Presented by Clark Jackson –
This workshop will be held online over Zoom:
The focus of this course is on scenework for on-camera auditioning, but also applies to building a character once you have the job! The goal is to develop your creative instincts, imagination and technique for revealing the essence of your character through your scene(s).
We start from the notion “the map is not the territory” – that the script is a starting point for all the actor brings to what’s going on beneath the text. This idea helps free the actor to choose objectives, actions, obstacles, backstory, environmental details, etc., that may or may not have anything to do with what appears on the surface of the text.
In addition, we’ll pay particular attention to meeting the demands of on-camera acting through vocal and physical choices, and by achieving simplicity, spontaneity and a state of relaxed focus; through developing a method to identify as quickly as possible what’s most important about a character, their situation and relationships, especially when confronting the often short turnaround time for on-camera self-taped auditions; and by making the situation most real, personal, important and meaningful through a direct connection to your own life experience.
We’ll also explore how stillness and the thinking process are important for on-camera acting in creating a range of possibilities that draw the viewer into the character’s internal world, and how a viewer’s interest can be piqued by characters whose thoughts are transparent as well as characters whose thoughts seem to be hidden/unreadable.
Along the way, we’ll touch on these vital aspects to successful on-camera acting and auditioning:
- listening and the ability to pick up your lines off the page to sustain the flow of the interaction
- understanding what story the writer wants to tell in balance with the story you want to tell
- being able to receive adjustments in an audition and on set and incorporate them into your own choices
- avoiding pitfalls in the memorization process
Before the first day of class: provide a scene that reflects your understanding of your type; each actor will be assigned a reader for their scene before class who will have the opportunity to become familiar with the scene. Actors should come to class prepared to perform their own scene just as they would for an audition.
About the instructor: Clark Jackson has appeared on Broadway and starred in numerous TV series and films, most recently in the upcoming film JOURNAL FOR JORDAN with Michael B. Jordan, directed by Denzel Washington. He can also be seen on film in I SMILE BACK with Sarah Silverman and Josh Charles and the Jon Stewart film IRRESISTIBLE among other film projects. His TV credits include DESIGNATED SURVIVOR, THE CODE, LUKE CAGE, CONVICTION, ELEMENTARY, MADAM SECRETARY, SHOW ME A HERO, THE BLACKLIST, RESCUE ME, THE GOOD WIFE, GOSSIP GIRL, FRINGE, BLUE BLOODS, LAW & ORDER, LAW & ORDER: SVU, WHITE COLLAR, and the Ryan Murphy series POSE. On Broadway, Clark has starred in ALL MY SONS alongside John Lithgow, Katie Holmes, Patrick Wilson and Dianne Wiest, in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF with Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose, James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad, and in BRONX BOMBERS with Peter Scolari and Christopher Jackson. Clark portrayed Oscar Charleston in Lee Blessing’s COBB, performed at the Lucille Lortel Theatre where it was produced by Kevin Spacey and won a Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble…read more