An essential handbook for anyone who wants to act on television and film - by a leading teacher of screen acting. For any aspiring screen actor, the challenge is to combine all the components of your craft with an ability to handle the technical demands of acting for the camera within the often bewildering environment of a film set. Michael Bray takes you step by step through all the challenges you'll face, demystifying the processes you'll encounter, and helping you develop the necessary skills, including: How to approach the script and prepare your character How to maintain your concentration and learn to relax on set How to deliver your lines and improve your vocal range How to master continuity, eye lines, and hitting your marks How to tackle auditions to ensure your best chance of getting the job Full of invaluable advice, extracts from screenplays, numerous illustrations and practical exercises - which can be undertaken on your own, using the camera on your phone - this book is an accessible and authoritative guide to developing a successful career as a screen actor.

Your Body Knows provides the foundation actors need to move with ease and power. It is a practical guide to movement starting at the very beginning: knowing your body and experiencing how it works. Through the work of F.M. Alexander, Rudolf Laban, and Michael Chekhov, this book offers basic training in movement fundamentals. Its step-by-step process supports the actor's work in any acting or movement training program and as a working professional. The book focuses on three main areas of exploration: Body facts - Know your body and its design for movement. Let go of misinformed ideas about your body. Move more freely, avoid injury, and develop a strong body-mind connection. Movement facts - What is movement? Discover the movement fundamentals that can serve your art. Explore new ways of moving. Creative inspiration - Connect your body, mind, and imagination to liberate authentic and expressive character movement. Your Body Knows: A Movement Guide for Actors is an excellent resource for acting students and their teachers, promoting a strong onstage presence and awakening unlimited potential for creative expression.

* Only covers the vowels and consonants that English speakers struggle to perfect in GenAm * There is a trend of English and Australian actors using American accents on screen and on stage. * The majority of accent reduction texts on the market are intended for ESL speakers who simply need to be understood in English. This leaves native English-speaking actors with superfluous material that is far too broad and does not address the finer points of what they need to perfect.

How do actors fuse thought, emotion and action within their creative process? Essential Acting is an inspired and reliable toolbox for actors and teachers in the classroom, the rehearsal room and the workshop. RADA's Brigid Panet has distilled nearly 60 years of acting, directing and actor training into a unique recipe which brilliantly combines the teachings of Stanislavsky and Laban into an invaluable practical resource. These exercises are built around the need for simple, achievable techniques that can be applied by actors, teachers and directors to answer the myriad requirements of actor training. The goal is to produce a continuous level of achievement, addressing: * How to rehearse * How to work with a text * How to audition for drama school * How to access the truth of feelings and actions Essential Acting will be a must-have purchase for anyone looking for a comprehensive study guide to the necessary work of the actor.

This standard text, now in paperback for the first time-- the companion volume to Foreign Dialects-- American Dialects offers representative dialects of every major section of the United States. In each case, a general description and history of the dialect is given, followed by an analysis of vowel and consonant peculiarities, of its individual lilt and rhythm, and of its grammar variations. There are also lists of the idioms and idiomatic expressions that distinguish each dialect and exercises using them. American Dialects also includes musical inflection charts and diagrams showing the placement of lips, tongue, and breath.

Annie Morrison, creator of the Morrison Bone Prop, abandons the notion that language and thought are mainly processed in the left cerebral hemisphere, and coaches the actor to speak from the heart. Through this method, words acquire physical properties, such as weight, texture, colour and kinetic force. Think about Martin Luther King, Mao Zedong or Malala Yousafzai; potent speech impacts external events. And internally, it forms and shapes the world of the speaker. Seeing articulation as a purely mechanical skill is detrimental to an actor's process: it is crucial to understand what language is doing on a biological level. This workbook is invaluable for actors, both professional and in training, and also for voice and speech teachers.

Actor Movement: Expression of the Physical Being is a textbook and video resource for the working actor, the student and all those who lead and witness movement for the actor, including movement tutors, movement directors and directors. Great actors are not simply great interpreters of text; they are also great interpreters of movement; able to 'embody' all aspects of a character's life, with body and imagination as their instruments. In their work they are expected to become many bodies, all behaving differently from their own. Actors have to construct, inhabit and offer each character's body, with its multiplicity of known and unknown physical expression. Featuring: Over 155 exercises Four full actor movement processes for creating character Over 20 illustrations and images Complementary online footage supporting 26 of the practical elements Inspiring confidence in the actor to make fully owned physical choices and develop a love of movement, this essential new textbook is ideal for those actors seeking to give to their movement all the complexity and range possible for great acting.

The Singer Acts, The Actor Sings is a practical workbook for singers and actors of all disciplines, from musical theater through classical repertory to popular performance styles. This book addresses the needs of both students and professionals, helping them to face the challenges of musical performance undaunted and to achieve the exhilarating feeling of living through song. Paired with online video exercises and demonstrations, The Singer Acts, The Actor Sings is an essential resource for actors and singers alike, helping them master both art forms and gain deeper insight into their own strengths. Whether you're a singer seeking a straightforward approach to acting, an actor who wants to sing, or a singing actor desiring to take your performances to the next level, this book will prove invaluable in achieving your goal.

Fiction's Truth explores professional actors' lived experiences of representing human suffering, distress, and violence. The book analyses the struggles, issues, and transformations professional actors face when dealing with these portrayals of human life; the personal and interpersonal consequences - both taxing and rewarding - they experience while undertaking these representations; and the forms of attention and care they use to limit the costs and maximize the rewards of their work. The author also includes new key terminology, proposing the term dolesse to capture the experiences of representing human suffering, distress, and violence. Written for entertainment professionals, acting students, and scholars with an interest in acting, theatre, film, and television, Fiction's Truth addresses the challenges of representing dolesse on stage and in front of the camera, acknowledges the importance of health and wellness in the entertainment industry, and helps remove the stigma that surrounds the consequences these representations often have for actors.

Casting a Movement brings together US-based actors, directors, educators, playwrights, and scholars to explore the cultural politics of casting. Drawing on the notion of a "welcome table"-a space where artists of all backgrounds can come together as equals to create theatre-the book's contributors discuss casting practices as they relate to varying communities and contexts, including Middle Eastern American theatre, Disability culture, multilingual performance, Native American theatre, color- and culturally-conscious casting, and casting as a means to dismantle stereotypes. Syler and Banks suggest that casting is a way to invite more people to the table so that the full breadth of US identities can be reflected onstage, and that casting is inherently a political act; because an actor's embodied presence both communicates a dramatic narrative and evokes cultural assumptions associated with appearance, skin color, gender, sexuality, and ability, casting choices are never neutral. By bringing together a variety of artistic perspectives to discuss common goals and particular concerns related to casting, this volume features the insights and experiences of a broad range of practitioners and experts across the field. As a resource-driven text suitable for both practitioners and academics, Casting a Movement seeks to frame and mobilize a social movement focused on casting, access, and representation.

Taking a primarily European focus, this collection examines cross-dressing as a culturally determined performance phenomenon, and brings a wide range of arguments and historical evidence to bear on this fascinating subject.
Using perspectives drawn from social history, anthropology, psychoanalysis and gender theory, Lesley Ferris discusses performance traditions within the wider debates on sexology and sexuality, and contextualizes the articles in this volume, putting them in their academic context, and drawing out the differences of their approach.

Fiction's Truth explores professional actors' lived experiences of representing human suffering, distress, and violence. The book analyses the struggles, issues, and transformations professional actors face when dealing with these portrayals of human life; the personal and interpersonal consequences - both taxing and rewarding - they experience while undertaking these representations; and the forms of attention and care they use to limit the costs and maximize the rewards of their work. The author also includes new key terminology, proposing the term dolesse to capture the experiences of representing human suffering, distress, and violence. Written for entertainment professionals, acting students, and scholars with an interest in acting, theatre, film, and television, Fiction's Truth addresses the challenges of representing dolesse on stage and in front of the camera, acknowledges the importance of health and wellness in the entertainment industry, and helps remove the stigma that surrounds the consequences these representations often have for actors.

Film and Television Acting offers solid techniques for creating a natural, believable performance for film and television. The reader will discover techniques for listening and reacting, blocking and business, character, focus, the closeup, and comedy as they pertain to acting in front of a camera. The book analyzes the differences between theatre, film, and television acting, providing the theatre trained actor with specific approaches for making the transition to on-camera work.
This second edition is thoroughly revised and updated. The book contains numerous scenes and exercises, including sample scenes from Cheers and Seinfeld, which provide the reader with ways to practice the specific techniques outlined by the author. Included are interviews with well-know actors and directors: Don Murray, Norman Jewison, and Emmy award winner, Glenn Jordan, to name a few. These interviews illustrate how the professionals apply their training and technique to filmed performances. There is also a chapter-length interview with John Lithgow, in which the actor provides a first-hand account of the differences of acting for the theatre and for the camera.
Helps actors transfer skills from the theatre to the camera.
Updated with new scenes from Cheers and Seinfeld.
Includes interviews with Don Murray, Norman Jewison, Glenn Jordan and other actors who've made the transition from stage to screen.

What is physical dramaturgy? While the traditional dramaturg shares research intellectually, the physical dramaturg does so viscerally and somatically. By combining elements of text, history, dramatic structure, and the author's intent with movement analysis and physical theatre pedagogies, the physical dramaturg gives actors the opportunity to manifest their work in a connected and intuitive manner and creates a field that is as varied and rich as the theatre itself. Physical Dramaturgy: Perspectives from the Field explores the ways in which this unique role can benefit the production team during the design and rehearsal phases of both traditional and devised productions. Individual chapters look at new ways of approaching a wealth of physical worlds, from the works of Shakespeare and other period playwrights to the processes of Jerzy Grotowski, Lloyd Williamson, Richard Schechner, and Michael Chekhov, and devising original works in a variety of contexts from Pig Iron, Dell'Arte International, Bill Bowers and mime, Tectonic Theater Project, and Liz Lerman's Dance Exchange. This anthology gives dramaturgs, actors, and directors new ways of looking at existing methods and provides examples of how to translate, combine, and adapt them into new explorations for training, rehearsal, or research.

Jazmin feels different. She doesn't want to stay in the village. She doesn't want to have a baby. She doesn't want to laugh at racist jokes in the local pub. She's got to get out. And when her Gran signs her up for a drama school audition in London without telling her: "my brain is just as confused as my skin. Should I stay here? Or should I try move to London. Stay.Go.Stay.Go.Stay.Go.Stay..."

This book coincides with an increase in the programming of live art elements in many galleries and museums. Traditional art history has, however, been wary of live art's interdisciplinarity and its tendency to encourage increased formal and conceptual risk taking. Time-based performances have challenged the conventions of documentation and the viewer's access to the art experience. This book questions the canon of art history by exploring participation, liveness, interactivity, digital and process-based performative practices and performance for the camera, as presented in gallery spaces. The essays present both academic research as well as case studies of curatorial projects that have pushed the boundaries of the art historical practice. The authors come from a wide range of backgrounds, ranging from curators and art producers to academics and practising artists. They ask what it means to present, curate and create interdisciplinary performative work for gallery spaces and offer cutting-edge research that explores the intricate relationship between art history, live and performing arts, and museum and gallery space.

Stanislavski in Practice is an unparalleled step-by-step guide to Stanislavski's system. Author Nick O'Brien makes this cornerstone of acting accessible to teachers and students alike through the use of practical exercises that allow students to develop their skills. This second edition offers more exercises for the actor, and also new sections on directing and devising productions. Each element of the system is covered practically through studio exercises and jargon-free discussion. Exercises are designed to support syllabi from Edexcel, Eduqas, OCR and AQA to the practice-based requirements of BTEC and IB Theatre. This is the perfect exercise book for students and a lesson planner for teachers at post-16 and first year undergraduate level. New to this edition: Thoroughly reorganized sections, including 'Work on the Actor', 'Work on a Role' and 'Developing your Practice'; A new chapter on using Stanislavski when devising with a series of exercises that will allow students to structure and create characters within the devising process; A new chapter, Directing Exercise Programme, which will be a series of exercises that allows the student to develop their skills as a director; New glossary with US and UK terms; New exercises developed since the publication of the first edition; A new chapter going beyond Stanislavski, exploring exercises from Michael Chekhov, Maria Knebel and Katie Mitchell.

Whether you are a young actor seeking to land your first screen role or a workshop leader looking for relevant exercises that won't involve vast technical support, this book belongs on your shelf. Many screen actors begin their careers lacking the appropriate pre-shoot preparation and knowledge of studio protocols. This book helps actors new to screen performance to be fully prepared artistically - and technically. Screen Acting Skills augments existing theoretical and academic studies by offering practical, focused exercises that can be explored in low-tech workshop situations. Written in an accessible, jargon-free and often humorous style, Screen Acting Skills enables creativity on the workshop floor, allowing young - and older! - actors to access their own talent, and to hone their skills. This book offers students and tutors a straightforward approach to acting for the screen and how to prepare for studio work. The book is published alongside online videos of workshops with screen acting students.

In Rehearsal is a clear and accessible how-to approach to the rehearsal process. Author Gary Sloan brings more than thirty years' worth of acting experience to bear on the question of how to rehearse both as an individual actor and as part of the team of professionals that underpins any successful production. Interviews with acclaimed actors, directors, playwrights, and designers share a wealth of knowledge on dynamic collaboration.

The book is divided in to three main stages, helping the reader to refine their craft in as straightforward and accessible manner as possible:

• In the world A flexible rehearsal program that can be employed daily, as well as over a typical four week production rehearsal.
• In the room Advice on working independently and productively with other members of a company, such as directors, playwrights, designers and technical crew; how your personal creative process varies depending on the role, be it Shakespeare, musicals, film, television or understudying.
• On your own Creating your own rehearsal process, exploring original and famous rehearsal techniques, breaking through actor's block and how to practice every day.

In Rehearsal breaks down the rehearsal process from the actor s perspective and equips its reader with the tools to become a generous and resourceful performer both inside and outside the studio. Its independent, creative and daily rehearsal techniques are essential for any modern actor."

(Applause Acting Series). Covering the best of Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and experimental theatre since 2000, One on One challenges actors to explore the inner self, develop skill and artistry for auditions, and deliver a knockout onstage performance. These monologues sometimes comic, sometimes serious, and often both tackle issues ranging from race, class, gender, relationships and romance to coming of age, mortality, 9/11, and the Iraq war.

Performing Shakespeare Unrehearsed: A Practical Guide to Acting and Producing Spontaneous Shakespeare outlines how Shakespeare's plays can be performed effectively without rehearsal, if all the actors understand a set of performance guidelines and put them into practice. Each chapter is devoted to a specific guideline, demonstrating through examples how it can be applied to pieces of text from Shakespeare's First Folio, how it creates blocking and stage business, and how it enhances story clarity. Once the guidelines have been established, practical means of production are discussed, providing the reader with sufficient step-by-step instruction to prepare for Unrehearsed performances. This book is written for the actor and performer.

The task of finding scene material for young actors that is within their experiential and emotional plane is a particular problem for the acting teacher. Barbara Marchant has created a valuable reference especially for teachers working with young actors. A Young Actor's Scene Book: A Training Tool is a collection of scenes specifically chosen with the undergraduate actor in mind. The material is based on issues that young people can relate to and which has enough content to make it worthwhile for them and the teacher to work on. Marchant has helpfully arranged the scenes in categories for beginning and advanced students. She has also added a section of style and language scenes for those actors with the requisite skills to tackle them. The book includes scenes from plays by Arthur Miller, Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, Tom Stoppard, and David Rimmer, among others. An invaluable resource, A Young Actor's Scene Book will be useful to teachers in their ongoing quest to develop and reinforce the repertoire of their students.