Posts by AP
Really.
That's what we're here for. This whole site is a place for you to try shit out. Anything. You wanna do the scene in a dress? Put it on. Wanna try a German accent? Nine problem. Wanna do it while jumping rope? Let's go Rocky.
You don't fail enough. Seriously. You need to fail a LOT to start to have the instincts about the stuff that's going to work and that's not going to work. You may try something and think, "Yeah! That's a great choice!" Only to find out it wasn't the best one that you could make.
You need to try at LEAST 10 different "ways" to do a scene before you can start narrowing things down about how you think it should be played. And by "ways" I mean anything from accents to being cold out to a whole other list of things that we'll get to with time. If you go in with your first choice, at best you're always going to come out of your reading wishing that you would've tried something else, at the worst, you're going to get an idea on the way home and obsess that "I should've done THAT!"
Sound familiar?
Since you're getting all the gold I'm putting out here, go ahead and be a failure today. Do the scene the worst way you possibly can. Make the glaring WRONG choice for the thing. You know what? You're going to find a little kernel of truth or insight by doing it that way.
Your welcome.
Tags: acting basics, acting lessons, better auditions, pointers, real acting
Posted in Acting, Acting Lessons, Audition Tips/Tricks, Pointers |
Acting can be seen a little like learning a second language. From a practice standpoint.
In the beginning, you know a few words and have a few tools at your disposal. As you get better you can go deeper into a language, and maybe even get a few jokes, and carry on a conversation. Go even deeper, and you will get the "inside jokes" of a language, things like playing of words and such. When you become turely fluent, you're not even thinking of what you're going to say. You have a thought and communicate it.
Acting is very very similar. At first, you do everything with just the few tools that you have. You're really good at angry, so everything takes on that color. After a while, you get a little better, and have some measure of proficiency, and can call on different emotions. Go even deeper, and you see what the writer meant or the deeper meaning in the script and how it all ties together. But when you're really fluent, when you've reached the point of virtuosity, you find that you're just communicating. You're not thinking of what to say next. You're feeling, and the words just flow out.
This all happens, of course, through practice.
It's amazing, really, that people would never think of going to a foreign country without even picking up a phrase book. Yet they would get up on stage and try to give it a go. Even better when the director, or casting looks at you like, "What was that?" and you go into a explanation of what you were trying to do!
You need daily practice, just like you do in a foreign language. Sure, if you live on set, and you're on day 106 of a 200 day shoot, I would think that you have your stuff pretty well dialed in. This is like living in France for a year, and really having your french dialed in. If, however, it's been a while since you've had a audition, and you're current scene partner is lame about making it to rehearsals, Wwell, you're probably going to get a little rusty. Just like if you came to the states and didn't speak a lick of French for a while.
If you met a French person, you could get your point across, but after parting ways, you'll probably be thinking, "Ah, I should've said it this way, not that way." Does that phrase sound familiar? Ever had that internal dialogue inside your head after an audition?
Yeah, thought so.
You need to practice every day. You need to be emoting. You need to get your tongue around some words. You need to be moving. There are a lot of ways to make all that happen. Stay tuned, and we'll give you some tools.
AP
Tags: acting, acting basics, acting lessons, life skills, professional conduct, proficiency, Why should I join?
Posted in Acting, In general, The Actor's Life, The Basics |
I know, I know. You don't want a plan 'B.' You want acting to be ALL that you do. That's awesome. You also need to eat.
Seriously.
Nothing sucks worse than living out of your car. I know that Jewel did it. But you're not Jewel. (If you are Jewel, feel free to send me an email, I'd love to hang.)
You are, for the moment, an ordinary actor like thousands, yes, thousands of others like you. When you're scraping together to buy gas, or didn't pay your phone bill, or whatever, that doesn't really smack of professionalism now, does it?
Guess what? You need to have a little cash on hand to pay for parking, or keep your subway pass full. You need some money for a decent photographer. You need to be able to take a couple days off work to go shoot your friends short film that will, of course, win the shorts award at Cannes.
So, go find something. Waiting tables is the old standby, it's cash, and you can usually find someone to sub your shift. The only thing better is bartending, you're working basically the same hours, but get paid a lot more.
Getting a job to pay the bills isn't a plan 'B,' it's keeping your plan A alive and functioning.
Tags: the life of an actor
Posted in The Actor's Life |
We all want to be good actors. Hell, most of us want to be effen GREAT actors.
But you know what I've found. Every great actor that I've known personally, or watched an interview for...they've all been really really good at something else. Something completely unrelated to acting.
These things range from poker to playing the piano. I even heard of a very prominent actor who used to be a damn fine lawyer.
Now, right off the bat, these things seem unrelated.
"I thought I should spend all my time focused on my craft."
Yeah, you should focus on your craft. Get our emails, get your practice in. But you should also be doing something just for the sake of doing it. Just for the fun of it. Because it brings you joy. It can be anything. Juggling, crosswords, it really doesn't matter.
The thing is, is that it'll bleed into your acting. Probably not in the "I get to play a champion crossword puzzler" way, though I'm sure that part is coming. Being really good at something else will give you confidence, patience, and depth that you can't get by just memorizing lines all day, and "getting to know yourself." Having something else you're good at will allow you to draw all kinds of similarities between what's happening in a scene, and what happens when, say, you finally solve the rubies cube in under 30 seconds. That feeling of pride, is the same pride your character is feeling when they get the contract from the boss. Same pride. The camera won't know the difference. 😉
There's already something you're pretty good at that you've been doing for a long time. Get back to it. Use it as a touchstone. Use it to have some fun. And if it creeps into your characters a bit, so be it.
AP
Tags: actor's life, proficiency, the life of an actor
Posted in In general, The Actor's Life |
So, you booked a gig. Sweetness. The fun isn't over. You've actually got to do the job and at the very least not embarrass yourself.
The first thing you should do when you get on set is to ask who the 2nd Assistant Director is. This is the person who is, essentially, "in charge" of you.
Reporting to this person once you get to set is key, since you'll wan them to know where you are at all times. Nothing too extreme needs to be said once you find this person. Something simple like, "Hi, I'm AP. I'm one of your actors today."
They'll show you to your trailer, room, or to wardrobe, depending on the location & budget of the shoot.
If you are going to be anywhere other than your trailer or on set, you should let the 2nd director, or some other friend you've made with a walkie talkie know. Make-up o wardrobe will tend to be around, and if you need to run to the rest room, letting them know is alright as well.
Basically, let SOMEONE know where you are at all times. You may think that you have an hour before they shoot, but nothing's worse than finally having the sun in the right spot to get the perfect shot and they can't find the actor.
Don't be that guy. Please.
Tags: 2nd assistant director, acting basics, actor's life, on set, on set pointers, on the job, professional conduct
Posted in On Set, Set Etiquette, The Actor's Life, Who's who |
If you've been in acting for any amount of time, you must have SOME kind of accent or dialect that you can employ at will. Some of us have French, others love British, or maybe you've mastered the southern states, or have made a dive into the masses of Asia.
The accent doesn't matter. What does matter is trying it out with your material. Just reading it through with a different accent will provide you with insight into other ways to address the scene. This is especially useful when you feel like you're getting into a rut and are doing the scene the same way over and over again.
Doing it like your from Mississippi will change that for sure. The emphasis will be on different syllables, different parts of the sentence, you may even find a piece in there where there's a bit of humor that you didn't catch before. It a great, great discovery tool.
And hey it's pretty damn fun too.
Tags: acting, acting basics, acting lessons, better auditions, fast acting choices, pointers
Posted in Acting, Acting Lessons, Audition Tips/Tricks, Top Ten Lessons |
Do you read every day?
You should be. Find something. Non-fiction. Something without a lot of emotion. Something that you're not going to ry to "act" by accident.
History books are great for this. The History of Acting, something like that.
Read four(4) pages, or about 5-10 minutes every day. Out loud. Don't stop for corrections, just make yourself keep talking. This does 2 things.
1 - it gets you used to reading off the page, so if someone hands you something, you're not stuttering through it
2 - it gets you used to hearing yourself. Half the time you're auditioning/acting, you too damn busy thinking, "Did that sound right?" When, really, it's got little to do with the actual words, and more to do with the feeling that delivers them. The words are just information. The real scene is in the emotion.
Oh, and DON'T read something all emotional. Get a history book, or someone's autobiography, or The History of Acting. It should be something that you're not trying to "put emotion into."
Simple.
Read out loud every day. You'll be a better actor because of it.
Tags: acting, auditioning, better auditions, pointers, reading out loud
Posted in Acting, Acting Lessons, Top Ten Lessons |
If you're really listening to your partner, even if that's the casting director, you're going to have a better audition. You can use what they are giving you to color what you're doing and re-act what they're giving you.
Acting/re-acting, you know that one right? If not, don't worry, it's coming.
"But they're not giving me anything!" you say. Great. Make it about them not giving you anything. If the scene calls for some kind of desperation, anger, or resentment, that makes it all the more easy to use that lack of giving. Deliver the line as if you really want that person to hear & understand you.
If they are giving you a little bit, run with that shit. They're trying to help. They'll be the first to tell you they're not actors, but that doesn't mean they're not trying to help you out from time to time.
Also, listen to what they give you for notes.
So many times, casting will say. That was good, now can you do it more angry/sad/confident/whatever. Really listen and see if you can get a feel for what they're going for. Most of the time, they want to see something different, to see if you're directable, or if you've just rehearsed the shit out of it, and are now stuck in a rut.
Be open to change, and listen.
Tags: acting, acting basics, acting lessons, acting reacting, listening
Posted in Acting, Acting Lessons, Top Ten Lessons |
Seriously.
You go in. You have it all worked out in your head. You go in. don't embarrass yourself, but you walk out feeling like you didn't quite do what it was you set out to do.
This is probably because you were rushing. You blazed through the scene, you were the fastest one! Congrats! Woohoo!
Auditions are not a race to be won. Take your time, relax your shoulders, and DON'T RUSH.
It's far better for the casting person to say, "Let's give that another go, but pick up the pace." Than to give you a polite, "Thanks," because they didn't see what you were capable of. If you rushed, they didn't see it, they didn't have a chance.
Look the other person in the eye, relax your shoulders, and hit it, nice and easy.
Tags: acting, acting basics, acting lessons, acting relaxation, better auditions
Posted in Acting, Acting Lessons, Top Ten Lessons |
