Hope you've all had a great summer. Just a quick message to let you know we'll be back with Season 6 in September!

In this episode, Milton takes a great question about pacing, which is a note actors get all the time, especially from people like agents and casting directors, and even directors. The reason it’s so precarious is because it’s an “effect/result” direction and never addresses the reason for the pacing. Does the pacing need to be different because of the genre you’re in? Or is it because the moments aren’t “filled” and therefore the work is dying? Or is it both? Most people who give notes about pacing have no idea *why* the pacing needs to change, and so they don’t know how to direct the actor to change it. In so many cases, the actor runs the risk of just “doing it faster” without any regard for *what* will help achieve that result and *why* it needs to be be achieved. He also takes a question from a listener, (James) who asks about casting based on your credits. 

Thank you for a wonderful season! If you have an acting question while we’re on break, send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at [email protected] and Milton will send you a personal audio response. 

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In case you missed it live, this week we bring you our Conversation on Acting series with Sharon Carnicke. Sharon is an internationally acclaimed expert on Stanislavsky. Her latest book Dynamic Acting through Active Analysis follows the evolution of a radical rehearsal technique created by Stanislavsky. She is also the author of Stanislavsky in Focus: An Acting Master for the Twenty-First Century, Checking Out Chekhov: A Guide to the Plays for Actors, Directors, and Readers, and is the coauthor of Reframing Screen Performance. She is currently a Professor of Theatre Critical Studies at USC School of Dramatic Art. In this conversation, we break down "The Method" and the biggest confusions and misconceptions surrounding it.

Have an acting question? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at [email protected] and Milton will send you a personal audio response. WANT MORE? Become a subscriber for bonus content! https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/actingclass/subscribe

Film Genres

Genre Conventions are specific settings, roles, events, and values that define individual genres and their sub-genres.

This week, our episode focuses on the idea of instinct. Most of us think of that word as something w’re born with, something that is innately part of us. But in the context of training and learning a process, instinct is learned. The more you exercise certain muscles of your technique, the more it is there for you when you need it.  For example, one of our tools is slowing down enough to analyze “the nature” of an idea and then translate it into something actable. If we take the time to work these tools, eventually they become part of our instinct, and our way of working becomes almost automatic.

And if you ever get lost, you can always come back to the fundamentals. 

Please join us for our Conversations on Acting session with Sharon Carnike this Saturday, June 3rd at 3pm EST. To receive the link by email, go to idontneedanactingclass.com and sign up for our mailing list. Or simply logon to our Facebook page or YouTube page and we'll be streaming live.

Have an acting question? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at [email protected] and Milton will send you a personal audio response. 

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This episodes happens to contain more casual chat and personal anecdotes than usual, but there is a point to it. It’s about the need to look at your character’s character. Do they have a strong sense of morality? Do they have principals, and off so, what are they? This is a particularly important question when playing someone whose actions in the play reflect their moral character. Perhaps they take a stand and do so at great personal cost. This is such an integral part of a human being, one that deserves a lot of our time as actors.

Have an acting question? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at [email protected] and Milton will send you a personal audio response. 

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This week, Milton talks about his approach to scene work. He begins discussing what the scene is about, has each actor do an etude (or improvised) monologue about their character, and then has both actors do an improvised scene that is not in the play. However, it’s important that this scene is not an arbitrary choice. There needs to be a reason in the text to explore this “missing” scene. Why does he do this? As Stella once said: “If you know how your character lives outside the play, then when you come back to the play, you’ll know how they behave.”

Have an acting question? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at [email protected]
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This episode with Milton’s famous class exercise “Something I Love/Something I Hate” where you talk out improvistorally while building something you love or hate. The purpose of this exercise is learning to live off the images and make choices that feed you in order to earn the line “I hate ________”, or: “I love ________.”  “What I want you all to do is stop throwing things out there that you don’t pay a price for.” Milton says. “Everything is something that needs to be earned.”

Have an acting question? Send us a voice message (link below ⬇️), or an email at [email protected]

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