Two Year Acting for Film Program

Students are introduced to basic acting exercises and techniques to build a solid acting foundation.

Module will cover

• Using the body as an instrument, including vocal and relaxation techniques.
• Improvisation as a vehicle for harnessing the power of the imagination, being spontaneous and collaborating with fellow actors.
• Memorizing of lines and blocking.
• The basics of acting technique, including finding motivation and uncovering subtext.

The student is required to prepare and perform a monologue for live performance.

Students will further develop the techniques learnt in the first module to deepen their understanding of textual analysis, acting and performance.

Module will cover

How to analyse a scene using the following tools :

• Overall Objective
• Scene Objective
• Obstacles
• Beats and Actions
• Place and Fourth Wall
• Inner Objects and Doings
• Inner Monologue

The student is required to prepare and perform a scene for live performance.

This module will provide students with an in depth look at the techniques required to prepare and cast successfully for all types of commercials.

Module will cover

• Where the actor fits in the commercial world
• Preparation for a casting
• Translate preparation into an on camera performance
• Handling the call back and meeting the client

 

Module culminates in a ‘Mock Casting’

This intensive module explores and develops the fundamentals of the MEISNER Technique, while systematically introducing more advanced elements.

Module will cover:

• Repetition
• Point of view
• Independent Activities and Doors
• Imaginary circumstances
• Scene work

Students prepare and perform a scene for live performance.

The Acting for Film module introduces the skills needed to act in front of a camera for film and television.

Module will cover

The tools needed to create truthful and ‘engaging’ performances on screen as well as understanding the technical aspects of film production

Tools include:

• Listening skills
• Physicalizations
• Eye-lines
• Emotional and physical Continuity
• Hitting your mark
• Adjusting vocal levels for camera
• Understanding focal lengths and framing
• Cheating angles for the camera
• Calibrating performances based upon shot size and angle
• Strength and Imagination in acting choices
• Knowing what to expect on set

In this module, the student is required to prepare and perform a scene from a well known film, in a simulated movie set environment.

In this module students learn how to access their emotions and incorporate them into their acting process.

Module will cover

Various techniques to aid students in connecting with their emotions, enabling them to portray the varying emotional states necessary in any given circumstance.

Techniques include :

• Substitution / Personalisation
• Sense memory Inner objects
• Sensory conditions
• Affective memory and emotional recall
• Alba emoting
• Public persona, mask, need and tragic flaw

Students prepare and perform a monologue for live performance for an audience.

This module explores all aspects of a film audition. It includes the detailed break down of an
audition script, call backs, acting technique and the practical exploration of the casting process.

Module will cover

• How to prepare for an audition and call-back
• Audition and cold-reading techniques
• Listening and taking direction in the audition room
• What to do during the call-back to impress the producer and / or director

Module culminates in a ‘Mock Audition’.

This module endeavors to help students find a neutral and well rounded accent that may be accepted as being that of an educated and well-spoken English person.

Module will cover

• The ear and speech skills required to deliver dialogue in an authentic British accent, applied to the following performance scenarios :
  • Script Work
  • Role Development
  • Audition

The module will culminate in a recording of an appropriate English text.

This module endeavors to help students find a “standard” American sound that will serve for the Coast-to-Coast US market.

Module will cover

• The ear and speech skills required to deliver dialogue in an authentic US accent, applied to the following performance scenarios:
  • Script Work
  • Role Development
  • Audition

The module will culminate in a recording of an appropriate American text.

The focus of this module is on providing the student with the tools with which to create a “3 dimensional, true to life character.”

Module will cover

• Warm-up techniques – preparing the mind–body relationship & awakening the senses
• Understanding your own body and how you move
• Imagination
• Shoes and accessories as a route into discovering character
• The body that leads to the thinking
• Inner and outer character manifestations & shadow moves
• Character and text

Students incorporate methods learnt to prepare and perform 2 contrasting characters for live performance.

In this module we hone fundamental skills learnt in MEISNER I and begin to explore advanced elements of the MEISNER Technique in detail.

Module will cover

• Relationships and character development
• Public solitude, and emotional preparation
• The incorporation of ‘doings’ into scene work

Students prepare and perform a scene for live performance.

The Acting for Film – Production I module concentrates on applying and integrating theory, tools, techniques and skills learnt, to a practical film set experience. Students work towards the filming of a short scene, to be edited and screened at Graduation.

The completed scenes may also provide material for the acting student’s show-reel.

This module will provide students with an introduction to voice production as well as cover what is required to orally interpret and perform a choral poem in groups.

Module will cover

• Diaphragmatic, Intercostal Breathing.
• Resonance and Articulation.
• Vocal Projection.
• Devising and Performing a Choral Verse.

Students will be required to perform two choral verse poems.

In this module, students begin to explore and develop the art of performing ‘short-form’ improvisation on stage.

Module will cover

• Understanding the ‘rules’ of improvisation.
• Learning the skills and techniques required to perform ‘short-form’ improvisation on stage.
• Exercises to develop the concepts of: agreement, active listening, confidence building and collaboration.

Module will culminate in a performance on stage for an audience.

This module will provide students with an introduction to various styles of Movement in Performance.

Module will cover

• Expression through the body as the focal point in performance.
• Exploring movement through rhythm, flow, shapes, patterns, silence and suspense, nuances both explosive and subtle.
• The use and exploration of central stories or themes that are developed into flowing and emotionally affecting performance narratives.
• Developing increasing control over limbs, core shapes, expression and gesture.

Module will culminate in a performance on stage for an audience.

This module will provide students with an introduction to various styles of presenting, both on camera and live.

Module will cover

• Presenting styles and techniques.
• Voice and Speech for presenting.
• Physicality, body language and energy for presenting.
• Writing and presenting links.

Module culminates in a recording of a live presentation to camera.

The Acting for Film – Style & Genre Module looks at the medium of Film and Television.

Module will cover

• Reflection and self-reflection as a means of deepening students understanding of character and emotional aesthetics.
• The main differences and similarities between comedy, tragedy, style and genre.
• Characterisation and emotional engagement.
• Advanced technical skills required to act in front of a camera for film and television.
• The mechanics of style and genre.
• Multi-Camera Soap style acting.

Students develop and shoot a scene as well as prepare and perform a monologue for camera.

Students develop a more detailed approach to character creation, building on the tools learnt in Character Creation I.

Module will cover

• Moving towards a physical character.
• Dressing a character.
• Character and type.
• Making the body expressive.
• Plasticity of motion.
• Speech, rhythm and tempo.
• Accentuation and the expressive word.
• Energizing character and the inner life.
• Working with text to breathe life into character.

Students incorporate methods learnt to prepare and perform a character – based monologue and scene for camera.

Students move to an advanced level in their voice and speech training, through developing and applying vocal techniques to various performance projects.

Module will cover

• Vocal projection
• Sight-reading
• Acting for radio
• Voice over

Students prepare and perform a poem for live performance as well as record a voice-over demo CD.

In this module, students explore Method acting and the techniques developed by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Based on the research of Konstantin Stanislavsky, Method acting was made popular in the United States in the 1950’s and is still practiced today by respected actors, like Daniel Day Lewis, Christian Bale and Meryl Streep. Through theory and practice, students compare and contrast the techniques of method with that of the Meisner technique.

Module will cover:

• Relaxation
• Concentration
• Sense Memory
• Affective memory
• Improvisation
• Given circumstances
• Rhythm and emotion
• The private moment
• Character and the animal exercise
• Preparing and learning the role

The student is assessed on a monologue and a film scene.

Students are introduced to tools & techniques that enable them to perform on stage.

Module will cover

• Aspects of a rehearsal process to create truthful and ‘engaging’ performances utilizing stage techniques
• Aspects of performance of a production in front of an audience
• Understanding theatre terminology
• Understanding theatre history: A brief overlook of some of the most influential theatre practitioners, theatre movements and various genres
• The body as an expressive vehicle in a theatre space. Projection and size.
• Blocking for stage
• Working in ensemble

Students will work under the guidance of a Director in creating a production and performing it for a live audience. The collaborative nature of this module draws the student into the theatre production process from script development / analysis through rehearsal to final performance, providing tools for what it takes to stage a production.

In this module, students explore intermediate and advanced elements of the Meisner Technique in order to integrate them into preparation and performance.  While Meisner fundamentals will be further developed, there is a deeper focus on emotional triggers, intensification of states, and substitution.  In the context of delivering a monologue, a high stakes imaginary circumstance is used to animate a longish piece of text with rising potent specificity.  This module also starts to look at character through more differentiated emotional triggers as they can be exploited in a scene; it also looks at psychological impediment. 

Module will cover

• Point of View Repetition
• The Reality of Doing
• The Meisner Line Learning Process
• Imaginary Circumstances (for Activities and Doors, monologues and in scenes)
• Character (emotional hooks, emotional substitution, emotional triggers, emotional/psychological state intensification, psychological impediment)

The student is assessed on the performance of a monologue and scene.

The module comprises a series of rehearsals and a film shoot, in which students prepare and shoot a 2-3 minute monologue. The module will consolidate techniques covered in the Acting for Film modules, as well as introduce advanced techniques required to deliver an engaging on screen performance. 

Module will cover

• Knowing your type and selection of material
• Acting in close up
• Continuity
• Emotional preparation
• Revision of acting for camera techniques
• Script analysis
• Physicalizations and sensory work
• Emotional hooks and emotional justifications
• Character and relationship

The final work will be screened at Graduation. Material may be used for the acting student’s show-reel.

In this module students will script and shoot a series of 3-5min short films. The collaborative nature of this module draws the student into the film-making process from script development to final edit, providing valuable tools for how to make a short film. 

Module will cover

• Developing an idea into a script
• Pre-production
• Shooting your film
• Marketing – getting your film seen

It is crucial for actors to not only have the capability to produce their own vehicles but to have firsthand knowledge of how to combine production with the creative process. It is for this reason all acting students will be required to serve in other crew capacities.

The final work will be screened at Graduation. Material may be used for the acting student’s show-reel.

This module will provide students with further development in voice production as well as cover what is required to orally interpret and perform a Shakespearian monologue.

Module will cover

• Working in meter
• Diaphragmatic, Intercostal Breathing
• Resonance and Articulation
• Vocal Projection

Module will culminate in a live performance of a Shakespearian monologue.

Students move to ‘long-form’ improvisation. This is a more advanced stage of improvisation focusing on character, environment, connections, and emotions.

Module will cover

• Learning the skills and techniques required to perform ‘long-form’ improvisation on stage
• Exercises to further develop the concepts of: agreement, active listening, confidence building and collaboration.

Module will culminate in a performance on stage for an audience.

This module will provide students with further development of the various styles of Movement in Performance.

Module will cover

• Expression through the body as the focal point in performance
• Exploring movement through rhythm, flow, shapes, patterns, silence and suspense, nuances both explosive and subtle
• The use and exploration of central stories or themes that are developed into flowing and emotionally affecting performance narratives
• Developing increasing control over limbs, core shapes, expression and gesture

Module will culminate in a performance on stage for an audience.

This module will further develop the various styles of presenting, both on camera and live.

Module will cover

• Developing content: interviews, research, content production
• Understanding locations, studios, wardrobe and hair and make up for presenting
• Practical and theory on presenting

Module culminates in a recording of a live interview presentation.