A Life-coaching Approach to Screen Acting

Description

Combining life-coaching and screen-acting techniques in one accessible handbook, this helpful guide empowers actors to overcome personal inhibitions and approach their work, characters and careers with confidence to produce real and believable acting on screen every time. Structured to build absolute confidence and understanding of yourself before you take on a new role and play someone else, this book employs life-coaching techniques to give you the conviction to face a fulfilling but potentially daunting career as an actor. After mentoring you towards self-assurance, Dresner moves on to examine essential elements of a screen actor’s craft, such as emotions, imagination, nerves, focus, listening and line-learning. This is a book that not only enables you to shed your inhibitions, but also equips you with the tools and practical thoughts to create powerful, believable characters. Published in partnership with The Actors Centre, A Life-coaching Approach to Screen Acting includes online videos of hands-on coaching sessions between the author and professional actors and is ideal for readers and teachers looking to replicate the method in their own training. Contents Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE What is Holding You Back? 1 Get Out of Your Own Way 2 Values and Fulfilment Identify your values Fulfilment The wheel of life 3 Saboteurs and Limiting Beliefs Saboteur words and phrases Limiting beliefs A note on your inner critic Use of language Fear Getting help from your captain 4 The Impostor Syndrome What can you do about it? Some quotes from people you may respect 5 Perfectionism PART TWO Moving Forwards 6 Confidence, Success, Perspective and Reframing Confidence Success Perspective Reframing 7 Learning Something New The four stages of learning and creating new habits Believe you can develop What are habits and how do they form? Neuroplasticity The theory of marginal gains 8 Trust and Creativity Trust list PART THREE As You are Moving Towards Someone Else 9 Screen Experience 10 Focus and Concentration Milestones and anchors 11 Emotions Pushing and indicating – trying too hard Affective memory 12 Imagination 13 Listening 14 Nerves and Nervousness 15 Lines and Learning Them The potential limitations of actioning Playing stakes and consequences Some ways people learn lines – a non-exhaustive list 16 Adjusting Your Vocal Levels Volume Speed 17 Size Matters Less is more PART FOUR Tools to Live Someone Else’s Life 18 The Inner Actor and Inner Character 19 Truth: It All Starts With You (and a Little About Method Acting) Method acting 20 The Senses and Sense Memory A sense of place 21 Thinking and the Inner Monologue Thinking and the eyes A kaleidoscope of thought A third entity Inner monologue 22 Improvise and Personalize 23 Meet Your Character 24 Mind, Body and Soul (Thought, Physiology and Emotion) The pressure cooker Emotion through physical manipulation Keep it simmering 25 Wrapping It Up Appendices References List of Video and Audio Links Index