Affective memory

Affective memory was an early element of Stanislavski's 'system' and a central part of method acting. Affective memory requires actors to call on the memory of details from a similar situation (or more recently a situation with similar emotions) and import those feelings to those of their characters. Stanislavski believed actors needed to take emotion and personality to the stage and call upon it when playing their character. He also explored the use of objectives, actioning, and empathizing with the character.

"Emotional recall" is the basis for Lee Strasberg's Method acting. "Sense memory" is used to refer to the recall of physical sensations surrounding emotional events (instead of the emotions themselves). The use of affective memory remains a controversial topic in acting theory. Otherwise known as emotional memory, it is often used by making the actors completely relax so that they recall the memory better.

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