NO ONE EVERY TAUGHT ME
THAT!
Actors over the years have
said over and over after we work,
“No one every taught me that!!!” I am always amazed that with all the classes they have
taken no one every taught them things like:
How
to REALLY break down a script and analyze it. All the way.
How
to use that analysis to decide what choices you need to make.
How
to fill in the details that the script didn’t give you.
How
to figure out what those details are!!
And after all that you
have to make it look EASY!!!!!
I really am thrilled that
so many of Hong Kong’s professional actors understand how important it is to
keep tuning their craft. These are
the actors who continue to get better and better.
But some of you may wonder
exactly what do I do when I teach these 2-day workshops. And others of you who may have taken an
acting class might think, “well, all you do is scene work, right?” Let me tell you some of things we will
be working on in the upcoming workshops.
These are some of the top
complaints professional actors tell me give them lots of problems, drives them
crazy when they go to auditions or get work and just are frustrating. That’s why I am always bringing
different problems that actors must face so we can work on these challenges, practice
what to do to solve the difficulties, the problems the obstacles.
For example:
An actor will ask me:
What do I do when the
scenes they give me are REALLY BAD?
Yes sometimes you must
take material that is not top level and do something with it. My students cringe when I saw, “Okay
everyone this time we are going to work on BAD SCENES.” Why do they cringe because they
know that they will have to work 10 times as hard to make this scene
believeable. I do this to my
wonderful students so they can practice making something mediocre into
something that is good, interesting to watch and even more difficult to
accomplish make it believable.
The first thing you must
learn is that it takes 10 times the amount of preparation to prepare a mediocre
piece of writing than a wonderful piece of writing. So come and se how we do that preparation.
Actors wonder:
Do I prepare for a
small role in a different way than for a large role?
A casting director told me
many years ago that the most difficult roles for him to cast were small
roles. He talked to me about how
actors had never really learned how to prepare for them. I took that to heart and have always
required my actors to learn the questions they must ask to prepare to audition
for small roles. I want every
actor that works with me to learn the difference between the job of preparing
for a small role and the job or preparing a large role. And if you are a director it is really
important to know the difference because you will direct those differently as
well.
Actors always ask me
about:
How can I conquer those
BIG EMOTION SCENES consistently?
People who are not actors
think it is easy for actors to show emotion. They could not be more wrong. Human beings, all human beings fight big emotions. So when actors attempt to “be
emotional” they are already in trouble.
Do you know why? Because
real people, real human beings, fight their emotions and then lose their
battle. Actors must learn that so
that their scenes are believable. So in my workshops we practice how to do that.
These are just a few of
the Big Questions that Actors need to face and conquer.
Everytime I take on
another Acting Workshop I want to challenge each person to rise up and become
better at their craft than when they walked into the workshop.
I want you to be prepared
for anything you have to face so I must challenge you.
I probably should call it
BOOT CAMP. But the joy of
discovering what you have inside of you is just too much fun to call it boot camp. Come join us.
For information on my
upcoming workshops go to:
http://www.alivenotdead.com/jasontobin/Hollywood-Acting-Coach-Jeanne-Hartman-s-2-Day-Workshop-event-1223810.html
