by Prior Aphter.

I was standing in front of a room of aspiring actors. While they were taking their seats, my mind began to wander. I was once these young hopefuls. I had once had undiluted dreams and aspirations about this industry; however, after a decade of working in the entertainment industry the realities of filmmaking and being a professional actor have taken its toll.

As I began talking, the eyes of these eager actors are bore into my soul and I could tell that they were starving for information to help make their journey as easy (and successful) as possible. While I had planned on delving into various acting techniques, I decided that it was more important to teach these young ones about the actual art of filmmaking as it pertains to the actor.

Read the rest of this article from Yahoo! Voices.

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from Trilby Jeeves (article by Pamela Vanderway.)

A few weeks ago I asked a question on twitter regarding challenges you encounter surrounding your work and what a good situation would be.  I had some interesting answers but one in particular was impassioned.

Pamela Vanderway is a dialect coach and obviously has great avidity for her chosen work. I asked her if I could post her valuable response on my blog, and she agreed.

Voila:

“Trilby, you had asked me what the ideal scenario is for film projects when it comes to requiring actors to work in a dialect other than their own.  Each project will have special requirements, but in general here’s what really works well…

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This article was written by Trilby Jeeves.

“Out of your head and into your body”. When I heard American Acting Coach, Larry Moss emphatically state these words, during the recent Vancouver Acting School workshop, I felt a knowing thrill dash through my body. It’s the motto I constantly preach in my Buffoonery Acting Workshops – and it’s even imprinted on my business card!

Obviously, we still need our head but lately, the body seems to be a neglected tool in the practice of acting as was made evident during the workshop. Actor after actor was ordered by Larry Moss to commit more to the script and physicalize their process.

Read the rest of this article from Trilby Jeeves.

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This article was written by Trilby Jeeves.

I have just spent three amazing days auditing, witnessing, observing, absorbing, laughing, crying, taking notes, processing, confirming, squirming, cheer-leading, supporting, holding my breath, thinking and agreeing at the Larry Moss Workshop by Vancouver Acting School.

No,  Larry Moss, well known American acting coach, does not need to find his inner bouffon. He has it well intact as he was brutally, and winkingly (a made up Trilby word) truthful, like a bouffon loves to be, with each and every actor who was brave enough to perform a scene for him to critique. And, he did.

Read the rest of this article from Trilby Jeeves.

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This article was written by Christopher Wallenberg.

“The history of Hollywood filmmaking is littered with bloated movie-star-turned-director self-indulgence: Marlon Brando’s “One-Eyed Jacks’’ (in which Brando fired the film’s original director, a guy named Stanley Kubrick), Kevin Costner’s ponderous “Dances With Wolves’’ (which inexplicably won seven Oscars), and most of the filmmaking oeuvre of Mel Gibson.

But Hollywood also has a history of stars stepping behind the camera to try their hand at directing and actually turning out successful, even masterful, bodies of work. See: Orson Welles, John Cassavetes, Clint Eastwood. Some got hooked, some did not (Paul Newman), while others dabbled (Robert Redford, Dennis Hopper).

The directorial trend seems to have sped up in recent years, with actors as varied as Sean Penn (“Into the Wild’’), George Clooney (“Good Night, and Good Luck’’), Sarah Polley (“Away From Her’’), Zach Braff (“Garden State’’), and Ben Stiller (“Tropic Thunder’’) making the move into the director’s chair.”

Read the rest of this article from Boston.com

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Always ask the actor to read the scene twice! See whether they can take direction and how big their range is. As an actor it feels better if I can do something twice, and change it up.

Even if I’m not good for this role I may suddenly be good for another role that they haven’t cast, (re: Episodic TV) or are going to cast in the future. I got called for a role once because of an audition a year before. They remembered me!

Trilby Jeeves
trilby@buffooneryworkshops.com

When dealing with actors who want to improvise and change their dialogue, make sure they know what the intent of the scene is first. Once you and the actor both agree on the scene intent, they can go ahead and improvise their dialogue – and the objective of the scene will still be met.

When working on your script, and when shooting on the set, make sure you have the actors “do things” more than just “say things.”

Peter D. Marshall
pdm@actioncutprint.com

“Hey, I want you to introduce you to my friend Brian. You’ll really like him. He used to hang out with us back in college. And he’s an actor!”

“An actor, huh?” (Snicker and sneer). “So what’s your REAL job?”

Does this conversation sound familiar? I’ve been through it myself many times throughout the years. I’ve gone down a different path since I’ve had my family, but for a long time I was trying to make it as a working actor. Even when I was making some money, this was a pretty disheartening conversation. As soon as the word “actor” leaves your mouth, people form a mental picture of you waiting tables or living in a cramped apartment with half a dozen other wannabes.

Interesting–people know that actors have the ability to make money, but they always assume that you are not. If you ask around, people will be able to quote how much money Julia Roberts or Brad Pitt made in their last films, but they seem to have no concept of actors working but making less than that.

We’ll I’ll tell you a secret that you’re not going to like–we are part of the problem. Yes, us. The actors.”

Read this article from Brian Powers.

The Ten Commandments of Filmmaking
How to Work (and Survive) in the
Film and Television Industry
by Peter D. Marshall

“Film and TV directors are notorious for not speaking the actor’s language. Actors fresh out of drama school or with a stage background or with very little acting experience can be baffled by the directions they’re getting. Worse, they can be led astray — into indicating and/or result-oriented work.”

Read this article from Backstage.com