<p>Thought this might be a great read for anyone who is mostly interested in acting for TV/Film and is hesitant about the “Stage” heavy aspect of most of the college BFA prgrams. This is part of the description on the CALARTS website describing their BFA and MFA acting program. Pay careful attention to the last sentence in paragraph 1. </p>
<p>"The 21st century (performer)
Reflecting the rapidly evolving landscape of contemporary performance practice, the Acting Program has moved beyond the training structures used for preparing actors for repertory theater companies. Instead, the actor of the 21st century needs to be highly versatile, able to work in any number of forms, styles and settings. This actor must be technologically literate, have a strong command of body, voice and speech, and be equally adept in theater, film, television and emerging media.</p>
<p>The Acting Program provides comprehensive training for sophisticated actors and theater artists who make strong connections between the physical and the mental. Students in this program learn how to analyze texts, understand acting methodologies, and develop their bodies, voices, emotions and minds as instruments for performance. They also come to appreciate the value of hard work, self-discipline and accountability. In addition to coursework, acting students hone their skills by performing in studio projects, student-directed scenes and plays, and full productions directed by faculty, student directors and guest artists.</p>
<p>During the final year in residence in both the BFA and MFA programs, students enroll in Acting Studio for the Camera, an intensive class, and also sharpen their auditioning skills. The final semester culminates with a showcase production in which graduating students perform for professionals in the theater and film industries"</p>
<p>Shacherry, I’m only sorry your S is not in L.A. right now, because my S2 is currently casting his student film (USC) and is in need of a wonderful young man to take the lead. </p>
<p>I’ve posted before that we know several young tv/film actors who enroll as Theatre BA students at USC for the purpose of having the space/availability to go on auditions and take film/tv work. It works out well, since they the BA gives a good grounding in theatre, allows room for many performance electives, and there’s room to take a minor (for example) at the film school or any other unrelated subject. </p>
<p>I’m sure there are other schools who may offer similarly flexible BAs with excellent training but a bit more room to take outside work/classes/whatever.</p>
<p>NJTheatre, Gwen and Photo thanks for making me realize that my son and I should not have an all or nothing mentality in regard to this issue. With more research my son might be able to find a BFA program that has participation in performances optional. Boston U sounds like one of them. There must also be BA options out there that do include movement, voice and technique.</p>
<p>Threed, I think the only real issue for my son in regard to performing in college is that if it is mandatory for completion of the program. He might want to be a part of a production. I believe he sees a great value in that, but he does not want to have the weight of having to be in a play hangover over his head. </p>
<p>Threed the other thing to consider when selecting a school is location. If the school is in a state and city that has a fair amount of TV and film work like NY, CA, Louisiana, parts of New England, North Carolina and parts of Ohio, she might be able to start working professionally while in school. Since my son is a child/teen actor his hope is to be able to juggle auditioning and working on projects that are deemed worth it by his reps while in school. That’s what he has been doing now in high school and it works for him. He wants a college education, maybe not traditional but one nonetheless. And I think with the right planning and thanks to CC and people on this forum he will find what he is looking for.</p>
<p>Madbean, I’d love for him to be out in LA. USC would be ideal for him. It’s just so competitive to get into. He is studying for the SAT’s so my fingers are crossed.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh! I should not have forgotten it since it is a very popular movie filming location. So anyone at Point Park and CMU might benefit from this.</p>
<p>Another question of how you spend your time in a theatre program is tech assignments. Many if not most BFAs require quite a bit of tech, so even if you aren’t cast (by choice or not) you will be involved in several productions over the year backstage. </p>
<p>I think a pretty good question when considering the BA vs. BFA choice is whether you want to spend less than half or more than half of your TOTAL time - not just in class, but the time you have IN YOUR WEEK - involved in theatre. My D is in what I would consider an average intensity BFA - meaning there is time to minor in something, that you can work outside of your studies, and that you aren’t cast or assigned crew in every production, maybe half of them, through the year - but she still expects to spend at least half of her TOTAL waking time during a semester committed to her work in the theatre dept, including in class, doing her prep for class, being onstage or working backstage.</p>
<p>When she was choosing among schools - including BAs and BFAs - this equation was a major factor for her. But she had to know that it meant giving up several other things she does (including in performing arts) for the duration. That was her personal choice, something each of these kids needs to think about.</p>
<p>I’m thinking that NYU and Emerson have strong film departments-- which I would imagine means roles in student films are plentiful…and that friendships one would make with young filmmakers, and those who teach them, could be beneficial in lots of ways. </p>
<p>And Threed, yes-- there are so many different approaches to acting, voice, and movement, and I don’t know how an 18 year old would guess which would fit best. So it’s good to have a chance to work with several.</p>
<p>With regard to knowing about the different acting techniques…students who are in their junior year of high school or below and are thinking about doing a summer program should consider the fact that such programs can expose them to one or more of the techniques.</p>
<p>My son never did any summer programs, and he had to scramble around to gain a very basic understanding of the different approaches to acting instruction during his senior year in high school. His original motivation was that at that time NYU asked most students in the interview which studio they would prefer to be placed in, and you wanted to have a reason to say “Meisner,” “Atlantic,” “Adler” or “Strasberg,” among others.</p>
<p>GwenFairfax & NJTheatreMom, or anyone else, is there a book that you know of that we could buy or maybe a site online that talks about the types of acting styles, (including movement and Voice)? </p>
<p>I was just wondering because it would be good to read this especially for kids who may not attend the summer pograms or come from strong theatre high schools. My daughter has had some of these opportunities but I am sure she could benefit from more knowledge. I am sure we could go online and search for information but if anyone knows of a specific book or site that would be great.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure there is not just one book about approaches to learning acting. It would surely help if there were! The only thing I can suggest to you is to keep an eye out for names of the various techniques and then research them individually one way or another.</p>
<p>If your daughter hasn’t encountered the following books before, I highly recommend them: </p>
<p>Audition, Michael Shurtleff. How to Stop Acting, Harold Guskin True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor, David Mamet.</p>
<p>I’ve read all of these myself and enjoyed them. The Mamet books gives one a peek at some of the kinds of things that go on in intensive actor training, and contrasts older and newer approaches.</p>
<p>^^ All great suggestions-- but there are so many techniques you’d need a full library-- Linklater and Lecoq, Alexander and Suzuki, Strasberg, Viewpoints (Ann Bogart)… </p>
<p>D did a summer program and came out of it feeling that Viewpoints was her thing, hating Strasberg. Went to a BFA, found Strasberg opened a whole new world. Is a little grumpy about studying Viewpoints right now but starting to recall why she loved it. Acting, like all art, is so intuitive, so individual…the right teacher makes something come alive that you’d have found dull otherwise… You might do best with Google, for a start.</p>
<p>I don’t know about your D, Gwen, but my son (a senior in a BFA program) is a very articulate person…except, it seems, when attempting to explain the nuts and bolts of various techniques to his poor old mom!</p>
<p>His enthusiasm comes through clearly, but beyond that he quickly loses me.</p>
<p>Since I trained in Chicago, I would add Viola Spolin to our list of significant acting teachers with their own “approach”.</p>
<p>And don’t forget the guy who ALL of this is based on, Konstantin Stanislavsky. You can go and find good translations that are quite readable and entertaining.</p>
<p>Just a note, Strasberg training can be quite traumatic, and is absolutely WRONG for many people. (Including me).</p>
<p>Totally agree on Strasberg, Kevp…not a fan at all. She had a great teacher and the trauma seems to have been strained out of it, and it really did open new doors for her. But overall I agree – I think many use Strasberg as a bullying instrument.</p>
<p>And yes, NJTM–I think an awful lot of this is beyond words! Off to look up V. Spolin. Have heard of her but don’t know much. Zen and the Art of Archery was one of D’s texts this year and she feels it had a big effect too.</p>
<p>One decent book about various acting techniques is Training of the American Actor, edited by Arthur Bartow (from NYU). Of course it doesn’t have everything, but it’s a great start. It contains the following, which I just pulled from Amazon’s description of the book:</p>
<p>• Lee Strasberg’s Method by Anna Strasberg, Lee’s former student, widow, and current director of The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute
• Stella Adler Technique by Tom Oppenheim, Stella’s grandson and artistic director of the Stella Adler Institute in New York
• Sanford Meisner Technique by Victoria Hart, director of the Meisner Extension at New York University
• Michael Chekhov Technique and The Mask by Per Brahe, a Danish teacher inspired by Balinese dance and introduced to the Chekhov technique in Russia
• Uta Hagen Technique by Carol Rosenfeld, who taught under Hagen’s tutelage at the Herbert Berghof (HB) Studio
• Physical Acting Inspired by Grotowski by Stephen Wangh, who studied with Jerzy Grotowski himself
• The Viewpoints by Mary Overlie, the creator of Viewpoints theory
• Practical Aesthetics by Robert Bella of the David Mamet-inspired Atlantic Theatre Company school
• Interdisciplinary Training by Fritz Ertl, who teaches at the Playwrights Horizons Theatre School
• Neoclassical Training by Louis Scheeder, director of the Classical Studio of New York University</p>