Acting Tips & Career Advice
In today’s “Act-Fast World,” actors email boxes are being inundated with all sorts of offers for “Intensive Classes” and Workshops on: Auditioning, Networking, Film Technique, Camera Technique for Auditions, or Cold Reading. All these offers appear very appealing to actors trying to get their career moving forward. The buzz words Intensive and Workshop are very appealing but are they accurate? In many cases these classes should be more properly called Crash Courses. By definition, Intensive Courses take a complex field of study and condense the time it takes to master the subject, by offering a shorter time frame of more intense study. For example, instead of taking a course that meets twice a week, for 2 ½ hrs. per session, for 40 weeks, a person goes to class 5 hours a day, 5 days a week and completes the course in 8 weeks. Both classes require 200 hours of class work. Of course this also means many more condensed and intense hours of homework.
Whether it is called an Intensive, Workshop or Crash Course, these are just fancy words for a class. The title isn’t important. Don’t be misled by the buzz words the marketers use. They are trying to fill seats. What is important is:
• What is the class really offering?
• What do you expect to get out of the class?
• Is it offering something of value to you?
• Is it something you need to learn?
• Does the class deliver on its promise?
A crash course is something we take to get a handle on some of the basics of a subject so we can pass an upcoming test or get through a particular problem. Crash courses by definition are designed for emergency situations to give us just enough knowledge get by.
When you look at the Summer Intensive Programs offered by the major acting schools and studios, they really are intensive. They all run 5-8 weeks and are usually 20-30 hrs. per week, with lots of homework, and hard work required. The “Intensive Class” offers we get in our emails are mostly courses offered for one night or in some cases 2-3 classes. They are more properly crash courses.
Workshops are often a hybrid of intensive study the quick fix of the crash course. The name itself implies there will be more actual hands on work in this environment. Workshops should have a smaller class size that allows time for more work for all of the participants.
There is a big difference between just getting by and mastering something. Both Intensive Programs and Crash Courses have a place in the world and can be useful when used correctly. But, neither takes the place of real on-going training. They merely compliment it. If you need surgery are you going to use a doctor whose primary education in surgery comes from a crash course? Of course not. Are Steven Spielberg, Joss Whedon or Wes Anderson looking for actors who took some crash courses so they could get by at auditions? I don’t think so. And neither are casting directors and agents. They are looking for professional actors who know what they are doing.
It is said it takes 10,000 hours to get really good at anything. Those 10,000 hours consist of classes, coaching, working, professional experience, reading and practice, practice, practice. If you want to have a good career as an actor you have to be willing to work at. A real intensive course is a great way to get your training jump started. But even those are only a start. You have to continue you work on the skills you learned in your intensive so those skills become habits. And there is always more to learn.
I have a personal opinion on Crash Courses vs On-Going Training, and you can probably figure it out from reading this. It is not my job to force that opinion on you or anyone one else. But I am not doing my job as an acting teacher if I don’t make actors think. Acting is very expensive: Pictures, Resumes, Websites, Auditions, Commuting to Auditions, Acting Classes, Coaching for Auditions, Voice Classes. Movement or Dance Classes, there constant demands on the actor’s wallet. I want actors to invest in themselves wisely. There are no shortcuts to anything in this life we really want. I hope this piece helps to think more intensely about your career and your training.
Here are a couple of other articles on the topic I hope you find interesting .
Playbills vs Paying the Bills – Casting Director Workshops
Ask The Right Questions
Acting Is Expensive – Don’t Waste Your Money – Use It Wisely
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