How to Act for Camera Nobody Tells You About

I’ll bet most of you as actors out there are actual human beings. And most people think that the easiest thing in the world is to just be just memorize lines and play the character when the camera comes on. Wrong! I find that most people have the toughest problem, not with the techniques, but with just looking and feeling like an actual living, breathing human being once the camera is running. And, let’s face it, a good acting scene should never look like a good acting scene. It should look like "a reality show" that is so natural and real that we forget it is an acting scene.

Here are the top five tips I use in my classes now to get students to feel and look like real human beings in a scene:

1. Start by relaxing and your body to "just let go.” 

You need to get out of your mind and nervousness and focus on your body. It’s important to physically loosen your body and to unfreeze it so that natural life energy and subconscious reactions are set free to happen.

A simple relaxation technique of breathing 

Easy steps
While sitting on a chair

A. Step 1
Position:
-One hand on chest
-The other hand on stomach

B. Steps 2

• Exhale fully emptying your lungs
• Inhale deeply, pressing your stomach slightly. No pressing of your chest with the other hand.
• Hold your breath for 5 to 7 seconds and while you are holding your breath.
• Auto suggest silently to you, like-“I‘ll be relaxed”, “I’ll feel good”, I’ll give a great audition”, “I’ll give good performance”…
• Exhale very slowly in 7 to 10 seconds, releasing the pressure of your hand, the one which is on the stomach and pressing your chest slightly with the hand which is on the chest
• Repeat this exercise 10 times or till you can continue, depending upon time available with you in an audition room or the set before the shoot.

Finally, auto suggest yourself- “I’m feeling relaxed. Really good. Yes, I’m ready to go…”

2. Free yourself as though you are alone and no one is watching you. 

Create a wall in front of you and block everything-casting director, assistants, camera, reader (who reads the other part of your co-actor). Set yourself free. Based on the analysis of the script and the character you are portraying, do the things you would do if you were alone.   For example-scratch, get the hair out of your face. Be creative and set free natural nuances to happen so that you are working as a real “living human being”. Allow yourself to feel ugly, imperfect, even boring. Everyone actually looks better in a relaxed mode, as your face and body gets a beautiful, natural glow and flow. It will look like you are doing nothing, but remember, tiny nuances by you looks great in the camera.

3. Give yourself something to do! 

Anything that is real looks amazing on camera. So really read the book; really listen to the other person; really try to get the piece of lint off of your clothes; really give a soft smile; adjust your clothes. Really observe the other person in the scene. Feel the breeze on your face. Clean your finger nails. Touch someone with love. Stare so hard into the eyes.

4. Eyelines

Why an actor should care about Eyeline?
An actor should care about Eyelines because where and how an actor looks on screen gives viewers information about his character.
Though basically "Eyelines" is a subject of film making, direction and cinematography as to where to place the camera, especially in 2 shot filming, it could be a great opportunity for actors to showcase their talents through eye expressions
In a cine industry of Bollywood or TV serial market in India, where there is a cut throat competition,
it's  absolutely essential for actors how to position themselves suitably in a shot or at the audition to give a memorable performance.
There will be a separate post in detail on how actors should use their eyeline for the camera

5. Use props

It may be a Rs 20 ring you are giving to your love, but feeling that it’s a diamond ring and so should be felt by her. Sipping a coke, but feeling it’s a great scotch in a finest cut glass.
Feeling and just  feeling. A camera loves,  "feelings"! Yes, that’s the way you should use your props
(Prop: A property, commonly shortened to prop (plural: props), is an object used on stage or on screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a film set like pan, umbrella, coffee mug or anything but not a scenery, costumes and electrical equipment etc.)
Based on

India's Only 'One on One" Your Professional Acting Course

A PERSONALIZED ACTING COACHING SYLLABUS 

32 Steps of designing coaching program, especially suited to you

Introduction and Initial Step

Your audition is taken followed by interviews, not for selection in classes, but to know the level of talent in you, your dreams, why you want to be an actor, your determination, ability to struggle for a considerable period, financial resources to support you for a long period, your persistence and perseverance + more
Then we do your SWOT (your 'Strength', 'Weaknesses', 'Opportunities' for you, and finally 'Threats' to you)

Based on the above, we design a learning program, particularly suited to you.

Key points while designing Syllabus for you:

1. What is an actor?
2. What is your acting instrument?
3. How to improve your acting instrument
4. Body & mind
5. Improving all your 6 senses
6. How to really Listen and react normally
7. Why develop guaranteed and quick  relaxation techniques
8. How to fight tension on auditions and in a shoot
9. How to build confidence
10. How to improve your voice and diction
11. How to build a killer hot body
12. Two key factors in learning success- "Observation" and “Imagination”: Techniques
13. How to create a story after "observation" and importance of building up your sense-memory
14. How to play different emotions and 20 attitudes you see around you
15. Acting Technique: You are taught a special acting technique suited to you and are encouraged to develop your own technique after training you in Konstantin Stanislavsky method acting, Meisner technique and Stella Adler Acting Method.
16. How to win auditions
17. Why and how to do script analysis
18. How to do a character analysis of the role
19. Top tricks for quick memorization for auditions and large number of pages for film / theater
20. How to prepare a monologue and give a top performance
21. What is and how to enact 'improvisation"
22. Which are different acting techniques and which one suits you the best-create your own
23. What is camera acting and how best to play for the camera
24. Camera loves ‘eyes’-how to use them (use of your Eyeline)
25. How to work and get roles for the commercial ads
26. Why acting is a business and how to be a successful business actor
27. How to market and promote yourself, website making, monologue and show reel filming
28. Public relation secrets for actors
29. Life and career 'Goal Setting'
30. Casting directors and coordinators in India
31. Production houses and TV channels in India
32. Writing a script for your monologue and shooting a 2 minute video-film for promotion

+ More...

Get Coaching details here: Click

6 Audition Steps You Don't Know and Failed Again

6 Steps Everyone Should Know About Auditions

An acting career is a strange thing. You spend more appearing for auditions than for getting roles in a TV serial or films. I don’t think there are any other occupations like that. Looking back at my life as an actor and an acting coach, the average to number of auditions to actually getting the role (job) is 10:1, and a working actor probably had hundreds of auditions during his/her career.
This is why you have to learn how to handle an audition. Sadly, there are a lot of talented actors out there who never had a career because they couldn’t deal with the auditioning process.

1. The first thing you have to understand is that auditions aren’t about winning a role.. You can’t do good work inside an audition room with at kind of pressure hanging over your head of “getting a role is a MUST”. 
2. If the casting director says to me as his/her coach that my student did a great job, but he/she was too young or too old or too tall or too short, then I say to my guy you’re on solid ground. That means you’ll get repeat audition calls or even better, may select you directly without an audition for some future project. 
3. Look at it this way: Auditions are an opportunity to create a terrific, memorable impressions and fans in the casting world. And if you can get into the good books of casting directors, you will have a successful career.
4. Another thing you want to keep in mind is that nothing a casting director does is personal. Remember, these people are under a lot of pressure. They have to get their job done while facing calls from their producers, the director, the studio, the channel etc. So if the casting director is eating lunch during your audition, it means he’s hungry. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you. 
5. That’s why it’s a mistake to read into every little moment that occurs before, during, and after your audition? This road leads to madness. And if you are oversensitive about this, nine out of 10 times, you’ll be totally wrong.
6. If you want to become a successful actor, you’re going to spend a large part of your life auditioning for the acting roles you’re never going to get. So learn to enjoy the process. See every audition as a chance to perform, and don’t worry about the outcome. 

My advice

“All you guys want to do is to win an acting assignment, and you are thrilled because you finally get an audition. All anyone is asking you to do is to  focus and act in those two to four minutes, because that’s about how long an audition is gonna last 
And what you do? You jump into your own freaking conclusions and wonder if they’re paying attention. Do they like it? What are they thinking? Did I make mistakes? ... Think I got the role... No?
Forget it. Just perform”
Based on

.

A Key to10 Secret Tips to be 100% a Bollywood Star

Key to clues for an actor's success

Here are Vital Tips from My Secret Chamber to Put You at The Top of Acting Game

1.  Watch Great International Actors

To become a better actor you must not only continue learning the craft of acting (which is a lifelong process), but observe celebrity actors known for memorable and award winning performance. Go to the theatre, watch films/TV programs that have your favorite actors in. Observe how they execute their craft. What can you learn from them? What are they doing that makes them an outstanding actor?
Warning: Don’t become a viewer getting involved in the story, but observe films as a critic and as a learner. One of the great ways is to switch off the volume and then observe their acting

2.  Give Your Best in Rehearsals

Bring as much to the rehearsal (If there is one) as you can including strong character choices, clear character intentions, ideas, and your prep work/research. This will help you hugely when in the rehearsal space and creating the world of the character with your fellow actors. If there are no rehearsals, then seek some time before a shoot with the director and show him/her.
Remember, anything you do repeatedly become a natural habit, good or bad!

3.  Have a Mentor or a Coach

Had lots of failures and are struggling to see how to find the success you desire? Having a mentor (acting coach) can really help you see outside your “pre-conceived idea” and find other ways to climb up the acting ladder of success. It doesn’t need to be someone who is a three time Filmfare or Oscar winner, but someone you believe and admire. You can seek solutions from such a coach before an audition or before a shoot (May be by paying a small fee), fix an appointment, practice and then go for your kill! Having a mentor can do wonders for your confidence and your career.

4.  Develop Your Observation and Imagination

As an actor, drawing upon our life experience is part and parcel of connecting to a role and injecting truth into it. It is ESSENTIAL you live a full life to do this. Take walks in the parks, stations, zoo, visit as many people as possible regularly and observe keenly everything about them. Try new experiences, visit new places, hear different genres of music… Be an imaginative actor and create new lives. Use your imagination and dream and create stories from your observations of people, animals, birds, nature etc.

5.  Improve Mental Health

Alongside working on honing your craft and audition technique, you also need to work on your mind. This is of utmost importance. Do you understand the limitations your mind places on situations? Do you understand why? How can you overcome this? Once you have cracked this (Ask your coach), you will free yourself, lose inhibitions and find you begin taking more risks and making clearer choices with your work. Even work on your mind, your mentor (coach) can help you.

6.  Analyze Script and Character

Very carefully read your script, perhaps many a times. Analyze the objective, changes and how it achieves the objective. Analyze your “character”. This contains all the clues you will ever need in creating your character. Go through it with a fine tooth comb to pull out all those gems the script writer has loaded it with.

7.  Build Contacts

As well as having talent and consistently honing your acting craft, you need to have a good, solid list of contacts and continue to build upon this. You can build up your network/contacts by really working on social networking sites like Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Attending film festivals, theater groups, workshops, meeting industry people will definitely expand your contacts and help to broaden your visibility to casting directors and others who matter to you.

8.  Read Books

If you say you’re an actor, be an actor. Read books on acting to hone your acting craft and read fictions which have conflict, suspense and intense emotions. Don’t just read, imagine scenes while reading and be a character in the story.

9.  Then Discover Who You Are

Write down your physical, mental, social and cultural profile. The best would be to seek help from your coach. Identify your flexible traits, emotions, attitudes, which you can easily change, matching that of a character. Then forget what you cannot. Just bring the character into you rather than trying desperately to be a character.

10.  Create your Character-Write Down

Do you document (Write down) your character while analyzing the script and character? This is a great way to stay on top of all the choices you make for your character. Of course, you have to create not one but maybe 2 or 3 choices of creating different profiles of your character. Just grab an A4 size paper, write anything that inspires you in the development of your character, this can include a back story, photos of their street, house etc.
Based on

A Lesson From a Tragic Tale of a Failed Dreaming Actor

Struggling actors in their single room discussing dreams

Once upon a time, there was an actor, a real dream boy.  We called him Swapan Kumar (स्वप्न कुमार) 
-(Name changed due to secrecy)

Swapan Kumar, like most actors, was passionate, creative and excited to fulfill his dream and get his career off the ground.  He felt a surge of excitement when he realized that acting is more than a hobby, and he could do acting as a profession and be Salman khan or Randhir Kapoor. There was just no stopping him!

He was ready.  Because he thought that’s all it takes to be a professional actor.  A passion!
Right? But he didn’t know anything about, how? Oh, yeah… training!; he realized

Okay, Dream Boy realized how silly he had been.  He should probably take an acting class or something.

So he did.

• Now he was ready to be a professional actor.  He had taken training from a renowned school, paying Rs. 200,000 (two Lackhs, about $3000)

He had passion, he had been properly trained with all the information he needed to be a professional actor (after all, he took BJAS acting class) and so… he said “watch out Bollywood- Swapan Kumar is here"!

Well, nothing happened..  Swapan Kumar was stumped.  He took an acting class.  "Why wasn’t Karan Johar or Sanjay Leela Bhansali, banging down his door, script in hand, offering him the lead?… Or even a supporting role?"

"Oh, I see!" Swapan Kumar realized what the problem was.  Portfolio (Headshots).  Didn’t he need to get those if he was going to be a professional actor?

 So he went out and spent Rs. 25,000 on headshots. And Swapan Kumar was really excited because the photographer told him that he could now definitely get roles in Bollywood and in TV serials.
So Swapan Kumar got 1,000 prints paying extra Rs. 5000 for the package.

He remembered what the photographer had told him; get registered with a few good artist coordinators and had given him names.

So, he got himself registered with 6 top artist coordinators in Mumbai paying additional Rs. 30,000. The coordinators told him to get show-reel/ monologue film of 2 to 3 minutes shot to be sent to casting directors to improve his chances. He did that too and was out by another Rs. 25,000
But still nothing.  No Karan Johar.  No, nobody.

And he was down by a total of approx. Rs. 2,60000 (Two Lakhs sixty thousand; $ 4000). He had to use all the tricks to get this money from his parents and friends.

He was starting to think maybe being an actor wasn’t such a good idea.  The doubt started to swell.  His family started to tell him he was nuts for doing this and he should just “stop chasing rainbows” and get a “real job”.  He sunk further!

Why wasn’t Swapan Kumar’s acting career taking off?

After all, he had PASSION!  He was focused.  He took an acting class and he had all other things.
What’s wrong with this picture?  What’s missing?

Why Swapan Kumar Is failing?

Swapan Kumar has the passion (which is essential).  He does have headshots, show reel, monologues filmed and registered with top coordinators (few out of this also essential).  He did take an acting class (gotta have that too).

However, our स्वप्न कुमार- Dream Boy knows NOTHING about how the business of professional acting works.

He has no idea how to market himself.

He didn’t know how to develop confidence which he was losing due to self-doubt and shattering dreams.

He has no idea how the business of Bollywood and TV industry and how to develop contacts to get work. …Some consistent work in projects so he can make a living as an actor.
Passion is great.  In fact, it’s a non-negotiable requirement for a successful acting career.  But it’s not enough.

OK sir, I'm too an aspiring actor So, what should I do?

To Become and Remain a Successful Working Actor You Need

1. To understand the business of “the business” and how making your business of acting, successful.
2. To  continue training in a variety of different things (not just an acting class)
3. To understand basic actor marketing (and some more advanced promotional stuff if you want to move quicker)
4. How to deal with self-doubt, rejections, criticism and other career-killing mind trash (which will continue to haunt you unless you win over them)

Is it possible to be successful without one of those things?

Well, you might get “lucky” and get a job here and there. But you’ll have trouble jumping to the next level.
You’ll keep having the same experience year after year wondering why you’re not getting ahead.

You’ll most likely end up stuck in some other job you hate, getting a few small parts a year (if you’re lucky) and wondering why you’re stuck at that level for what seems like FOREVER.

You won’t be a CONSISTENTLY working actor whose career gets better and better over time…which is what you want… Right?

If that’s happening, somewhere along your journey you skipped a step.  It’s coming back to bite you now.  You’re missing some essential pieces.

Don’t panic! There is a solution.

Always remember this

“You can get wherever you want from wherever you are right now”

So, if that’s you, decide right here, right now that-

1. You WILL NOT be the actor in a bottle of self-doubt and self-pity.
2. You WILL fill in the gaps of essential knowledge strategy that you’re missing.
3. You WILL invest in your career by devoting TIME and with an IRON DETERMINATION 
4. If you’re at the beginning of your career, this is a critical time for you.
5. Don’t be Swapan Kumar- A Dream Boy
6. Get the ALL the essential information you need to get started on your acting career the RIGHT way. Make that promise to yourself right now.  

Go ahead.  I’ll wait.

Good!

Join some good acting coach you can like

Or if you find it difficult to find one, then join me NOW,

Get all the details here:  http:/topactingcoach.weebly.com

And You will be one step closer to a Bollywood's "The Red Carpet”!

You DESERVE The Red Carpet

Join Us!

How to Consult Acting and Audition Doctor to be a Star Actor

Kiran Pande Acting and audition doctor

Do you want to know whether you can be a successful actor?What should you do to be a Bollywood or TV serial star actor?

ACTING and AUDITION DOCTOR!

MEET and CONSULT ME

What we offer:

·    Your audition
·   Based on the results, your total analysis
·   What are your   Strengths, Weaknesses, Your opportunities to be a star, Threats to you
·   Action plan: What should you do?
·  Acting for the camera
·   Setting your career goal
·  5 years marketing plan for you for your success
·  Action plan
·  Answers to any question you want to ask

What do you get?

1.    Top Portfolio  studios and photographers to get auditions
2.    13 Best Acting schools and acting coach
3.    3. Handpicked best artist coordinators
4.    Top 3 casting directors
5.    Leading film production houses

Fees for 1 hour consultation: Rs. 1000

Procedure:

1.     Deposit Rs. 1000 in our bank account (will be sent to you to your email)
2.     On receipt, take appointment time and date
3.     Or pay on arrival
4.     Arrive on date and time
5.     Our Email: kiran.aged@gmail.com

Note:

There is NO other meeting system