What do you want?

The last week, I had the pleasure of coaching some young actors who are working on a major TV show for Netflix. The actors were lovely and keen to get to work. We spent the majority of our time on defining and simplifying objectives. Objectives are some of the most basic circumstances you can define when analyzing a scene. Basically an objective is asking the question “what do I want?”.

By defining what you (or, if you are inclined to think about things this way, your character) want in a scene or a particular interaction is a great way to give a sense of direction, rather than just going through the lines. A good objective will help the actor by providing something to focus on (as opposed to thinking about “what would I do in this situation” or “how would I feel”).

There are some ways to refine your objectives which will help them be more effective:

  1. Make them as active as possible (instead of “I want to understand” or “I want them to listen” or “I want to feel a certain way”). An active outcome will free you up to feel all sorts of ways and get you out of your head
  2. Make them about the other person in the scene. If what you want has nothing to do with the other people in the scene, then maybe you have an “activity” (something you need to get done), but often you can find something you want from someone else in the scene. This will force you to interact with them and respond to what they are reacting to you.
  3. Make it as simple. In order to work for you, an objective should be as simple as possible. Try to make it ONE thing (rather than “I want X but I am worried about them wanting Y and I also am kind of afraid of getting X”, just make it “I want X”. Them wanting Y might get in the way (be an obstacle) of what you getting what you want and make you work harder to get X. Usually once you get down to the simple objective, it becomes something that is universal which is easy for you as the actor to buy into (see the next point).
  4. It doesn’t have to be related to the script/plot! This is a weird one. If your character wants to deliver a letter, but what’s in the letter means nothing to you, have a think about what would motivate YOU (the actor) to deliver the letter. There are no wrong answers here and what you are looking for is a way for you to connect and care about your (or your character’s) objective. If you give a shit, it’s going to be something you’ll fight for.
  5. Make it specific and concrete. The more concrete the objective is, rather than heady or an idea of something, the more of a chance you have at committing to getting it.

Objectives are a simple and powerful tool to connect to and commit to the action that the author wrote for you to undertake in the scene. It’s ok at the start of looking at the scene to come up with broad objectives that are not terribly simple or action based (ie. not following the above points). But keep at it, keep refining them to make them more concrete, more personal, more simple, more needful of the other person in the scene. If you get to the point where you are simply driving for what you want and letting the other people’s reactions hit you, then you’re in a good spot!

Fall Term Coming Up!

After taking a month to relax after the 2017/18 schedule of teaching, I’m finally getting around to publicizing the Fall Term!

We start September 17th and the 12 week term will run until the beginning of December. There is still space to sign up, but be sure to let me know if you’re interested by going to our contact page.

For potential students, you should plan on coming to the first class to watch and see if it’s something you would like to join. For continuing students, welcome back!

Brian

Get back into the Swing of things!

There are a few workshops coming up organized by friends of ours which will help you get into shape for the upcoming slew of productions coming to town. Check it out:
This August we’re offering two amazing short intensive workshops, to expand your skills, refresh what you know, or try something completely different.

Commedia dell’Arte
August 14-19th. 3 evenings and 2 full days at the weekend.
Cost 3500kc (2800 concessions)

Historical fencing/stage combat
August 21st-25th (26th) 3 evenings and a half day (working on full weekend)
Cost 2900kc (No concessions)

Discount price for both courses

Commedia dell’Arte
First up, a commedia dell’arte workshop with the superb and quirky talent of Olly Crick.
Olly has over 30 years experience as an actor, teacher, director, musician, writer, clown and creator of wacky organised chaos on stage.

I have the pleasure to say I worked on three shows with Olly, so I am glad to be able to offer 28 hours of workshop time for people in Prague.

We will cover the basics, history, characters, mask work and physical characterisation in 3 evenings, and follow up with 2 full days at the weekend, where we will devise and perform a small show.
No previous experience is required.
A deposit is required to ensure a spot. Please check out the facebook event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/655802241438204/

Historical fencing/stage combat
Second up, I have contacted some of Prague’s best and most renowned theatre and movie sword players at A.R.G.O. They run an historical fencing school AKA AKA – akademie rytířských umění

We are offering again short intensive. Three evenings and a half day Saturday.

The course will cover basic footwork and techniques for beginners, and present students with some experience more advanced techniques and basic sparring. Aspects of stage combat will also be explored.

The sword styles/schools covered will be Italian rapier and Hungarian sabre.

Presently we’re in negotiation of extending that to a full weekend at their base in Tabor. An incredible historical location with an amazing armoury.

The cost of the course includes hire of equipment: weapons, masks and basic body protection.
No previous experience is required.
A deposit is required to ensure a spot. Please check out the facebook event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/798993097158095/

Using Downtime. 10 Things You Can Do When The Phone Isn’t Ringing

Actors careers are very often “hurry up and wait” and then “wait some more”. In the busy times (lots of auditions, lots of work, pilot season, etc), it can feel like there is no time to do any of the career maintenance. But there will come a time when you’re not so busy. Instead of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, schedule some time to work on your career. Just like an out of work desk jockey should spend 8 hours a day looking for a new job, so should the out of work actor spend a significant amount of time preparing for the next opportunity.

Here’s a list of the 10 things that you can do while you’re waiting around for the next job:

  1. Make sure your website (personal, imdb, spotlight, actors access, e-talenta, etc) is up to date. Add new credits, skills, photos, clean out old credits.
  2. Make sure your resume is up to date. Add new credits and skills.
  3. Make contact with your network. If you don’t have a network contact schedule, take some time to make one. If you have one, go down the list and send out a few emails per day to people you haven’t contacted in a while. Update their contact record with their recent credits/job titles.
  4. Work on your Skillz. Down-time is the perfect time to work on your skills. Reduce your foreign accent (or learn a new one), get those horseback riding lessons, do stage-combat, work on your memorization techniques, take those singing lessons!
  5. Read! Reading plays and screenplays is one of the best ways of developing your knowledge of acting. When you read, read the best (oscar/tony winners, famous) plays and screenplays critically: what makes them the best? Why are they known? What’s happening with the characters and the plot?
  6. Take an acting class. This goes hand in hand with the skills point, but specifically: joining an acting class will keep you sharp while you’re waiting for that next audition or job. If you’ve had experience in “serious” acting, try an improv class. There are a ton of good classes in everything from auditioning, musical theatre, improv, and of course Meisner!
  7. Work on your promo materials. Make sure you have all of the scenes you want for your showreel. Do you have business cards made up yet? Maybe you can work on those!
  8. Start writing. Nowadays, many actors aren’t limited by waiting around until a producer or director gives them an opportunity. We can create our own dream role by writing it ourselves. Many of my students have started writing and producing their own short films. If you aren’t good at writing your own project, then start anyway! Be bad at it and over time you’ll get better.
  9. Look for a [better] agent. This could go in the networking category, but if you don’t have one, you can focus specifically on researching agents in your target market that would be a good fit for you and getting in touch with them. If you do have an agent and you aren’t happy with them, you can use the time to look for a better one!
  10. Get fit. Downtime is a good time to focus on yourself. Both physically and mentally. Start exercising regularly. Meditate. Learn about cooking right. If you’re in a good place mentally and physically, then you will shine when you go on that next meeting!

Energy!

Students in class will know that I am a big proponent of “adding energy” to an exercise. So often we shy away from an energy flow with our partner as a way to protect ourselves. If we don’t send a lot of energy out to the partner, we won’t have to show anything about ourselves. We can keep ourselves at a safe distance.

Also, higher energy levels tend to push behavior into levels that are socially unacceptable. Yelling, gesturing, crying, laughing, loving, all of these would be considered “too big” in a normal social interaction. But not between actors.

Actors, even when not in an acting environment, can seem to be bigger (in their behavior) than “normal” people. Admittedly, sometimes that big behavior is to cover up for some inner insecurity. But it can also be coming from a place that actors have trained to be ok with bigger responses. In front of a camera, those big responses tend to translate into quicker response times, a feeling of being extra receptive to the things that are going on around you (an actor while on camera often can’t have such big external behavior). But on the stage, that willingness to have big, energetic behavior is what an actor needs to get a performance out to an audience.

So when you’re in the acting class, and I ask you for “more energy” don’t worry! It’s something that everyone needs!

Gary Condes Meisner Workshop: July 10 – 14, 2017

Gary Condes teaches in Prague July 10 – 14, 2017

We are very pleased to be hosting the wonderful acting teacher Gary Condes July 10 – 14, 2017. Gary will be working with students from 4-10pm on techniques stemming from his deep knowledge in the Meisner training. Gary writes:

My teaching is deeply rooted in the principles and techniques pioneered by the great Sanford Meisner, but also inspired by selective practices from Stella Adler & Constantine Stanislavsky. Standing on the shoulders of these acting giants, I train actors to work from the personal passions of the heart not from the dry intellect of the head, to create acting that is alive and kicking and truly present in the moment. I train actors to be bold and fearless and yet specific and precise in their expression. Artistry combined with technical discipline to create performances that are full with meaningful behaviour is the goal.

It should be a very exciting week of work! To sign up, please email info@acting.cz. Space is limited! The price per student is 6.200 Kc.

Choosing the Right Class for You

Career-FairOne of the most important things actors can do to keep their skills sharp, especially during downtime, is to be in an acting class. Because acting classes are process oriented, they allow students to explore new parts of themselves in a safe environment. You aren’t going to get fired from your acting class because you are trying something new!

But finding the RIGHT acting class is sometimes difficult. There are so many styles of acting and outlooks of teachers that it can be hard to choose. Here are some things to think about to help you choose a class that will take you to the next level.

Continue reading

Fall Acting Class! September 26th

Summer is fading fast and it’s time to start thinking about getting “back-to-school”! This is a great class for anyone who is thinking about starting out with the fundamentals of professional acting. We work on listening and responding truthfully. These skills are not only great for actors, but great for normal humans too! So come and check it out!

Downshifting: Add Meaning

This post references the Acting Metaphors: The Stickshift post.

“Downshifting” is what I call the process of going from a highly personal and deeply behavioral repetition, to one that is more on the surface. If you are going to downshift, which is certainly something that can happen, then know that it generally means that you are losing the inherent meaning in the words (“you’re scratching your face” being less inherently meaningful than “you’re lonely”, for example). Downshifting can be a result of the actor needing to create space to let off steam or to give their partner a break (both of these are not necessary and don’t lead towards the partner). If it happens, then one way to keep the energy level of the repetition at a consistent level would be to increase how personally you take whatever the behavior that you’re downshifting to: if the face scratching in the previous example is in response to the partner being lonely, then it might take on extra meaning.

If you’re downshifting to give everyone a break from the intensity, then I recommend acknowledging that truth somehow in the repetition. Get that need to cool off out on the table and then start again moving towards the partner. It could be that by recognizing the need to cool off, you learn something personal about your partner that will lead you closer together.

Acting Metaphors: The Spacecraft

I’m starting a new series of posts: Metaphors which I use during class. Hopefully you’ll find them useful!

The Spacecraft

One of the ways scientists get information about the composition of the other planets and moons in our solar system is by crashing spacecraft into them and then studying the debris that gets kicked up. The metaphor here is that we want to use our attention and the power of our personal observations about our partner to crash into their surface (although the impact doesn’t necessarily have to be violent). But the real information about who they are comes from how they respond to the repetition (the debris that gets kicked up). Their response to you is going to tell you a whole lot more about themselves than how they behave at the surface.

The Lesson:

Don’t hold your opinions back from your partner. Make an impact on them and you’ll come to a deeper understanding of who they are!