Make Me Good, Fast
“Hey mike. What if I only had 3 months to get good at screen acting? What would your advice be?” - David
LOL
Alright
Challenge accepted
You have three months
13 Weeks
90 days
And you wanna get good?
Okay
Let’s define “good”
How about:
Having moments of human connection in front of the lens becomes your new normal
I reckon that would be pretty “good” for screen acting
Fair?
Let’s talk technique first
Then we can discuss how to build it into a process which allows you to fly!
Technical proficiency
If we go down the black or white path
We can find ourselves heading in two opposite directions
One is obsessively trying to make things as real as possible
The other
Trying to make it as technically repeatable as possible
“Real” vs “Pretend”
“Method” vs “Just acting”
However
Why don’t we steal the pros of both?
So we can stretch ourselves in either direction regardless of who we are working with
Or how the director might be steering things on the day
That would make us pretty anti fragile right?
Let’s break this into two parts
So we can start making smarter practice
Order and chaos
Structure and freedom
You get the point
One part to make sure you’re providing work that serves the story and tribe
(Without this your work might just be self serving - Interesting but useless)
And the other part which makes sure you’re providing something human, alive
(Without this your work might come across mundane - useful but boring)
First
Order / Structure
Drumroll
Script analysis
No way around it
We gotta get good at this
We have to make the script make sense
Scroll through three acting books
Find the same script analysis questions that come up over and over again
And choose the 3-5 that you think offer the biggest bang for buck
Such as
What is the point of the scene? Why is it included in the film or show?
What is happening in the moment before the scene starts for your character?
Environment - how does the time & place affect the scene or your character?
Relationships - what is your secretly ruthless opinion of the other characters? What do you wish the other characters would say or how do you believe they should treat you?
Expectations - How does your character think the this scene should go?
Need - What is the hole in your character’s heart that no matter how hard they try to fill, it will never be filled? (If you’re stuck on this one just use yours in order to amalgamate the character and yourself)
Bla bla bla
Etc, etc
Find 3-5 questions that really work for you
Remember
Amateurs will try do lots
Pros do less, that’s why they do it better
In regards to skill development…
Smarter for you to get really great at just a few things rather than flailing around trying to do lots of things :)
Second
Chaos / Freedom
Time to make it human
Time to make it yours
What do we need in order for this work to become human?
We need vulnerability and presence
Both byproducts of processes
Vulnerability is being honest when it’s difficult to do so
And for presense?
Breathing
So our two areas of focus become honesty and breathing
Alright
Let’s make it all doable now
3 Months
90 days
13 weeks
1 weekly routine
To help you get better
To help your new normal be that of having moments of human connection in front of the lens
Firstly
You need help
No human being exists outside of relationship to others
And certainly no actor can survive or thrive without other artists
So it becomes essential you find energising readers, coaches and environments
People and places that make it easier to sustainably show up to practice each week
And please
Be so bloody careful with who you ask for guidance
Are they getting results you seek?
Are they giving advice which makes your body feel at home?
Are you leaving those taping sessions feeling hopeful & energised?
Or is it feeling pushed, forceful, “shouldie”, resultie?
To be clear
Find the people & environments that make your body feel alive, awake, energised etc
Next
Let’s be realistic
If you’re wanting to make change
But you don’t practice at all
I’m not sure it’s reasonable to ask you to show up to 2-3 practice sessions per week
So let’s do the least we think we can handle
One easy morning exercise each day
And one practice session per week
For the morning exercise each day
We need something short & sweet to cultivate vulnerability & presence
Se need an exercise that incorporates honesty & breath…
Two well established acting coaches
Eric Morris & Roy London
Both had a similar exercise
Let’s steal from them.
A 90 seconds personal inventory exercise in front of the lens
“I feel X, that makes me feel Y”
Repeated for 90 seconds
Yep - just that.
Just something to remind your body each day that vulnerability and presence are normal
If the two most powerful tools you possess as an actor become normal
Or dare I say “easy”
Golly
Look out
Also - Doesn’t matter if you skip a day
Remembering you forgot the work and doing it the next day without beating yourself up is a way more important muscle to cultivate over doing it right every single day like a robot
Now
What about for the one practice session each week?
Combine chaos & order with a coach or reader you enjoy hanging out with
30 minutes to Prep: script analysis, vulnerability & presence
30 minutes to Play: 3-5 takes
30 minutes to Debrief: What did you do well? & what small change can you make over the next week to be slightly better?
That’s it
3 months
13 weeks
90 days
ONE daily exercise
& ONE practice session per week with an energising reader or coach
Done
One last thing
Please
Take this all with a big, fat grain of salt.
What you specifically need
For whatever chapter you are currently in
Is utterly unique to you
So be careful with whatever story you’re telling yourself in regards to craft
I find many performers can slip into telling themselves the story that they need to push themselves & get better
When in fact
What their body is yearning for is to simply give up on chasing results
Or just having a break from for a few weeks and just start enjoying their lives again
Just be careful when grinding becomes romantic please
There ain’t nothing more sustainable & dangerous than an actor who is having fun
Hope this helps
x