Mel Churcher's Blog, page 3

New Year Dust Off…

Time for those resolutions…

Instead – think of it as dusting off the cobwebs and letting in the sparkle…

Some quick thoughts for basking in that sunshine that will grow brighter as the weeks go by:

1. Step out of your own shadow. Allow yourself to believe that you are worthy of doing what you want to do. Face the spectre of failure and exorcise it. What is the worst that can happen? Probably that you are back in the same place as you are now. If you are very successful,  you may drop back a rung and then climb higher. (Think how many pieces of artistic work are met with indifference or scorn at the time and lauded later…) If not – what have you got to lose?

(see my blog: Confidence tricks: Mind & Body)

2. Polish up your product. If you are an actor – that product is yourself. Go to workshops that help you grow or expand your knowledge. Remember your warmups. Great actors, directors, writers, artists go on learning, improving, practising. Never stop learning. But get out there and do it too. You’ll always feel unready…jump!

(see my blog: The Eclectic Actor)

3. Keep your shininess – let your work reflect your extraordinary inner self, your imagination, your humour, your brave choices. Don’t play safe – but play intelligently. Put in the ammunition you need to make you trust in your work.

(see my blog: Text: The Unnatural Act)

4. Put in some elbow grease. Work at unlocking that script, checking references, seeing plays, films, art, dance and anything else you can find – good and bad. Solve any technical issues that stand in your way.

5. Turn the light on technology. Know how to shoot a good casting tape. Find out how to light a show. Understand enough to respect the technicians you work with. Explore anything that will help your work grow.

(see my blog: Quick Thoughts on Self-taping and Showreels)

6. Spread the tinsel around town. Meet people, write to casting directors, agents, publishers and anyone you can think of. You have to go out to them – they won’t come to you.

7. Notice the sunshine outside yourself. Have fun. Don’t make success or failure drive you. You are important to people in your own life. And your out-of-work life is just as important than your in-work life – probably much more so.

(see my blog: fame and Fortune: be a Legend in your own Lunchtime)

Finally – Have fun being your own glitter-ball in 2015.

 

(Mel’s books – available in paperback & ebook: ‘Acting for Film:Truth 24 Times a Second’ Virgin Books/Random House & ‘A Screen Acting Workshop + DVD’ (ebook has DVD via Vimeo) Nick Hern Books)

Quick Thoughts on Self-Taping & Showreels

More and more of us are being asked to self-tape these days. It’s supposed to be greener – it certainly saves producers money – but it puts an extra burden on actors. On the plus side, it probably means you try for more opportunities overall.

Using an iphone is a pretty bad idea except in extremis – and even an ipad has some of the same drawbacks –

You really need a separate mic (maybe there’s an ipad gizmo that does this these days…) If you don’t have this, the sound won’t be good and if you have any distance between you and the iphone/pad you will pick up more background noise than voice. Your partner’s voice – reading in while holding the gadget – will sound louder than you.

The files are enormous and even with an app to compress will take you ages to send. (Welcome any updates on this..)

Ideal :

A video camera and a separate mic placed near you on a stand (unless you live with a boom operator!)

A QUIET space to film

A background that’s not too busy

position yourself so that natural light or strong electric light falls on your face. Don’t stand in front of the window or you’ll be in silhouette.

Position the person reading the other person’s lines very near the camera (yes – they do have to be read and you need to listen (not show you’re listening – but listen:)

Don’t wear all black (if background is dark, your body will vanish), all white (takes light off you), stripes/checks (may strobe), very electric blue/bright red etc (burns out on image). Wear charcoal, greys, pastels, muted colours.

Film in mid-shot (to upper chest or waist, depending on type of scene – include full length intro if asked as separate file. Use closer close-ups only if editing.

Provide yourself with real props where needed – don’t mime. If they are important to story, hold them where they can be seen. Don’t use unnecessary props. if you are holding a cup or glass – drink at least once (but not all the time:)

Know where you are in story and allow your eyes to leave your partner to see either surroundings or internal picture flashes or find new thoughts as you would in life.

Don’t look straight into the lens except for ident or if it’s a presenter’s job. But don’t hide from the camera – you can look close to it.

If you look down, we lose you. Learn your lines. Think out to real or imaginary window (e.g) somewhere nearish the lens.

Watch your hair doesn’t hide your face. Dab with loose powder or tissue to remove too much shine. Don’t use too much make-up. Wear a top that hints of the role.

Do all your homework. Look up on Imdb – see what the director does – try to work out what’s going on in script – intelligently make up the bits you don’t know.

Know WHY WHY WHY you’re saying these lines. And what you hope to get by doing so. Feed off your partner (or environment) – how are your words changing them – are you getting what you want? (You don’t need to have a fixed gaze to do this. Only look where you would in life.)

Know what you want and make it important to you. (Do some background impros etc before you film. Where have you come from. What was this relationship like before this scene? or whatever applies…) Only show your partner what you would in life. Don’t lean forward if you can avoid it.

If you are telling a story – act it out before taping, then you will have real memories with real internal pictures to share.

Keep life in your eyes. Don’t get serious just because you are acting. In life, people keep themselves in their – even in the worst situation. Don’t play a ‘character’ – it is YOU AS IF…

Shiny, alive eyes are your best asset. (Think of those successful actors…:)

Sit if you would be sitting. Sit back. Let your whole body be part of the scene. Stand if you would be standing. Adjust camera height to where you are – don’t have it peer up your nostrils or down your cleavage:) Find a slight angle – not too much but not absolutely straight on – usually looks better.

Move if you (the role) would move – but not very far (a step might be enough.) Don’t move to make it interesting or because of nerves.

Breathe. Breathe in a relaxed way – not ‘fight & flight’! (Even if you do want to run away – your agent is waiting for this clip…) Don’t miss the moment though by breathing out. Let the thought form or the need bubble up & GO

Don’t let the words drive you — they are your words. You (in the role) are finding them as you go. But also – let yourself think & react as quickly (or slowly) you would. Don’t ‘perform’ it – say it as you would knowing the relationship with the other. The camera will see it. The camera sees thought. The stronger the relationship is with the other role – the less you’ll have to do. Don’t ‘sell’ me the lines.

Keep telling yourself – this is real. It’s life. I just do what I would. (But you must understand all the details of the situation even if you make some up.)

Start your clip by looking somewhere in the real (imagined) room – let thought form – then turn to partner.

You are not usually expected to edit – hold your thought till camera is off or trim any excess with a simple tool.

If it’s important you have a good clip – splash out on Spotlight (@SpotlightUK) – they are reasonable and charge by the half-hour. there you get a good well-lit quiet space, a great helpful DOP (who – if pushed will read in for you, though better to take partner.) You can choose from a few takes, it will be trimmed and sent out for you.

Don’t put casting tapes on youtube – partly because these scripts are almost certainly secret – FYEO – and partly because they will be raw and unedited.

Showreels are different – clips are expected to look professional enough not to distract (or – ideally- from real work) and are edited into a selection not more than 3 minutes absolute max. 2 minutes is better. Most casting directors will only go 30 secs. in so put your best work first. Also best to start with a clip that looks like you and in your own accent. Jury is out on whether to include a ‘montage’ but if you do – put it on the end. Styles change all the time so get advice from agent – look at other actors’ reels. Many of above tips apply when you are making them. These days drama schools, Spotlight and Casting Call pro allow you to put up your reel. Real movie scripts are fine for first reels if done well (they don’t have look like – shouldn’t look like – the original. Don’t watch clips of the film just before you do yours. Would you watch a rival’s Hamlet just before your own version?)

Obscure scripts are better than the very well-known films.

You can make your own – outdoor locations and real homes better than studios. You’ll need to team up with a good camera operator and editor…

Or you can have them made at various places like Actors Studio pinewood (@Actors_studioUK) and many others. check out their work. The more individually made the better.

Good luck!!!

Fame and Fortune…Be a Legend in Your Own Lunchtime…

There are many things that drive us into being actors: love of words, the magic of our first theatre visit, our drama teacher at school, seeing ourselves mirrored on screen, the spell-binding movie star on the first film we slipped into under-age. It’s often, also, a need to be loved; a way of escaping our not so exciting lives; a feeling of wanting to be someone; of making a mark; of leaving something behind us. Or fame.

Fame – what is it exactly?

There are very few actors who reach international stardom. Even for them, there are many places they can pass through unnoticed. And if they are noticed, it can become an annoyance, a hindrance, a chain. It is recognition but not necessarily recognition of their work. Many actors famous in their own countries will be unknown elsewhere. Actors famous in theatre may be treated carelessly by film producers who have never heard of them. Very few actors are famous for long. Either they grow out of their beauty or tastes change, or others come up behind them to take their roles. And death wipes most memories of them pretty soon. Those theatre bills from the past or the shadows that flit across the television screens in old Christmas offerings mean little to a younger generation. A handful of icons may live on in the minds of, mainly, other actors. Even if people have vaguely heard of the name or enjoy the performance, they are but echoes from the past.

We all know that when the people in your local find out that you’re an actor they’ll ask, ‘And what would we have seen you in?’ And generally only your small soap appearance that you drag out reluctantly – after you’ve mentioned the credits that make you proud – will get a reaction. And the only chance you have that they will have seen your performance is if you are talking to another actor. Actors go to the theatre.

If you work on films as I do, people will say, ‘Have you worked with anyone famous?’ Not, ‘Have you worked with anyone good, interesting, exciting?” Only ‘famous’. And after a few drinks you’ll trot out a few big names and then have to rebuff all the silly remarks. ‘No, she’s really lovely’, you say, ‘ she doesn’t really drink blood. ‘No, he wasn’t stoned, and he works really hard for that money – they all do.’ And you remind yourself to keep quiet next time about what you do. Sometimes you meet a film buff. My postman is one. Having noticed all the BAFTA packages that arrive each autumn, he stops by my five-barred gate to talk at length, and knowledgeably, about films and actors. But he’s one of the rare ones.

And if you listen to the public discussing actors, very few appreciate our craft. What we do. The things that we, in the business, see and admire.

As for celebrity status, it is passing, fickle and of little worth. It is about entering the public gaze for a while; not about the skills you possess. I am not saying that celebrities do not have skills, simply that the fame, the celebrity status, is not the point of their work. Although it may make them a fortune.

And if we are talking about money – that’s a whole different subject. Acting is a hard way to make that, and you’d have been better off being an accountant. Or an estate agent. Or a politician. Most of the acting profession lives way below the poverty line.

But of course we love the applause – the genuine two-way traffic of the stage. We love people to genuinely enjoy what we do. We love to make them happy. We are excited to be part of the magic of theatre, the circus of filmmaking, the energy of bringing an idea to living life. That’s why we do it.

So instead of seeking ‘fame’, we should seek respect from our peers and from the cognocenti – the people we respect. We should hope to matter to people who matter to us – and above all – to ourselves. We should strive to be better for our own satisfaction. We should know we’ve done the best we can do. That we can go further next time. That we’ve been part of a joyous group endeavour – that we tried to tell a story, or move people, or teach people, or to make people laugh, or whatever was the purpose of the enterprise. And that’s where the joy is!

And the point of all this is that you can find this kind of ‘fame’ at the end of a pier, in a theatre that seats twenty people, in a classroom, in a circus tent, in a far flung rep that no casting director has ever heard of – where there is a genuine audience to see you and be to part of it. You can find it in a small part on television that only impresses the director and your Aunt Muad, in an independent film that wowed the critics at a small film festival, in an opera that only music lovers attend. That kind of fame is as important  maybe more important – than the kind that means people recognise you on the train. If that comes as well – Good on you. Enjoy! But it’s a (sometimes annoying) by-product of your good work. Not your reason for acting.

It all matters – if it matters to those that matter to you – and you know that it matters that you were part of it. A transient, parochial wonderful fame.  A legend in your own lunchtime! Who could ask for more?

 

 

 

 

Confidence Tricks: Mind and Body

It’s really important to stay on relaxed breathing when nerves set in at the audition or performance – or for any public speaking. If you go into upper chest breathing, you get an imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide which makes you feel dizzy, nervous, sound unconfident and stops you thinking clearly. That’s why it’s called a ‘fight and flight’ breath – it’s to be used only in extreme moments when you need to take immediate physical action. You’re not meant to stay there. If you’re ‘fighting lions’ as you work, your hands will go numb and your brain dead before you’re through – if you don’t pass out! Extreme top breathing leads to a panic attack. Then you faint – like Victorians in corsets – or have hysterics! It’s the body’s way of getting back to relaxed breathing.

 

Remember your stomach goes OUT when the breath comes IN to let the diaphragm descend fully, and IN when you breathe OUT or speak, to help the breath-stream out.

 

Shut your eyes and rest your hand on your stomach. Relax until you feel the up and down movement of your abdomen under your hand: the rise and fall of relaxed breathing – outwards as you breath in, and inwards as you breathe out. Now breathe into your hand feeling this outward movement, and then let the breathe out on a long SH feeling the stomach moving inwards. At the end of the sound, make sure your stomach relaxes back out again as the breath comes in. If you feel your upper chest rise significantly – you’re back in ‘fight and flight’!

 

It’s not a good idea to relax yourself by letting the breath out in a sigh before you speak. Your voice will sound flat, dull and sad – you’re buying time and you’ll ‘miss the moment’. So don’t take a locking ‘preparation’ breath or sigh out. Before you go into the situation, simply rest your hand on your stomach for a moment, and breathe into your hand. Then go in smiling, respond naturally, and your breath and voice will work as one.

 

Don’t forget your posture. The larynx is suspended by ligaments and muscles – you can’t breathe properly if you slump. (And you won’t look confident!)

STAR QUALITY: Sit or stand straight, Think And Breathe!

 

Warm Up (5 mins )

Shrug your shoulders and let them drop. Gently turn your neck from side to side. Check your posture – shoulders free, neck lengthening out of your back.

 

Lie on your side, sit, or stand comfortably. Feel the movement of your breath – abdomen releasing outwards on the in-breath, moving inwards on the out-breath. Fill for a count of three as abdomen releases. Now consciously pull abdomen back towards your spine on out-breath, trying to use up all the breath (keep your neck relaxed) – ‘sh sh sh’. Relax your stomach and the breath will automatically drop in. Repeat again. Do a few rounds. Alternate voiced and unvoiced fricatives: z or v or the sound in ‘leiSure.’ Your voice should sound ‘buzzier’.

 

Release your jaw by putting palms at the sides of your face under the cheekbones, slowly bring them down your face letting your jaw drop. Massage face.

 

Put your hands over your ears and breathe through open mouth. Hear the breath (like making an ‘h’ on in and out breath). Now, with your mouth still slightly open, make your breathing silent. Feel your throat is open. Your sound will be fuller and more relaxed.

 

Hum gently up and down on NG going as high and low as possible. This stretches the vocal folds.

 

Hold your top lip up like a rabbit. Count 1-5. Let go and count again. Hang your tongue out. Count 1-5 – put it back inside and count again. Count 1-10 like a ventriloquist. Now count normally – feel the freedom.

 

Clasp your hands and hold in front of you. Shake out a released sound on ‘AH…’.

 

You need to find vocal energy from your abdominal-diaphragmatic centre, not from your larynx. Put your hand on your stomach as you speak. Make sure you feel your stomach going gently backwards towards your spine when you speak and releasing outwards as you take a breath (which you will do with each new thought).

 

If your back is strong, bend your knees and hang over – making sure your head and neck are free. Speak loudly without letting the pitch rise – just allow a free sound. (Breathe when you want.) Come slowly up through your back, bringing your head up last, without letting your voice change. You should hear a full sound. If you can’t resist pulling your voice back as you come to standing, fool yourself by bouncing up and down – speak loudly in the hanging over position – roll up quickly (head last) and speak again. (Mind your back – knees bent!)

 

If your back can’t take this last exercise – simply stand, knees slightly bent, drop your head, and roll your head around in a three-quarter roll (not to the back). Speak loudly while you do this, then balance your head back into normal position and continue speaking without changing sound.

(Pretending to be an opera singer (middle range) then speaking with same placing and energy will also result in a full centred voice.)

 

Make sure your sound travels forwards to conquer difficult spaces (or your cold!) Press your knuckle or thumb onto your hard palate – just behind your top front teeth – on your alveolar ridge. Speak loudly. Take your knuckle away and continue to speak – feeling that you are sending the sound forward to resonate on the place felt your knuckle pressing. Derek Jacobi mentions the wonder of this exercise in As Luck Would Have ItJ – I’ve been using it ever since some great elderly voice teacher demonstrated it to me many, many years ago!

 

Put your hands, like wings, in front of your ears and speak. You will hear the sound bouncing – or not – off the space around you. You can tell whether this is a dry or resonant space. Both need strong consonants. Resonant spaces need more time. Dry spaces can lead you to push – as there is little resonance feeding back to your own ears.

 

(If you are a fitness instructor using loud music – or in a really impossible space – use a microphone. There are some background noises you can’t beat.)

 

Cool Down (2 mins)

Sip luke-warm water.

 

Yawn gently & sigh.

 

Go up and down your range gently on NG. Or hum.

 

If you feel any vocal strain, breathe in steam – steam is the only thing that will reach your larynx. (liquid will go down your oesophagus – unless you choke!)

Mind you don’t burn yourself – use hot water – not boiling! You can put a towel over a basin in time-honoured manner or buy a special electric steamer – or just have a hot bath…)

 

Auditions: Before you leave home:

Stand still for a moment, shut your eyes. Imagine a string pulling from the crown of your head to the sky. Go up onto your toes. Now lower yourself back slowly until you really make contact with the ground (don’t lock your knees). But still feel the string taking you upwards.

 

Rub your hands together until they are warm. Place your hand over your upper chest and let it soften. Rub your hands together, place them over your belly. Take in the warmth and breathe into your hands. Rub your hands together. Place one hand on your belly and the other at the small of your back. Take in the strength from the warmth of your hands.

 

Open your eyes. ‘See’ yourself (with your back to you) standing in front of you in a ‘magic circle’. See yourself at your best, most confident. See yourself as you want to be – your successful, confident self!

 

Take a big step and stand ‘into’ yourself. Look around. You are unique. You can do anything. You are strong. You are brave. (You can step into your role this way too:)

**You’ll find more in Mel’s Acting for Film: Truth 24Times a Second (Virgin Books/Random House) and A Screen Acting Workshop + DVD (Nick Hern Books)

Thoughts on Mega TV Series for Actors, Directors and Writers:

I’ve just spent 16 weeks of my life coaching on the forthcoming mega TV series Marco Polo. Before anyone from Netflix, Weinstein or the Marco Polo production office reads this – let me assure them, the following holds no spoilers.

I quote the blog on Metro:

“Filmed in Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Italy with a budget of over $90 million and an international cast fairly unknown to mainstream audiences, it’s perhaps also their riskiest. But if writer/creator John Fusco can pull it off, then Netflix might just have their own answer to Game Of Thrones.”

I look forward to the release of this series later this year with antici…………..pation!  I wish it, and the marvellous John Fusco, much success!

Mega TV (HBO’s Game of Thrones is an obvious example) is TV on top film money – the catch being that it aims to do 10 hours of work, rather than 2 and a bit, on the same budget. And aims for the same block-buster quality. Shooting tries for around 6 minutes of screen time per shooting day – whereas many major films produce not much more than a minute of screen time a day. 6 minutes is normal for high-end TV dramas but not many are on the scale of these mega versions.

A mammoth production like this – usually full of beautiful backdrops, bonking and battles – is an immense machine. It moves with the precision of an army: around 600 crew, two main units shooting 2 of 10 episodes at the same time, working over many separate sound stages and outside locations. It combines stunning scenery – often in pretty inaccessible places with little infrastructure – with old fashioned studio effects such as intricate set building and painting. Then it tops it all off with the latest CGI technology. These series can draw enormous viewing figures and profit. Or they can lose a lot of people a load of money. And leave them exhausted…

Blockbusters continue to be made; but mega TV points the way to the future for commercial screen entertainment – and our livelihoods…

Here are the pros for the actor, director and writer:

1. Mega TV offers more international casting opportunities as it is often shot in far-flung shores that offer good tax rebates. And it can’t afford many Hollywood stars – either as actors or directors. Rather, it employs good middle-weight creatives topped off with newcomers and locals. It also provides work for experienced crews in order to support the novices and to handle the enormous scale of the work.

2. It can provide casting opportunities for actors who may not be considered for conventional, stereotypical commercial film roles: actors of less beauty, more age, diverse size and less experience. It also provides – most importantly – multi-ethnic roles. It may use new writers and relatively inexperienced directors. This is for reason 3.

3. The content of TV series designed for subscription viewers via internet or specialist TV channels is more diverse as it aims to provide material that will appeal to different types of subscribers. (HBO’s The Wire and Treme or Netflix Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and Andy and Lana Wachowski‘s Sense8 for example) These punters are paying up for the very reason that mainstream television is not supplying the product they want. This means the subject matter may be braver. The project has often begun on a small scale by someone with a personal passion. These relatively new content providers are willing to take risks.

4. The series has a long tail-end life due to late publicity, DVD sales and sell-ons around the world. (Breaking Bad is a great example.) It can give you exposure to a wide public over a long time period.

5. The long format allows for character development.

6. As more countries find ways to access these products, they can cross cultural boundaries and reach new audiences. Netflix continues to expand; there is now HBONordic. Everyone wants into China. Hollywood and Bollywood continue to merge; subscription TV may see them married.

7. The long training and shooting schedule for actors forces change and growth in physical prowess, emotional development and confidence. (i.e. you’ll have to get fit and focused to survive!) The same goes for directors, producers and writers.

8. The people, on the whole, are nicer and kinder than in the high octane world of Hollywood feature films. Lovely cast and crew – with fewer divas:)

9. You may not get rich but you’ll get richer!

10. It may kick-start your career or re-fuel it.

Here are some cons for actors, directors and writers:

1. The project can get diluted and compromised by the many producers, writers and directors involved. It can be a little like directing or writing by committee – or working on an advertising campaign. Commercial needs can take over from creative impulses. If you want sole creative input you are much better working on an indie. The series can run down over many seasons and become less brave and less funded. Your reputation may sink as the producers chase ratings.

2. The money is good for TV but not on the same level as main-stream movies. (This is true for cast and crew.) Contracts can be long (like old-time Hollywood studios, except they may ditch you if the project fails) to allow for future series. Or your character can get killed off in a heartbeat.

3. Such a mammoth undertaking leads to a factory feel – producers want their money’s worth. Expect long hours, long training schedules, mainly 6 day weeks…

4. The constant change of directors on a series can leave actors swinging between advice – desperately trying to hang on to a coherence of role. Have your own vision too and be prepared to stand up for it (in a reasonable manner) when you need to. Directors of episodes six and seven (for example) cannot come in with a completely new take on the subject – they inherit costumes, sets and decisions about the world and its people. It is hard to carve time for rehearsals within this machine that gathers momentum each week.Writers (who are not producers) will see the work changed constantly. Every day brings new coloured revisions to the rainbow script. Be responsible for your own work – so little time on set.

5. The audience for Mega TV is, at present, mainly American. (Though this may change – expect dubbing and subtitles:) Actors: Expect to speak clearly if from any other ethnicity – including British. (Here – I dub myself an MAU coach – ‘Make Americans Understand':)

6. Actors: expect to work on many episodes at once. Keep notes separate to the script – which keeps changing and is too big to handle (10 hours!) on anything other than an electronic device or the day’s sides. Write down every scene (not page) you are in. Put down where you have come from – where you are going to – what has just happened – any new developments – what you want – time of day – extra circumstances etc. (Not the dialogue) Now keep them in order either virtually or by using filing cards and tying them together. Now you won’t get lost in the plot or your journey – and they’ll come in handy for ADR or re-shoots. It’s hard enough to remember what episode you are in – let alone who is alive, who has deceived you, who you’ve just slept with –  and what you did last week!

7. Build up your stamina before shooting. Actors: expect to wear heavy costumes in hot climates or summer cotton in cold ones. (This is true for films as well – but there are usually less costumes!) Expect to fight in extreme heat and humidity or to plunge into freezing rivers.

8. Actors: expect more challenging bed moments and lack of underwear than in mainstream TV or movies. (But maybe less challenging undressing than some indies:)

9. Know you will be alone – bereft of loved ones – (unless you choose new ones) – for many many months. Loved ones are expensive to bring over, and they won’t want want to stay long. Heat, cold, boredom and local bugs will drive them home.

10. It will be ages before your friends or family see your work. It won’t be on their home TV channels:) But at least you can eventually send the casting director the DVD…

 

The Eclectic Actor

There is no one route to salvation, damnation, or acting. There are no rules, recipes or systems. There is no magic bullet.

Instead there is a continuum of teachers, practitioners and theories. There is an enormous palette/toolbox/toybox – call it what you will – for you to use.

All these techniques, tips and tricks drive to the same ends – how to lift the text off the page and make it come alive; how to step into the shoes of a role (who is now you) who has led a different life dealing with different needs, relationships and situations (to a greater or lesser extent); how to communicate this life, story, world through your interaction with the other roles and the circumstances; how to move, educate, elucidate or entertain – in any proportion, or all at once; how to enter a magical game with the audience where you offer to suspend all daily routine in order  to enter, wholeheartedly, a new world together; to, as Meisner  put it, ‘live truthfully under imaginary circumstances’ – in whatever style the writer, director and you decide; to stop time.

Stanislavski teaches us to find out who, where, when, why we are there. (never ‘how’). To live with the magic ‘as if’ – it is YOU ‘as if…’

Strasberg deals in feelings and passions. (Though they need to be directed outwards…)

Stella Adler trained with Stanislavski and brought the same fusion of body and mind. She tempered ‘The Method’ into something more than relying on oneself – she looked outwards to understanding others and their values. Above all, she said, “don’t be boring.”

Meisner offers spontaneity – how to turn off the decider, the observer in your head. Take care not to put it back by questioning, ‘was that spontaneous?’

Uta Hagen fused everything and made sense of it all. She instilled ‘A Respect for Acting’.

Michael Chekhov took Stanislavski out of brain and into body – muscle memory. For needs too big for our imaginations or experiences, he offers ‘psychological gestures’ – physical metaphor.

Rudolf Laban offered a whole world of physical observations to become metaphors for voice and acting.

Practical Aesthetics makes the work personal, specific. (But go the next step to take it into the given situation)

Jacques Lecoq gave us masks to replace our social masks, release our imaginations and make us laugh.

John Wright also works with masks to find archetypes, myth and magic.

The list is endless. Everyone offers something. it is unlikely anyone offers everything. Sometimes a role, a film, a production, a world will require one approach rather than another. Mostly you will draw from many. There are times you won’t need anything but your own memory and imagination.

Here are some of my own thoughts on acting – to use or discard:

Everything begins with the breath and the connection to your ‘centre’/chi/hara/dan tien/solar plexus. Posture becomes really important because if you slump you can’t breathe freely. The channel to your abdominal/diaphragmatic centre closes, you lose emotional freedom and heighten your nerves. We are  drawn to those who are comfortable within their own skins and take their space in the world.

It helps to stop saying ‘he’ and ‘she’ about the role – to jump into the magic circle and use the ‘I – as if…’

The world needs to be as real and specific and logical (even if it is surreal with new logic) as the world you generally inhabit.

The light in your eyes, the life within you, your presence/charisma/energy can be transferred to the specifics of the role but these ingredients are your greatest asset. No one else can inhabit this role like you – YOU. Do not let the light in you die in the struggle to make the thoughts and words your own.

Don’t stand outside your role, judge your role or feel sorry for the role. You are the role.

If you act out the stories you tell, learn the physical skills of your role, improvise key moments in your life, see pictures in your head of where you’ve come from and what you talk about – your body will believe and remember. When you watch people telling you about their lives, their memories are visceral – not just in their heads.

Your needs in the role must be strong, vital, life-changing – you need a volcano inside. Then it is up to you how much you let the other roles see. Be brave and bold within. Then act as you would need to within the situation/social mores/life of the role.

When you have prepared, (using impro, physical metaphor, thinking, research, putting pictures in your head, choosing what senses you use, adding a hidden animal, chakras etc. etc – all, any or none) trust the work. Turn off your your ‘decider’, ‘stage manager’, ‘censor’, ‘self-director’ – watch, listen, see how your words impinge on the other, notice the environment around you, respond as words hit you – get what you want.

It is the first time you have ever heard it, experienced it, said it. Words arise as they are needed. You may never speak again or the rush of thoughts may bring words tumbling out of your mouth in torrents. There is no text; there are only thoughts that are released through words, or covered by them. The words are your own. it is YOU speaking.

There is no big or small acting. There are only drives, situations that you respond to truthfully and with the energy you would use (which may be off the scale). If you are told it is too much – hear ‘untruthful’. Or you are being driven by the ones the director requires. Or you are showing those needs to your partner when you would be playing it cool, keeping them hidden. Or you are locking eyes when you would be avoiding their gaze and filling your head with pictures and ideas. Most likely – you are adding things to show us how well you’ve prepared or what great sub-text you’ve discovered. If you are told it is too small – make the need stronger. Switch off your censor. Obey your impulses.

Acting should be simple: you did it as a child; you do it every day. The hard work is making the world you inhabit real to you; discovering what drives you and allowing it to burn within you; filling in the gaps between your life and the role’s. Once that is done – it is a magical easy game. You jump into the new world – believe – and go.

have fun – and a wondrous 2014

Short story in When Women Waken

Signposts: A True Story by Ann Churcher : When Women Waken http://bit.ly/1cI1jZb

Written after my mother died on my fortieth birthday. (A long time ago now…)

http://booksbywomen.org/

The Insider’s Guide to Drama Schools

The Insider’s Guide to Drama School Auditions

So you want to be an actor and everyone’s told you not to do it. Well, so they should. You’d have to be mad to enter a profession where you are so unlikely to earn a living, have to cope with rejection on a permanent basis and have little control over your life.

But if you have a real passion for acting, then you won’t listen. And that’s the way it should be. Nothing is guaranteed economically these days and, with a following wind, you might do very well. You will also discover many other wonderful occupations within the business that you might not have thought of: voice-overs, presenting, teaching, writing, directing, producing, editing, costumes, design, the technical side and many, many more. You will also learn social and presentation skills to last a lifetime and to ensure you can always find a job to keep you going while you are waiting for the phone to ring.

And you will find a way to create your own projects so you can have more control over your life.

So if you do have that passion, that drive, that stubbornness, that need, that bravery, that commitment – then go for it for all you are worth. And the journey you start on will engross you for the rest of your lifetime.

So, onto the practical stuff:

Choose your drama schools carefully. In the UK, make sure they are accredited. This ensures you will receive excellent tuition, that you can become a member of Equity (not mandatory but an excellent survival tool), that you can join the Actors Centre (where you can keep up your skills and find a social base) and that you have a chance to be seen by major agents and casting agents. It also looks good on your CV and ensures you never feel embarrassed when, at auditions, they ask you where you trained.

Can you get into the business without going to drama school?  Well, the answer is, yes – but it’s much, much harder. And you’ll be running to catch up for a long time. Even if you have studied drama at a conventional university, you will not have had the day in, day out practical training that is offered by a drama school.

Can you afford it? Sadly, like all other training, it has become much more expensive. If it is your first degree (most drama schools are now affiliated to universities and you apply through the UCAS system), then you will be able to take out a government loan. This is provided at a low interest rate and the good news is that you don’t have to repay it until you earn (currently) £21,000 a year. And to be honest, you are unlikely to be earning that figure for quite a few years. When you are, then you can repay at a manageable rate.

Because drama schools auditions are highly competitive, I suggest you try for at least four and maybe six or more schools. (Yes, I know that makes it expensive but it’s better in the long run.) Choose ones that offer courses you are particularly interested in, or ones that friends have been to and have recommended, or that appeal in some particular way to you. Add a couple that are out of London or not in the very top group (although still accredited).

Because of the UCAS system, you will be able to review all your options before settling on one. And, because of this system, you may find that if you are on a waiting list, you will be offered a place as people shuffle around into their chosen colleges.

One-year foundation and postgraduate courses don’t usually come under UCAS, so you must check they are right for you as they will be expensive and you may have to find the fees yourself. A foundation course may be the right way to start out but there is no guarantee that the drama school will take you into the three-year programme at the end of it. If you are over 21, then a one-year course may be right for you, but it is over very quickly!  Some post-graduate courses enable you to achieve an MA degree.

You’ll find a list of accredited schools in the invaluable ‘Contacts’ published by Spotlight, ‘The Actors Yearbook’ (Methuen) and on the NCDT website (http://www.ncdt.co.uk).

Before we go on to the all important audition pieces, let’s think about the interview. Make sure that you go and see some good straight theatre in the months preceding the auditions so that you have something solid to talk about if they ask you what you’ve seen. Know which actors you admire and, above all, why you want to be an actor and why you’ve chosen that particular school. Do your homework. What they want to know from that interview is whether you are a potential dedicated actor or a ‘wannabe’ and whether you have the emotional and physical stamina for the course, as well as if you have talent.

You may be asked to sing (which will only be really important if you are being considered for a Musical Theatre course), to do a movement class or an improvisation. You will also be asked to do at least two pieces, generally a classic piece and a modern piece. Some places ask for three and some have a list to choose from and some have a list of pieces they’d rather not see. Read the requirements really carefully! If one of the colleges has set pieces to do for the classic choice, then it is a good idea to choose another as well for the other colleges, as they will see many people doing your monologue. For the song, if you are not really a singer, choose a piece that you can connect to and sing easily and approach the preparation in a similar way to the pieces. Make sure you take a good clean copy with you and consider a preparation session with a professional. You may be singing it with pianist for a musical theatre course, but it is usually unaccompanied.

For the classic monologue, it is a good idea to look at Jacobean pieces as well as Shakespeare, so you have more choice. These are also less done. If you do something superbly, it may not matter if it is popular, but some are done so often – like Helena in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and Phoebe in ‘As You Like It’ – that the auditioners might dread hearing them again.

For auditioners are human. They like to be woken up, stirred, enthralled, amused, surprised or moved. They don’t really want to see the same pieces over and over again, and they don’t particularly relish being sworn at and yelled at all day, as they are during some of the more popular modern pieces.

I would generally start by choosing your classic speech and then choosing the modern, trying to find a piece with a different drive and quality. If you want a lighter piece, then I would look for that in your classic piece, as comedic modern pieces of any depth are hard to find.

Finding the modern is generally trickier anyway, as there is a much wider field. Modern generally means after the late 1950’s (check the school’s current criteria), but I would be inclined to look for something after 1980, so that it feels more naturalistic and contrasts better with your classic piece. But if you fall in love with something from the ‘70s, then ignore that last advice – the important thing is that it is right for you.

What do I men by, ‘right for you’? Well – it should be around your own age, have no dialect (unless it is your native one), have strong drives, offer changes of intention and emotional pulls – by that I mean we should learn more than one thing, emotionally, about you in the role during the course of the speech – and, above all, it should fire your imagination. If the role is telling a story, then it must be for a reason and to get a response from the listener.

You can go to French’s bookshop (www.samuelfrench-london.co.uk) (Monday to Fridays) and sit and browse through monologue books and plays and ask for advice. If you find something you like in a monologue book, see if there is another good speech in that play or look at the author’s other plays to find a speech that is less common.

If one speech you choose is a soliloquy, then make sure the other is directly to another character in the play. With a soliloquy, you have to decide whether you are speaking directly to the audience or speaking your thoughts aloud within the ‘fourth wall’ (the world of the play). For example: when Hamlet says ‘To be or not to be, that is the question’, he may be stepping outside the framework of the play and asking the audience (very common in Shakespeare’s time and still sometimes used for effect) or he may be pacing around his room, or sitting and staring at a skull, and speaking out loud to himself. Something we all do from time to time to clear our thoughts. Or he may be saying it to a painting of an ancestor on the wall, or his dog etc. etc.

Anyway, only have one piece in which you are alone in the room (and you may have none like this). It is often easier to be talking to someone else – even if they are imaginary. As your imaginary partners are not being auditioned, put them slightly diagonally with their backs to the audience or even provide a chair for them if you are sitting down (be careful it doesn’t block you from view and remember their head is higher than the back of the chair). Keep them static unless the move is something obvious like you watching them leave the room. If you are auditioning in the US, then it is usual to place the other (imaginary) character as if they are in the audience. In Britain, you share the stage with them.

Some pieces are right to do seated, but not for the whole time. Follow your impulse to get up somewhere unless it really, really wouldn’t be right. In that case, make sure your other piece is more physical. They need to see you in motion at some point, or at least, standing. Generally, pieces work better standing and you may hardly need to move at all. Know your environment – what are you looking at. Where are you? It is life not a ‘speech’. Who are you talking to? What do they look like? What is your relationship? What do you want from them? Why are you saying this? If you talk about anyone else in the speech, ask yourself the same questions about them.

It has to feel like YOU speaking. You – as if you are in that situation, that place, that moment. They only want one thing from you in an audition; they want to believe you in that role. They don’t want you to be ‘showy’, or to ‘act’ they want it to feel real. They want to believe you. But they must be able to see and hear you and share that moment with you. You can’t mumble it to yourself in the corner with your eyes to the floor.

Give yourself plenty of time to find the pieces and to learn them really, really well. You don’t want to be fumbling for words. Learn them by finding how one thought leads to another. You could start by improvising in your own words to be sure you understand the situation, but in the end, you must be word perfect – particularly with the classic piece. You have to reach the point where the need to speak wells up and the only words that will come out are those precise words. And each time, they will be fresh. Don’t let the words drive you; they must become your words.

One thing that usually happens when you start with learnt text is that you want to rush. Take your time. Allow the impulses to happen. When you are rehearsing, move between your own words and the text – do the learnt words feel the same? Are they coming from the same place? You want it to feel and sound like you – you don’t want to go higher, or tight or to put on a ‘poetry’ voice! If English is your second language, then keep moving between your first language and the text until you feel the same connection. Our first language is learnt organically, but our second can stay in ‘de-coding’ mode for many years, so moving between the two helps you feel vocally and emotionally ‘centred’.

Watch your posture. By that, I don’t mean that you want to feel stiff or unnatural. But you should be as grounded and upright as you would be in life. Your body should be right for the situation. If you are leaning forward a lot, or sticking your chin out, or tilting your head up, you are ‘protecting yourself’ or dealing with nerves, and you will block yourself. When you are rehearsing, shut your eyes, ‘see’ the situation and let your body move naturally into place.

Don’t get patterned in the way you do the piece, it must stay fresh. If you’ve done it for several colleges and it’s starting to feel stale, whisper it very slowly to yourself to re-discover the drives. Write it down with the hand you don’t usually use. Draw a picture whilst you speak it. Run through your lines in a million different ways: sing them, dance them, run with them, do the hoovering, chop onions as you do them, lie on your back and let them float out and so on.

In the classic text, the syntax will be different to our modern patterns and it is a good idea to walk around the room, changing direction on the punctuation so you can feel how the thoughts drive on. They may be longer thoughts than your modern piece. Make you understand completely and specifically everything you are saying. There are texts that give you modern translations if you are in trouble. You need to own this language; it still has to feel like ‘you’ speaking. It must never feel as if you are ‘doing a speech’. Remember, human drives never change, even though the language may, at first, seem strange and archaic. You still have to be trying to get what you need from the other character. It is still ‘you – in the role’.

You might consider getting some help. If you do go to someone, make sure they are truly professional – otherwise, you are better on your own. If you’re doing A-level or B-tech drama, your teacher may be very helpful. Beware of doing your pieces to friends and family. You will get strange, conflicting advice and they may undermine you without meaning to. And they probably won’t know what the auditioners are looking for.

Don’t get complicated or think there are ‘rules’. Just really understand your imaginary world, who you are talking to, what you want and then believe in the situation.

You may have choice over the order of your pieces, so think beforehand about which piece will help you to get settled more easily. Also practise announcing the play, cleanly and simply as in – ‘I’m playing Rose, in ‘The Living Room’ by Graham Green’. (You don’t need to tell them the plot unless they ask something.) Do this short statement then get into your position for the start, take your few seconds of preparation and begin.

What should you wear? Well, you may have been asked to bring comfortable clothing for a movement workshop, so don’t forget those. You have to be able to move easily so flat shoes are best (or very low heels) and comfortably fitting clothes. You may want to slip a loose skirt over trousers for the classic piece, have a shoulder bag or put a jacket on for the business role. But keep things like that very minimal. Don’t get cluttered with props and changes. Usually you can find something that will be neutral enough to suit both pieces.

Work out how to get to the college in advance. Give yourself plenty of time, allowing for all the travel problems that might arise. When you get to the audition, you will find everywhere is different. In some places, you will come in on your own in front of a panel, announce your piece and do it. You may be interviewed before or after the pieces.

In other places you may do your pieces within a group situation. Try to be reassured that you are all in the same position and supporting each other and be brave in front of them. Often you will feel it is over before it has begun. So always centre yourself emotionally, take a second to see where you are in your imaginary world, where you’ve come from and what you want before you begin.

Adrenalin is part of an actor’s life – so you will have ‘nerves’. Shut your eyes, put your hands over your stomach and breathe into them. Feel how your stomach moves outwards as the breath drops in and goes inwards as the breath goes out. That is relaxed breathing. If it goes into reverse you are in ‘flight and fight’ and you don’t want to run away or punch them! So avoid taking a deep breath to prepare yourself before you start your speech – it’s bound to take you into stressed breathing. Instead, think about what you want in the scene and then just go for it. You’ll always have enough breath for the first line and then your body will take over. (You’ll find more tips on my blog http://wp.me/p1GPXq-8 and http://wp.me/p1GPXq-5)

You may be asked to do your piece again with some different direction. Take this as a good sign; they want to know if you are flexible. There may be a workshop. Throw yourself whole-heartedly into anything they want you to do. Ask simple questions if you don’t understand something but don’t make problems for yourself. Try to enjoy the day! You will probably be asked for a recall and occasionally you’ll need to do a different piece for it. But if you are not asked to do this, then it is probably wise to stick to the ones that have served you but to work on them afresh, without trying to replicate exactly how you did them before. Each time you do them must feel like the first time.

I wish you the very best of luck. If you don’t get in, think of it as preparation for all those lifelong rejections. There are so many reasons, apart from potential talent, that can result in you not being offered a place. Maybe they thought you were too young, or they wanted different ‘types’ for the course, or they had filled a particular quota. Take a summer course or an evening course at one of the dram schools. Think again if this career is right for you. If it is, then try again next year.

If you are successful, you may have more than one offer. Do some research, but follow your instincts based on your audition days. After all, as well as them auditioning you, you were auditioning them. And when you finally start that course, I wish you a wonderful, life-changing time and the greatest luck for the future.

(For the last twenty-odd years, Mel has worked at many of the major UK drama schools directing, teaching voice and acting and running workshops. She is the author of ‘Acting for Film: Truth 24 Times a Second’ (Virgin Books) and ‘A Screen Acting Workshop/DVD’ (Nick Hern Books). She is on Twitter @MelChurcher. Her website is www.melchurcher.com)

Memoir Writing: ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’

New guest blog on @WomenWriters site:

http://booksbywomen.org/memoir-writing-by-ann-churcher/

Returning Home – a short memoir piece

I’m happy to say that my short essay on a return visit to Malawi (complete with picture of me at 5) has been published in the magazine ‘When Women Waken’  by @WomenWriters:

http://www.whenwomenwaken.org/returning-home-by-ann-churcher/