The Acting Technique That Helped Launch Careers

What do Grace Kelly, Robert Duvall, Sandra Bullock, Tom Cruise, Naomi Watts, and James Franco have in common? All of them studied a technique that helped them launch their stellar careers.

Almost anyone taking acting classes in NYC will inevitably come across that technique: Meisner. If the Meisner helped these Hollywood superstars, then it must really be exceptional.

So how does the Meisner technique work? Developed by the late Sanford Meisner, the technique trains an actor to access his or her impulses. That causes the actor to draw out real behaviors and responses to circumstances. It is applied to improvisation with another actor, interpreting a script, as well as other basics on acting.

The Meisner technique uses one fundamental exercise called Repetition. In the exercise, two actors sit across and respond to one another using a repeated phrase. If one actor says, “You look unhappy with me,” the other actor responds on impulse.

Basically, the Meisner technique helps achieve two things. First, it gets the actor to stop thinking what to say or do in the given situation. Second, the actor responds to the situation physically and vocally in a spontaneous manner.

The technique, of course, does more than just have two actors respond to a repeated phrase. By taking an acting class teaching the technique, one might find oneself joining the leagues of big names someday.

Developing Your Acting Skills

You may be wondering what you can get from taking acting classes and why aspiring actors bother to enroll or participate in workshops when they can just practice. By taking lessons and joining other students, you can develop your self confidence. You will be more comfortable talking in public and receive constructive feedback from experienced professionals.

The methods and techniques that you learn from the classes will also help you become comfortable showcasing your skills because you won't feel self-conscious, knowing what you're doing is right. The classes can also help you improve your communication skills.

It's not just because you can interact with various other people. Some of the classes are designed to help improve your pronunciation, enunciation, and diction. Aspiring theater actors will also find lessons on how they can project their voice better.

The lessons can also help enrich your imagination. You will be involved in many projects and assignments and, while this also serves as your training, it gets your creative juices flowing, as well. You will learn to analyze texts so you can understand your character better and you will know how to improvise effectively. You will also learn proper movement onstage through various exercises like pantomime.

Other than learning and developing skills, taking acting lessons is a fun and productive way of spending your time. While acting should not be treated as a hobby, it is still enjoyable and can help you improve yourself.

Acting Professionally Requires Training

Acting may seem easy enough, but it's a lot more than pretending you're someone else in a certain situation and delivering a couple of scripted words and hoping to evoke a certain emotion from the audience. It may be fun, but it is a craft and has to be taken seriously. This is why aspiring actors opt to take acting classes where they are trained by those who are knowledgeable in the field.

If you want to be a professional actor and are looking for acting classes in NYC, you have to make sure you are dedicated to your craft and make sure to enroll in credible schools. If they mention some popular actors that have trained under them, it wouldn't hurt to check if these claims are actually true. These classes are an investment that will help you learn the basics and develop and improve your skills.

Choose the schedule that is most convenient to you. It is your time and investment, so if you're doubtful you can attend some of the sessions. When you are in class, you have to be completely focused. These are not pure theories and lectures, there will be acting exercises, which will serve as your training, as well.

Here's Why the Mic on the Camera may be Ruining Your Audition

Different lights sources are different "temperatures" which means they have a different color. Incandescent lights are yellow, daylight is very blue. Let's say you set up the lighting, and you are also near a window.  By hitting the White Balance button you can adjust the camera to "balance" the color between those two light sources. Place a white card where the talent will be standing and hit the white balance feature. If you do not use this feature the color will be completely off, especially your skin tones. It will be evident if you forget to do this, because the skin tones and colors will all be incorrect.



Sound is another very important feature. Distracting static, muddy tones in your voice, are all ways to kill what might otherwise be a good audition tape. A good way to get quickly dismissed is to have poor sound quality. Keep the mic as close to the talent as possible. Renting a good quality microphone is a good idea, as the camera mounted variety are usually prone to pick up lots of static and stray noise. Let's face it, acting is a form of communication and you cannot communicate clearly if you can't be heard. Acting classes in nyc sometimes have ways to help with this.



Once the basics are set up, content becomes the focus. An audition prepared for taping has some slight differences. Coaches trained in Meisner acting techniques can help you prepare for those differences. An audition tape that is engaging, riveting, and fascinating is easier for actors that have studied Meisner acting. In Meisner acting nyc, a key thing to keep in mind is what is left "out." Of course, you can't cram every possible emotion that a character "has" into a few moments. Leaving some elements of the character out, is one way to engage your audience immediately. Audiences like to work, think, and look for clues which is a way to engage them in your performance.

Acting Classes in NYC for Serious Artists

Acting Classes in NYC for Serious Artists

The Maggie Flanigan Studio provides nyc acting classes for serious actors. To learn more about commercial acting visit the studio website.

Accepting Direction and Criticism - Improving Acting Audition Tapes

Two to three smaller lights are all you really need. A light should be placed in front of the talent (you) one on either side, and far enough away to not cause shadows or hot spots. The background can lit using a third light. There are audition tapes that have dark backgrounds which can set a certain mood and this can work. While this can work you must be careful to that the overall feel of the tape is appropriate and not distracting. A white balance feature on cameras is used to correct the color.



Light sources, such as lamps, professional lights and daylight all have different temperatures. Daylight has a lot of blue in it and is very "cool." Let's say you set up the lighting, and you are also near a window. If you use both of these light sources the color will be off unless you "correct" it in the camera. The white balance feature is used to make this correction quickly and automatically. Just focus the camera on a white card or sheet of paper and it should correct for color. If you do not use this feature the color will be completely off, especially your skin tones. It will be evident if you forget to do this, because the skin tones and colors will all be incorrect.



Sound is another very important feature. If you cannot be heard, you cannot perform. A good way to get quickly dismissed is to have poor sound quality.  The cleanest sound comes from a mic planted close the source of sound, in this case, you. Camera mounted microphones are not very close to the subject, so looking into the rental of a good quality Lavalier microphone might be worthwhile. If you aren't being heard clearly you aren't able to communicate who you are as an actor or the character. Lots of good acting classes in nyc, include advice on how to do this.

The Maggie Flanigan Studio provides acting classes for serious actors. To learn more about commercial acting visit the studio website.

Acting Classes in NYC for Serious Artists

The Actors Instrument and Physical Expression

Master The Craft Of Acting - The Actors Instrument and Physical Expression

The actors instrument is something actors may have heard before, especially if they study the Meisner acting technique. While directors and actors are sometimes at odds due to creative differences, the truth is actors are the instruments, the components, that make up a successful production with a director as a conductor. Directors and actors may sometimes see things differently and while the director is the conductor, actors are the most important instruments used to tell the story. The actors instrument is what the actor uses to channel the vision of the writer and director, creating the most artful, interesting character they can to make the vision a reality. It's good for directors to remain open to the actors instrument and be aware of allowing the special nuances an actor brings to the vision to enrich the story.

Making beautiful sounds is the instrument's created purpose, while actors use not only sound but physical characteristics and other very subtle forms of expression that are uniquely human. Actors use the Meisner technique to develop as many of these forms of expression as they can, which working together make up "the instrument" an actor uses. If broken down into definable aspects, the actors instrument involves the development of Imagination, Sensory expressions, Empathy, Intelligence, and Physical expression. By mastering as many of these aspects as possible, and working hard at developing all of them, an actor has the ability to take on any role. Most successful actors working today have done an outstanding job of mastering many, if not all of these skills.

Every actor has their own unique physical way of expressing themselves and an awareness of the physical space around them. Physical expression and habits of physical movement is an aspect of acting that Meisner acting in nyc looks to examine and use to create character. Movements onstage in a theatre piece are very different than movements that are right for the camera. As an actor you must have studied physical expressions in depth to be able to adjust for new situations and roles.

Of course, personality actors can become top actors who are hired again and again, even though they express themselves physically in similar ways for every role. There are easily ten or fifteen actors who fall into this category that you can list without thinking too hard. Certainly, a charismatic personality is an extremely important aspect of the actors instrument, whether it is external, internal or both. There are many legendary actors who use physical expression as an art form to literally create a fictional, yet very real person. The list of actors that have mastered this would include Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Daniel Day Lewis, just to name a few.

There are actors who use their physicality to great effect, from Stallone and Schwarzenegger to Jim Carrey. These are just a few of the actors that have an ability to develop a strong and unique physical aspects to their characters. Going one step deeper as an actor means learning how to alter how they move and express themselves truthfully in a physical way to portray character.

This is not to say that tricks like limping or changing a facial expression to show a mood is all that is required. You must inhabit the created physical world of the production in a physical way that is truthful and be able to do it before there are physical crutches like sets, props, costumes and make up. Physical space, physical expression must be mastered and then used to develop all other aspects of the instrument. The most versatile actors have worked hard to develop this. Being attractive and/or charismatic is certainly going to get you noticed, but it won't give you a career into your sixties or seventies. Master physical expression, and the use of physical space to tell a story and enrich the other aspects of your actors instrument and you will be on your way to becoming great.

The Maggie Flanigan Studio provides acting classes in NYC for serious actors. Find out more about meisner acting at the studio website or read this article about acting instrument.
Maggie Flanigan Studio
153 West 27th Street Suite 803
New York, NY 10001
(917) 606-0982

I have always wanted to take an acting class. I was a dancer for a very long time. http://ping.fm/UzlLr