Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work

stood up and walked to the front of the room, everyone’s atten-

tion on you, how your arms and legs suddenly belonged to

someone else, how they wouldn’t follow your instructions?

That’s physical tension.

A costume designer once told Lee that when singer

Kathryn Grayson was making historical romance movies, her

boned strapless gowns needed elastic gussets at the sides of her

waist to accommodate eight inches of expansion when she

took a breath to sing. Eight inches! That’s physical release.

Actors release to gain power and to increase the flexibility

of their physical instrument. Their process is similar to that of

athletes, but instead of throwing a ball ...