Howdy folks!
I answered this question on a forum I subscribe to and figured I'd post it here because I seem to hear this question a lot. More specifically, I hear 'what is Method Acting.' Well, lemme tell ya' all about it...=)
Method Acting is based loosely on Stanislavsky's method, but utilizes 'Sense Memory' for emotional preparation. Stanislavsky himself experimented with 'sense memory' for the better part of his career and abandoned it for being unreliable.
'Sense Memory' in a nut-shell being the use of personal memories to affect and achieve appropriate emotional preparedness before engaging in a scene. Stanislavsky (as well as Adler and Meisner) eventually realized that personal memories and experiences alter greatly with the passage of time, as in, what mattered to you a great deal when you were four may present very little 'emotional' impact at the age of 45.
As it is based on personal experience, the preponderance of modern adherants tend to subject themselves to all manner of potentially dangerous situations to achieve a truly realistic experience to draw from. This has manifested in such things as experimental drug use (which actually lead to addiction and death in the case of River Phoenix) and placing themselves into actual, immediate physical stresses or harm.
A famous story regarding Dustin Hoffman (a purported 'method' actor) during the filming of 'The Marathon Man' tells of Mr. Hoffman running all around Manhatten during filming to force himself into a true state of exhaustion (which would be true for the character as well.) Sir Laurence Olivier on seeing this behaviour is quoted as saying "Good Lord man, just act."
While I think 'Method Acting' can be a valuable tool, and many excellent actors are staunch supporters. Me personally, I find it too dangerous and limiting to achieve a safe and more importantly, sane acting career. The pros are very realistic performances based on actual, lived experiences. The cons are potential mental and physical harm from engaging in dangerous behaviour and unreliable performances.
Whatever you decide to do as an actor, it is worth mentioning that there are many safer methods in existance to achieve wonderful results. Many of the finest actors of the last 100 years (like Gregory Peck and Rober Duvall, to name a couple) were trained by Sanford Meisner who employs an actor's most wonderful asset to achieve emotional preparation.
That asset being your Imagination! Ain't I a cad?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Enough About Acting - Let's Talk About Something New
Alrighty then...my free acting e-book is getting picked up a ton. All over the friggin' world now...pretty neat that. So, I'm going to stop yakking about it.
Some cool things I've been up to lately are this: Kinostat.com which I'm finding quite enjoyable to play with. Basically, you can create an account with them, then go in and guesstimate North American box office returns for upcoming films. If you're good at it, they might give you a job. Now, me personally, I don't care about the job. I just like seeing how well I can guess the future.
I used to do this same sort of thing with new bands and albums...I was terrible at that too.
Remember the band 'Bush'? When their first single got released, I heard it and thought to myself...'yeah, Nirvanawannabes...they'll probably sell between 250,000 to 500,000 by the time everyone's bored of the record.'
10,000,000 copies later 'everyone' finally got bored. Good thing I'm not a record exec. Here's to hoping I'm better at knowing what people want to watch...ahem.
So, on to that...I've been looking for content to either produce or direct for the better part of a year now. Know what? It's HARD to find! My first clue should have been the fact that the movie industry spends about half a BILLION dollars a year trying to do the exact same thing.
Hmm...
So, seeing as how I don't have quite that much money, I went for Craig's List. Boy, are some people dumb. I'll tell you what...I gave about the most specific instructions you could ever hope for to get samples of people's writing. I literally thought to myself 'there's no way anyone could screw this up.'
Famous last words.
I said 'send me the first 10-15 pages and a logline ONLY.' I said 'don't send me anything you don't have rights to.' I said 'don't send me anything that isn't a fully realized script.' And yet, somehow, even with all of those very specific instructions, what do I get?
Everything I didn't ask for. Sigh.
But, in fairness, the majority sent what I DID ask for...here's to hoping some of it is actually worth a shit. I'll let ya' know. In the meantime, wish me luck...I've got a few hundred submissions to go shovel through now. Maybe I'll get lucky and uncover a little gem that the guys spending half a billion overlooked.
Yeah, right.
Some cool things I've been up to lately are this: Kinostat.com which I'm finding quite enjoyable to play with. Basically, you can create an account with them, then go in and guesstimate North American box office returns for upcoming films. If you're good at it, they might give you a job. Now, me personally, I don't care about the job. I just like seeing how well I can guess the future.
I used to do this same sort of thing with new bands and albums...I was terrible at that too.
Remember the band 'Bush'? When their first single got released, I heard it and thought to myself...'yeah, Nirvanawannabes...they'll probably sell between 250,000 to 500,000 by the time everyone's bored of the record.'
10,000,000 copies later 'everyone' finally got bored. Good thing I'm not a record exec. Here's to hoping I'm better at knowing what people want to watch...ahem.
So, on to that...I've been looking for content to either produce or direct for the better part of a year now. Know what? It's HARD to find! My first clue should have been the fact that the movie industry spends about half a BILLION dollars a year trying to do the exact same thing.
Hmm...
So, seeing as how I don't have quite that much money, I went for Craig's List. Boy, are some people dumb. I'll tell you what...I gave about the most specific instructions you could ever hope for to get samples of people's writing. I literally thought to myself 'there's no way anyone could screw this up.'
Famous last words.
I said 'send me the first 10-15 pages and a logline ONLY.' I said 'don't send me anything you don't have rights to.' I said 'don't send me anything that isn't a fully realized script.' And yet, somehow, even with all of those very specific instructions, what do I get?
Everything I didn't ask for. Sigh.
But, in fairness, the majority sent what I DID ask for...here's to hoping some of it is actually worth a shit. I'll let ya' know. In the meantime, wish me luck...I've got a few hundred submissions to go shovel through now. Maybe I'll get lucky and uncover a little gem that the guys spending half a billion overlooked.
Yeah, right.
Monday, February 5, 2007
What About Casting?
So, the million dollar question in every actors mind is usually "how do I get a part?" Well, let me tell you all about it...
The basic path goes something like this. Someone needs an actor, so they hire a casting director to find one. The casting director puts out a notice on 'Breakdown Services' (a company that specializes in providing 'legitimate' talent agents listings of what roles are being cast currently) that will list the physical attributes requested, a brief description of the role and whether or not 'sides' (a small portion of a script containing the audition material) are available and where.
Those talent agents then scour through their rosters and try to match suitable talent to the job description and submit that talent to the casting director by sending them a headshot and resume. In days past, the headshot would arrive by messenger service. Today, more often than not, the headshots, resumes and sides are all digitally delivered through services such as showfax.com, gobetween.com (and sister company screenplayonline.com) and actorsaccess.com. Newer services such as LA Casting and Now Casting are also providing those digital delivery systems as well.
It is very important to understand that casting directors receive thousands of submissions per part that they are casting for! Your headshot will literally receive a glance that will last about 1.5 seconds, if that. To give you an idea of the sheer volume and how hard it is to stand out, I recently cast a project where a friend told me in advance that they were submitting and I overlooked them five times before I even saw that they were there! Even if you think you are perfect for a part, don't be discouraged if you don't get picked...your face is literally swimming in a sea of humanity. Anyway, the casting director will strive to narrow those thousands down to a manageable number to audition (usually about a tenth of the submissions) and they will call them in to 'read'.
Now, recognize that the term 'read' is very misleading. If you are given sides in advance, you are expected to memorize the lines and deliver a full, emotionally realized performance. This is called a prepared reading and most actors out there fail to realize the importance of this. The casting director is looking for a few things during the audition, the most important being your PROFESSIONALISM. Their reputation is at stake and they will only choose actors that they can confidently get behind. Showing up to a 'prepared' reading unprepared will put you in the 'no' pile faster than you can say 'doh'. The next most important thing is how well you ACT, followed by how you LOOK. Most actors get that all backwards and wonder why they have trouble booking work.
If you were fortunate enough to have your headshot picked, the audition is the time to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt your ability to do the job. Knowing your lines is the bare minimum effort you have to take! After you have them down, spend the time to interpret the material and understand what you are acting. When you come in, don't hold back! Bring the material to life and show off your chops. Remember that everyone in the room wants you to be good! A vibrant, professional, expressive performance really stands out, even if you're not right for that particular part. Don't worry about getting the job, focus on showing that you are a competent professional and you will become one of the actors that the casting director will actively think of when a new part comes up. This is affectionately referred to as the 'A' pile and that's where you want to be, because once you land there, the work can't help but follow.
D.L. White is a film and television professional with nearly 14 years of experience in the industry. He recently completed his second book "Acting in the Real World: The Film Professional's Guidebook to the Job of Acting", which is available as a free download at www.actingreality.com
The basic path goes something like this. Someone needs an actor, so they hire a casting director to find one. The casting director puts out a notice on 'Breakdown Services' (a company that specializes in providing 'legitimate' talent agents listings of what roles are being cast currently) that will list the physical attributes requested, a brief description of the role and whether or not 'sides' (a small portion of a script containing the audition material) are available and where.
Those talent agents then scour through their rosters and try to match suitable talent to the job description and submit that talent to the casting director by sending them a headshot and resume. In days past, the headshot would arrive by messenger service. Today, more often than not, the headshots, resumes and sides are all digitally delivered through services such as showfax.com, gobetween.com (and sister company screenplayonline.com) and actorsaccess.com. Newer services such as LA Casting and Now Casting are also providing those digital delivery systems as well.
It is very important to understand that casting directors receive thousands of submissions per part that they are casting for! Your headshot will literally receive a glance that will last about 1.5 seconds, if that. To give you an idea of the sheer volume and how hard it is to stand out, I recently cast a project where a friend told me in advance that they were submitting and I overlooked them five times before I even saw that they were there! Even if you think you are perfect for a part, don't be discouraged if you don't get picked...your face is literally swimming in a sea of humanity. Anyway, the casting director will strive to narrow those thousands down to a manageable number to audition (usually about a tenth of the submissions) and they will call them in to 'read'.
Now, recognize that the term 'read' is very misleading. If you are given sides in advance, you are expected to memorize the lines and deliver a full, emotionally realized performance. This is called a prepared reading and most actors out there fail to realize the importance of this. The casting director is looking for a few things during the audition, the most important being your PROFESSIONALISM. Their reputation is at stake and they will only choose actors that they can confidently get behind. Showing up to a 'prepared' reading unprepared will put you in the 'no' pile faster than you can say 'doh'. The next most important thing is how well you ACT, followed by how you LOOK. Most actors get that all backwards and wonder why they have trouble booking work.
If you were fortunate enough to have your headshot picked, the audition is the time to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt your ability to do the job. Knowing your lines is the bare minimum effort you have to take! After you have them down, spend the time to interpret the material and understand what you are acting. When you come in, don't hold back! Bring the material to life and show off your chops. Remember that everyone in the room wants you to be good! A vibrant, professional, expressive performance really stands out, even if you're not right for that particular part. Don't worry about getting the job, focus on showing that you are a competent professional and you will become one of the actors that the casting director will actively think of when a new part comes up. This is affectionately referred to as the 'A' pile and that's where you want to be, because once you land there, the work can't help but follow.
D.L. White is a film and television professional with nearly 14 years of experience in the industry. He recently completed his second book "Acting in the Real World: The Film Professional's Guidebook to the Job of Acting", which is available as a free download at www.actingreality.com
Thursday, February 1, 2007
FREE eBook Launches New Acting Website
Hi All!
I'm very happy to report that my new website is now live! Actorsconcentration.com and ActingReality.com have merged and as an added bonus I'm giving away my best-selling book away for FREE!
You heard that right, it's absolutely free! Please feel free to stop by and give it a read, I'm really excited to get this wonderful information out to those of you who need it most.
That's right, you actors out there. This book will change your professional life, I guarantee it. If not, I'll give you all your free back.
Enjoy!!! www.actingreality.com
I'm very happy to report that my new website is now live! Actorsconcentration.com and ActingReality.com have merged and as an added bonus I'm giving away my best-selling book away for FREE!
You heard that right, it's absolutely free! Please feel free to stop by and give it a read, I'm really excited to get this wonderful information out to those of you who need it most.
That's right, you actors out there. This book will change your professional life, I guarantee it. If not, I'll give you all your free back.
Enjoy!!! www.actingreality.com
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