7 Things Actors Should Know About Training Outside Los Angeles
Drawn from what is actually said on camera, so you can decide whether to
spend the 8:02 watching it.
You do not have to move yet
The most common question she gets is how to start somewhere that is not Los Angeles or New York. Both cities are expensive and neither is a prerequisite for beginning. Delaying the start until you can afford the rent is the actual mistake.
Almost all callbacks happen on Zoom, chemistry reads included. Working to a camera in a small frame is no longer a compromised version of auditioning. It is the thing itself, which makes practicing it directly valuable.
Your square is the frame, so the size of everything has to sit inside it. Big movement needs the camera pulled back. That constraint is the same one film acting imposes, and learning it early is not a loss.
Coaching two actors before online producer sessions, she changed what both were wearing, because on camera you can see exactly how it reads. That feedback is not available to you standing in front of a mirror.
Sessions get recorded, so you can go back and look at your own work rather than relying on what you remember of it. Some actors pull a monologue out for their reel.
When a technique comes up, the clip demonstrating it can be pulled and played immediately. In person a teacher names a film and most students never go and watch the scene. On screen it is in front of you while the idea is still live.
Local theater, your local creative community, your own content. She has students who moved to the Midwest and kept working and kept creating. The training travels, and so does everything you make while you are there.
Don't move to Los Angeles for acting just yet. [Music] One of the questions that I get asked the most is how can I start acting when I'm not in Los Angeles or New York? And it's a good question, but you don't have to wait. You don't have to move. Los Angeles is expensive. New York is expensive. You can start your acting journey right where you are. So, we have online classes. We didn't have online classes prior to the pandemic. When the pandemic started and we had to shut down our in-person classes, what are we going to do? And we moved online. And I've got to tell you, you're going to get the same high quality instruction with us online as you will in person.
There is no big difference. One of the things that I like to say is think about the class as a close-up. This is kind of your square in the online room. So, you can't do big movements unless we pull back a little bit. Especially for our scene study classes, for our technique classes, we actually want you to be able to get up and move around. And I'm telling you, it works perfectly. You are not losing anything by not being in person. And of course, if you study with us online and you find yourself in Los Angeles, you're a part of the studio. Come on by. Come by and see us and say hello. If you watch one of my videos, for instance, taste of technique, the technique class that you get in person is identical except for you're working at home with your camera to the one that you're going to get online. We are going to do sound in a movement.
We're going to do concentration exercises. We're going to do imagination exercises. We're going to do improv. We're going to teach you the lesson. and then we're going to have you practice it and bring homework in. One of the benefits when I'm talking about a particular technique or maybe one of my other teachers is also teaching that technique, I can pull footage from films and television and show you right then and there what I'm talking about. There's a wonderful clip from Denzel Washington and Glory that I love to pull when I'm talking about sense memory and emotional memory. And uh fun fact, uh Edwick's book talks about that particular scene as well. So if you listen to that, that's on one of my book suggestions. Uh you can get another perspective of that. If I'm talking about when somebody's needs to do a sense memory maybe of cold or sick, I can pull clips from all kinds of different movies and I can show the actor using that technique in the moment. So that's a benefit that I don't really have to in person.
In person, I will tell you about some of these movies, the lives of others when I'm teaching inner monologue or unfaithful when I'm teaching inner monologue. But I know most of the time my students don't go out of their way to go and watch that movie and watch that scene. But when you're sitting in an online class, there it is right there for you. You can also sometimes suggest things or ask a question and we can pull that footage and look at that. I love the online class. I was reluctant at first just I think because we were forced into it because of the pandemic, but I'm so happy that we have it that we can reach you wherever you are. We have had people from all corners of the world join us. Sometimes people are joining us at 5:00 in the morning their time from their closet because they don't want to wake up their family. We have people all over the world. So, it's kind of fun. You know, sometimes we've got a class all from Texas. That's wonderful as well.
And when we do scene study, typically in-person classes, it's two people. Sometimes we'll do three-person scenes, but online it's much easier to do multi-person scenes. Let's say you're doing a scene that takes place in a car. You, if you want, can go out to your car and have that environment and work in that environment for that take. So, there are all these benefits to being online for the classes. For us, what I do when uh I've got an online class is I record the class and then you've got that footage to look back and watch again. Some people like to take bits of it and use it for their real, especially for a monologue or something, but it's wonderful to be able to go back and review. Sometimes people like to record in class as well, but it's it's a closeup when uh when we are doing it in an online class. different people that you can add to the scenes. It really it becomes a little difficult if you want to touch somebody if if there's a hug. But again, these are things that you need to consider when you're doing when you're working in film and television that you're not able to necessarily hug somebody in a close-up. You can lean in and hug.
I also enjoy choosing scenes for online class that might have somebody working directly with a camera, somebody doing a video call, somebody doing a phone call, somebody doing something that's sci-fi. So, it's kind of fun to find material. But if you're not in Los Angeles or New York, you do not have to move out here right away. You can get involved in your local theater, your local community. You can start creating your own content. I have students who have moved to the Midwest. I still see them online. I still see them creating. So, don't worry if you are not in Los Angeles. You do not have to delay your acting career. And nowadays, almost all callbacks, chemistry reads even happen online. They happen on Zoom.
They happen on another platform, but they happen online. So, it's good practice. I had somebody I had a couple of actors who recently had uh producer sessions online on Zoom and I coached them beforehand online. Even though they're here in Los Angeles, I could have easily worked with them in person. We coached on Zoom and then I was able to send them a recording. I didn't like what one of the people was wearing. I was like, "Oh, let's change that." Actually, I think I had them both change what they were wearing. Right. And you can see it right there how it looks in that frame. Um getting used to waiting in between your scenes, not being able to be there. So, it's really what's happening nowadays. So, if if you are not in Los Angeles, you can coach with me privately if you want.
But I do love our group classes. They're very affordable and a lot of fun, especially if you end up connecting with somebody else who might be in your area. I was saying earlier, I've had classes where a lot of people from Texas and if you which is a very big state, two people in Houston and so they were able to get together and create that community between the two of them and also including other people who are in other parts of the state. So when you are ready to do what you came here for or if you're not ready to come here, you can join me online or in person if you must. See you next week. Feel like a baby. So are we still rolling? [Music]
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