What Is Movement Training For Actors?

By Jack Hanley

If you intend on making a career for yourself on the stage or on film, you need to know what is good movement training for actors. The nuances in movement are just as--if not more--useful than how you look and how you deliver lines. It is one of the hardest things for people to master. Sure, you can mimic how a person from a certain background might talk. But can you move as they would move? This is the difference between decent actors and great actors.

A great place to learn your body is in a dance class. Ballet is really the foundation of any good mover. This is because in ballet, you are forced to actively think about your lines. You should know exactly how your body looks based on only feeling. You should be able to feel when your arm is at a specific angle or know how straight your back is.

All measures of dance are fantastic, even if you are an actor who only wants to play 'tough guy' roles. Not only does it teach you how to properly control and contort your body, but you should also use any opportunity to learn new skills. You never know what part could be your big break. It could be the part of a mafia don who has a specific way of moving and knows how to swing dance. Never underestimate how specific and strange different roles can be.

Stage combat is another fantastic movement course because it helps teach safety and realism. One very difficult thing to do is to mime something while giving an emotional response as though it were really happening. For this reason, many actors who are not well-versed in stage combat prefer to be actually shoved or actually slapped on stage in order to make it look and sound real. This can be extremely dangerous.

These are important trade secrets to learn. It will also give you an opportunity to think of your own stage combat moves that could be very complicated and exciting for an audience. The facial training you will gain from this is invaluable. By teaching yourself to look pained or upset--and by teaching yourself to hide actors' tricks from the audience--is what separates mediocre actors from good ones.

The Alexander Technique is a study of movement specially designed for actors. It is often a required course for any acting or drama degree. It also involves safety measures, but it is more in terms of preserving your knees on unforgiving stages and keeping good posture for back safety. This is a crucial course when it comes to learning your body and how to best control it.

By treating your body as building blocks that must all be stacked correctly, you can manipulate the 'stacking' to get across certain characteristics or emotions. This also helps teach you how to fill your diaphragm with air so you can be louder on stage. The Alexander Technique is sometimes used to help medical patients relieve stress on some of their body. - 31887

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How To Get Movement Training For Actors

By Edward Zarinsky

There are various reasons you might need to go through movement training for actors. Ultimately the movement training for actors is supposed to make you a better performer. It is a useful method of building your skills and improving the experience needed to excel in an acting career. Simply find a good place where you can get useful knowledge about this technique.

You can use some training in movement if you are about to play a new role in a different kind of production. This commonly happens to experienced actor. If the new film is something different from what the actor has been used to doing all along then the training can help them become better. Novices also need the same so as to learn how to perform better on screen.

Making such arrangements allows you to have time for work and you can go on with other projects in your life as well. If this is your first attempt in the profession, plan to integrate it among other programs you might be attending.

This makes you a good student and it allows you to become a better actor. Let your instructor see you performing too. They can correct you and help you build on your strengths as an actor.

It is always important to try and practice new techniques. This makes it easier for you to remember and you can easily use the acquired skills while working in a production. Put some time aside each day so as to act out some movements.

One of the best ways to do this is by taking some time of your schedule and just going through your notes or study materials. A quiet room can help you concentrate better and achieve good results.

Consult with your trainer about other ways of getting more information about the subject. They might recommend that you watch some productions that have actors displaying classic moves. Take a look at such movies and pay attention to the details. You might learn something new by taking such easy lessons.

As you continue receiving movement training for actors, you also need to develop some confidence in yourself. It is good to understand that it is possible to learn and acquire the skill even if you are new to the profession. You only need to put in more effort and strive to learn as much as you can. It is wise to relax and take some time off your profession from time to time. It allows you to examine your strengths and you can build on them to become better in your career. - 31887

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Every Actor Needs A Headshot.

By Ben Smith

When you are an actor, you are gonna need a headshot.

Numerous talent agencies have contracts with photographers and can direct you right to their studio. But if that's the course you choose be prepared to spend a minimum of a couple hundred dollars. Headshots are a necessity for every actor. Photographers know that. They will charge you as much as they can get away with. And then on top of that you have to duplicate the finished product some hundred instances, particularly in case you are auditioning several times a week. When an actor auditions, he hands over the headshot to the casting director, and he never gets it back. It's at all times a good idea to own lots of copies, increased copies than you think you'll need is adequate.

So what\'s the secret to the best headshot? Before you even get into the photography studio there are one or two tips to keep in mind:

Considering that photo is going to be in black and white its probably not the best idea to wear black or white clothing as it may possibly be too bold. Colors like blue, red, or green display up rather evenly on the monochrome matte. Strong colors are incredibly easier at the eye than stripes or prints.

* Extreme make-up isn't required, nevertheless when you do choose to wear make-up, a light foundation evenly covering the face can make you glance nicer. Don't coat your face with it. If you are blessed with lots of freckles, don't cover them up. Directors know the miracles of make-up and in case you are cast and the freckles have to go they will get required steps. On the other hand, your freckles can offer you just the character they\'re looking for.

* Should you commonly wear your hair straight, don't curl it up, and vice versa should you have naturally curly hair-don't straighten it.

* Smile. It doesn't have to be corny, it doesn't have to be angry, it merely needs to be you. A decent glimpse of your teeth also shows the casting director what you've got inside there. If you have got braces, crooked teeth, a huge gap within the center, smile anyway. Really do not cover things.

* Don't be a fashion model. Steer clear of flipping the hair, leaning your chin on your arm, or any other form of prop. The directors want to see a straight head shot, they don't want to see you being cute or knock dead dazzling, these people want to discover you.

* Never use soft focus or special lighting strategies. The basic important, fill and back lights with the studio have to be all you need.

* Be sure you\'re using a uncomplicated, non-distracting backdrop. White or black are not recommended, however some pros will make it glance great. Most common are off-white, gray, light blue or any color that comes through having a gentle gray tone. In case you are taking the photographs outside, again be sure there is nothing distracting to the eye within the background. A headshot's background will probably be mostly from focus anyway.

So where are you able to go for a headshot taken that's likely to really provide work? - 31887

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Mastering the Beat

By Nelson Pellew

Timing counts for everything in racing and in acting, as well. To be sure, acting is a profession of timing. More specifically it is a profession of beats. The beat is the pregnant pause -- and knowing how long to hold it. Knowing the silent spaces between words and sentences is crucial to any actor, especially a film actor. While a theater actor can still be considered great without paying much attention to the beat -- he or she can, after all, simply boom out his or her lines -- film requires a bit of nuance.

The nuances of the beat are as myriad as there are ways to recite a line. Angry beats, brooding beats, pleasant beats -- they must all be explored if they are to be used adequately. Like an athlete who must suffer through trial run after trial run to perfect his or her performance, so too the actor. Of course, this is rather self-evident -- how does one get to Carnegie Hall? Yes, that's right: practice.

Practice takes many forms and can span a number of activities. In addition to cold readings and local productions, the clever actor may want to expand his or her practicum with a potentially valuable piece of equipment: the green screen. Yes, this staple of meteorologists everywhere has been coupled with an innovative software package so that you may actually play a scene with your beloved acting inspiration.

Though an education by proxy, it nonetheless stands as a useful tool for rounding out an actor's repertoire. Thanks to innovative companies, like Yoostar, actors can how learn how to hit their marks, adjust to lighting prompts, and learn how to deliver their lines with the most iconic actors, in some of the most iconic films of all time.

Master the beat -- and the subsequent volley -- and you will be well-served in the future. The beats determine the success or failure of an actor in any scene. Mind you, this is not meant to be a panacea for all acting woes. Indeed, a solid background in theater work would be well worth the time invested. - 31887

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The Prettiest Star

By Nelson Pellew

The star the burns twice a bright, lasts half as long. The next great star will surely come from the humblest of origins. This is a truism that is particularly apt in the entertainment industry. The actor that comes from an MFA program or carries PhD credentials is the actor doomed to play the FBI section chief or the bumbling father in a Doritos commercial. No, the great stars are never academic, and are always a generation removed from the blue-collar toil their parents were burdened with.

Making it as an actor is never as simple or straightforward a process as being scouted whilst lounging at Schwab's Pharmacy. To be sure, this may have worked for Lana Turner's publicity (she was not scouted, much less while sipping a milkshake at the counter). An actor must work in order to be seen and he or she must be seen in order to garner the attention of the gatekeepers positioned strategically about the walls of Hollywood.

Save for the most obscure of guild apprenticeships, no other industry treats its potential saviors and stars as poorly as the entertainment industry. It is a strange process, but a time-honored one. To make it, you must make it past the studio lot gate. Even then, less than 10% of card-carrying Screen Actors Guild members make more than $1 million a year. The majority of SAG actors will have to content themselves with pretending to enjoy high fructose corn syrup products whilst beaming maniacally at their commercial family. Ah, showbiz.

While the amenities most a-list actors enjoy do not come standard with this technology, a green screen foray may be the closest some people ever get to starring in a major motion picture. This is where companies, like Yoostar, allow the meager of means to taste a thimble-full of fame. Positioned by proprietary software, the green screen allows you to be grafted into any of the two dozen clips or so, playing opposite the icons of film.

Most would-be actors will never enjoy smelling the after-shave of their idols, unless, of course, they are serving said icon his Cobb salad at Musso and Frank's. While this may seem rather cynical, it could very well be the one tool that helps the would-be become the gainfully employed. The magic of the green screen isn't merely proximity to film icons, it's an opportunity to hone one's acting chops. - 31887

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List of Academy Award Winning Movies

By Bill G. Sheers

Love me them or hate them, there is no don't that the Academy Awards are the Super Bowl as far as the entertainment industry goes. It's the only movie related event that people actually bet on for crying out loud. Weather you are into the fashion, the actors, or the art directing, everybody usually has at least a passing interest in Oscar night.

Looking for some ammo to look cool at the party or just in front of the girlfriend or wife? He are a couple of the basics:

Who has hosted the academy awards the most times? Bob Hope, 19 times. Who was the first black performer to win an Academy Award? Hattie McDaniel, 1939 Gone With the Wind. Name the only "Oscar" to win an Oscar. Oscar Hammerstein for Best Song in 1941 and 1945. Which actor has the most Oscar nominations for his performances? Jack Nicholson, 12.

Alright, that should get you started and make you look like you know what you are doing. Now, here is a list of my favorite winners by decade:

1940's --- Picture: Rebecca, 1940 -- Actor: Laurence Olivier, Hamlet, 1948 -- Actress: Loretta Young, The Farmer's Daughter, 1947

1950's --- Picture: All About Eve, 1950 -- Actor: David Niven, Separate Tables, 1958 -- Actress: Joanne Woodward, The Three Faces of Eve, 1957

1960's --- Picture: In the Heat of the Night, 1967 -- Actor: John Wayne, True Grit, 1969 -- Actress: Julie Christie, Darling, 1965

1970's --- Picture: Patton, 1970 -- Actor: Jon Voight, Coming Home, 1978 -- Actress: Diane Keaton, Annie Hall, 1977

1980's --- Picture: Out of Africa, 1985 -- Actor: F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus, 1984 -- Actress: Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice, 1982

1990's --- Picture: The Silence of the Lambs, 1991 -- Actor: Nicholas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas, 1995 -- Actress: Frances MacDormad, 1996

2000's --- Picture: Crash, 2005 -- Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray, 2004 -- Actress: Nicole Kidman, The Hours, 2002

Have fun Sunday! - 31887

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Drama Lessons Are The Foundation For A Good Career

By Bill G. Sheers

Who wants to be on TV? There are many different fields to choose from within game. Many people start off choosing the acting area when they start. It is the most visible of the mediums and the one most people are familiar with, usually because they have done plays in high school.

Do don't have to be an actor to be in the business. There are 1000's of different jobs that need to be done in order to get a film made. Cameramen, gaffers, directors, producers, location scouts....the list is endless. They may not be as sexy as being the next Tom Cruise, but they are good, rewarding jobs in a very exciting field.

I've got the acting bug -- It's fun, it really is. Acting can be very rewarding and a lot of fun. You need to start acting in anything you can as soon as you can. It will only help you in the long run. A head-shot and resume are in your future as well and there are many different books and web sites that can help you with that. But, start acting RIGHT NOW if it is something you realt want to do.

Film Schools need actors for their Projects -- Going to college and getting a drama or theater degree is a great way to not only meet people who are choosing the same career path, but to learn the craft of acting from professionals. You will be forced to learn different aspects of the business which will make you much more well rounded.

Acting Classes -- If you live in a city like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, or Chicago you are going to have people that teach programs that last 1-4 years that are not associated with a traditional school. These course can be just as good or better, so don't dismiss them when searching ways to study.

Acting Styles -- Method, Strasberg, Meinser...which one should I use? They are all good and it just depends on what works well for you.

Film School -- You don't want to be in front of the camera and hunted down by TMZ the rest of your life? Well, maybe being behind the camera is for you. Film school is a great way to fully emerge yourself in every aspect of the film making process.

NYU Film School - Often considered the best. If you get in here, you are playing with the big boys.

An Agent for your Career -- You are going to need an agent if you want to make it in showbiz. They have the connections and they keep the wheels of your career greased, no matter what aspect of the business you are in.

Be a Writier -- Many actors have found out they are better writing than acting on screen. Give it a try. You may just find out the same thing.

It can be a long, tough road. Don't let that discourage you if think it is something you really love. You will have to pay your dues, so don't expect o be recieved with open arms. There re 1000's trying to do the same thing. - 31887

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