Angela Learns to Act: Monday, January 26

1/26/09

Monday, January 26

We got the following e-mail today regarding our On Camera Workshop:

Hi All

We're all really excited about the week we have with you. [Name] (the man coming with me to help teach and shoot, edit and screen your work) and I will start on Tuesday with all first and second years together. We may divide you for part of the next two days. The Film School directing students (first year MFA students) will be coming down on Friday with [Name] - the Associate Dean and Director of the Film School- and we'll shoot each of you in a scene over the course of the weekend. We'll assign scenes and partners. This is a pilot workshop; the first time we've tried something like this and it promises to be really fun with a lot of intense learning happening in a very short time. We've been working for a long time to find ways to get you guys together with the Film School students and we've finally created something that accomplishes that. It will, however, require some flexibility because we're not familiar with the spaces available and how our equipment will fit, etc. So be prepared for some logistical and technical difficulties.

For Tuesday, can you all watch Michael Caine's Acting for Film on youtube? I know some of you have seen it but it might be good to refresh yourselves on it. And for those of you who have not seen it, it will orient you to some of the technical aspects of camera acting we'll be working with. Please watch for the following: hitting marks, rising and sitting with the camera, working within the frame, adjusting to the frame size and the danger neutralizing when in closeup, (ie: the Educating Rita scene they perform on camera) and his discussion on the actor's relationship with the camera. We'll discuss this in class and do some exercises related to it. Here's the website (not sure if the entire video is covered in this playlist but please try to watch all of them.)

Let me know if you have any questions.

See you Tuesday afternoon.

Best,

[Name]

So it looks like I have a bit more homework. Luckily, this is something that I can easily complete silently.

For your viewing pleasure, here is the sequence of YouTube videos that we have been asked to watch.

Michael Caine Acting in Film: Part 1