Posts Tagged ‘acting’
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.
Tags: acting, acting lessons, actor's life, pointers, the life of an actor
Posted in Acting, In general, The Actor's Life, The Basics |
In the scene you're about to do, what just happened the "moment before"?
Something ALWAYS happened just before this. Sometimes the script will give you clues, sometimes it's totally up to you.
We could easily make a list of what it could be when it's up to us...
You could have...
...just had a fight.
...just woken up.
...just stepped in dog shit.
...just got laid.
...just had your dog die.
...just got a new job.
...just quit your job.
...just won a $5,000 scratch ticket.
You get the idea.
Go make your own list. At least 10 items. Pic two for the sides today.
P.S. I find it's better to make a list that has nothing to do with the scene you're about to do. This way, you get to try some really random stuff, and have a little more outside-of-the-box fun.
Of course, if it's obvious what just happened, you should probably try on that choice too.
Tags: acting, acting basics, acting lessons, acting pointers, auditioning, better auditions, pointers, proficiency
Posted in Acting, Acting Lessons, Audition Tips/Tricks, Pointers |
“Be nice to people on the way up, because you may meet them on the way down.”
– Jimmy Durante
Be nice to everyone. No one is trying to piss you off on purpose. Everyone wants to do a good job, including the lowest guy on the totem pole. He's just like you. He wants to do well enough on this job that he gets another.
Word travels. Make an effort for the words said you to be at the least, very professional, and at best also a helluva fun time.
Tags: acting, actor's life, pointers, professional conduct, the life of an actor
Posted in On Set, Pointers, Set Etiquette, The Actor's Life |
The stuff that we're doing on set, the stuff that fills our life with meaning?
It really ain't that important. Seriously.
Sure we move people. But we're not firefighters, or heart surgeons. What we do is mostly fluff. It's entertainment. Entertainment that makes some people, and hopefully ourselves, a shit-ton of money.
I'm not saying that what we don isn't important, but lets' put it into perspective.
In general, no one is going to lose their life if we mess up a take (nod to the stunt men, for whom this may not be true). It's just another take. Now, once you get past the 3rd or 4th take, you may start costing people money, and by the time you're on take 10, they're wondering what the hell is going on. But still, no one's life is at stake.
What we is important, in context. We all love out-takes, but you don't want the set to be a free-for all. And you don't want to be unprofessional.
Believe it or not, being more relaxed about the whole process will make you better as an actor. More relaxed = more emotion. More emotion = more dramatic takes.
Tags: acting, acting basics, acting pointers, actor's life, professional conduct
Posted in Acting, The Actor's Life, The Basics |
So, remember that shirt you were so awesome about putting on before you sat down to get your make-up and hair done?
It's got a secondary purpose. It's multifunctional. Yeah, that's how awesome this shirt is.
Your On-Set Shirt should also be a little bit big for you. Big enough that you can throw it on easily over whatever other wardrobe you're wearing.
Why is this important? Because, hopefully, at some point, you're going to break for lunch. When you do, you're going to be able to save yourself some hassle by being able to put your "On Set Shirt" on right over your regular wardrobe. I know, so frikkin' genius.
This will stop you from getting food all over yourself, and, therefore, will keep wardrobe happy, and make you look more professional, because you are. Wardrobe and make-up are both in charge of how you look, so making their jobs easier, and less stressful is going to make you look that much better for the final product.
I know, I know. You don't spill food on yourself when you eat. Yeah, yeah. Neither do I. But you know what, it's a good thing I've had that damn shirt on, more than once. Cause sometimes, there's ice cream for dessert.
Tags: acting, on set, on set pointers, on the job, professional conduct
Posted in On Set, Pointers, Set Etiquette |
You should try something that you KNOW isn't right.
Make a choice that your POSITIVE doesn't work for the scene.
Make the character a clown, a drunk, a 5-year old, a frikkin' cowboy, hell, a creep child molester priest, I don't care. Make some REALLY BIG, even random, choices and go all the way with them, total caricature, SNL style.
Guess what's gonna happen?
You're gonna have a little fun. You're gonna loosen the fuck up. You're going to take the pressure off because there's no way that the character would be this way.
Guess what else is going to happen?
You're going to get insight into the scene. Sure, you'll probably never play the scene that way at an audition, or on stage, or on set. But doing so opens you to more possibilities for the scene, and keeps you from getting in a rut. You know that rut where you're saying the lines the EXACT SAME WAY only at different volume? Yeah. That's not acting. That's boring.
And those things that you were SO sure were true about the character? Maybe there's a little wiggle room there.
Your welcome.
Tags: acting, acting basics, acting lessons, pointers, rehearsal ideas
Posted in Acting, Audition Tips/Tricks, Pointers |
A little trick to make you look a bit more professional for your cold reading scenes when you audition.
Memorize your first and last lines.
Aside from being the easiest lines to remember, just by their nature of being first and last, this also provides you with a great opportunity to connect with your scene partner/reader. You know that you're starting the scene connected with them. And you know that your finishing it connected.
People, in general, tend to remember the first and last impression of a person. Being "off the page" for that first line, gives you a chance to focus on the emotion in the scene, or your task. Then have your finger right there, so when you go down to the page, you're on track.
Memorizing the last line ensures that you're not buried in the page at the end of the scene, for the button at the end of the scene. Give it a try on your next one, see how it works. 🙂
Tags: acting, acting pointers, better auditions, pointers
Posted in Acting, Audition Tips/Tricks |
The natural next step after "Be a fuck-up," is naturally, not caring at all whether or not you get the job.
This may seem counterintuitive at first. As in, "If I don't care, I won't do a good job."
But that's not what I'm saying. Getting the job would be nice and all, but that's not why you're in the room. You're in the room to show them the shit you can do with those four pages in your hand. You're there to show them the work you put into these four pages. To show them that you made some frikkin' choices. That you're NOT BORING. That you're engaged with the material. That's why you're in the room.
Whether you get the job or not is soooo far out of your control that you shouldn't even be thinking about that AT ALL. The more you think about the job, the more your stupid brain starts spinning out of control with all kinds of crazy scenarios and stories about how you're finally going to get your new apartment and by a house for your mom. Guess what, you're not. All you're gonna do is walk into that room, and kill it. After that, who knows.
Tags: acting, auditioning, better auditions, needy actors, professional conduct
Posted in Acting, Audition Tips/Tricks, Pointers, The Actor's Life, The Basics |
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 |
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 |
