the narrator, and my part involved 3 monologues totalling nearly an hour in length. I knew every speech, word-for-word (no fudging!).

It can be done, and it's not hard.

 

[tweakmm]

You can record yourself saying the lines and then listen to it over and over again.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

Originally posted by: Amorphus
get into the mindset of your character. if it's not overly important, just memorize the premise of the monologue, and all the main points, and then ad lib the actual wording. make sure you get everything in there, though.

at least, thats the easy way out. otherwise, just read though it until you know it like the back of your hand.

Pretty funny considering I wrote the monologue and it's about me 😉 Good idea though, I'm going to highlight the main points and try to memorize them...

The reason I don't recommend just fudging it is because the author often carefully chooses the words for the mood and imagery they create.

"When I cast my mind back to that summer of 1936, different kinds of memories present themselves to me."
paints a vastly different picture than
"When I think back to the summer of '36, I remember a lot of different things."

Perhaps the monologue you wrote isn't so carefully worded, but it's a good technique to master.

🙂

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

Originally posted by: Amorphus
get into the mindset of your character. if it's not overly important, just memorize the premise of the monologue, and all the main points, and then ad lib the actual wording. make sure you get everything in there, though.

at least, thats the easy way out. otherwise, just read though it until you know it like the back of your hand.

Pretty funny considering I wrote the monologue and it's about me 😉 Good idea though, I'm going to highlight the main points and try to memorize them...

The reason I don't recommend just fudging it is because the author often carefully chooses the words for the mood and imagery they create.

"When I cast my mind back to that summer of 1936, different kinds of memories present themselves to me."
paints a vastly different picture than
"When I think back to the summer of '36, I remember a lot of different things."

Perhaps the monologue you wrote isn't so carefully worded, but it's a good technique to master.

🙂

Thanks for the advice.. I'll break out my old minidisc recorder to tape myself, read the monologue 300 times and then listen to it 600 more times.. thanks!