Acting classes in nyc focus on developing your skills as an actor, especially the foundational skills that are required to practice the craft. However, there is one skill you may have to develop on your own if your acting classes in nyc do not include it, and that is auditioning technique. A big part of the audition process are audition tapes. Auditioning via tape does not mean you need to spend lots of money on a professional production. All you need to do is rent or borrow a camera and ask some fellow actors or a director friend to help.
First is lighting, because everyone has seen what a poor lighting job can do to someone's appearance. A poor lighting job will cast shadows and can make you look completely different. Too much light an you look completely washed out. Anything that takes away from your performance is lethal and bad lighting is one of those things. Lighting needs to be clean, and completely unnoticeable. If you are studying in a professional acting program, or taking acting classes in nyc, there should be someone who is teaching an "Acting for the Camera" class or something similar. Ask for help creating a simple diagram that outlines a lighting scheme.
It should involve three lights, relatively bright, or a light source from outdoors. Two soft lights can be placed on either side of the camera, about 10' feet or so away, focused on where you will be sitting. A third source of light can be focused softly to fill in the background and highlight the talent from behind. In some instances audition tapes leave the background completely dark which creates a certain mood. Just be careful that the contrast is not too great between the talent and background which is distracting. Correcting the color with a white balance feature is the important next step.
Different lights sources are different "temperatures" which means they have a different color. Daylight has a lot of blue in it and is very "cool." Let's say you set up the lighting, and you are also near a window. If you use both of these light sources the color will be off unless you "correct" it in the camera. By hitting the White Balance button you can adjust the camera to "balance" the color between those two light sources. Place a white card where the talent will be standing and hit the white balance feature. If you do not use this feature the color will be completely off, especially your skin tones. Forget to do this and skin tones and all other colors will be "off," which is very distracting.
Sound is another very important feature. A good audition tape is only as good as the sound, because your voice is your main instrument. A good way to get quickly dismissed is to have poor sound quality. The cleanest sound comes from a mic planted close the source of sound, in this case, you. Camera mounted microphones are not very close to the subject, so looking into the rental of a good quality Lavalier microphone might be worthwhile. You aren't communicating with the audience if you can't be heard clearly. There are plenty of good acting classes in nyc that will help guide you through this process.
Once the basics are set up, content becomes the focus. An audition prepared for taping has some slight differences. A coach trained in the Meisner acting technique should be able to offer a lot of great tips on how to prepare. The discipline of Meisner acting is one that helps create riveting, unpredictable performances, which is what you strive for. What you leave "out" of a performance is just as important as what you leave in, according to expert coaches of Meisner acting nyc. Editing the performance, leaving some elements of the character underneath the surface is key. What's underneath, unspoken, is as important as what's said and shown, maybe more so. If you can get the casting agents, directors, producers to begin to infer things about your character that are being left out then you are doing your job as an actor.
Sometimes, the requests are very specific, however a great actor will never be hindered or constrained by those ideas. Casting agents and at times producers, will ask for more general monologue audition tapes. Whether you have the gift of comedy, or a talent for dramatic roles, a great audition includes both. The greatest actors are well rounded and can include many layers of abilities during a short piece. A great comedian always as an underlying sense of tragedy for instance, just like the deepest dramatic performances have moments of light-otherwise it becomes hard to identify with. Enlist the teachers of acting classes in nyc, or wherever you study, to review your practice tapes and incorporate their suggestions. We are not always the best judge of of our own work and being open to direction is a part of being a professional actor.
First is lighting, because everyone has seen what a poor lighting job can do to someone's appearance. A poor lighting job will cast shadows and can make you look completely different. Too much light an you look completely washed out. Anything that takes away from your performance is lethal and bad lighting is one of those things. Lighting needs to be clean, and completely unnoticeable. If you are studying in a professional acting program, or taking acting classes in nyc, there should be someone who is teaching an "Acting for the Camera" class or something similar. Ask for help creating a simple diagram that outlines a lighting scheme.
It should involve three lights, relatively bright, or a light source from outdoors. Two soft lights can be placed on either side of the camera, about 10' feet or so away, focused on where you will be sitting. A third source of light can be focused softly to fill in the background and highlight the talent from behind. In some instances audition tapes leave the background completely dark which creates a certain mood. Just be careful that the contrast is not too great between the talent and background which is distracting. Correcting the color with a white balance feature is the important next step.
Different lights sources are different "temperatures" which means they have a different color. Daylight has a lot of blue in it and is very "cool." Let's say you set up the lighting, and you are also near a window. If you use both of these light sources the color will be off unless you "correct" it in the camera. By hitting the White Balance button you can adjust the camera to "balance" the color between those two light sources. Place a white card where the talent will be standing and hit the white balance feature. If you do not use this feature the color will be completely off, especially your skin tones. Forget to do this and skin tones and all other colors will be "off," which is very distracting.
Sound is another very important feature. A good audition tape is only as good as the sound, because your voice is your main instrument. A good way to get quickly dismissed is to have poor sound quality. The cleanest sound comes from a mic planted close the source of sound, in this case, you. Camera mounted microphones are not very close to the subject, so looking into the rental of a good quality Lavalier microphone might be worthwhile. You aren't communicating with the audience if you can't be heard clearly. There are plenty of good acting classes in nyc that will help guide you through this process.
Once the basics are set up, content becomes the focus. An audition prepared for taping has some slight differences. A coach trained in the Meisner acting technique should be able to offer a lot of great tips on how to prepare. The discipline of Meisner acting is one that helps create riveting, unpredictable performances, which is what you strive for. What you leave "out" of a performance is just as important as what you leave in, according to expert coaches of Meisner acting nyc. Editing the performance, leaving some elements of the character underneath the surface is key. What's underneath, unspoken, is as important as what's said and shown, maybe more so. If you can get the casting agents, directors, producers to begin to infer things about your character that are being left out then you are doing your job as an actor.
Sometimes, the requests are very specific, however a great actor will never be hindered or constrained by those ideas. Casting agents and at times producers, will ask for more general monologue audition tapes. Whether you have the gift of comedy, or a talent for dramatic roles, a great audition includes both. The greatest actors are well rounded and can include many layers of abilities during a short piece. A great comedian always as an underlying sense of tragedy for instance, just like the deepest dramatic performances have moments of light-otherwise it becomes hard to identify with. Enlist the teachers of acting classes in nyc, or wherever you study, to review your practice tapes and incorporate their suggestions. We are not always the best judge of of our own work and being open to direction is a part of being a professional actor.
About the Author:
The Maggie Flanigan Studio provides acting classes in nyc for serious actors. To learn more about commercial acting class visit the studio website.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar