Adult On-Camera Acting
Wednesdays
8pm-10pm
Hello All,
Here is our class page. It will be the go-to place for all exercises we cover in class and are assigned as homework. I will also post any videos from class for your perusal. If you miss a class, this page will help keep you current.
Here is our class page. It will be the go-to place for all exercises we cover in class and are assigned as homework. I will also post any videos from class for your perusal. If you miss a class, this page will help keep you current.
Overview
During the course of this class, we will be exploring how to best prepare a character in a film script in order to arrive on set ready to shoot- understanding where each scene falls in the character's overall story arc and having done the exercises necessary to bring the full emotional life and technical awareness to every take.
For the purposes of this class, we will be working with the script "He's Just Not That Into You". It is a very dated piece, but is a good model for the exercises.
For the purposes of this class, we will be working with the script "He's Just Not That Into You". It is a very dated piece, but is a good model for the exercises.
| 220915436-he-s-just-not-that-into-you-the-movie-script.pdf |
The Flashcards
In order to organize all the preparation work done in class, we will be creating flashcards. With each new exercise, you will be adding information to these cards. To follow along with building the cards, click the link below.
Flashcards
Week 1 - The Audition
Please prepare one of the following scenes to read in class. We will be simulating an online audition.
SCENE 1 for WOMEN
Page 90-to top of 92 Scene between Gigi and Janine
Please choose either character to prepare.
SCENE for MEN
Choose ONE SCENE
SCENE 1: bottom of Page 39 to top of 41 scene between Ben and Anna. You will play BEN
SCENE 2: very bottom of page 113 to middle of page 115 scene between Alex and Gigi. You will play ALEX
These are only the scenes for the audition, NOT necessarily the role you will be playing.
Please do the soaking exercise and vocal variations with the scene in addition to any other preparation you would normally do.
Video Explanation of soaking exercise is here.
Below is a written explanation of the soaking exercise by George Morrison
SCENE 1 for WOMEN
Page 90-to top of 92 Scene between Gigi and Janine
Please choose either character to prepare.
SCENE for MEN
Choose ONE SCENE
SCENE 1: bottom of Page 39 to top of 41 scene between Ben and Anna. You will play BEN
SCENE 2: very bottom of page 113 to middle of page 115 scene between Alex and Gigi. You will play ALEX
These are only the scenes for the audition, NOT necessarily the role you will be playing.
Please do the soaking exercise and vocal variations with the scene in addition to any other preparation you would normally do.
Video Explanation of soaking exercise is here.
Below is a written explanation of the soaking exercise by George Morrison
| soaking_exercise.pdf |
Below is an audio explanation of vocal variations:
| vocal_variations.m4a |
And the written explanation by George Morrison:
| vocal_variations.pdf |
The audition videos
Cast
Vanita - Janine
Ashlyn - Anna
Shelby- Alex
Noa- Alex
Noah - Conor
Deepti - Gigi
Ravina - Janine
Dom - Neil
Lynn - Maya
Taylor - Gigi
Caroline - Beth
Ashlyn - Anna
Shelby- Alex
Noa- Alex
Noah - Conor
Deepti - Gigi
Ravina - Janine
Dom - Neil
Lynn - Maya
Taylor - Gigi
Caroline - Beth
Week 2 - Building the Kinesthetic Score
This week's class focused on exercises aimed at bringing awareness to the movement of the actor. The goal of this heightened awareness is to help the actor's ability to set and repeat body gestures for each take. The work also helps when thinking about movements for the wide, medium and close-up.
We will return to this work later in the course, but these two exercises are useful to work on until then.
Delayed Gesture
Find a monologue or chunk of text from the movie. Have a partner (in person or virtually) stand across from you. As you perform the text, the partner will feed you gestures. Your goal is to use those gestures and only those gestures to express the monologue. The gesture may require you to shift the meaning or delivery of the text to justify the gesture. You can wait as long as you like to use a gesture, but you must be still until you use it. The partner will wait to give another gesture until you have used the last one. Try only use the gesture and then return to neutral (don't add any extra movements at the beginning or end of the gesture). You may, however, change the intensity or duration of the gesture.
The partner should feed the gestures in the following way:
right hand/arm
left hand/arm
both hands/arms
head
Cycle through series as many times as necessary to complete the monologue.
If you do not have a partner, you can watch a multi camera show on television and pull gestures from the actors.
Being Comfortable with a Still Head
Do the same piece of text as if it were a close-up. Try to keep the same energy level, but stay as still as possible- especially the head. When you feel your head moving, or find you are tense, stop, do the moving for fun exercise and continue.
We will return to this work later in the course, but these two exercises are useful to work on until then.
Delayed Gesture
Find a monologue or chunk of text from the movie. Have a partner (in person or virtually) stand across from you. As you perform the text, the partner will feed you gestures. Your goal is to use those gestures and only those gestures to express the monologue. The gesture may require you to shift the meaning or delivery of the text to justify the gesture. You can wait as long as you like to use a gesture, but you must be still until you use it. The partner will wait to give another gesture until you have used the last one. Try only use the gesture and then return to neutral (don't add any extra movements at the beginning or end of the gesture). You may, however, change the intensity or duration of the gesture.
The partner should feed the gestures in the following way:
right hand/arm
left hand/arm
both hands/arms
head
Cycle through series as many times as necessary to complete the monologue.
If you do not have a partner, you can watch a multi camera show on television and pull gestures from the actors.
Being Comfortable with a Still Head
Do the same piece of text as if it were a close-up. Try to keep the same energy level, but stay as still as possible- especially the head. When you feel your head moving, or find you are tense, stop, do the moving for fun exercise and continue.
Weeks 3 - 4 - The Moment Before
We will begin our work by exploring the "moment before" each of your scenes. To begin, please pick one scene that involves your character (it can be a scene with another character or a solo scene) in which the moment before the scene begins, your character is alone. In other words, don't choose a scene where the characters are in mid conversation or action. Choose one where a character (yours or another) enters or where the scene is a solo scene. Once you have chosen the scene, listen to the exercise below focusing on this specific scene.
| time_frame_basic.m4a |
Once you have listened to the exercise, you will have a good idea about where your character is (emotionally and physically) right before your scene begins. Please prepare to perform that moment before for us. Please practice it before you do it if you are able and set up your space so you can act it out with props and set pieces and costumes (if you have them). You will perform the 3 minutes leading up to the start of the scene, so plan accordingly. This should be a solo scene.
Week 5 and 6 - Character Connections
We will now move to understanding the relationships between the characters. This requires an examination of the entire script and the basic relationships between your characters and the other characters in the script. (For Janine: Ben is my husband, Gigi is my co-worker and friend, etc.) Some of these relationships will change, so you can include those changes in the sentences if you would like. (For Janine: Ben is my husband then we separate, Gigi is my friend throughout of for Anna: Conor is my maybe boyfriend then my boyfriend then just a friend, etc...)
Once you have identified the basic relationships, you will go scene by scene and identify the dynamic between the characters that is specific to that scene. This will change as the story unfolds (Janine and Ben start out as a "happy" couple and with each scene this changes. So the dynamic will change.) You can name this dynamic any way that is helpful for you- a verb, noun, adjective, etc.
After you have identified and named the character dynamic of each scene with a specific character, you will identify a person in your life that best matches the dynamic (not necessarily the relationship) and go through the "Felt Sense" exercise. When you get a "trigger" write it down on your flashcard. The person used for each scene may change even if the character does not change because the dynamic has changed. If you have one person/relationship that carries over from one scene to another, you can use the same trigger and do not have to do the felt sense exercise again.
The Felt Sense exercise is below:
Once you have identified the basic relationships, you will go scene by scene and identify the dynamic between the characters that is specific to that scene. This will change as the story unfolds (Janine and Ben start out as a "happy" couple and with each scene this changes. So the dynamic will change.) You can name this dynamic any way that is helpful for you- a verb, noun, adjective, etc.
After you have identified and named the character dynamic of each scene with a specific character, you will identify a person in your life that best matches the dynamic (not necessarily the relationship) and go through the "Felt Sense" exercise. When you get a "trigger" write it down on your flashcard. The person used for each scene may change even if the character does not change because the dynamic has changed. If you have one person/relationship that carries over from one scene to another, you can use the same trigger and do not have to do the felt sense exercise again.
The Felt Sense exercise is below:
| felt_sense_acting_exercise.m4a |