The Actor DIY's Acting School - Part III

Part III of creating your very own Acting School Experience

Hi Actor,

Over the last couple of weeks we have been exploring the concept of creating our very own DIY Acting School Experience. If you haven't already read the previous 2 posts, go check that out now (Part I & Part II) and then come back because this week we bring it home with the remaining elements.

Assessment / Review

It's time to consider assessing & reviewing our work and learnings. When you are practicing, it’s important to review your work and mark it against a set criteria. Without reviewing your practice, you can run the risk of spending the entire education with little to no progress. How awful. Where the teachers are the most costly, reviewing and receiving feedback is probably the most uncomfortable. However, nowhere near as uncomfortable as getting to the end of the "12 months" (eg. of selected period of duration) and seeing no progress. It's pretty essential we commit to watching our work back and reviewing it honestly! Not overly critically and also not with only praise - it's a real balance but luckily ya boy Lachy has covered "how to" before.

For a full comprehensive guide into how to review your material see:

1. R & R  (Record & Review)

   
   

2. The Visual Review

   
   

3. The Vocal Review

   
   

4. Criteria

The criteria, of your choosing can stem from concepts you’ve read about; learnt in class; or even been inspired by interviews from some of your favourite actors.

Resources

Next you want to make sure you have resources at your disposal for each topic of study. Think of this as your own personal library. Keep expanding it. Below are categories of resources and my personal recommendations. Don't get overwhelmed with the size of the list below! This is simply to provide you with options. Pick as many as you like, or as little as you need. A quick google search will bring up dozens of options for clowning, dance, body. ect. - non of which I have mentioned here - just not my kind of expertise - but go for it if thats where your curiosity takes you!

Books

• 'The Creative Act' by Rick Rubin (Creativity & Mindset)

• 'The Little Book of Talent' by Daniel Coyle (Practice)

• 'The Talent Code' by Daniel Coyle (Practice)

• 'The Artist's' Way by Julia Cameron (Practice, Creativity & Mindset)

• 'The Tipping Point' by Malcome Gladwell (Industry Trends)

• 'Life in a Midshot' by Les Chantery (Auditions/ Self-tapes & Mindset)

• 'The Dangerous Actor' by Les Chantery (Auditions/ Self-tapes & Mindset)

• 'The Second Circle' by Patsy Rodenburg (Mindset)

• 'Limitless' by Jim Kwik (Learning)

• 'At Left Brain Turn Right' by Anthony Meindl (Acting & Creativity)

• 'Book the f*cking Job' by Anthony Meindl (Acting, Creativity & Career)

• 'The Surrender Experiment' by Michael A. Singer (Mindset)

• 'Directing Actors' by Judith Weston (Directing & Acting)

• 'ACTIONS The Actors Thesaurus' by Marina Caldarone & Lloyd-Williams (Acting Tool)

• 'True and False' by David Mamet (Acting)

• 'Intent to Live' by Larry Moss (Acting)

• 'Freeing the Natural Voice' by Kristin Linklater (Voice)

• 'The Art of War' by Steven Pressfeild (Creativity)

I should mention some extra acting books that are considered foundational too however not necessarily my personal recommendations. Still would be very much worth you having a look:

• 'The Actor Prepares' By Konstantin Stanislavski

• 'The Power of the Actor' by Ivana Chubbuck

• 'Respect for Acting' by Uta Hagen

• 'The Art of Acting' by Stella Adler

Podcasts

• Off Camera with Sam Jones (Celeb/ Industry)

• Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard (Celeb/ Industry)

• Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett (Mindset)

• Huberman Lab with Andrew Huberman (Generalised Psychology & Mindset)

• Where Everyone Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (Celeb/ Industry)

• On Purpose (Mindset & Some Industry)

• SmartLess (Celeb & Industry)

• What Now? with Trevor Noah (Generalised)

Movies

Watch and have access to movies. (Cinema, Streaming, DVD & Blue-ray). Prioritise the work you want to be a part of.

TV

Watch and have access to tv series. (Free to air, Streaming, DVD & Blue-ray). Prioritise the work you want to be a part of.

Plays

Collect and read plays. Prioritise the work you want to be a part of.

Monologue books

Collect monologue books so you have an endless selection to work on in between gigs and plenty to choose from when auditioning. A versatile large selection is what is important here. Actors often get caught up spending most of their time looking for a new monologue rather than preparing. Working on monologues each week (without a deadline), makes sure you'll be ready to go when there is a deadline (Audition).

Scene Library

Start to grow your scene library with every class/ workshop or trade with selected friends who are willing to swap scripts. See How to Build a Library for more on this.

Subscriptions to Services

• Stakemilk (Blog, Scene Library & Virtual Training)

• Acting Mastery (Scene Library & Training)

• Equity Foundation/ MEAA (Workshops & Classes)

• The Actor's Article by Lachlan Stuart (this Blog)

Community/ Connecting with industry

One really important thing to begin developing in acting school is strong ties to other future professionals. So connect to those you meet in class & other events. Your community of actors will be essential to you for things like self taping too. Check out the local film schools and try meet a few new film makers as well. See Here for more discussion on how to build community in your area.

Showcase your work

Once you've practiced and understood the foundations, plus made a few connections - there is no point performing in isolation. Get out there and start auditioning. Share your progress on socials or create your own stuff to share through festivals. Be a theatre maker. Be a film maker. Film, theatre, it doesn't matter just start sharing with audiences. Don't share your auditions though! You could get into some real trouble.

Industry work experience (Placement)

The independent industry is full of what people on the outside/ "the unfamiliar" might call "free labour". Most filmmakers out there are doing this because they are passionate about creating great films. A lot of the good work is done by people who won't see a dollar for it and they're fine with that. Funds are generally low - it is independent film after all. What this means for you is that you can use this knowledge to help you get experience on set as an actor by booking auditions from briefs sent out around the industry (Casting Networks) or on platforms like Starnow, Facebook or Instagram. Be wary that some of these platforms are unmonitored so you want to make sure you're safe at all times. Exercise caution: If you know other people in the industry, see if they have heard of the listed pros involved and do your due diligence. Search up the production company or director or producers attached. See what they have done - etcetera. My main point though: You don't need to add the stress of "what if botch this up" because they're lucky to have you - you're doing this in your own time, and doing it for free. It doesn't mean you don't work just as bloody hard as you would if you were being paid, but it does mean you can take that pressure off yourself.

The other way to gain experience (and potentially more frequently) is through being a Production Assistant. Email around to some of the independent film makers and mention you're an actor but looking for work experience on set as a Production Assistant. Send a Headshot and CV and you may find a few get back to you interested. Who's going to say no to free help?

I know it sucks to not be paid for your efforts but hey it's all experience that you can wrack up, put on your cv and can lead to more work - potentially eventual paid work. This is usually how people start off in this industry anyway. Working for the love of films or theatre. Through this on set experience you're able to build some really great relationships with some phenomenally creative people. Through those relationships you can come to find some fantastic acting opportunities. That is how a career is built - one opportunity after the other.

Just how universities have "work placement", you too can have your own "self guided work placement". You'll start to feel what the work is like! It will no longer sit in your head as an idea of the film/ theatre industry. You'll be out there doing it.

Next week we look at one more consideration to make towards the end of your studies and we bring it all together with a recap. Be sure to check in again then.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions about what was covered in this article, contact me directly on lachlanstuartactor@gmail.com or leave a comment below (Don't forget to mention your name in the space provided! 😊)!

Talk soon,

Lachy

Lachlan is an Australian Actor who has been working within the industry nearing a decade. He’s worked in Film & Theatre.