In everyday life, it’s often good to say “I don’t know.” It is humble. It shows a beginner’s mind. It allows you to be open to an answer. Lately in class we have been looking at what saying “I don’t know” does when it comes out as a reflex and why, in some cases, it’s better not to say anything until you know! Continue reading →

There is a difference between over-acting and over-REacting. In every day life, we are trained to not react too strongly to things. We have a band of acceptable response levels, we mitigate our language to lessen the impact of our reactions. “You’re pissing me off” becomes “You’re making me a little annoyed”, “I really care about you” becomes “You’re ok”. Keeping within this band of responses allows us to stay safe and in control of the situation. It doesn’t require as much from your partner and it doesn’t require you to feel more than you’re used to. And it doesn’t do too much for your acting to stay in that band! Playing it safe by not fully expressing what’s going on inside is a form of politeness that won’t make you grow as an actor.

Last night, there were some comments that there was over-acting in an exercise. What does that mean? In my book, over-acting means letting out a response that you don’t actually have. Often over-acting won’t be in response to the other person. Often it’s what we think we SHOULD be feeling or what we think it would be GOOD to feel — either for the drama of the situation or in an effort to make their partner feel better.

On the other hand, because we want to stay in this band of “normal” or “every-day” behavior, it’s nearly impossible to fully let out our response to what the other person is doing. We all have a little voice in our head that whispers “what you’re doing is stupid” or “you shouldn’t be doing this” or “you’re not being fair to this guy”. By allowing ourselves to fully react to the other person we free up our internal monitor that checks on what kind of behavior is “ok”. And that, in turn, allows us to really be touched by the other person. By allowing ourselves to fully react, we open up the world of possibilities of reaction. Any reaction that is in reaction to the other person is “ok” and as it becomes more “normal” to have a response, it will be easier to have that response immediately and substantially. If we’re responding truthfully to what the other person is doing, then it will never be over-acted. It will always be exactly the right amount of response.

For students who are not used to or comfortable with their own true reactions, this full response will look abnormal. It may even look forced: after all, in a repetition exercise, nothing is at stake. Why should we get all worked up over nothing? I’d ask a different question: Why shouldn’t we get all worked up?

We are very excited to start working on a new class specifically designed for models who are feeling like they would like to start getting a handle on actor castings.

There are similarities between acting and modeling that the Studio is equipped to deal with. One main issue with a lot of models, especially those that are just starting out is that they feel that simply looking good is enough to take good pictures. This is not usually the case. The best models will not only look good, but also have something going on behind the eyes. In many cases, this something is an openness; an invitation to the viewer to come closer. If the model is smiling but internally feeling guarded about herself, then we will not feel welcomed by her and subsequently not form a connection to her and to what she is selling or modeling.

Many beginning actors have a similar problem, although it is more apparent because acting is often more dialog heavy and … dramatic… than modeling. What we want to connect to when watching an actor is their humanity and their vulnerability. This means that the actor needs to be able to connect in some way with their own vulnerability and human frailty. Obviously not every character is going to be incredibly open, but usually having a character arc means that we as an audience are going to be seeing some kind of change in the character, which is brought about by the character’s being touched or moved in some way.

This ability to be touched or moved is what we focus on at the Studio and it is exactly what models who are going to be successful especially in the acting field need to work on.

The Acting For Models class is a baby step towards this as well as practical feedback and practice in how to get through an audition for models who aren’t used to doing much more than smiling and posing. It starts January 22nd and runs for 3 intensive weekends (24 class hours total; 4 hours per day). At the end of the course, a casting director from either Vivid Casting or J.A.M. Casting will come and give feedback to the class participants and they will have a chance to ask questions.

Tomorrow we start a new quarter of acting classes at the Studio. There was a great deal of growth in students during the last quarter and we are looking to continue that progress through the winter.

It’s easy to get depressed in the winter months: there’s a lack of sunlight; it’s cold; we’re tired of being inside all the time. But winter is a great time to bear down and focus our energy on work. There are not as many distractions. We can spend an hour at rehearsal or working on finding truthful roots and that hour is not wasted on watching television or sitting in a dark, smelly pub wishing it was sunny.

The continuing students will be working on relationships and activities. This is a difficult time as the amount of homework goes up substantially and what is required of the students is not simply to be truthful and in the moment (though that too), but also to work hard on their imagination and digging into themselves to find what they care about. It is a challenge, but a great way to spend the winter!

At the start of the new semester (classes started last week!), we have been focusing a lot on how the first phase of repetition work has so much to do with loving your partner. This is, of course, mostly a platonic love: a love for them one human being to another rather than a romantic love, though sometimes romantic love or attraction comes up through the exercise.

Why should this be a focal point of our work now? Is it enough to simply put your attention on the other person and repeat what they say and take them personally?

What we are going for here is a deep way of taking in what the other person is doing and the love or friendship aspect allows us to take our partner much more personally than if the partner was simply a colleague or classmate. When we love each other, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to the other person, to give up complete control to the other person. We must do this if we are to be fully free in the moment. The love allows us to take personally even the most simple and seemingly innocuous behavior in the other person: the way they look at you or away from you; the way they stand; whether they move towards or away from you. Without the love, we can allow ourselves to be indifferent about these things. And being indifferent is a really uninteresting place to be for an actor!

Now, does this mean that we will only have love fests in our exercises? No. There will be differences of opinion and we will get hurt and angry with each other. We will feel rejected and betrayed and those feelings will lead to conflict. But if we start from a place of wanting to move towards each other, wanting to love each other, wanting to build a bridge to each other. The conflict becomes simply an obstacle - something to work through to get to the other side of and reach some sort of understanding rather than the point of the exercise. In the early stages there might be a difference of opinion that leads to conflict, but we are building a foundation so that in the later stages we can use our imagination to dirty the relationship and ensure that there is an obstacle or some kind of conflict in the exercise.

With a foundation of love and a dirty relationship (ie, someone did something to hurt the other person), then we can allow ourselves to go to the furthest edges of our emotion and trust that we will not lose ourselves. It allows us to feel and open ourselves in a deep way. The “love foundation” increases the faith that we have in ourselves and our ability to really be affected by the other.

So, at these early stages don’t shrink from loving your partner. Keep in your mind that you always want to be interested in the other, always want to move toward them and you will be in a great place to put the starting blocks further and further away. You will not only be able to see something human in them, you will make yourself vulnerable to them.

FILM ACTING + MEISNER COURSE

CSA Casting Director Nancy Bishop and acting coach joins actor/coach Brian Caspe to teach a special nine week acting course in Prague.

This twice weekly course, taught in English, will cover the craft of screen acting and auditioning, complimented by the Meisner technique that develops naturalist acting.

FILM ACTING SEGMENT: (Nancy Bishop)

Acting is both an art and a craft. The film acting portion of the course will focus on craft, emphasizing the technical demands of screen acting. Students will learn to calibrate their performances specifically for the camera frame, adjusting for close ups and a wide shots. Since the camera photographs thought, students will learn to develop an active and varying inner monologue, and understand the nuances of acting, thinking and listening with the eyes.

FILM AUDITION SEGMENT: (Nancy Bishop)
This segment will teach actors how to market and promote themselves in a competitive industry. Actors will learn strategies to tackle cold reading and on-screen castings. Each student will partake in a series of mock auditions and receive one on one coaching from Nancy.

MEISNER SEGMENT: (Brian Caspe)
Acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. In the Meisner segment, we will work first on living truthfully, that is, breaking down barriers. Students then explore imagination: creating situations and relationships that bring two opposing viewpoints or objectives together. The “scenes” that come out of this work are improvised and full of emotion and truth. This work forms the foundation of acting craft.

About the teachers:

Nancy Bishop is an Emmy-award nominated casting director who has cast over sixty American and British films from her base in Prague. She is a member of the Casting Society of America and the European Network of Casting Directors. She has cast for major feature film including Roman Polanski’s Oliver Twist, Alien Vs. Predator, Bourne Identity, the Illusionist, Prince Caspian and Wanted. She has also cast TV series such as CBS’s Hitler on the Origin of Evil and the BBC’s BAFTA award winning Charles II. Ms. Bishop is committed to actor training and has developed a proven method for casting technique. She teaches master classes on film acting throughout Europe, the UK and the US. She has taught at top conservatories such as the American National Theater Institute and the Royal Scottish Academy of Dramatic Art. Her book, Secrets from the Casting, is available from Methuen Drama. She earned her Masters in Theater History Criticism at Northwestern University and her BA is in Acting and Directing from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). www.nancybishopcasting.com

Brian Caspe (Acting, Meisner Technique) is a professional actor who plays regularly in theater, TV, film and commercials. Motion pictures credits include Wanted, the Illusionist, Hellboy, Running Scared and Hannibal Rising. Brian also played a major supporting role in the NBC television series Revelations, opposite Bill Pullman. His most recent film is Solomon Kane with James Purefoy and Pete Postelwaite. In theater, Brian has gotten rave reviews playing in the lead in Oliver!, A Funny Thing Happened on The Way To The Forum, The Seagull, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown among many others. Since moving to Prague in the spring of 2002, Brian has re-energized the Expat acting scene. In 2003, he founded the Prague Playhouse with the aim to give native English-speaking actors a company where they could perform and English-speaking audiences a venue to enjoy. Brian regularly coaches Meisner technique which he studied in Los Angeles under Jeff Goldblum and Robert Carnegie (assistant to Mr. Meisner for 10 years). Over the past 4 years, many of his students have gone on to have successful acting careers and even more have learned to appreciate the power of living in the moment. www.acting.cz

Class Info:

Class is taught in English. Students with some experience preferred, but beginners welcome to apply.
Time: 11- 13:00, Mondays and Wednesdays
Date: 20 Sept – 17 Nov, 2010.
Place: Prague Film School, Pstrossova 19, Prague 1
Cost: 7,200kc.
Discount for early registration: 6500kc if registered by 13 Sept.
To Apply: Please send a letter of intent, and photo to filmschool@rexpats.com and brian@acting.cz