The Best Film Acting Courses in Europe

CANCELLED: Wednesday Evening Rehearsal

Wednesday evening's rehearsal and script-reading is cancelled...

posted by CWF at 15:23

Ready When You Are, Mr McGill

Michael has often recommended the film, "Ready When You Are, Mr McGill" because, although a comedy by Jack Rosenthal, it gives a very authentic view of what it is like to be on a film set. The 2003 re-make for TV was on the other night, and after a lot of hunting around, it now seems that the original 1976 version will be available on DVD from Amazon from March 2010. You can pre-order it now:

Ready When You Are, Mr McGill! [DVD] [1976]

posted by CWF at 10:28

Monday Evening's Rehearsal Cancelled

It has just started snowing here. If this carries on, then the rehearsal will have to be cancelled. If it is just a short flurry or two, then we can continue. I have checked the weather radar on Google Earth and it looks like there may be an hour's worth of snow, or possibly sleet, at least. The Met Office is forecasting snow until midnight for our postcode district, and 0C.

UPDATE 16:57: The snow is continuing, and the ground is getting slushy; if it freezes up later, driving home will be difficult for many people, therefore the script reading this evening is cancelled.

posted by CWF at 15:27

Christmas Closure

The class on Thursday evening, 17th December, will be the last before Christmas, and possibly the last ever. If you are on the six-week course and haven't missed any sessions, this Thursday's session would normally have been the last one anyway.

It is possible that classes will resume after the January shoot, and we will e-mail existing students if that is still the case at the time, and/or make an announcement on the acting courses site blog. Some students involved in the January shoot will be coming in on various dates, and others will be contacted for the April/May shoot as required.

In the mean time, check out our new site, which is now fully operational:

www.seemeact.com

This is a talent directory and will contain listings of castings that members can search and apply to.

Keep up to date with the film on:

www.katherineofalexandria.com

KOA clothing can also be obtained from the 'Shop' page.

Good luck with your acting career, and merry Christmas.

posted by CWF at 16:36

Classes

Classes are as normal on Monday, 14th December 2009: no e-mails have been sent out with any cancellations, so come in as normal.

posted by CWF at 14:06

Tuesday Sessions

As of now, Tuesday sessions have been cancelled and we are reverting to Monday and Thursday evenings only.

posted by CWF at 09:59

Special Announcement

No new places are available on the courses at the moment as the current courses are now oversubscribed and we are busy with film production at Pinewood Studios for the forseeable future.

posted by CWF at 17:02

Window Of Opportunity

For potential new students wishing to get into the film business, the window of opportunity represented by our acting courses is about to snap shut. Filming is scheduled to start on Katherine Of Alexandria after Christmas, and we have a slate of some half a dozen films to make after that: enough to keep us busy for the next several years. If you don't join the November classes (and we are recommending people start immediately rather than waiting until November), it is doubtful that you will get another chance as we will probably not be holding any more for quite some time, if ever.

For all our students, the remaining classes will consist of assisting with pre-production on various scenes, as discussed in class last week. This may not be all that different from normal classes, since as long-term students will know, we normally spend a large chunk of the course practising scenes anyway, as this is the next best thing to actually being in a film.

posted by CWF at 09:12

Letting Go

We talked a bit about how new actors can reach a point where they "cross over" or suddenly stop being inhibited (or as inhibited) in their acting, and how new actors might reach that point more quickly.

Constance said that you have to "explode." If you want to do what you want, you must break through.

Franco said that he takes in what other people do and applies it to his own acting.

Michael referred to the DVD of "Looking For Richard" (link in the right-hand column) and how Al Pacino was able to seemingly wander the streets of New York acting wherever he happened to be without being embarrassed. He said it may be something to do with losing self-consciousness.

I (Martin) agreed with this. I see it as loss of self-consciousness, or in effect, loss of ego. I said that an actor does not need that self-conscious side of themselves when acting: worrying about whether you are looking good or behaving well is just a hindrance when you have a specific act to perform.

I have discussed this in the blog before, way back on 26th May 2007, in the "Barriers To Acting" entry, and the "Actors Menu" book linked to on the right covers this in part as well.

My view is that essentially, the Buddhists are right: the ego is a fiction - it is not real; it is just a set of ideas and habits we have about who we are supposed to be, or how we are supposed to behave. For an actor, all it can do is either get in the way, or limit them to acting as themselves only. Anything which pushes their boundaries too hard will result in too much fear.

To my mind, when you feel that fear, you know you are endangering your ego, which is a good thing. You are pushing beyond your normal self-imposed or learned limitations. Each time you push that boundary, you are expanding your range.

Probably, therefore, meditation would help: the point of meditation is not relaxation, it is to switch off the ego for a while so you can see the difference between the real you and the limited ego, the set of habits and ideas you have of yourself. When your mind, especially your verbal mind, is quiet, there is no support for the existence of an ego and it fades away. Normally, your internal monologue, that incessant chatter from your brain's language centres, keeps your idea of yourself alive: "I must not be silly," "that woman's an idiot!", and so on. This mental garbage serves the purpose of helping you to survive when you are a child and don't know how to behave. As a child you learn or invent a load of rules, many of them nonsense, to help you avoid danger on the one hand, and get what you want on the other. As an adult, you know how to get by, so you don't need those rules any more! However, the habits and habitual mental catch-phrases are burned deep in the brain and typically we don't even realise any more that we're endlessly repeating mechanistic garbage in our minds. We only really notice this when we manage to silence it for a time: this is what, for example, the Buddhist breathing meditation can achieve. If you can silence the garbage while acting, you limit your fear, and limit your limitations.

When you have done this, you can, seemingly paradoxically, stop trying. The thing is, you stop trying to be yourself all the time, and you can be what you want to be instead.

posted by CWF at 09:50

Wednesdays

We are planning to finish Wednesday classes so if that is one of your evenings, please consider whether you would prefer to switch to Monday, Tuesday or Thursday.

New students planning to do Tuesdays and Wednesdays will need to switch to any two out of the three other days: Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays. We can discuss this at the classes next week. For the time being, Michael and Tara will be teaching on Tuesdays, and Michael and/or Jean on Mondays and Thursdays.

posted by CWF at 09:53

Readings

Actors will sometimes need to get together prior to a production, be it film or theatre, and do some read-throughs of the script. The art of being able to read, and read so it sounds interesting, is paramount. But how to do this? My thoughts are as follows.

The main thing is to read a lot so that reading itself requires only a very little effort. Then it is possible to read with expression because you are not having to concentrate on getting the words right. This is the same thing as with acting to a script in another form: there, you need to know the script 100% so that you can act without having to concentrate on remembering the words. Here, you need to read without concentrating on the reading itself, but instead concentrating on the meaning and the feelings the words elicit so that you can express them. At this point the reader begins to be able to see the way the words are *supposed* to be read - pitch, pause, speed, inflection. Get these wrong and meaning is lost as the meaning of words is conveyed in how they are said just as much, if not more, than in their dictionary meanings. Notice how Freddie Jones begins the long trailer talking about Maxentius - slowly and with good expression and relevant pauses to let the meaning sink in. Compare that with a flat reading of the same words. If you don't have access to that trailer see trailer 1 on the web site: "Alas! My dear Katherine, church leaders in their infinite wisdom..."

My guess at a good exercise would be to read one newspaper article or a children's story or anything indeed, aloud, per day. The aim would be to get to be able to read *any* item first time without stumbling or hesitating at all (as if reading a radio play for example), and with, say, journalistic expression or better so it sounds interesting rather than dull or flat - dull, flat reading is to be absolutely avoided at all costs.

This article seems relevant:

http://www.memfox.net/reading-magic-and-do-it-like-this/

The short audio book (free) ‘Iagoo The Story Teller’ - is a set of Native American stories or myths. This version is read really well:

http://librivox.org/american-indian-fairy-tales-by-william-trowbridge-larned/

Although these are partly relating to children's stories, I think that is a good place to start, to get over the hump of putting expression it - you can wind it back later if you can get it in there in the first place.

posted by CWF at 10:22

Hi-Ho, The (Un)Glamorous Life of an Extra

Emma has kindly posted these notes about her recent experiences as a film extra:

So you think being an extra is easy and glamorous? Think again. There seems to be a perception that anyone can be an extra. Well maybe anyone can, but to actually do the job decently, in a professional manner, actually no, it isn’t something just anyone can do. Experience helps of course. The other thing which makes a huge difference it to have the right attitude. It also helps to know what to expect: the hard reality of being a supporting artiste (SA) (as extras prefer to call themselves).

Confidentiality is a significant factor in filmmaking, so while I will attempt to give you a good idea of what to expect on a shoot by describing my experience on this particular one, I have specifically tried to exclude specific details that might identify particular scenes or people, or pretty much anything to do with the plot. In any case for a film professional the actual plot is quite a minor detail, when one has a job to do.

As with most professional feature film shoots in this country we are working in accordance with the PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) agreement, and thus on the FAA/BECTU (Film Artistes Association division of the British Entertainment and Cinematograph Technicians Union) standard contract (although of course one does not have to be a member of a union to use the union’s standard contract).

Call time on this shoot was officially 7am, but unofficially 6:30am, if we wanted breakfast. This is usual on a professional shoot. 7am is the earliest a call time can be without ‘Early Call’ fee. The half hour for breakfast is optional and in our own time. As it gets close to seven o’clock the AD’s start urging everyone to queue up to collect their chits (release forms) and proceed to Wardrobe. Often on a big shoot like this we will have the assistance of dressers, which helps to speed things up, especially when putting on complicated unfamiliar clothing (and especially if something needs to be done up at the back, or you need to hold on to your shift while putting on your dress).

Being medieval villagers means that although we are in period costume, our costumes are actually quite slouchy and comfortable, made of heavy silks and cotton, and very grubby. This makes a nice change to a lot of period costume, which has a tendency to involve corsets. Given rather warm weather conditions (yes we were actually shooting on the hottest days so far of 2009) it is quite a relief for the women not to have to wear corsets. One feels sorry for some of the men who had to wear armour and I do wonder how people managed to run or climb hills in medieval shoes – sometimes working on film sets can be a living history lesson. Wearing costumes that are already grubby has advantages at lunchtime, and when waiting around on set. We don’t have to worry about spills or where we sit: a bit more dirt won’t make any difference.

In the queue for Hair and Makeup a tube of high factor sunscreen is passed around for application. First time I’ve ever been on a shoot where sunscreen was officially issued. I wouldn’t wear sunscreen on a shoot without permission from the Makeup folk. Given the very bright weather we are all glad to wear it under our makeup, which is basically dirt: I think they call it liquid soot.

Costume and makeup done we wait in the holding area, the tent where we had breakfast. This is a good time to read, or chat with the other SA’s already there: a time to catch up with colleagues from previous shoots and such like. On many shoots one can wait ages during this period, but on this shoot we proceeded to the mini-buses to go down to set quite quickly. On some days we left small bags, with our books, reading glasses, etc., in a set-side holding area, but on this particular shoot we didn’t have much access to that anyway the AD’s advised leaving everything in Wardrobe.

On set, there is, as usual, much waiting around, in very bright sunshine, with very little shade. It’s hard filming in such hot weather, but that’s the way it is. Fortunately everyone, cast and crew, and that includes the extras, are trusted to have water bottles secreted about the set, and mostly everyone is pretty sensible about making sure stuff is out of sight – I’ve rarely been on shoots where extras were allowed that, but in this weather it is only sensible. Thankfully on the second week when we had even less shade, it was cooler, and a lot less bright.

Apart from a few male SA’s who alternate between being villagers and local militia foot soldiers, the rest of us keep the same costume even though some of us appear as two or three different characters over the course of the various scenes. Either we are very deep background, so our faces will not really be seen, or one might conclude that within a village a good number of people would have looked similar (e.g., family members).

This is the kind of shoot where we are on or around the set all day, waiting around between set ups, and during shots for which we weren’t actually needed. Evidently the AD’s felt it was easier to keep us on set in case we were needed, than to send us to a holding area with our books (while I’d have preferred the latter, that is the nature of this shoot). Endless waiting around is normal in this business: it’s not too bad when you know it’s because the crew are busy setting things up. But if you see the crew waiting around looking bored too, then you might start wondering why. Fortunately most of the extras on this shoot seem to be generally well behaved (running or staying put when and where told to, not complaining very much or getting in the way), a great necessity when you have horses to contend with as well. A few guys wearing armour got told off for leaving bits of on set, but this was soon remedied by the AD’s making them leave their chits with the “armoury”, so they wouldn’t be able to hand their signed release forms in unless they returned all their armour. And then of course ‘There’s always one”, in this instance the “one” was a silly girl who had her camera with her, and tried to get a colleague to take an unauthorised photograph of her in costume. While the girl concerned probably had no intention of using such a picture for anything other than showing her close friends, it could potentially be a copyright infringement, and is generally not permitted. The ADs were understandably cross, but realising that both girls were probably quite new to this sort of work, and also fairly harmless, apart from making sure they didn’t attempt to take photographs, the pair were allowed to remain in their jobs.

Finishing on set, we were bussed back to base, and then had the usual queue to go and get out of costume, and then sign out. Some of us attempted to wash our makeup off before signing out, but this was discouraged, as an SA’s working day ends when they are out of costume, but that does not include removal of makeup.

Signed out then it’s the long drive home (forty miles for me; I think that’s about average on this shoot), by which time all I want to do is have a shower, wash my hair, eat, and go to bed ready to get up and do it all again the next day. On some days my drive was interrupted by a text message from the casting agent, letting me know the following day’s call time. I soon realised it was better to pull into a lay-by and reply. If you are lucky enough to have a really good conscientious casting agent on the job, then it’s only polite to reply as soon as practical. Of course not everyone drives themselves. Plenty of people take the coach from central London provided by the casting agency.

As an extra it’s important to know your place. The film industry is one of the few areas in this country where there can still exist rigid hierarchies. It’s not always the case, but you have to be prepared to accept that it will probably be that way. There is some debate as to whether extras or runners are lowest down in the pecking order. Runners work longer hours than we do, and for less pay, however they do have the perk of counting as ‘crew’. That makes a difference when it comes to refreshments. Although general meals should be of the same standard for crew, walk-ons, and extras, in my experience there are usually subtle differences. For example during breaks the crew get cappuccinos and smoothies, perhaps the walk-ons get Smoothies too, but the extras have to make do with water. At lunch time the extras are often served last, and if there are a limited number of desserts to go round, then it is the extras who won’t get any. If Wardrobe don’t have enough people on duty extras are the ones left to manage as best they can without dressers. If the AD’s and runners are having a bad day, for whatever reason (it could be some irritating piece of disorganisation) then obviously they are liable to take it out on the extras. If an extra gets something even slightly wrong through poor instruction from the AD’s then it’s the extra who is blamed. This may sound harsh, but this is a hierarchical society that that’s the way it is. So if you are going to be an extra you have to grit your teeth and put up with it. However, things would surely be a lot worse if we did not have a set of standard terms and conditions of work set out in the PACT agreement. It’s worth being familiar with the terms of the standard PACT contract for SA’s, though many productions will push the interpretation of that in their favour. But equally some extras will try to push the other way (usually during signing out). Although it is right and proper to stand up for one’s rights, one should be careful not to go too far: we are “only extras” after all, and therefore (justifiably or not) often regarded as expendable.

posted by CWF at 09:49

Identifying Bad Talent Agencies

Obviously, lots of prospective actors and extras scour the classifieds and Internet looking for work, but how can they spot a scam? In a nutshell, it comes down to hanging on to your cash (and I would add, maybe trying to network and using word of mouth, and searching using the word ‘scam’ in your search string).

This article that Emma discovered in the Guardian gives more detail:

Talent agencies that take your money and run

The article also refers to actor/campaigner Clive Hurst's web site, which could be worth a look.

posted by CWF at 11:25

The Speech Accent Archive

George Mason University has set up a very useful Speech Accent Archive which can be used to listen to English accents world wide. In the ‘browse’ section you can find many different English accents to listen to from each continent.

posted by CWF at 13:44

Shawshank Again

OK, I've changed my mind. The subtitles to the movie say "It's just a..." rather than "That's just a..." so although subtitles are by no means conclusive, at least it is an original source. In the video, it is unclear which way Morgan Freeman says it. Anyway, the script is now revised accordingly.

Michael also suggested we leave out "sonny" as it isn't appropriate for most of the younger actors to say, but I'm leaving it in the script since MF says it in the movie.

posted by CWF at 10:27

Shawshank Revisited

I've revised the Shawshank script slightly (link in the list to the right). In the final paragraph I've added ‘just’ and ‘because’. One other word is ambiguous - before ‘just’ Morgan Freeman says "’s" so it isn't clear if that is "That's" or "It's". I've therefore left it unchanged.

You can view Morgan Freeman's version by scrolling down the the 12th September 2008 blog entry below.

posted by CWF at 10:07

Class Times and Tuesdays

Just to remind you of what Michael was saying in last night's class:

Next week, we arrive as normal for the 8pm classes on the 8th and 11th, except those involved in filming who should arrive in time for filming at 6.30pm on the 8th.

The week after that, the class may be split between Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Thursday evenings. The Tuesdays may become daytime classes instead of evening classes at some point.

posted by CWF at 09:28

A Collaborative Medium

From Emma:

One thing a lot of actors seem to forget is that film is a collaborative medium. As Michael is fond of saying “The actor is just the bit on the end of the camera that moves”. (A statement which I actually find gives me a lot more confidence when acting). To get any shot in a film right requires every person involved on that set to do their job properly in a professional manner. Even the lowliest Extra or Runner could cause a take to be ruined. To quote Michael again “One extra can ruin a shot”. Anything can go wrong at the crucial moment, an aeroplane could fly overhead, a light could blow, a hair could get in front of the camera lens. Then there is human error, an actor might dry (forget their lines) or get their continuity totally wrong, the sound assistant might have not turned on his equipment, the grip might push the dolly at the wrong speed, or an extra just look completely unconvincing (probably because their mind was on anything but the job). An item might fall down, or the microphone might pick up the sound of someone off-set speaking, or a telephone ringing. An object that looks completely out of place might have accidentally been left on the set. Yet a lot of this could be avoided if people only took the trouble to do their jobs properly. It also helps if as an actor you are considerate to the rest of the cast and crew: we all need to help each other to do the best job possible. There are plenty of little ways in which every performer from the lowliest extra to the biggest actor can be a help rather than a hindrance to getting a shot and getting it right. Yes film work often involves long hours and a lot of waiting around while the crew are setting things up, that’s something you have to get used to, if you can’t then don’t go looking for work in this industry.

Mobile Phones – These items are an increasing menace in many places, be it the classroom, exams, the theatre or concert hall, and on film sets. Yes as an actor it is very useful for your agent to be able to contact you immediately. However a mobile phone going off in the middle of a take will totally ruin the take: there is the noise for a start; and then of course people go and answer them. Some shoots actually ban actors from having a mobile phone in their possession anywhere in the studio and will confiscate them (one is reduced to locking the offending item in the boot of one’s car). Personally I think this is a bit draconian (after all if you find yourself unavoidably delayed on the way to a shoot it’s useful to be able ring ahead to explain and apologise). However, given the menace these things cause I can understand studios and production companies wanting them banned (especially now that people will try and use the things to take unauthorised photographs). So if you do wish to bring your mobile phone with you. Firstly make sure you turn it off; and if you put it on during a break, make sure you turn it off again afterwards. Generally it is advisable not to take the item onto set, leave it with wardrobe or in a holding area. If you do take it on set, then for goodness sake make sure it is switched off, and keep it out of sight. (A modern item such as a mobile phone would look exceedingly out of place in Ancient Rome, or the Wild West). And don’t go taking photographs with them (unless you have permission).

Off set noise – So you are stuck waiting at the side of a set, or on set out of shot, while another angle of the scene is being filmed. Don’t for a moment think that the microphones can’t hear you. They are very sensitive and will pick up even the slightest noise. That incidentally includes mobile phones that are switched to vibrate mode. So if you have a mobile phone with you make sure it is turned off. Don’t talk while a shot is in progress, the sound of your voice will be picked up on set, and if you do talk make in between takes make sure you whisper. You don’t want to make extra work for the runners and Junior ADs to have to come and tell you to “be quiet”. If possible take some reading material with you as a quiet occupation to pass the time (this could be your lines if you have any, or it could be a book or magazine). However, if you are waiting by the set or particularly on it, it may not be possible to take reading material with you as there may not be anywhere sensible to put it once you go to do your scene (in general one must avoid taking any items onto set that are not meant to be there). In this case I’m afraid you will just have to wait quietly. You may of course make use of the time to repeat your lines silently to yourself (in your head – but make sure you do this silently) or daydream. Just don’t make any noise. Similarly while you are waiting be careful if eating or sipping water, or moving around try and do it as quietly as possible, in fact if you can hear the Director call action, then the moment they call action you really should freeze until they call cut (that way you are definitely not making any noise that could be picked up).

Don’t Disappear – You may be waiting around a long time before going on set, or on set between shots, even more if it is between set ups. Stay where the assistant directors (or runners) have asked you to stay. That way they know where to find you when you are needed, and that you haven’t walked off the shoot. If you do need to leave this position, for example to go to the toilet, then try and let an appropriate person among the crew know (so that they realise you have just gone to the toilet and will be back in a few minutes). Ideally tell whichever AD or runner is assigned to you, otherwise mention it to a wardrobe person, or one or other of your fellow actors.

Continuity Of Action – If you have lines make sure you know them, and know them fully (even one word out of place sounds wrong and will put everyone else off). Whether or not you have lines yourself, get to know the scene, including other people’s lines, as you may need to react off them. It is important to remember exactly where in each scene you make any given movement, that way you can repeat it exactly the same way on each take. If anyone is in a slightly different position in two takes it will make the editor’s job of cutting the film together a lot harder. There are occasions where it is allowable to break action continuity, for example if a scene isn’t working it may need to be changed. Or if something is about to go wrong and breaking continuity is the only way to possibly save the shot or prevent an accident.

Set and Costume Continuity – As well as the performers being in the same positions, it is important to make sure that costumes are arranged in exactly the same way between takes, and the props. Although the respective wardrobe and props departments should be keeping an eye on this, help them out by noticing these things for yourself. So if you are wearing a broach in one shot, don’t remove it when you come to do another shot in the same scene (from a different angle), or put it in another position on your costume. Similarly, keep an eye on any props or set dressings. If you have a sheet or parchment and a quill on a table in front of you during a scene on one day, if you came back on another day to shoot some more or that scene, check that your parchment and quill are in the position on the table you remember them being in. The set dressers might not have noticed such a small detail as that (in fact it could be they might not even be the same set dressers as the day before, if for example the first day’s work was with First Unit, and the subsequent day was a pick up shot with Second Unit).

Keeping In Character – Once you are on set, it’s very important to get into character, and it is just as important for extras as it is for actors: there are plenty of instances of extras spoiling shots because they weren’t in the least in character. So whether you are watching a gladiatorial contest or among the mourners at a funeral don’t stop acting. Even if you think the camera isn’t actually on you, stay in character, it will help the other actors who are in shot, if they happen to see you. Also you never really know if a camera might have picked you up. For example if you are among the audience at a rather dramatic comedy, then your eyes would be focused on the action taking place on the stage, you would be unlikely to be looking down behind the seats at your own lap or feet! However it is not just the actors who need to be in character, costumes and sets do too. So preferably don’t wear anything that isn’t part of your costume. You wouldn’t have been wearing a brassiere or trainers in Ancient Rome, or a modern watch in Victorian times. If you do persist in wearing such items, then for goodness sake make sure they are well hidden. Yes it can be possible to hide these things and a good number of actors do manage to do so, just at least make sure they are hidden well enough that the director and AD’s don’t know about them, and the camera never picks it up. Personally I think it is easier not to wear these items in the first place. Similarly the set must be in character without any items on it that shouldn’t be there. You wouldn’t have had: mobile phones, Ipods, gameboys, plastic water bottles, or electric cables, in Ancient Rome, or the Wild West. So in the first place don’t take any such items on set yourself. If you do take them on make sure any devices are switched off, keep them well hidden, and don’t go looking or fiddling with them during a take (for example if you are text messaging or playing your gameboy then you are clearly not in character). Finally if you notice that the crew or anyone else has left something on set that shouldn’t be there (particularly if it is in shot), do let an appropriate person, such as an AD know, so it can be removed before it spoils a take.

Finally be considerate of your fellow professionals, particularly the crew. We all need each other in this industry. You wouldn’t even be filming if the crew wasn’t there doing their job. You’ll never look or sound good on film if the crew aren’t good at their job. It’s tough being on a film set, but it’s easier if we all pull together and help each other. Remember the runners (who make sure everyone and everything is in the right places) work longer hours than almost anyone for the least pay, so be considerate and don’t make additional work for them So be where they expect to find you, and don’t leave rubbish lying around, after all why should you be so big headed as to expect another person have to clear up after you? It’s much more helpful to take your own used cups and plates to the designated place, and put your own rubbish in the bin.

If everyone does their bit and pulls together as a professional team, each with their own job to do, a small cog in a much larger machine; then a production runs much more smoothly, is less likely to suffer overruns, and is altogether a much happier and far more productive a place to work.

posted by CWF at 11:31

Learning Lines

Once again, students are discovering just how difficult it can be to learn even quite short passages and get them word perfect. I think there are a number of factors involved in this problem:

You have more distractions when you are actually performing;

Not realising how careful you have to be to get every little word exactly right;

Not realising that being able to recall the words does not mean you have learned them well enough;

There may be more that I haven't thought of. The first one, distractions, is pretty obvious, I think. The next two reasons, however, trip most people up.

The Editor's Mind

It can help with accuracy a lot if we read the script as if we were working as an Editor. Editors don't just read the text: they look at it closely and double-check that it says what they think it says. It will come as a surprise to many people that when we read text, we are not usually all that conscious of exactly which words are used: we tend to be aware of the general meaning, but not of the words themselves - and this is one reason why we get them wrong when we are repeating them back. As a result we are inclined to learn and recite text that is only approximately what is written. And for a script, that is simply not good enough: if you are getting the words wrong, you are subtly changing the meaning of the passage. Writers choose specific words not just for their main meaning, but for all the secondary meanings and emotional meanings as well. Change one word and you could be deleting some vital subtext to the passage in question. It is also possible that you will damage the rhythm of the passage in question.

One common mistake is inserting, removing or changing small words such as on, to, the, and so on. They need to be double-checked especially carefully to make sure you have them correct.

Another common mistake is paraphrasing a passage: you recall roughly what it means and say it with the wrong words (for example, a passage could say, "I want to try and talk some sense to him," but you say, "I'd like to talk sense to him" or "I'd like to tell him some sense." Double check every sentence - both when you start learning a script, and again later, when you think you've got it but before you have got it really drummed in to your memory.

Full Learning

Just because you can recall the text, it does not mean that you know it well enough to be able to perform it. This is because at first we need to expend some mental effort to recall a newly-learned passage, and that effort is visible on our faces when we're supposedly acting.

Instead, it is necessary to learn the text so well that we don't have to think about it at all when we're reciting it. In other words, saying those lines has to become a habit, that is, automatic or unconscious, so we can say the lines whilst thinking of something else (our performance). Eamon (one of our occasional visiting teachers) uses the term 'muscular memory' for this: you have to get the memory into your body so it physically recalls even the the muscle movements involved in saying the passage. This is, I suppose, a bit like learning to ride a bike. Once you've got it, you don't have to think consciously about it: your body knows what to do.

Tara (another of our teachers) says a related thing: physicalize the learning by saying the words whilst expressing their meanings in physical movements (however stupid it may look). Prance about the room like a lunatic expressing the lines with your whole body.

I find saying the lines in various funny voices, or different serious styles, helps too, and can be fun anyway (fun helps learning generally, as children know instinctively and adults too often forget). All these methods cause you to use more of your brain when you are learning the lines: you can recruit more neurons to the learning process, and the more neurons that are involved in learning, the more likely it is to stick. Furthermore, getting used to saying the lines in different ways, both verbally and physically, helps get you used to... distractions. If you have learned the script under various circumstances and not just one, then the actual performance event is just one more such circumstance, and you're used to that already.

Speeding Up The Learning Process

Most of our students are not full-time actors and can't afford to be sitting around all day learning lines. Therefore it behoves them to find ways of making the learning process more efficient.

One method that works very well is to go through the lines immediately before you close your eyes to sleep at night. This seems to give it extra weight in your memory and your unconscious processing will lock at least some of it into your long-term memory as you sleep. Revise the passage again immediately on waking in the morning, before you get out of bed. If you can't manage it exactly at these times, then as close as possible helps too.

Another method is to practise it each day as you go to work and come home - three times through a passage in the morning and evening for five days is 30 times in a week (42 times if you can manage the weekends as well). People might think you're a bit strange muttering to yourself as you wander about the streets, but you'll get used to it.

If you must waste much of your life watching the goggle-box, you can also practise during the adverts. Just mute the volume and there you have some 4 minutes several times an hour.

Sometimes when learning a script, we get stuck at particular points such as between paragraphs. To lock those joins in, we can use the art of mnemonics. For instance, if one sentence is about dishes, and the next one, where you get stuck, is about cows, you form a mental image of a dish whacking a cow... You will find that from then on you remember that join much more easily!

posted by CWF at 11:05

Actors' Unions

We get asked every now and then whether it is a good idea for an actor to join a trade union. Emma has kindly written a short article on the subject:

The Value Of Trade Unions For Those In The Film Industry.

Since the demise of ‘Closed Shop’ in the early 1990s actors (and for that matter crew) working in the British film industry do not have to belong to a trade union. In many ways not having to belong to the appropriate trade union makes it much easier newcomers to break into the business. (Closed shop could make trying to enter the profession something of a Catch 22 situation). However, starting out is often fraught with pitfalls. Inexperienced actors often start with no knowledge of how to spot people trying to rip them off; either through outright scams, or for simply not paying the proper going rate that a professional would expect to be paid for a given job. Yes there are instances when a professional might do a job at a lower rate as a favour (to a colleague), but as an actor one should at least be aware of what rate a job ought to be paid at (even if you then choose to take the job).

But how do you find out what the going rate should be? How can you check out whether a given Casting Agent or Casting Website is a reputable one? How do you know if a given film company (offering you a job) will treat you fairly? Being a source of such information is one way in which Trade Unions can still be very useful to their members. Firstly as a member you will always be kept informed of the going rates. Secondly, by virtue of both experience and size, they will also be able to advise you on whether a given Casting Agent or other company is legitimate.

Of course the majority of actors want to join Equity, there is after all a certain cache in that. However, particularly since closed shop did away with the obligation to belong to the union, obtaining the right sort of work to be eligible to join Equity, particular for film and television actors just starting out is difficult (http://www.equity.org.uk/HowToJoin/default.aspx . Yet it is precisely these people who are the most vulnerable to being ripped off.

So, as an actor starting out in the film industry, how can you get access to the resources a trade union can provide? Fortunately for us, there is a way, thanks to the film technicians. What a lot of inexperienced film-actors don’t know, is that some ‘actors’ in film & TV belong to the film Technicians Union BECTU. It happens to have a small division for actors, called the FAA Division (that stands for Film Artistes Association). It is primarily aimed at those who regard themselves as Professional Film Extras, and Walk Ons., but for an actor starting out in the film industry trying to gain experience it can be a very useful resource, and it is much easier to join (the experience levels required are lower). Besides which, there are some actors in the FAA Division who also belong to Equity, so it is possible to belong to both; and joining BECTU as an actor will not preclude you form joining Equity at a later date, once you have gained the necessary experience to be eligible.

So how to go about joining BECTU as an actor. Firstly you will need a salary voucher from a film or television job. You may already have done some paid work as a film actor, which gave you a salary vouch. If not then I would suggest that you sign up with a good background agency (one that is a member of NASAA (http://www.nasaa.org.uk/site/home ) - since any agency that is a member must provide you with at least one day’s work before they can receive their ‘book fee’, and hence they will certainly want to give you at least one day’s work. Secondly you need an application form. You can download this from BECTU or http://bectuforum.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=8 - or you can telephone BECTU’s Head Office (on 020 7346 0900) and ask for an application form. Only be sure to mention that you are working as a Supporting Artiste and want to join the FAA Division. That’s important because the division has it’s own application form, and a lower subscription rate than the other divisions. As a point of information if your earnings from your film-work are less than £15,000. a year, then you only have to pay £60 a year to join BECTU’s FAA division; which isn’t a lot to pay for access to information and advice that can stop you getting ripped off in this industry.

I hope I don’t sound too much like a red under the bed in this post.

Remember, because we no longer have closed shop, no one has to belong to a trade union, and if you don’t wish to join one fair enough. But they do have their uses.

Emma

posted by CWF at 10:06

Course Splitting

We currently have two feature films to work on in the six-week course, so some of the regulars will be attending on Tuesdays and Thursdays. New students and students who are not yet cast in Katherine of Alexandria will continue to attend on Mondays and Thursdays, where they will be working on the script to another film.

This Monday is a bank holiday, but there will be a session that evening, although if you can't attend that is OK.

posted by CWF at 11:14

Script Reading

We have been practising script-reading recently. This is where we take some pages from one of our productions and explore them by way of reading them out, with an element of acting, to each other. The idea is to start getting a picture of what is going on, and, eventually, to be able to work out how it could be acted and filmed. Have a look at this example, found by student Daniella, to get an idea of what it involves.

To find out more about how a script is (or should be) formatted, you could read this article from Minnesota State University

posted by CWF at 10:46

March Masterclass 2009

Well the two-day film-acting masterclass seemed to go well (as usual), and of course Joseph Millson visited as well. His Q&A session was particularly interesting, especially as he said many of the same things that Michael says about how to find work, or how to behave on set, and so on.

The students seemed to get quite a buzz from the course, and some are transferring to the six-week course shortly. It is also handy that we need people with a wide range of accents and appearances for the Katherine of Alexandria film, and such students were in the class so they could prove very useful for the studio in the long run.

posted by CWF at 11:21

12 Month Acting Course

We often get asked what happens after the six week course. Do students just leave? Well, some do, and some don't. Many keep coming, in fact, to help out with our film productions and to further advance their training. The six-week course is designed in a rolling format to allow for this.

However, we have decided to formalise it so that new students know where they are, and to that end we will shortly be introducing a 12-month course to integrate with the six-week course. Watch this space for details.

posted by CWF at 14:11

Rolf Saxon Visits

Professional actor Rolf Saxon visited our regular evening acting class yesterday to chat with the students on our six week course.

The students asked him lots of questions about how he got started, his experiences in acting, agencies, auditions and much more, and Rolf was happy to explain it all.

Reminder: Joseph Millson of 'Casino Royale' fame is visiting the Two-Day Masterclass this Saturday. If you are interested book soon as places are limited.

posted by CWF at 11:57

Photography Session for your CV's

A decent photo for your acting CV can cost £350 or more. However very few photographers know what is required for a film actor's portrait. Shaz, who also takes pictures for fashion magazines, Reuters, and more, is one that we know and who has photographed our actors previously. He will be coming to the studio on Thursday 2nd April and can photograph current and past students only (including attendees of the March Masterclasses if they wish) at high resolution for just £57.50 including VAT. You will be sent a digital image on disk.
[Button removed now the date is past]

posted by CWF at 12:02

Acting David Mamet Style

There are many different schools or techniques of acting, most notably Stanislavski and Meisner. David Mamet, in his book, True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor leans strongly towards the Meisner method, although he doesn't approve of any method in fact. Our attitude at the studio is similar. Obviously, different techniques will suit different people, and Stanislavsky and Meisner are much-loved by some of those theatre actors who have to perform the same lines over and over again in repeated performances, but the simplicity of the direct approach for film acting purposes appeals to us a lot.
He says:

The actor does not need to "become" the character. The phrase, in fact, has no meaning. There is no character. There are only lines upon a page. Thare are lines of dialogue meant to be said by the actor. When he or she says them simply, in an attempt to achieve an object suggested by the author, the audience sees an illusion of a character upon the stage.

To create this illusion the actor has to undergo nothing whatsoever. He or she is free of the necessity of "feeling" as the magician is free of the necessity of actually summoning supernatural powers.

The point is that the feeling is in the mind of the viewer, not the actor. The Director and Editor juxtapose images and music to add to the illusion: the actor doesn't really have to do much more than let go.

Let go of what? Let go of the ego, I believe. As long as the actor is not stuck within their own self-image, they can use their body in any way that they can imagine, as long as it is physically possible. This mental barrier is the main obstacle to be overcome by an actor: free yourself from acting as yourself (and it is an act) so you can behave differently - outside your normal range of behaviour - and look like someone else for a few moments.

posted by CWF at 15:35

Film Acting Masterclass 21st February 2009

The studio's latest one-day film-acting masterclass is to be held here tomorrow. It runs from 11am to 5pm with breaks for refreshments, and costs £57.50 for the day.

These master classes are designed to be the best introduction to film acting, whether the attendees have any experience of acting or not. The students will get to see the kind of work that goes on in a real, operational film studio. They will see how special effects are done by our own in-house CGI expert, Ilyas Kaduji, who has worked on numerous major productions such as Sweeney Todd, Harry Potter and Narnia. They will also be filmed themselves and then see what they look like projected onto our own big screen. They will also be introduced to film sound and the importance of being quiet on set.

On top of that, students are shown what a director looks for in an actor's CV - and it will be a film director that shows them this, so there is nothing second-hand about what they will learn.

A two-day masterclass is planned for the weekend of 21st-22nd March at £125 for the two days, and a further one-day masterclass on Saturday 28th March.

posted by CWF at 13:18

Snow Joke

As we've had a measly 4 inches of snow and London's buses are cancelled, the tube network is in chaos and further snow is forecast, tonight's acting class is off. See you Thursday, maybe.

posted by CWF at 12:42

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

The class has been watching a short scene from Elizabeth: The Golden Age, in which Samantha Morton, playing Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, is told that she is to be tried for treason. In the scene she doesn't have much to say, but she displays a wide range of intense reactions: such a scene would make a fine showreel for any actor:

posted by CWF at 14:46

Finding Monologues

Finding a good monologue for an audition can be quite a problem, which is why we recommend you have a number of them learned and ready for use at short notice. There also seems to be a shortage of longer monologues for women in particular. These sites may help:

Actorpoint.com - see the Acting Resources section;
Monologue Archive;
Musical Theatre Audition - a list of "overdone" audition pieces, with more here;
Monologue Search
WhySanity.net

posted by CWF at 16:22

Heat

We are revisiting the Heat script for some students' voiceovers and showreels, so I have added a copy of the script to the links on the left. Also, you might like to check out how Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro handled it in the original movie, below.

posted by CWF at 12:44

The Camera Intrudes

At last night's film acting class, Michael discussed "good acting," referring to the way the camera and the actors interact when the acting is really working.

He said that when it is working, the camera is an intrusion upon people who are not really acting at all: it is as if the camera is not there and the protagonists are simply talking (or whatever) to each other.

In other words, I suppose, it is as in real life. People should not act for the camera, or an audience, but just do what they really would do if they were those people in those situations. It helps therefore to get accustomed to the presence of the camera, as in our classes where people are filmed a lot, so that you can quickly learn to ignore the fact that it is there. How you look is up to the camera operator and the director: you just do what you do.

posted by CWF at 14:46

Voiceover Workshops

You may have noticed a new page on the website for voiceover workshops. Some of the students currently on the six-week course are also doing these, and on Thursday Michael asked any who know what characters they want to do (pieces up to 30 seconds) to e-mail me with the details.

He is looking for just the details of the character and perhaps the situation. He can produce a script, or you can provide your own. Send the e-mail via the links on this site if you like.

posted by CWF at 13:59

One-Day Workshops

For some time now we have been aware of the fact that many students are not in a position to commit to a six-week film acting course but would still like the opportunity to get into the movies. Therefore we are now offering one-day workshops as an alternative for busy people.

The workshops will be an intensive introduction to acting for camera, especially the movie camera. Following a similar format to that of our very successful six-week courses, students will be given intensive training on how to act for the camera and how to present themselves for audition. The fact that we are a working film studio with teachers who are actually working within the film industry sets us apart from all other courses in Europe.

posted by CWF at 14:15

The Shawshank Redemption

No sooner do I say we're not doing so much script-based work lately than we start doing script-based work! We are to revisit The Shawshank Redemption. Some previous students' Shawshank showreels are on the What You Will Learn page of this site. It is the scene where Morgan Freeman's character is before the parole board near the end of the movie.

A link to the portion of script we are using is to the left of this page, or you can click here.

This is how Morgan Freeman did it:

posted by CWF at 10:19

Acting Classes

The classes are in 'unstructured' mode at present, rather than following any pre-defined syllabus. This is because actors and students need to be ready for filming at a moment's notice and, really, there is not the time for theory. In truth the theory of film acting comes down to one word anyway: believability. Believe you're there and the camera will believe you're there too. More or less. Students should be aware that if they want to be filmed, they need to be able to, erm... act. And that means, NOT to act, but to be. Approximately (you can read the many other blog entries on this general topic below if you like). How do you do this? Forget yourself. Maybe make up a new person as well, maybe not. It depends. But primarily it is usually (there are always exceptions) necessary to transcend the limitations of your normal range of behaviour. Theory isn't going to teach you this. Acting does because you can see the result when the video is played back: did I look believable or not? Some people come to a class expecting to be spoon-fed compliments and techniques. Sorry: you've just got to do it. Watch the result. Do it better. And so on. You find your own technique for getting around your internal barriers because nobody can do this for you. Acting theory that works for one person may not work for another. Practice is what does the job, if you're paying attention. Being a perfectionist probably helps too.

posted by CWF at 14:00

Familiarity

We have been concentrating on becoming familiar with being in front of a camera for the past few sessions. The thing is, however much theory you may be told, it pales into insignificance if you can't look natural in front of a camera. So the idea is, get in front of the camera so much you just get used to it. To that end we have been doing very short improvisations, then watching them back on the cinema screen - that way we get to practise to we see what we look like when we are a few metres high and every little detail is magnified. This is why "less is more" in film acting: the tiniest movement or hint of an expression is vastly enlarged on the big screen.

posted by CWF at 12:32

Continuity and Acting

We have been practising repeating any phrase, identically. That is, saying it again, in the same way, with the same motions, expression, tone of voice and the same timing. This is because when making a film, a scene can be shot several times and pieces cut together from different takes. This can only work if the actors have done the piece the same way each time it is filmed. Naturally, it is quite difficult to achieve, but as with many things, practice makes perfect.

posted by CWF at 14:24

The Actor's Ego

Does it help to have a big ego if you are an actor? Well... actually that question is a bit complicated. First of all, we have to know what an "ego" actually is. We hear words like "egotistical" bandied about freely enough: such a person is thought of as being big-headed, basically. But that isn't exactly what I am talking about: big-headedness can help some people, I am sure. Confidence, if I can call it that, and if it is genuine and not just a front, has to be a benefit to any actor (unless it makes them lazy I suppose, or generates too many enemies...). But in mentioning a "front" I am touching on the truth of what an ego really is.

When we are children, we have to learn how to get along in a world we know very little about. We are absolutely dependent upon the assistance of powerful adults if we are to survive. What we do, therefore, is learn ways to behave that either get us what we want from these adults, or keep us out of harm's way to some extent. That is, we put on an act. After a time, the act becomes a habit. We forget that it is an act: we behave in these ways unconsciously. The pattern has become embedded in our personality and over time we build on the childish assumptions we have made about how to behave without realising what we are doing. In effect we assume, albeit unconsciously, that our earlier choices were correct (after all, they helped us to survive). This complex of behaviour and assumptions is our ego: it is the person we think we have to be, in order to be loved, or to get our way, or to be accepted.

Such an ego can be extremely rigid because without realising it we retain the childhood fear of getting it wrong and not surviving if we transgress the boundaries that we have taught ourselves. But the thing is, as adults, we now know how to survive in the world. We now don't have to be unduly deferential or fearful or resentful of those (we think of as) "superior" to us. We can decide for ourselves. We can look after ourselves, more or less. In short, the ego is now superfluous.

So: how to dispense with it? Either become conscious of it, that is, conscious of when we are acting how we think we have to be, or, get used to pushing past our own boundaries a bit, in a safe environment: for example, on an acting course!

So, in answer to my initial question, does it help to have a big ego if you are an actor, I think my answer has to be, in most cases, no. Having rigid boundaries limits your behavioural possibilities too much. You will be too scared to act outside your comfort zone, both in acting class, and in life. Things that other people do, you will not be able to do even if you want to.

Time to start pushing, maybe?

posted by CWF at 16:13

Masterclasses

Sunday's masterclass went well, with the students getting to observe and practise actual scenes from the film currently being produced prior to filming, and hopefully also to note the absolutely minutely detailed focus on "believability" that film acting requires.

They also got to see the step-by-step process by which a scene can be built up, with the actors and director trying one thing then another to see what works the best. Of course, this process cannot be done in those films and TV programmes where there is no time for rehearsal, but Michael prefers to make each scene the best it can be. For top quality film-making, churning it out rapidly with clichéd responses just won't do.

posted by CWF at 11:47

Sundays

The Monday classes are to be switched to Sundays. Therefore, this week there will be classes on Monday 19th May, Thursday 22nd May and the first Sunday class on Sunday 25th. The Sunday class starts at 11.30am. Thereafter, the normal times for classes will be Thursday evenings from 8-10pm as usual, and Sundays 11.30am-1.30pm, but subject to change. The schedule as planned for the next few classes is as follows:

Mon	19th May 2008	8pm- 10pm	3rd Session
Thu	22nd May 2008	8pm- 10pm	4th Session
Sun	25th May 2008	11.30-1.30pm	Bonus Free Master Class
Thu	29th May 2008	8pm- 10pm	5th Session
Sun	1st June 2008	11.30-1.30pm	6th Session

posted by CWF at 10:04

The NQ Mystery

OK. I've found out (by, erm... watching the movie) what "the nq." is in our version of A Few Good Men: it is... a typo. It should say, "the morning." So I have adjusted the version of the script linked to here accordingly.

I have also discovered that Jo (Lt. Weinberg) has another bit of speech: one of Ross's objections, where he says, "Your Honor, these men weren't on the list" is actually followed by her response, beginning, "Rebuttal witnesses", so I have adjusted that as well.

posted by CWF at 11:58

Sunday Classes

Remember that there is no class on Bank Holiday Monday. Also, there are plans afoot to move the Monday evening classes to Sunday afternoons, possibly, so check back here or call the Studio to find out if you've missed a class recently, before you come in.

posted by CWF at 22:27

A Few Good Men (Revised Script)

I have uploaded a fixed-up version of the long Jessep script we have been using, with some of the errors corrected. However, there are some things that look like errors but which seem to be genuine features of the script, so I have left them as they are.

Firstly, there is a line near the beginning where Kaffee says a line to Ross that looks like it should be the other way around: "Is the Colonel's underwear a matter of National Security?" Maybe I'll just have to watch the scene again to make sense of it - it isn't in the video below (June 2007).

Later Jessep says, "Maybe he was an early morning riser and he liked to pack in the nq." Your guess is as good as mine as to what "nq" means. Latin? Spanish? Italian? Who knows? An Internet search has revealed nothing relevant: not quantified, not quantitated (eh?), not quantifiable, etc. One possibility, being a US Dept. of Defense (sic) abbreviation, is non-quota, whatever that means. Apparently nq can also be slang for thank you: but again, it doesn't seem all that applicable. According to the Oxford English Dictionary: no quotations. Oh well. New quarter? I dunno. Shrug. I guess he means, in the early hours, or at the last minute. Anyway, the link at the side is now for the revised version of the script. I've updated the short version too, for what it's worth.

And... I've added a couple of showreels to the "What you will Learn" page...

posted by CWF at 10:53

A Few Good Men (Again)

Sajid has told us that we will be re-visiting the Jessep script from Thursday's lesson, so it may be an idea to familiarize yourself with it: you can view it or print it out using that link, or the one on the sidebar to the left of this page. Also you can view a video of the scene from the movie in the earlier 'A Few Good Men' blog entry further down this page, posted on 15th June 2007.

EXTRA!!! - I'm just adding the Long Jessep Script to the links at the left now... The file is about 2.5Mb so may take a few seconds to download (or 8 minutes if you are still using one of those old 56kb dial-up modem thingys).

posted by CWF at 09:22

When Should I Quit My Job And Become An Actor?

Or even, should you??? But anyway, my answer is, I don't know, but I suspect it should be either when you have to (your job is killing you spiritually or physically), or when you are on the dole anyway so what have you got to lose? Or, when you can afford to, that is, when you have enough money to live on for a long time, and can keep paying the bills or are happy to cut back to subsistence level for the rest of your life. Support from other people may help too: if your other half likes to nag, you're in a tricky position giving up their supply of free money for your own benefit...

Still, it can make you happy if done right. Here is a story of one man who's trying it (but bear in mind that he is wealthy by most people's standards).

http://men.msn.com/articlemh.aspx?cp-documentid=2433279&page=1

In the mean time, basically, if acting is your thing, then maybe look for some acting work anyway. See Emma's post of September 2007 (i.e., scroll down) for info on "Being A Film Extra."

This fellow also has some opinions on the subject:

Five easy steps to become an actor...

posted by CWF at 19:15

Katherine of Alexandria

In a few days I hope to be able to post the new trailer for the studio's in-house movie, Katherine of Alexandria, here. I plan to make it downloadable as a screen-saver, but I want to add some titles to it first, to give the web site address. It includes scenes filmed with some of our acting students.

It is planned to do some more filming this spring and summer, although of course this is by no means an official announcement and plans are not guarantees. Assuming the filming goes ahead, students in the class could be handy as extras...

posted by CWF at 15:23

Acting As Not Doing

I've said it before, one way and another, but here it is again. When we are acting, we are not limiting ourselves in the same way as we do in normal life. To pretend to be someone else, we have to have different boundaries or limitations than those we employ when we are being "me". I think that this is what Orson Welles is saying in this clip.

posted by CWF at 16:04

Your Own Web Site; Accent Reduction

I Stumbled across Castnet today. They are offering actors their own web sites, www.yourname.com, free for life. The demo says 30 days, but in fact the offer has been revised. You can choose from one of 60 designs, and can customise the content, and import existing entries from Spotlight and possibly other similar sites. I've been looking for the catch, but haven't found it as yet...

Aha! Found it! I knew there had to be one! OK, the free version is limited in certain crucial ways: only one photo in your gallery and no video clips (contrary to what the demo appears to claim). Still, it may be OK to start with. Details. No doubt you will have to pay at least for the domain name (yourname.com) since that is normally provided by other companies, such as Nominet, which supplies .co.uk names.

Next: accents. Many students have strong accents and want to reduce them to standard or so-called "received" English (something like BBC English). This web site aims to help you to Teach Yourself Accent Reduction. Maybe it will help if you are diligent. The site has a link to a YouTube video and if you go there and look to the right, you will see a list of other accent reduction videos you can watch.

posted by CWF at 11:01

Monologues and Audition Speeches

We have been practising audition speeches a fair bit lately. These are important of course, since whatever acting job you go for, the odds are you will be asked to perform a monologue to prove what you can do. No matter that most actual acting is not done solo: castings are done solo nevertheless. It is just more practical, I suppose. Now, at the moment, the only way to learn a monologue seems to be through plain old hard work. Being lazy, I have been hunting around for an easy way to learn a speech (and get it word perfect) without luck. A traditional mnemonic technique such as the short journey or Roman Room technique is fine for learning the key points of a speech - but not for being word perfect with it. And being word perfect is what is absolutely required for a monologue.

From time-to-time, students ask if it is important to be word perfect with a script or monologue, and the answer generally is that it is up to the director at the time: some don't mind, and some do. However, I take the view that if you don't remember or use the exact words, then you don't really understand the true meaning of the passage in question. This is because a lot of subtle meanings are conveyed by a person's exact choice of words and if you use different ones, you are getting those subtler meanings wrong. Furthermore, not knowing the passage exactly conveys laziness to the casting director: I may be lazy, but that's a secret, OK? So: how to learn it exactly? And easily. Well, I don't know. I'm still looking. At the moment, it takes me a couple of weeks, usually, to be 95% plus word perfect with a short piece. And that requires sheer repetition - rote learning - to get there. Plus, I suppose, some studying of the piece itself to figure out the character's thought processes helps as well, and not just with memorization but with delivery too. Also, thinking about how to perform the piece can help (when, how and whether to move about, in what way to say this or that section, and so on). But rote learning itself is nothing if not laborious. If I find an easier way, I will let you know. I'm beginning to think I may have to invent one: trawling about on the Internet hasn't thrown up anything much beyond rote learning so far. Nevertheless, there are some good articles about learning monologues using this method, of course. One, for example, is here.

Sometimes in the acting classes, we are given a specific monologue to learn, and sometimes, we are asked to find one ourselves. Where can we find one? Well, there seem to be plenty on the Internet and a quick search will throw some up for you. You can click on Jean Marlow (one of our teachers) to see some of her books containing good suggestions as well. In the long run, of course, you will need a number of monologues, maybe 20 or so, so that you have a good selection for any conceivable audition. It is therefore probably a good idea to find at least some completely unique ones that are not being used by other people. You can get these from favourite books, plays and movies. Happy hunting!

posted by CWF at 11:49

Castings

Some of you may notice a message on the home page of this site to a casting call we will be holding shortly. This will not be for existing students, since you will all find out about it while you are at the classes anyway. But the studio is planning to film TV programmes and other such stuff, and we will need actors. So, once we are ready to go, anyone interested will be able to send us their CVs and we can audition them for relevant parts.

By the way, acting student extraordinaire Emma informs me that there is a job available should anyone be interested: http://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/recruitment.htm

posted by CWF at 17:33

Cold Reading Auditions

We have looked at cold reading and audition technique in the classes quite often. I thought it would be interesting to see how some famous people get along in their auditions. I found this one by Keanu Reeves. It is interesting to see how relaxed his style is - which is what we recommend here too.

I might add other such clips from time-to-time.

posted by CWF at 14:56

Syriana

As part of the acting class this Monday, we studied the first 25 minutes of the 2005 film Syriana starring George Clooney and Matt Damon. There are two aspects to this really: the film itself, and, more relevant to us, the acting.

Firstly the film itself. IMDb rates it quite highly, at 7.2 out of 10, which I find a bit puzzling for such a confused and rather dull movie. But it is an American intellectual movie and IMDb is pretty much an American intellectual database, so perhaps that is something to do with it. (For comparison, they tend to under-rate comedies: the absolute genius of The Pink Panther also rates 7.2.)

Anyway. The movie. "Syriana" is a Washington-intellectual term for a proposed re-shaping of the Middle East to suit America's purposes (profitable oil, plenty of cheap wage-slaves, the usual). It quickly becomes obvious from watching the first 10 minutes or so that the film is about US interference in the Middle East for the purposes of securing oil, but it remains totally unclear what the actual storyline is. At no point in 25 minutes does a clear plot point emerge. People drink and chat about inconsequentials. The main protagonist (Clooney) sells some weapons which explode killing at least some of the purchasers as he leaves. There's a boring committee meeting; a boring board meeting; a bit of boring gardening; some rumbles about a possible backhand deal between some companies; some Chinese elbowing in on Uncle Sam's Middle East oil; some family chit-chat; it goes on, and on. Now, according to screenplay expert Syd Field, a movie has about 14 scenes, i.e., about 20 minutes, to establish the characters and explain what's going on, or people will become bored. Well, OK, we've got the characters by this point, more or less, and the movie hints that their work is interfering with their private lives, but who cares? And in terms of the plot, who can tell what is going on? The film jumps all over the place. No single important thread of action emerges. Ideas start to float about, in a nebulous, unclear sort of way, but there is no action. No compelling motivation for anybody to do anything. Hence as a viewer, while it is clear that things are going to end badly, because this sort of film is always moralistic about such things, one wonders why the protagonists are actually bothering. Overall, my rating for the movie is maybe 5 out of 10 at best: I consider anything less than 6 not worth watching if entertainment is your goal.

However, the important thing from our point of view is the acting. This is a different story. It is low-key, naturalistic and above all, believable: nobody is doing anything dramatic, just living their lives. It is as if there are no cameras and lights. We could be watching through hidden cameras, almost. The acting is so natural in style that it looks like nobody is acting: they are just having lunch or something and will shoot the movie later (when somebody has written a plotline for it maybe). In a way it probably helps that the movie is dull and confusing as it makes it easier to watch the acting for itself.

This kind of acting is what we try to achieve at the Studio: acting that doesn't look like acting. No standard expressions, no hammyness, no pretending. Just truth. Natural behaviour. Congruence with your inner self.

Funnily enough, that's also the secret of enlightenment, isn't it?

posted by CWF at 11:10

Bottom's Up

We're back after Christmas, with a new intake of students starting on the 21st January. In the links at the side is a new piece, from the comedy series 'Bottom.' The name sums up the humour pretty well, really.

The good thing about comedy is that the actors can practise overcoming their inhibitions more easily. Of course, acting stupid may come more naturally to some than to others... ;-)

posted by CWF at 13:00

Faking It

What do good film and TV actors do that bad or inexperienced actors don't? I've been pondering this question a bit lately so here is my theory. I think you will find it is backed up by other sources.

Some people take the view that acting can be seen as a form of 'lying' - we are faking our reactions in front of a camera to tell a story. But is that right? Well, I think not if we are good actors.

It seems to me that after millions of years of competitive evolution, we humans are actually pretty good at spotting persistent liars, so someone who is 'lying' persistently in front of a camera will be easily spotted as a fake. Their 'acting' will look inauthentic. And, when you look around for various sources and quotes about how to act well, people often say something along the lines of James Cagney's famous advice, "Find your mark, look the other fellow in the eye, and tell the truth." But what do they mean?

A person behaves authentically when their emotional responses, however modified by social and personal constraints, are basically congruent with their personality: in other words their reactions fit their circumstances correctly. Or, if you like, they show how they feel, truthfully. They are not trying to be something that they are not.

On the face of it, that would seem to present a problem for an actor who is pretending to be somebody else! But not so. The actor's problem is how not to lie whilst pretending to be somebody else. How to do that? Simple (in principle): let your instinctual, emotional responses, albeit constrained by social and script requirements, straight out.

Now look at the following difference. Authentic behaviour is limited by social and personal constraints. Authentic acting is limited by social and script constraints. The difference, personal constraints, is the key. To act, you need to bypass or otherwise deal with your personal reluctance to be emotionally authentic. Those emotions you find difficult to express happen even though you may be in the habit of restricting them. The trick is to learn not to restrict them while acting (and maybe at other times too).

Once you have turned off your personality's interference, you will find that you react, automatically (instinctively), to the scene, the other actors, and so on, almost as if it were real. We all have a kind of Emotional Body - our animal, instinctive side, if you like - that gives an emotional, pre-language response to everything that we experience, think and feel. This is the way that animals respond and we have that facility too. We may not express it outwardly, or even be in the habit of noticing it at all, but nevertheless, it is there. All you have to do to be authentic is allow those natural reactions out without undue censorship. When you are acting, you are not trying to be "you" as you have defined yourself in the past, so there is no need to keep forcing your behaviour into a "you" shaped mould.

When you hit those boundaries, when you are afraid to express something, notice, and try to go past it or let go, at least a little. There is no need to go all-out in one go: a step-by-step approach to pushing boundaries outwards works better as it doesn't lead to disappointing failure, which is what happens when you try to do too much at once. Instead, each time you push the boundary a little bit, it stays pushed for a while so you can push it some more later.

posted by CWF at 18:21

Voice Exercises

I have placed a link to some voice warm-up and diction exercises in the left-hand column, courtesy of Jean Marlow.

posted by CWF at 11:19

The Bermuda Rectangle

Right. Mark out a rectangle on the set in blue tape. Put it just inside the exit door and beside a table where the actors need to stand to have a argument about Joanna (Mrs Kramer) leaving via said exit door. Tell the actors not to stay in the rectangle for more than 7 seconds. Watch the fun.

Well, that is what was going on last night in the acting class, anyway. You see, the problem was that the character Joanna would walk up to the doorway to leave, and Ted (Mr Kramer) would block her exit - and they would stand there arguing about it, basically. But the scene then looks too static, apparently, so the actors have to move about the room somehow.

But... having walked up to the door, it is a long way to go and unrealistic-looking for Joanna to retreat back into the room from there, but the script instructs her to get up and 'start toward the front door' so I suppose she has to do that much at least. But Ted can't unblock the door while she's ready to dart out of it. So that patch of floor absorbs actors, like the Bermuda Triangle is reputed to absorb ships and planes (nonsense, in my view). But keeping out of our own Bermuda Rectangle was problematic: the large distances that needed to be covered in a short time to move out of it having entered it, felt unnatural. It required both actors to move and react to each other even when one of them wasn't in the rectangle. If Joanna didn't find a way to naturally move backwards and away from her target (the door), Ted couldn't move either.

Nobody succeeded. Maybe its impossible...

On the other hand... I notice that although the script tells Joanna to 'start toward the front door'. It also instructs Ted to go 'after her'. In other words, to my mind it is suggesting he is behind her, chasing her as she marches off, not in front of her. He is not blocking her way, he is trying to persuade her to stay.

Nevertheless, they could end up stuck in the Rectangle anyway, but with their positions reversed. The next instruction the script gives is that Joanna is 'at the door'. Not Ted. Hmm...

I haven't seen the movie but I think it must have been done differently there, going by the script. We are practising this entire scene in the apartment, but I expect that in the film Joanna leaves and heads down the hallway to the elevator, with Ted running along behind. That solves the problem of the scene looking too static, but in another way. Maybe we need to think of another solution too. The big movements and retreating required to stay out of the box just don't feel or look natural at the moment. We need to think out of the box to solve it, maybe. ;-)

posted by CWF at 16:55

Katherine of Alexandria

In Thursday's class, the students got to be extras in Katherine of Alexandria, the movie being filmed at the studio. The producers needed a crowd of Bedouin tribespeople, but unfortunately there weren't that many around in our NW London studio late on a Thursday evening... Luckily, since the students are here to learn about movie acting anyway, they were just right for the job, once they got dressed up appropriately:

Students dressed up for a part in the film.

Speaking parts or parts as extras cannot be guaranteed for students of course, as it depends on lots of factors, but being here when needed has to help, after all...

posted by CWF at 18:43

Kramer vs Kramer

The students are doing scenes from the movie, Kramer vs Kramer at the moment. I can't say how its going since I've had the 'flu lately, but anyway, if anyone needs to download the script, click here.

posted by CWF at 16:02

Being A Film Extra

Emma has kindly sent in some information for people who are interested in finding some work as a film extra. She has had many parts in films, including The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy where she played an alien, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as a member of the audience during the dragon's egg contest. Here are her notes:

One of the difficulties in trying to obtain work as an Extra is finding a reputable agent. There are quite a number of so-called agencies out there who are in fact running scams, i.e., taking people's money and not getting them any work. Some of them have been reported (by the trade unions) to the DTI for fraud.

In general one should be extremely wary of agencies charging up-front fees (something which the unions have been trying to campaign to outlaw).

The setting up of NASAA some time ago was an attempt to combat the problem of cowboy agents.

NASAA's members are all not only legitimate agencies, they are also supposed to behave properly when it comes to the matter of pay and conditions. In other words any job an extra gets through them should be paid at the proper rate, and the working conditions ought to be reasonable.

Casting Collective is definitely a good agency (and one of the founders of NASAA). I have generally heard good comments about Guys And Dolls, Ray Knight and Mad Dog. In fact Ray Knight was another of NASAA's founders.

Obviously now we no longer have closed shop so one does not have to belong to a trade union. And if people are simply dabbling then there is no reason to go to that bother. However, if you want to be an extra it is worth making yourself acquainted with the issues affecting the employment of extras. The best source for this is the 'Film Artistes Association' (FAA), who are a division (admittedly a small division) of BECTU (British Entertainment & Cinematograph Technicians Union). (I wish the FAA had a better web presence, but for the moment their
sections on the BectuForum seem to be the best they can manage). They are very concerned about the scam agents. In fact BECTU keep a list (which they publish in their monthly newsletter) listing the scams they know about.

Other useful information about being an extra can be found on veteran supporting Artiste Ray Donn's personal website. His site includes quite a number of useful links and bits of information. (Besides being an extra, he also works in the entertainment industry in other ways - for example doing a lot of charity work). He obviously knows his stuff and is true professional.

I guess I might as well mention Clive Hurst's site. His design and layout isn't too good, however he does do a lot to try and expose the various scam agents, so his site may have some useful info (at least on which agents to avoid).

posted by CWF at 09:38

Exam and Showreel Time

The week after next, we will be filming a scene for people's showreels using a small segment from the 1995 movie, Get Shorty. There are three characters in the scene: Tommy, Chilli and Karen.

The script is currently in two parts which can be downloaded from the two links below. If clicking doesn't download them, try right-clicking and choosing 'Save Target As' or 'Save Link As', etc.:

Part 1, Tommy;
Part 2, Chilli and Karen.

These are .pdf files for which you will need a recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer, but if you need another format, e-mail me a request at info@actingcourses.net.

It is hoped that actors will know the lines by the time filming starts... ;-)

posted by CWF at 22:46

Get Shorty

We have been doing a bit of 'cold auditioning' with a short scene from the 1995 comedy Get Shorty. For the next sessions though we are expected to learn or at least familiarise ourselves with the script. I haven't got a video of the scene we are doing, but in it, the actors refer to a Bette Davis movie, Cabin in the Cotton, and how great the "I'd like to kiss ya" scene is:

To be honest, these old movies always look a bit lame to me. I suppose the culture is just too different. Anyway, there it is.

posted by CWF at 11:19

Cold Auditions

We have been doing two 'projects' in our acting classes for the last few sessions. Firstly, practising a one-page documentary piece to camera about our movie, Katherine of Alexandria, and secondly, some so-called 'cold audition' pieces, which are what I am writing about today. These are simulating what it can be like to attend an audition: you are just given a piece of some play or movie or any text, and asked to read it, without being given time to study it, beyond perhaps a minute or so. This means that there is no time to learn the words, not much time to 'understand' the characters or 'interpret' the piece. Instead, as in many auditions, they want to see a) if you have the basic skills required to be an actor; and b) if you are naturally suitable for the role. The process makes it difficult to fake it if you don't suit the role.

Item b) is, I suppose, always going to be up to the producers who called the audition in the first place: either you are something like what they are looking for, or you are not. Item a) however, is in your own hands. What has struck me, watching the actors in our classes, is how many of them lack one of the most fundamental skills of all: they cannot read.

By that, I don't mean that they cannot read at all; I mean that for audition purposes they are functionally illiterate. That is, they cannot read without stumbling over the words. They struggle so much that the meaning of the passage is entirely lost. Of course, just about everybody will stumble here and there. However, many of the actors are stumbling in almost every sentence and often more than once in each sentence. That is absolutely not good enough to get chosen. And, not only is it necessary to read without tripping up, it is necessary to put the correct expression into the passages - and that is only possible once the basic mechanics of reading itself are handled.

So, what can they do about it? Well, apart from those who may be dyslexic (perhaps), reading is simply a skill, and it can be practised. Probably the easiest way to start would be to read out loud one article a day from a newspaper. Also, don't try to go too fast: read slowly enough that you don't trip yourself up. It is not necessary to speak quickly on film and TV anyway as the microphone is not very sensitive to fast speech. You can speed up when the skill develops, if necessary.

posted by CWF at 09:13

Introducing a Documentary

In the acting course last night, we were busy learning and practising a short piece to be spoken to camera to introduce a documentary programme or promo about our current film project, Katherine of Alexandria.

The script was short, but still some 'script analysis' was required: what emotions are being expressed? That is, how exactly should it be spoken? It may be a documentary piece, but very few scripts can be spoken completely deadpan. The way something is said can change its meaning completely because language, written and spoken, is highly ambiguous. A sentence said with love will mean something totally different when spoken with irony. In fact it seems to me that what some pundits claim, that 80% of the meaning in what we say is non-verbal, definitely applies to reading, reciting or acting a script.

The other point I noted, though, was that everyone has their own way of interpreting the script: no two performances were the same. Individuality is an essential and unavoidable part of the process and nobody needs to be too worried if their particular version seems strange to others. Of course, it may not be chosen for the end product (the documentary), but on the other hand, it could be exactly what people are looking for. Trying to think too hard about 'how was my performance?' is really pretty futile: other people must decide what they think - it is not up to the performer to second-guess them.

posted by CWF at 14:27

Forget Your Lines Day

It was 'forget your lines day' on Monday. People who certainly know their lines just kept getting stuck. The trick with forgetting lines is to just continue - either improvise, or try the line again. Verboten is to groan and say 'sorry': only the director is allowed to give a 'cut' command because more time is wasted on the apologies and self-recriminations than on just getting on with it. And any improvisation could even be better than the original anyway - or at least good enough.

Many people are inclined to castigate themselves when they get things 'wrong' like this, but I think it is good to remember that we are not designed to get things 'right' so it is a mistake to expect that of ourselves. Take remembering lines for example. The human brain doesn't remember things exactly. That is not part of its function. Instead, it is believed to operate by storing summaries of the information, which it then reconstructs when you try and recall it. That means, typically, that every time you recall something, you remember it slightly differently.

Another reason not to be too upset with yourself when you can't get something right is that bad feelings make you perform worse in the long run. Humans are relatively good at things that they like and relatively bad at things they don't like: just think about how people perform in a typical job compared with, say, their hobbies or interests. By allowing bad feelings over a performance, you are telling your emotions that this performing stuff is a bad thing. Your motivation will gradually decline. I'm not suggesting you should cheer when you're under par, but you can instead dismiss it as a temporary aberration and move on.

posted by CWF at 15:11

Jessep

On Monday night we were all being angry man Jessep (AKA Jack Nicholson) from 'A Few Good Men' again, some of us getting sore throats in the process... Maybe we will have to learn how to project our voices or shout without wearing our poor vocal chords out: apparently the trick is to speak from the diaphragm rather than the chest. The belly moves more than the chest when you are doing this. A short article about diaphragm speaking is here (although I am not endorsing the course since I haven't tried it and know of nobody who has).

posted by CWF at 09:50

A Few Good Men

Last night we were reading through a script excerpt taken from the film, "A Few Good Men," starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, among others. The film is about a murder trial in the US military, basically, where Jack Nicholson's character has been rather naughty and is covering it up, and Tom Cruise is the hot-shot young lawyer nailing him.

Our homework is to learn Jack Nicholson's soliloquy from that excerpt so we can rehearse it during Monday's class; we will film the entire excerpt at a later date: more material for our showreels, I think...

Sajid, like Michael, likes the David Mamet school of acting, i.e., naturalistic and untheatrical in style: in other words, be yourself... You have been warned! The speech is in the final part of this clip (I can only find three versions of this online at the moment: one with very poor pictures, one with distracting yellow subtitles and this one with incorrect aspect ratio):

posted by CWF at 12:30

Edit Version 1

At last night's acting class, we got a chance to see the first edit of the corporate video shoot we did recently. The sound was a bit shaky here and there and some of the cuts were a bit dicey but overall it looks quite good. It was quite long, but perhaps corporate videos are like that. They are essentially adverts for companies to show in meetings, but perhaps even watching adverts is preferable to actually doing some work. ;-) Or pretending to, meetings being what they are...

The acting was good overall and one client commented that he didn't realize that the people shown in the video were actors until someone told him. I suppose that is the art of acting in a nutshell: believability. Even if, individually, we might think our own or (hush) someone else's performance was... um... not so good, in fact 'natural people' - people in the wild, as it were - behave strangely anyway.

But maybe not as strangely as bad actors. Tee hee.

posted by CWF at 17:28

Recording Voice-Overs

We started recording the voice-overs for the corporate video during yesterday evening's acting class. A couple of the students came up and had a go in our secret sound booth (I had always supposed it was just a cupboard but it turns out to be an anechoic chamber).

We had a bit of trouble getting the mixing desk to work as somebody had leaned on it at some point and pressed one of the buttons (it has loads) so it took a while to work out what was wrong. Once that was solved we recorded a few of the voice-overs. The microphone turned out to be a little over-sensitive to 'p' and breathing, so we cured that with a high-tech sock - not in the person's mouth, but over the microphone.

Anyway, only three got done last night as it turned out to take about 20 minutes or more per person (there is quite a lot to read). More actors and students have been coming in throughout the day today to add their bit and I imagine this process will continue for a couple of days, with students from Thursday's acting class doing the final few.

On the technical side the recordings have to be converted to wav files (although with a bit of puzzling I may be able to get the sound software to record it in that form in the first place) and sent to the editor - I usually use yousendit.com's free service for sending one-off files like that.

posted by CWF at 14:53

Filming Corporate Videos

Well, we spent Saturday filming the computer company's advertisement, as planned. I am suitably exhausted today and taking it easy. As far as the acting itself was concerned, I, Martin, had a problem being 'natural' on the day, and I wasn't the only one... Some people did very well, some had lots of difficulty - and that is how it usually goes. We humans are a variable lot.

The filming itself started about 1.5 hours behind the planned start of 10am since there were a few problems with the sound recording software - i.e., the CD couldn't be found so it could be loaded onto the sound engineer's borrowed laptop... so I downloaded a free program, Audacity, from the Internet and that worked fine. I have used it before for converting my old cassette tapes to mp3 so I can play them on my PC as it is good for recording from any input. Just bung the output cable from whatever gadget to the microphone socket or the line-in socket on your sound card and off you go.

There were also delays is setting up the first scene, in the "accountant's office" (a converted cafeteria), as getting rid of dodgy shadows proved difficult (apparently, professional shots don't have dodgy shadows in them, according to our visual effects expert, Ilyas Kaduji). Anyway filming eventually began and my 25 seconds or so got done. But then the sound engineer had to leave to help his Dad re-spray his car (uh... right) so I got co-opted into doing that job for the rest of the day. Not that I mind: technical stuff is OK by me. It was easy enough and I got to spend plenty of time fiddling about with the computer, so that can't be too bad, can it?

The most problematic thing about the whole day was, from my point of view anyway, and apart from my 6/10 acting performance, the temperature in some of the "offices" we were filming in. Although the outside temperature was only about 23C, indoors it was probably getting up to about 30C some of the time. Not unbearable, but just rather tiring after a few hours.

Anyway, there are always going to be pesky little obstacles to doing anything constructive so it is nothing to bother about really, is it? I take the view that we humans get things done not so much by being good at them (although it helps) but by being persistent. Indeed, Bill Howey, the author I spoke of in a previous entry here, defines "talent" as persistence or dedication, basically. Calvin Coolidge (a famous guy) puts it another way:

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race"

Well, anyway, we 'pressed on' and got the filming done... about 15 actors and maybe 45 shots in various locations, all done by about 7.30 in the evening. Not bad really.

posted by CWF at 16:32

Revised Scripts

The scripts for this weekend's corporate video shoot have been extensively revised, and the plan is that we will rehearse them at the acting class this evening.

When I say, "extensively revised," I suppose I really mean, "totally rewritten." Whereas before they were about three paragraphs of prose, consisting of maybe 300 words, they are now actually written in script form. That is, we now have two characters, the Voiceover character V/O, and the customer, and it is laid out like a proper script rather than as prose. And it is a lot shorter: more like 90 words. Whether it will sound candid or staged is, though, still up to the actors.

And the script may still be a bit artificial. After all, how can we make a corporate advert not sound like spam? That is what advertising is, essentially, after all, and everybody knows it. The truth is that nobody, except perhaps some weird collector somewhere, actually wants to listen to corporate blurbs. Hmm... if you know of such a weird corporate blurb collector, send me a link and I'll post it here! ;-)

posted by CWF at 12:11

Barriers to Acting

I have been reading "Actor's Menu: How to Create Powerful, Believable Characters" by Bill Howey lately. It is subtitled "A Character Preparation Handbook" because it is about "How To Create Powerful, Believable Characters" (so it says on the cover) and I would like to know how to do that... But that is not what I'm writing about. In the book, he points out that people have what he calls a "Hidden Acting Agenda." This is some thought or way of being that limits what they can do. For example, someone may have told them at some time, "You are no good at comedy" and they went and believed it, and gave up (instead, for example, of fighting back, saying, "I'll show you, you XXXX"). Now they struggle and squirm and don't do comedy freely. They are too scared.

My take on this is that it applies not just to acting, but to all of life. We as humans are full of self-defeating ideas, and they stop us from acting and from living our lives fully. Examples of such ideas may be:

I must not look silly;
I am not clever;
I must never show emotion;
I am not lovable;
I can't understand (machines, computers, maths, you name it);
I will be abandoned;
People cannot be trusted ever;
I must be perfect;
I must win;

And so on. I think it is plain that a belief such as, "I must never show emotion" will be a barrier to acting - yet I see many, many students who act as if this very belief is what is limiting their behaviour. Their faces and bodies stay rigid, their voices are restricted...

For all of us, I think, acting therefore serves a dual purpose: we can get some acting done and at the same time, we can begin to break down those pesky personal barriers to our own freedom. I do think, though, that to gain the full benefit of it, we have to become conscious of just what it is that is holding us back. I also think that it is not necessary to have some huge cathartic crisis breakthrough about it: a gradual pushing back of the boundaries will do fine. Safe, small steps have to be the way for most people, I think, otherwise it will be far too frightening to try, and painful failure will invite quitting. Small successes, however, can be built upon. What is your barrier to acting, and to life?

posted by CWF at 18:12

Voice Overs

We were practising voice-overs for commercial promos last night at the acting course. The idea is to film the actual videos in a couple of weeks. It is surprising how difficult it turns out to be to read a simple - or perhaps not so simple - little blurb, though. Words such as "specifically" turned out to be major obstacles, perhaps not so surprisingly. Luckily, people were allowed to change them as the client is still fiddling with (um... improving) the wording anyway. Plus, it needs to sound 'natural' (in a commercial-blurby kind of way) and the scripts were a bit stilted.

posted by CWF at 13:00

Hello!

Welcome to the acting courses blog... this is just a test post to see if it works.

posted by CWF at 16:57

The Acting Courses Blog

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

CANCELLED: Wednesday Evening Rehearsal

Ready When You Are, Mr McGill

Monday, 21 December 2009

Monday Evening's Rehearsal Cancelled

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

Christmas Closure

Thursday, 10 December 2009

Classes

Friday, 13 November 2009

Tuesday Sessions

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Special Announcement

Monday, 12 October 2009

Window Of Opportunity

Friday, 2 October 2009

Letting Go

Thursday, 10 September 2009

Wednesdays

Friday, 4 September 2009

Readings

Friday, 24 July 2009

Hi-Ho, The (Un)Glamorous Life of an Extra

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Identifying Bad Talent Agencies

Friday, 19 June 2009

The Speech Accent Archive

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

Shawshank Again

Friday, 12 June 2009

Shawshank Revisited

Friday, 5 June 2009

Class Times and Tuesdays

Monday, 1 June 2009

A Collaborative Medium

Friday, 29 May 2009

Learning Lines

The Editor's Mind

Full Learning

Speeding Up The Learning Process

Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Actors' Unions

The Value Of Trade Unions For Those In The Film Industry.

Tuesday, 7 April 2009

Course Splitting

Friday, 27 March 2009

Script Reading

Monday, 23 March 2009

March Masterclass 2009

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

12 Month Acting Course

Tuesday, 17 March 2009

Rolf Saxon Visits

Thursday, 5 March 2009

Photography Session for your CV's

Wednesday, 4 March 2009

Acting David Mamet Style

Friday, 20 February 2009

Film Acting Masterclass 21st February 2009

Monday, 2 February 2009

Snow Joke

Wednesday, 10 December 2008

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Friday, 28 November 2008

Finding Monologues

Friday, 14 November 2008

Heat

Tuesday, 4 November 2008

The Camera Intrudes

Sunday, 26 October 2008

Voiceover Workshops

Monday, 13 October 2008

One-Day Workshops

Friday, 12 September 2008

The Shawshank Redemption

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Acting Classes

Tuesday, 26 August 2008

Familiarity