Freshly graduated from an inspiring and motivating year at the now defunct Acting For The Camera Program at Capilano University, I wanted to go places and do big things but had no clear direction of where I wanted to go. All I knew was I wanted to go one way, forward. I had finally completed my first year in my journey to becoming a full fledged actor. I felt confident in my work but knew I had much room for growth and wanted to keep growing. I looked around online to see what acting schools were in Vancouver at an affordable price and came across Schoolcreative. As soon as I walked into the building and met the faculty there, I knew that this is a place full of inspired, devoted, creative and caring people.
For me it felt right. I started taking part-time audition classes with Linda Darlow who’s teaching style had resonated with me, which came across in the clearest possible way for me to learn. It was only once a week but I wanted more. Artistic Director, Kirsten Clarkson, had designed two full time programs offered at the school consisting of two levels with the first being “The Inner Actor” and the second “The Inspired Actor”. After months of studying with Linda I had received a scholarship to attend their level one program. This was an opportunity I could not miss.
The Breakdown
The goal of the first level was to study human behavior and achieve self discovery through traditional theatre training in voice, movement, scene study, audition, cold reading, improv as well as understanding the business of acting in film and television.
For some that can be too much, but for me there’s nothing clearer than brutal honesty.
Audition
The audition class was taught by Linda Darlow who bases her teachings off of Michael Shurtleff’s ‘Audition’. Using the guideposts within the book, she takes you step by step and breaks down the important things to consider when approaching an audition for film and television. The process of how the class is run is much like how one would walk into an audition with the sides all being cold reads. You’d get ten to fifteen minutes to take a look over the sides and make some quick choices and go in and run it once. Each student would go through it once, then look at the playback where you would get direction and critique from Linda in a brutally honest but caring way, which only proves to be constructive and instills confidence. After that you’d run it again and implement whatever direction is given to you. Each student would go through about two different sides each class. The class would also involve other exercises to help the actor get connected with the material, such as staying away from the material and learning how to follow the feeling. She is so honest with her critiques and holds a very high standard when you work in her class that only pushes you to work harder because she only wants you to get better and doesn’t sugarcoat it. For some that can be too much, but for me there’s nothing clearer than brutal honesty.
Cold Reading
Another part of audition technique was being able to cold read, Henry Mah would teach this section of the program and he focuses on the energy you give and receive in a scene that helps generate an authentic and organic performance. Students would get a scene without having ever taken a look at it and cold read it right on the spot focusing on the kind of energy that one would want to send to the scene partner. Then students would take it home study the scene and perform it the following week. He runs a very structured class and delivers critiques in a warm and constructive and caring manner creates a very safe environment for actors to be able to explore and discover.
Scene Study
This class teaches how to specifically break down a scene, finding beats and shifts within it that paves an arc for great storytelling. Taught by Stellina Rusich who takes her teachings from a bit of everything but mainly focuses on techniques taught by Larry Moss and Ivana Chubbuck. For the first few weeks we started with learning how to break down looking for beats and shifts within the script and testing out different actions/verbs. The class was about exploring and encouraged that there is no right or wrong in how you interpret a scene but she teaches you how to make stronger choices. She is a master of the craft that radiates creativity that encourages growth through exploration in a nurturing fun loving manner. In retrospect, before joining the program I didn’t have a scene study. Her class taught me so much and helped me get even more specific with my work. She gave us the privilege of bringing guest teachers as well such as Nathaniel Deveaux and Ben Bass, which is all I can really say about the class. A complete privilege.
Voice
Instructed by Liz Mclaughlin this class taught the importance of voice, especially when performing in theatre. She taught us various techniques of vocal warm ups to ensure that it was resonant, articulate which made it easier to project and deliver the message to the audience. If they can’t hear or understand a word you are saying, what’s the point in telling the story right? We explored using mostly the Alexander technique, which for me was a definite bonus. I had always wanted to learn what that technique was about and was pleasantly surprised and pleased that I would get the chance to learn it. There were also deep breathing techniques, taught and found through yoga to release tension in certain areas of the body that were blocking us from being able to do more with our voices. Liz taught in a style that was very honest with high standards which only pushed me to work harder. The class was split a bit as well with Trish Allen halfway who picked up where Liz had left off. A pleasure as well to work with yet another caring teacher, both of which are constant reminders in my head with one simple word. Breathe.
Movement
Gabriel Thomas Carter. A man of super intellect. A teacher of awesome. We explored movement quite a bit but actually strayed off more into the life of mind of a human being which was ESSENTIAL. We tapped into exploring the human psyche. I think we only skimmed the top within the six months but it opened up a door to another way of approaching a scene study. I dug it. He taught us how to keep a performance organic and truthful by living moment to moment. Once we got a better grasp of learning the life of the mind, we built characters and wrote scripts in collaboration with other characters eventually getting to a performance. Although the class wasn’t completely focused on movement, understanding the life of mind of a human being was even more essential. A great class.
She helped me set specific goals in how I want my career to turn out.
Business
Sarah-Jane Redmond headed this class and she taught us that the industry isn’t called Show Art, it’s Show Business. She helped us find our hits and how we are perceived by the public in order to help capitalize on how you want to market yourself and be marketed. She helped me set specific goals in how I want my career to turn out and reach it in a way that can be done step by step and not make it seem like such a daunting task. A great class to have from a very smart, business minded, truthfully speaking teacher who knows how to mold the collaboration of the craft and the business of the craft.
Improv
Here we learned the rules of improv and how to be able to think quickly on the feet and just roll with whatever comes to mind without thought policing yourself. I was taught by Elaine-Brewer White who knows improv like no other. She’s quick witted, caring and has a very motherly approach to teaching and showed us why improv is so fun and important for an actor. It happened to be the class at the end of the week so it was a great way to just wind down the week and have fun. It fed the creative mind by helping us think even more outside the box with various different improv games.
Regardless, this is a school that GETS ACTORS WORKING.
The Verdict
The program and school for me was a life changing experience. I had learned SO MUCH in six months about the craft that I had never learned before and learned even more about myself. Basically, this review is nothing but positives but if I’m going to point out one negative is the fact that it wasn’t long enough. We skimmed lightly over Shakespeare which I wish we delved into more but within the time constraints that subject is something you can’t really teach over that time span. Regardless, this is a school that GETS ACTORS WORKING. In the six months I was there I got my first agent, booked my first commercial and found a family that I never knew I had. I definitely recommend the program to anyone who has a desire to improve their craft because this is a school that can only move you one way, forward.
Dream. Plan. Create.
(5 votes, average: 2.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
Jamie
Matthew
Anonymous Privacy
Anonymous
Anon. Y. Mous
Elise
Readbetweenthelines
Sandi Neilsen
Adam
Kelly Sarmiento
Audra Jager
Brenda Anderson
Meeshelle
Minka & Lola
Henry J Mah
Yvette
Eleni Tsapas, Talent Agent
Bob Smith
Derek
broke
What recently occurred in the comments section of this post is an example of what we’re NOT trying to do here at ASR.
Dialogue hopefully adds to discourse, but some of the things that were said, and the ways in which they were said can only lower the standards of the site and is a disservice to those who are doing their research.
It is of course not a problem to be opinionated, but suffice to say, personal attacks in which names are named could be considered slanderous, and jeopardizes the future of the entire site. As a rule of thumb, argue against the idea, not the person.
Because of this, all comments will now be moderated, which ultimately means discussions will no longer be instantaneous, and must go through an approval process.
The comments that were made will be re-published shortly, after any slander is removed.