For those whose interests lie more in acting for film/commercial acting/voiceover, I wanted to start a conversation on programs that offer training specifically in these skills. I don’t know much and I’d be interested in hearing what others know.
Going into her applications 4 years ago, my D (and I) didn’t really think of the differences in training - it seemed like acting training was acting training. People talked about Meisner versus whatever, or performance opportunities (on stage), but I personally didn’t see any conversations on how many classes were being offered on specifically acting for the camera, and if so what the focuses of these classes were and how incorporated into the curriculum they were. Also, I’m not talking about performance opportunities in student films (although that can be valuable)–I’m talking about training in classes. We did know about film majors, but these seemed to be more for people who wanted to be behind the camera.
What we didn’t know was that some programs offer more focused training in film than others. If your interest is in that, you may want to look for this. Some schools that are rarely brought up here in CC may be perfect. For instance, Chapman (in LA) has really excellent acting for film training, and we’d never heard of it.
This year, Northwestern added a “module” (sort of a minor) in Acting For Film, and my D has been fortunate to be able to add that on. She has been learning so much, both behind the camera and in front. Last term, she did her first ‘behind the camera’ class, and did a ton of editing, screenwriting, filming etc. She also did her first acting for film class & it was here that she realized how much she needed to learn, since she personally found it very different from acting for the stage. They had guest casting directors and they practiced doing sides (given the day before), and they did lots of scenes. This term she’s taking a devisement class for film (sort of improv), a commercial acting class (where you learn your type, how to market yourself and how to present yourself), and her regular acting class. All this has made her realize how little she knows! Meanwhile, my S at LAMDA gets a great deal of training for film; I hadn’t really known that beforehand, going in (he did!).
So my takeaway is that I think beforehand, going into programs, it helps if you know if you’re interested in straight acting only (not MT), and if you’re interested in learning about acting for film. I think at the time of applications, we would have valued a really rigorous discussion as to what is out there in terms of specific undergrad training for acting for film.
So what is out there? I’m guessing CMU & Juilliard offer this training (?), but what about other schools? What are peoples’ thoughts and experiences? Again, not talking about training for stage acting, student film opportunities, & certainly not for MT. Just acting for film. Thanks.
) Ive really been looking for SO so long at acting for film summer programs that actually have good training, but arent too too long or expensive. I just cant seem to find any middle ground! Ive looked at hundreds of websites and reviews and so far the only programs I can find are week long summer camps where they day kids of all ages can come and make a movie for a week, which don’t sound like they would have great training at all, or really awesome rigorous programs at universities but they either don’t teach acting for the camera (just for the stage), and most of them are almost $10,000! Im not sure about you guys but we don’t really live near a big city so the summer is really my only time to get acting training and Im so so eager to learn everything I can about acting for the camera - but I just can’t seem to find anything! I actually just posted some questions about the places I’ve found so far in the Theatre/Drama Major forum as well as the Summer Programs forum, but