The Acting Blog

Advice on Auditioning

You have an audition coming up and you’re a little bit afraid and I want to give you a piece of advice.

One of the keys to killing in your audition is to look like you actually want to be there.  Surely, this is the thing you’re saying you can do well, but only 10% of actors look like they’re actively enjoying themselves in their audition.  They look worried, scared, frightened, tense and nervous.  Now I understand WHY these things are, but seriously people, who will hire the frightened rabbit hiding in the corner?

If you are going to be successful, then the director, producer, casting people need to experience who you are.  So here some tips.

1) Enter positively, smiling, upbeat, big and happy to see the panel and use the tactic GREET and do it warmly.

2) Do not shake their hands unless they offer you their hands.

3) Do not look embarrassed at anything you do, be proud of your work and positive about it, even if it went disastrously wrong.

4) PREP for the audition, the people that can wing an audition are rare and the rare ones have to be rare and lucky, chances are, you aren’t both.  So PREP for the audition.

5) Don’t be over-friendly, but make contact over the audition process with all the panel members.

6) Do not deliver your monologue to the panel, it will make them uncomfortable, they want to view you, not be viewed.

7) The interview part of any audition (from the moment you get in the door to the start of your monologue, the end of your monologue to when you leave the building) is about self-presentation, you are presenting the best part of yourself from the moment you are in ’til the moment you leave, don’t forget that, the panel won’t

At the end of the day, you’re there to sell a unique product, but you have to be genuine and friendly and bright and positive, you can’t influence their decision, but you can convince them you are a good person who would be fun and enjoyable to work with, sometimes, just sometimes, that’s all it takes.

To You, The Best!

Looking for Acting Classes in Glasgow? Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2010

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Tags: Auditioning Technique, Glasgow Acting Classes, Help with my audition

New Glasgow Acting Classes Begin Tonight!

Well, tonight’s the night, the beginning of a new term of Glasgow acting classes at the Acting Coach Scotland studio in Queen St.  What started off as just a few hours a week has turned into a full-time operation and we’re excited that another 16 students will come through the doors this evening to discover acting, some for the very first time.

But why do people want to act?  What is it that compels them to become actors, or equally, directors, writers, composers etc…

I suppose there’s some obvious factors, if you are successful movie or television actor, you get good money and a quota of fame.  This is all very nice but if it’s your only reason for getting into acting, most of you, and I say MOST, not ALL, will be disappointed because most actors earn a pitiful amount, scrape a living and go hungry between jobs and are only remembered for that funny commercial they did once.

That’s painting it rather black, I appreciate.

But why else then?

Well, I suppose I hear a lot of people saying they always wanted to try it, or they were good at it at school and they want to ‘get back into it’ – that amuses me because most were never actors professionally, but since they did it once in school, they are now ‘getting back into it’ – no one would dream of saying ‘I dissected a frog at school, I’d love to get back into surgery’, but that’s of course not the point.

They experienced something in school, something special, that made them feel special, something that gave them a buzz, a sense of joy, perhaps even elation.  Now they want it back, or they want more of it.  And let’s face it, it’s a lot better than being an accountant or working in Sainsbury’s/Walmart  (for the most part) in terms of enjoyment.

Many of us are compelled.  We try to ignore it, we try to make it go away, we try to hide it, we become good at other things and we do those things, although we keep our headshots up to date and still remember the excitement of live performance or being on camera.

Whatever your reason, it’s exciting that you want to experience acting, don’t forget to find a reputable acting teacher, preferably someone who doesn’t charge the earth…

Good Luck Tonight if you’re joining our acting classes in Glasgow, or if you’re out there anywhere in the world starting an acting class or going back to it )

Tags: Glasgow Acting Classes, why do people become actors?

A Grammar of Acting

This grammar helps us to speak the same language, to develop a vocabulary for discussing the work that we do and the work of others.  A shared vocabulary allows us a solid foundation for understanding how acting works and how to develop our skills.

When you have a language, you can enter into a dialogue.  Dialogues empower us to learn and change. Without this grammar, without a shared language, we will find it difficult to engaged in this learning dialogue.

ACTOR: Someone that takes action.

ACTING: Acting is living truthfully under the imaginary circumstances of the play (Sanford Meisner)

ACTION¹: also known as a TOOL or a TACTIC

ACTION²: Behaviour, the things that you do, made up of WANT, ESSENTIAL ACTION, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY and PHYSICAL ACTION.

ANALOGOUS CIRCUMSTANCES: Parallel Circumstances that help us to understand what we must do and how we must behave in the As-IF.

ANTECEDENT EVENTS: Events that occurred before the play begins.

As-IF: Developing parallel circumstances so that you understand the context for how you will play the scene, offers stakes and tempo-rhythm elements for your ESSENTIAL ACTION.

As-IFFING: An exercise used to habitualise the TACTICS of the ESSENTIAL ACTION into your body.

BIT: An individual section of the play script/text

BIT CHANGE: When one BIT of the scene changes to another because the character’s ESSENTIAL ACTION changes.

BEAT: What it sounds like when a Russian says ‘Bit’ and so, BIT has been replaced generally by BEAT and BEAT CHANGE.

CHARACTER: The sum of a person’s characteristics, the total of what they do.  The sum of their actions².

DIRECTOR: Someone who directs the ACTION² of the play

DRAMATIC ACTION: The conflict of will as the Antagonist(s) strive to achieve their goals and what they do to try to achieve them.

ESSENTIAL ACTION: What your character wants from the other reduced down into a single powerful, actable sentence. Each Essential Action has 9 Criteria.

THE FACTS: An effective way to arrive at a summation of the GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES.

GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES: The term comes from Stanislavski and refers to all of the unchangeable facts of the scene.  These facts are not open to interpretation; they are external influences that affect the situation of the scene. The writer, director and all the actors should be able to agree on these circumstances, as they are FACTS.

HABITUALISATION: The task of making something into a habit and therefore capable of being done without thought.

IN THE MOMENT: Now, not before, not before after, but RIGHT now.

LITERAL: A basic description of the scene – given without interpretation.  A summation of what’s happening concluded into a single phrase.

MOMENT-TO-MOMENT WORK: Responding truthfully to what occurs in each moment, rather than based on what you did earlier in rehearsal.

OBSTACLE: What hinders your task IS your task.

PHYSICAL ACTION: Another name for a TOOL or TACTIC.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Physical doing.  Making a pot of tea.  Killing Claudius, Undressing, Crossing the stage to pick up an object, or waving hello, these are all PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES.

PLAYWRIGHT: The ‘maker’/’wrighter’ of the play.  The person that puts the pieces of the DRAMATIC ACTION together.

PRACTICAL AESTHETICS: A practicable theory of art.

RELATIONSHIP: The relationship type, be it PARENT, CHILD, TEACHER, STUDENT, EMPLOYEE, EMPLOYER, FRIEND, STRANGER etc that is between the characters in the scene that helps the actor to understand HOW to behave under the Imaginary GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES.

REPETITION: An exercise created by Sanford Meisner to teach actors to listen to each other and respond to each other truthfully.  It helps to develop spontaneity of action and reaction in the moment.

REPETITION WITH ACTION: The exercise played from the perspective of the ESSENTIAL ACTION.

SCENE ANALYSIS: A way of tackling any scene by asking several essential questions:

1. 1. WHAT’S THE CHARACTER LITERALLY DOING?

1. 2. WHAT DOES THE CHARACTER WANT THE OTHER CHARACTER TO DO?

1. 3. WHAT’S THE ESSENTIAL ACTION?

1. 4. AS IF: WHAT’S THE ESSENTIAL ACTION LIKE TO ME – IT’S AS IF…..

SCRIPT ANALYSIS: The overarching analysis of the play/screenplay to align the actors with the Dramatic Action the writer has constructed.

STAGE BUSINESS: Incidental PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES performed for dramatic purposes.

STAKE: What your character has to lose in the scene, what you have to lose in your AS-IF.  Often generated in class/rehearsal by the question:

WHAT IF YOU DON’T?  – WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES

TACTICS: The things that character/actor does to get what they want.  The things the actor does to the other actor in terms of TRANSITIVE VERBS that aim to produce the result required by the ESSENTIAL ACTION.  It must immediately be capable of being done to another human being.  TACTICS should be played based on what the other ACTOR is doing and not planned in advanced.

TEMPO-RHYTHM: A way for the STAKE to create speed of motion by setting a time signature.

TRANSITIVE VERB: A verb that can be done to someone else in Practical Aesthetics these are known as TOOLS or TACTICS.

TOOL: Another word for a PSYCHOPHYSICAL ACTION or TACTIC.

VOLLEY: To automatically fire the same ‘YOU CALL’ back in REPETITION when it isn’t necessarily true.  The term is taken from tennis when the ball is hit back over the net before allowing it to bounce.

WANT: The desire, the underlying need that powers the character through the scene.  Expressed in SCENE ANALYSIS as: ‘What does the character want the other character to DO’

To You, The Best!

Looking for Acting Classes in Glasgow? Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2010

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Tags: Acting, Acting Coach Scotland, Acting in the Moment, Essential Action, Glasgow Acting Classes, Repetition

Help Me Out with My Decision About Glasgow Acting Classes

To You, The Best!

Looking for Acting Classes in Glasgow? Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2010

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Tags: Glasgow Acting Classes

What YODA has to teach us as actors

Recently, I did a blog offering advice for actors based on the philosophy of the rapper and businessman Fiddy Cent.  This received many emails and messages and I’d like to thank you all, I’m so glad it was helpful for you.  Well, in the same spirit, this blog is inspired by the quotes of that famous acting teacher, oh okay, he’s not an acting teacher, but he may as well be, the one and only YODA:

“No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.”
Meaning: ‘I’ll try’ is preparing to fail.  (Mamet) If you allow the idea of failure into your pursuits, you are already admitting defeat.  Either take action or do not.  There is no in-between.

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”
Meaning that you need to identify your fears, blockages, obstacles and problems, examine the problem/fear, put it into the spotlight to prevent it from quietly defeating you. For an actor, this could be fear of working on a particular kind of material say Shakespeare or Film, or hating doing monologues or cold reads.  Shine a light on your issue and go after with the same passion that you want to be the best actor.  Whatever your weaknesses are, find them out, and banish them.

“If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are … a different game you should play.”

Meaning: If you repeat the same strategy for your career over and over and it doesn’t work, you must change your strategy, for PA practitioners, this also means, CHANGE tactics!

“But when the day comes that even old Yoda does not learn something from his students-then truly, he shall be a teacher no more.”

Meaning: No matter how clever, experienced and gifted you are, you still have something to learn.  Even your acting teacher should be humble.

“Already know you that which you need.”

Meaning:  For the actor, you already have the capacity to live truthfully and the mind to do it under imaginary circumstances.  Everything you need to become a better actor is already inside you, but you might need some help in finding it and bringing it out into the open.

To You, The Best!

Looking for Acting Classes in Glasgow? Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels. His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2010

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Tags: Advice for Actors, Glasgow Acting Classes, Yoda on acting