Acting is hard. No, really. It is hard. It's easy to grasp on but hard to perfect.

I've always thought of myself as a dramatic actor. I wasn't really into comedy because I'm not very good at making up jokes on the spot or good puns and I'm not a very slapstick person lol. Being dramatic meant I could make a scene intense and build up the tension between another actor and I. Draw out emotions from one another and turn it into a really dramatic scene, whether it be death, loss, comfort, chaos... I like those kind of scenes.

I recently did a 2 day short course at NIDA and it was amazing. I relived all the things that I did in drama class including the games such as space jump, the 'count to 21' without anyone clapping at the same time game, Bang, Zip Zap Zoom, and new ones that were introduced like the 'Bus Stop' and the 'Party Guest'. These were all improvisation focused skills that we learned on the first day and I had loads of fun. What I find most comforting was the people there. When we went around the group introducing ourselves, everyone had different situations. There was a corporate banker, a struggling student, 59-year old mother, psychologist, 25 year old deferred student, and a casual actor. And then there was me lol. There were only 7 people in our group but it was an awesome bunch of people because no one mentioned "studying" and it was up until that point that I realised that university is so toxic. I think the most surprising thing people found out about me was that my parents didn't know that I wanted to pursue acting. I love acting and those people brought out my confidence. Especially the tutor, Beth. She's such a darl. She knew everything about auditioning for nida or auditioning overall, the processes that go after studying nida, casting agents, TV and Film, Advertisement work, voice-over work, getting your name out in the industry etc etc She made everything so much better and calmer, as if the industry wasn't that bad. but it probs is..

She told us she first auditioned when she was 17 but didn't get in. Then auditioned later at 18 and also didn't get in. She entirely forgot about acting up until 23 when she worked 2 months intensively on her auditions, researching her character, play, emotions and watching different types of representations of her shakespeare/ monologue/ contemporary piece. It was up until that point when she was 23 that she got into NIDA. Wow. And you know what, that doesn't bother me that she auditioned 3 times and got accepted on the third go. I know it'll be hard to get in but I believe that if I believe in myself, then anything is possible.

The second day was more script focused, so reading off a script and establishing who, what, when, where, how is your character present in the scene. Oh Beth also mentioned that acting is 80% listening than actual doing which is so damn true. Because when we were given our scripts and had to learn our lines from 1.30-3pm, it was amazing how much I could get in to my head in that short time. It wasn't by memorising as if I had to remember HSC notes but it was simply reading the script intently and then listening to your partner. So for example, if your partner asks you a question and you know one of your lines is directed to that question, then it's your line. It's not like photographic memory where you see character names like A, B, A, C, A, B, C, A in your head and think okay B comes after A, then A and C... you just listen to the person talking and instinctively know that your line is suited to that response.

The reason I mentioned earlier that acting is hard is because you have to multi-task. I mean very good multi-tasking. You're not trying to remember your lines, you have to create expressions, emotions, physical actions, be on cue, know when to move when speaking your lines, improvise when someone doesn't remember their line to avoid any awkwardness on stage, fill in the gaps. Kudos to actors man. Leonardo deserved his oscar LOL Also your expression has to always be intact. You can't show a moment of being "off-character". If an actor is presenting a lengthy dialogue to you, you can't just sit there and wait for them to finish it. You have to react or maintain your expression which is what I ALWAYS focus on when I watch plays. I hate seeing actors on stage or students overall not reacting to a speech or conversation that's given. Their eyes would wander off or they'll have little habits like tilt their heads to one side, scratch their nose or eyes, look down... it annoys me. You have to ALWAYS STAY IN CHARACTER!!

And that's why I'm a dramatic actor lol I like raw emotions and physical actions because they're on-going. I like to portray powerful characters that have a lot of story to them that I can carry on through a scene. I like emotions. I really do haha I wonder whyyyy... ooh is it because I am an emotional person?? hmm

anyway, that was an awesome experience and worth the $$$. I would totally do it again. I'm so happy. My heart just opened and my mind has never been more calm. I found my passion again.


Wednesday, April 13, 2016 6:32 PM