Well its time for a change of subject from my usual critique and analysis of tennis, tv shows and films, so instead I will talk about some of my extra curricular activities, well one of them, which has been some acting classes that I have been doing of late. The class have been with the teaching school, ACS, who specialise in giving actors a no-nonsense approach to the process and art of acting (so to speak), so that means you don't get any nonsensical games, or being a tree and all this crap, its all practical skills they think an actor should have.
So I've been doing the classes over the last five weeks, and at first they sounded interesting and intruiging, but to be honest as the weeks have gone on, I've grown more of tired of them, and they are supposed to be fun classes. But for me there isn't much fun in them, as so far all we seem to have done is exercises on repetition, which involves two people standing facing each other and making a "call", starting with say "you're smirking" which the other person says back and forth. After that it could change to a "you and I" call, so one person says "You're smirking" and the other says "I'm smirking". And the idea is to keep saying this until the other person notices a change in that person, then they make another call such as "you're frowning" "I'm frowning".
So the whole idea I think is to get each person to connect with the other, and pay attention to their body language and what they say and how it is being said. The bottom line I guess is giving that other person your full attention and undertstanding what they are saying or meaning, and ultimately the more you do the repetition, the more it becomes just you up there being yourself. There is other stuff as well, such as the standard physical and vocal warm ups. And in the last week we were given tasks to do, that relate to a scene, and its about finding the motivation and the want behind the task, and putting that into the scene, and no doubt there will be more to follow.
And to be honest I think while I appreciate what they are trying to do, I just think these classes just take the fun out of acting, well for me anyway. I think these classes would benefit more a person who is probably serious about getting into acting rather than someone who is just wanting to do it for the fun of it, which is basically what I got into acting for in the first place. And I admit I had lost some interest in acting recently, and also I had a touch of nerves about going back to it, and nerves have always played a part in my acting, and I was doing these classes to see if they would spark me back into action, although I think they have had the opposite effect! And this process of acting is more about trying to strip away all the bullshit to find the real person or real actor, but to me that just sounds like bullshit in itself. And to me real acting and truthful acting is difficult to do if you overthink it, as if you do that it just doesn't look natural, it looks like its forced, and surely if you want to find a performance, its something you must try and feel your way through as well.
But for me at times it just feels like you are attending a social sciences or a philosophy class, and I leave the class feeling inside "this isn't fun and it isn't enjoyable". It also overly complicates the whole acting process, and surely there must be an easier way to break things down than the way they are trying to, but well that's just my opinion. Perhaps it might have sunk in more if I had more classes, but I am yet to really walk away and think "oh yeah I see the point of this. Its really cool!". And it sounds like someone is saying to you "try and think of you in this scene, but that its not you, its someone else and that other person is you, and try and bring a real life situation into the scene, but don't use the person from the situation". Bla bla bla. Info overload! And the irony of their way of teaching is that the whole process makes your overthink about things, yet at the same time they are saying "don't try to overthink things", but you can't help but do that because of what they are teaching you contradicts with what they want you to do when you try to do it.
So after five weeks I've decided not to go back, as so far I feel I have been forcing myself to try and enjoy it, and if you are doing that then what's the point. Also the class started with 9 people but as the weeks have gone on there are only 5 of us (well 6 but one of the girls was not present tonight). And yes previous acting classes I had taken were a bit wanky and had some useless stuff in them, but I think this school of acting is almost like saying "this is the way to go about it" perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm coming to the conclusion its just not for me. And there is not much point in doing something if its supposed to be for fun and enjoyment, but leaves you feeling puzzled and disatisfied at the end of the night. And this is in no way a slight on the tutor who is a very nice guy and also quite encouraging as he appreciates the difficulty of what he teaches, its just what they are teaching I can't relate to it, and I'm sure the people who dropped out can't either.
And I read one of the testimonials of the people that have done the course and have benefited from it, but one of them said quote "if you think these classes are easy, forget it! If you aren't cutting it, you don't progress to level 2". Which possibly means that if you fail to grasp the concepts of the step one classes then not only can you not go onto level 2, but you also would need to repeat level 1 again, which could mean you need to pay for it again. If that is the case then it is a total utter con, and frankly these classes simply aren't worth hassle of repeating, certainly not for me, as the enjoyment factor was so small.
So if you wish to go and dig deep into the processes of acting then its worth a go, but if you are looking for a way to revitalise the fun in your acting, well it might not be for you. But I guess its up to the individual at the end of the day, so if you see their classes on the web and like what you hear then give it a go. But I don't want to bad mouth them, and for the people who do get it, maybe it could be very rewarding, but if you don't, well give it a miss.
Anyway on that rather flat note, I will leave it there and move onto something else.
For now byeeeeeeeee!!
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