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Welcome to Acting Tips
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What Casting Directors are Looking For
You may encounter this phrase from casting directors more than once in your career: "I'll know what I want when I see it." One thing is for sure: They're not looking for a scene-stealer. They're not looking for a prima dona. Chances are, they want chemistry within their cast. They need to see that you're a team player, someone who listens, is respectful of others, and ultimately brings more to the team. Showing casting directors and fellow actors that you can work with them is far more valuable than showing them up.
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Developing New Skills
School for Film and Television: Do you have plenty of stage experience, but dream of breaking into film? Are you interested in supplementing your income with commercials and voice work? Would you like to expand your repertoire? Consider an acting workshop.
Acting workshops are great for developing a new skill, such as conquering the cold reading, fine-tuning your comedic timing, or nailing your dialects and accents.
When looking for acting workshops, here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:
- Don't worry too much about reputation, and don't assume a more expensive workshop is necessarily better.
- The workshop should be large enough for creative exchange, but small enough to allow you plenty of practice time.
- Ask about the teacher's experience. Does she have industry experience in the skill being taught? Talk to the students, if you can. Find out what they think about the teacher and the class.
- Choose a workshop that challenges you. If the teacher always praises the students without providing constructive criticism or if you already excel in the skills being taught, you won't learn anything. Choose a workshop that pushes you beyond your comfort zone.
- Make sure the workshop is about learning and growing, not about tearing the students down. The class should feel creative and collaborative, not like a psychological war zone.
- If you are allowed to audit the workshop, jump on the opportunity. It's a great way to get a feel for the teacher and the other students.
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The Basic Acting Classes
Everybody has to start with the basics in acting class. Your first classes should teach you the basics of movement and voice. Learn how to hold your body for maximum breath control and healthy posture. Improv classes are also a wonderful way to learn to use your body effectively. When studying voice, practice projection, annunciation, and breathing. Basic classes will cover these skills. Once you have your instrument tuned, you should move onto scene study courses.
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Art Imitates Life
School for Film and Television Tip: Want to keep your acting from getting stale? Make sure your life is interesting!
Your most crucial dramatic lessons won't come from film acting class but from your own life. Sure, it's important to go to movies and plays, read scripts, and study the great directors. But if your only reference point is other movies, your performances will come across as flat and derivative.
Snoresville.
An actor has to continually fill his well of creativity to stay inspired. The broader your experiences and your studies, the more resources you'll have to draw from during a performance. Follow these tips to spice up your acting:
Read. Learn all you can about art, music, science, psychology, history, and theology. Each field in its own way examines what it means to be human.
Become a first-class people-watcher. Keep a notebook with you and jot down dialogue, mannerisms, and interesting situations.
Travel to experience other cultures. How do people greet each other in France? What does it feel like to ride a camel in the desert?
Follow current events for insights into the best and worst of human theater.
Seek novelty. Do something you've never done before, such as learn belly-dancing, repair a car's engine, or pet-sit a snake.
Take risks. Bungee jump. Travel solo. Love and lose. Love and win.
Live with your mind and senses fully engaged, and you'll perform the same way. Not to mention you'll have fantastic stories to tell your grandkids someday!
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Succeeding at a Casting Call
You're the only one who can make yourself look good in a casting call, so be proactive. Take note of the following advice: Show up on time. Be prepared for any readings that you have to do. Bring two copies of your resume/headshot package. Be very respectful to all of the people that you interact with, even other actors. Show that you can work professionally with the casting director and anyone else attached to the production. Follow up with a postcard or another small mailing the next day.
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To Be, That Is The Trick
School for Film and Television Tip: The secret of coming across realistically and naturally in front of a camera is to be rather than to act. Sound easy? Well it's not. It may seem like a paradox, but it takes a tremendous amount of acting training to look like you're not acting at all.
When we see a believable character, we get caught up in that character's trials and tribulations, that character's world. We forget about the actor. That's great acting. On the other hand, if we catch the actor "performing," we lose the character and become aware of the actor. That's not so great acting.
On film, unlike in the theater, small reactions, gestures, and facial expressions go a long way. The camera is very sensitive. It picks up even the tiniest details. It's enough to change the thought in your mind to change the expression in your eyes. After all, that's how it works in real life. We don't deliberately change our eyes according to our emotions—they change automatically. Remember, be the character, don't act the character, and you'll go a long way to improving your chances of success.
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Acting Jobs and Industry Connections
Keep in touch with the industry community. They will be your peers, your support group, and hopefully your connections to better acting gigs. Go to the plays of your friends and get to know the cast, crew, and any management. Watch new movies and television shows to see which way the industry is headed. If you like a show, find out who casts it. There are several seminars in larger cities you can attend and meet agents, casting directors and managers. Go to as many as you can to network and learn the names of important players in the film and/or theater community.
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Acting Schools
School for Film and Television Tip: Building your show business support network begins in acting school. If you're in school now, look around you. Your friends and acquaintances might feel just as powerless as you do, but the minute one of them makes it, they'll be in a position to drop your name.
So get proactive and begin fostering a sense of community while in acting school. Start a study group with a few friends to run lines, practice scenes, or go to screenings. Gather your colleagues and put on a benefit for a worthy cause. Get involved with your fellow actors in any constructive way you can think of. Two words of caution, however:
·Partying is no substitute for hard work. Having the right connections can open doors, but only talent and ability will set you squarely inside.
·Choose your friends carefully. Avoid the complainers and the whiners. People who are this miserable usually want lots of company. They won't cheer you on to success and may even try to hold you back.
If your support network consists of talented people you truly like, keeping in touch once school is over will be a pleasure. Send them congratulatory notes when you hear about a success. Call them up when they hit a rough spot. They'd do the same for you.
Making it as an actor is an uphill battle. You have years of slogging it through to look forward to. Thank goodness for your friends!
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The Screen Actors Guild and Your Acting Career
If you want to be a film actor, membership to the Screen Actors Guild is critical to your career. Membership insures that you will receive the optimal wages, as well as payments from producers to your pension and health insurance accounts. As a member of the SAG, you will also be able to collect residual payments from your work. There are several ways to get into the union. Visit their website at www.sag.org for membership information.
