Posts Tagged ‘auditioning’

what just happened?

Friday, May 24, 2013

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.

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Posted in Acting, Acting Lessons, Audition Tips/Tricks, Pointers | No Comments »

You need to “not need the job” to even have a chance

Monday, December 17, 2012

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.

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Posted in Acting, Audition Tips/Tricks, Pointers, The Actor's Life, The Basics | No Comments »

Lesson #6 – Read out loud every day

Thursday, September 27, 2012

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.

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Posted in Acting, Acting Lessons, Top Ten Lessons | No Comments »