We transcribe scenes for you to practice each and every day. It's fun, and awesome. Doing just this little bit every day will bring you closer towards your goal of being an actor.
Dig in. Let's do this.
Archive for the ‘In general’ Category
So, you took a drink, right there? It wasn't written in the script, but you wanted to take a drink of water, right there, after your third line?
You better have a damn good reason.
If the author wanted you to drink there, they would've written "HE TAKES A DRINK OF WATER." But they didn't, did they?
Drinking water there could be brilliant. It could be the best decision anyone has made all damn day in the scene, but there better be a reason you made that choice, as in you can back it up and not just seem like an actor using a crutch to get through the scene.
If you choose an action, there's gotta be a reason behind it, and, of course, that reason will change with each scene. But it better be there, and it better be good.
If there was a camera on you right now, would you be doing anything differently?
Would you be sitting differently?
Would you been looking at your computer/phone/whatever differently?
Would you not be picking your nose?
Would you suddenly be aware of every move that you're making?
To be as "real" as possible the answer should be "No." You shouldn't change anything. The scene is you reading this post. And this is how you look reading this post. You don't need to change anything.
Throughout the day today, picture a camera suddenly being on you. Just notice, but don't change, what you're doing.
Be good at small talk.
Many of the jobs you get at first will only be a day, maybe two. You're going to be making a LOT of small talk with people.
Get some conversational skills. Ask polite, but appropriate questions. Practice listening (it's called small talk, because you should listen more;)
And here's a really good one; try to remember one distinct thing about each person. Even if you don't remember a person's name, if the next time you see them, you can say, "Didn't you tell me about a great place for pizza in Austin?" They'll be both surprised and delighted that you remembered something unique about them.
If you remember their name too...even better.
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
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