John Dawson Acting Workshop

So I spent Saturday and Sunday in an Acting For Camera and Audition workshop with John Dawson and I thought I'd go through a little bit of what happened for anyone who is thinking of doing it.

www.facebook.com/DawsonDramaWorks
www.dawsondramaworks.com

We were asked to prepare a 2 min max monologue from a play, film or tv script, but that was not shakespearean. It had to be contemporary and suitable for camera. I know some casting directors disapprove of using anything from a play because they normally don't transition well.
   So before I even got to the workshop, i had my work cut out for me. Because all the auditions I have been to have been for film or tv, I was always given SIDES to work from and never had to prepare a monologue. So I was now faced with the job of finding one, and here are some of the monologues I came up with:

Vesper from Casino Royal, the scene where she meets Bond on the train and surmises his history by the clothing he is wearing. (this is on youtube)

Olive Pendergast from Easy A, has a monologue at the very beginning of the movie to camera.

Erica Albright from The Social Network, I'll post the link for the text here: http://www.monologuedb.com/dramatic-female-monologues/the-social-network-erica-albright/

and that was it really. It had to be a monologue suited for my age, and it had to be a role that I would love to play. So I was wrecking my head for ages trying to think what role I would love to play, and then finally on Friday (the day before the workshop) I realized, by simply looking at my desktop screen, there was a collage of photos of Rooney Mara as Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.... DUH!!!

So I chose to do a monologue from the original film script, in the revenge scene! Yay! So now I had a monologue for a part I would have killed to play!!!! (obviously I didn't do it as much justice as Rooney, but hey ho!)

So on Saturday morning, I arrived at his studio in the Stoneybatter Area, and we were all introduced to John and each other before we were all thrown right in at the deep-end to perform our monologues straight away. We would then end up performing them again, with some direction at the end of the course! And the improvement was remarkable! We were all given a DVD of all our work that occurred in front of the camera so that we could see our progress and practice!!!

Through the course of the weekend we would be learning how to perform a monologue from a subjective view (To Camera) and an objective view (looking off camera) We were also taught how to relax in front of the camera and just feel comfortable in the room. We also learned how to do an audition successfully and how to cold read.

I have learned so many valuable things over the course of the two days, and here are some of the most valuable tricks I learned:
1. Don't cut yourself- when you're performing a monologue or scene to camera for an audition, don't freeze at the end or cut yourself, keep acting beyond the words!
2. When going into an audition, ask what Frame you are in and how much can you move.
3. When Cold reading, hold the paper up at eye level and away from your face, so off to the right for example, so the camera can pick up your face even when you're looking for your next line.

I would highly recommend this workshop if anyone is looking for a small two day workshop in order to just gain that little bit more of an insight into what auditioning is really like. You will definitely pick up great tips along the way! And the workshop is really fun and you will definitely enjoy yourself!!!

Thanks for reading! If have any questions just post below! x


Peach Out!

Can YOU be a successful actor?

The answer is very simple. But only you can answer it. How badly do you want it?

The industry in Ireland is VERY small, so if you really want to be successful here, or in fact anywhere, you just have to work hard! Thats it really!!

Do you have a headshot? Is it a good headshot? Don't tell me you have no money for a headshot when I'm sure you or someone you know has an Iphone! Go out and take a picture on a good day with good light and it will suffice until you can earn enough to get a headshot photographer or even just a portrait photographer (probably cheaper)! If you have at least an iphone 4S then you've got an 8 megapixel camera right there! which will take very decent photographs! So go out, and ask around if you or someone you knows has a good camera phone. Ask what the megapixels are and then just go out and take a few shots. Here is some solid advice for your headshot:

Be natural: that means very little make up please! If they need to make you up they will!
                  Also your hair, keep it simple, up or down it's not very relevant as they are looking at your
                  face!!

Light:   Good lighting!! Women are normally light from slightly above, which is more flattering and
             creates a nice glow in the eyes. Men are more often light from the side.

Background:   It doesn't really matter as long as your are in focus. So if it's plain white then thats fine,
                     but it can be a brick wall or greenary or anything, just as long as it's not in focus

Editing:  Do not over edit your photos! No crazy photoshopped perfect skin, they don't want you to
              look like a model! They want to see the real you, so no glam shots!

Smile or no smile? Well I prefer not to smile but I suggest you take a few pictures with it each way and see what works best for you. But if it's a smile, try think of something genuinely funny, you don't want a picture with a fake cheesy grin.

Now, moving on! Once you've got your headshot, do you have an up to date Resume?? It should have the list of past work you've done or are currently working on. And it should probably follow this type of pattern:

Date      Production       Role     Director     Company

And use these under the categories of Theatre and Film and Television.



Showreel.

TIP NO.1:
NO MONTAGE!!!!! PLEASE GOD NO FRIGGIN MONTAGE!! Directors and Castign Directors have announced countless times that they do not want to see a 30second montage of footage of you set to music at the beginning of your showreel! They'll skip it anyway! So don't put a montage in there!

TIP NO.2:
If you are making a showreel, just keep the editing simple, and start with one of your best scenes (although probably not the one where you're screaming your head off), maybe it's a good idea to ease them in.

TIP NO.3:
I know you love that monologue scene you're in, but don't forget to include dialogue scenes where you actually have less dialogue than the other actor, but obviously a lot of reaction footage time. Casting Directors want to see that you can listen to the actor you're playing opposite and see you react. You don't always have to be talking!!

TIP NO.4:
Don't send it to casting directors through email or something where they have to DOWNLOAD it. NO NO! Rather upload it to a private youtube site or Vimeo (this is my preferred choice) and send them a LINK. This is much less hassle to a director or casting director, as they just need to click and follow the link. So much easier for them!

TIP NO.5:
It's not essential to have a showreel. But it is a huge benefit to have some sort of material you can show them. If you're unrepresented and applying for a role to the casting director directly, then it actually might be a better idea for you to just upload a selection of different clips from the projects you have done. This means that if you're going for a soft character, and you have a specific scene in which you played a character which was very similar, you can just send the casting agent/director a direct link to that scene. This is more beneficial to you as they see it immediately, rather that if that scene is in the middle of your showreel and they never get to it because they only watched the first 20 seconds. So a selection of clips might be a very good idea. (this is why I like vimeo!)

And finally, once you have your headshot and resume and possibly a showreel, go out and get it! If you have an agent, send this info to your agent and make sure they are putting it to good use! If you are unrepresented, then send it to every agent, casting agent or director you can! Make sure everything is clear! Who you are, where you come from and what you are hoping to achieve ("I'd like to apply for... role", etc)

Be strong and confident in your own skin. Like you as a person and they will like you as a person. Be yourself, be natural and most importantly work hard! Fight for it! Go out and get involved in everything on camera that you can!

Good luck!

Peach out!