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Acting Made EasyBy Sam McCreasushna@yahoo.comTable of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1 - How It All StartedChapter 2 - The VoiceChapter 3 - The FaceChapter 4 - AccentsChapter 5 - Body LanguageChapter 6 - AuditionsChapter 7 - Memorization and Cueing TechniquesChapter 8 – Acting TechniquesChapter 9 – Tricks of the TradeChapter 10 – Getting Experience IntroductionThere are millions of people out there who want to be actors or want to improve

their acting skills. There are high school students who want to appear in theirschool plays. Many adult amateurs want to either begin acting or improve theiracting skills. There are professional actors stuck in a rut who can't seem tobreak out of being type-cast or are not getting the roles that they feel theydeserve. This how-to book will help all of the above.Having acted in many plays myself over a period of 27 years I have gainedknowledge, experience, and expertise that can benefit newcomers as well asseasoned actors in their endeavors to land roles or improve in the craft ofacting.I offer various tricks of the trade on how to project, do various expressions, doaccents, underplay, exaggerate, ham it up, cry, laugh and use body language toconvey meaning or character. I also offer audition tips such as how to dress, howto do cold readings from a script, how to prepare audition monologues, and how tochoose songs for musical auditions.Where possible I give examples of movies, TV shows, or plays that can be viewed tosee how the pros do things. I’ll also name various actors and actresses who aregood at certain types of acting and use them as examples of the right way toportray a character.Here’s hoping that you have fun reading my book and that, after having appliedsome of my techniques, you land the role of your dreams!Chapter 1 – How It All StartedWho knows when or where acting began? Perhaps it began with a hairy Neanderthalstomping around the campfire pretending to be a mastodon to show his fellow brutesthe best kind of animal to hunt. Or perhaps Neanderthals practiced making scaryfaces that they could use to frighten off the Cro-Magnons who demanded that theybe allowed to paint on the cave walls too!However acting got started it is here to stay. We all act in our everyday lives.We smile at others when we’re not really happy, we laugh at a boss’s joke thatisn’t funny, we’re courteous to drivers who cut in front of us on the highway andwe ooh and aah over a co-worker’s 100 pictures of her niece-in-law’s wedding whenwe’re actually thinking “Is it 5 o’clock Friday yet?”Any time someone pretends to be something he’s not he’s acting. This isn’tnecessarily a bad thing. Acting has helped to save many a marriage. For example,when a man’s wife asks him“Does this dress make me look fat?”

He may turn in an Academy Award performance when he replies“Hon, you look svelte, chic, and thin as a pane of glass no matter what you wear!”To get started on your acting career generally all you need is a face and a voice.If you want to do radio or voiceovers you don’t even need a face. If you chooseto be a mime you can even get by without the voice. But, if you aspire to stage,movie, or TV acting you’ll want to make maximum use of both face and voice. Sometools you can use to assist you in honing your face/voice acting skills are a taperecorder, a camcorder, and this book, of course.Chapter 2 – The VoiceDo you remember, as a kid, the first time you heard your own voice on a taperecorder or camcorder your first thought was“That doesn’t sound like me.”Or some time later you saw yourself in a video recording and you thought“Durn. I didn’t know my bald spot showed through my comb-over.”That’s why it’s a good idea to record yourself as you’re practicing acting. Youcan really see and hear yourself the way others do. You may be disappointed inthe way you look or sound, but it’s best to let reality give you that cold, hardslap in the face so you can face who you are and get on with it.Having overcome the shock of seeing and hearing the real you, you are now ready tostart emoting.A good place to start is with your voice. Use a tape recorder or camcorder as yourun through the following exercises.(1) Controlling volume - Start reciting the ABC’s by whispering as lowly as youcan at the beginning and increasing gradually in volume until you reach theloudest you can speak without shouting. Then repeat the process 5 times. It’sdoubtful you’ll make it all the way to “z” before reaching your loudest voice, buttry to get as far down the alphabet as possible.Play back the recording of your voice and if it seems as though you’re going tooquickly from whisper to loudest voice practice until you can get at least to theletter “m” without reaching your loudest volume.This will help you learn how to increase the volume in your voice in intervals.This is helpful in roles where you may be arguing with another character or youhave a monologue where you are required to show ever-increasing anger as you

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Acting Made Easy

This is an acting guide for those who would like to improve their acting skills, those who are relatively new to acting, and those who want to begin acting.

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Category:	How-To Guides/Manuals
Rating:	(1 Rating)
Upload Date:	04/08/2009
Copyright:	Attribution Non-commercial
Tags:	Acting singing auditions Acting singing auditions (fewer)