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Nov 24

Online Acting Tips – Current List

YOUR GROWING LIST OF ACTING TIPS

These tips are profoundly simple and very practical. They are not an acting lesson in themselves but they will clearly point the way to the concepts and skills you need to work on. They will also raise your awareness of the mindset that is required to manage the exciting and rewarding job of being an actor.

You will also find FREE exercises that enable you to test out the concepts.

For $20 (AUS) you can have ongoing access for 12 months to this ever-growing list of tips – emails will update you as new tips become available. Enrol for the tips here. Or purchase "Creating a Character in 10 Seconds - PREMIER" and you will immediately have access to "Tips to Inspire" for free for 12 months.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS EMAIL … Richard@rehearsalroom.com (put “Online Question” in the subject line)

TIP 1: An Important Difference
The key foundation of this approach to acting is to be able to separate a character’s conscious and unconscious impulses. No other process makes this important separation so clear. ACTING TECHNIQUE CHARACTER

FREE EXERCISE INCLUDED WITH THIS TIP. Some instructions and a scene to enable you to test out these concepts. If you wish you can send them to The Rehearsal Room for personal feedback.

Tip 2: The Importance of the Story
Understanding the Importance of the Story – acting techniques focus on lots of specific processes but none of them focus on how to deliver the story – that’s The Rehearsal Room difference. STORY TECHNIQUE

Tip 3 Being Totally Real
The key to being totally real is connected to managing the relationship and conversation as separate entities. ACTING TECHNIQUE CHARACTER
Read the blog "I Got the Job"

Tip 4: Beginnings and Endings
Relaxation – is a big deal for any performer but so are beginnings and endings. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 5: Instigating and Responding in a Conversation
Keeping an audience engaged through the middle of a scene is the next important step once you have engaged them with the beginning of the story. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 6: Conversation Structure
Understanding that conversations have a structure and how that structure works is a fundamental skill for an actor. Conversations always have an ‘Instigator’. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 7: The Importance of Listening
Listening is the key to being real. ACTING TECHNIQUE
(This tip was recorded in 2017 in a different format)

Tip 8: The Key to Great Listening
Actors often confusing hearing with listening. This tip clearly defines the difference. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 9: The Importance of Owning the Space
A simple fundamental of acting can be easily corrupted if the actor doesn’t understand how their mind might works. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 10: A Professional Choice
Never stop a take if you can keep going. The professional choice is to keep going. Your feeling that a performance isn’t going well is notoriously unreliable. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Managing the actor’s mind.

Tip 11: Mind Management
There is a problem with overloading the mind with too much information. For the actor, stoking the fire too much can mean you block up the chimney. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 12: A Fundamental of this Technique
The importance of managing the actor’s mind when making acting decisions is important territory that is often overlooked – this is the focus of The Rehearsal Room technique. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 13: Making the Best Choices
Psychologists tell us how our minds function in life and when actors understand how our minds make decisions then they can work at applying those processes to their acting. ACTING TECHNIQUE & STORY TECHNIQUE

Tip 14 The Reading Problem
The actor’s reading skills can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help. One important tool to manage this problem is to move away from literary intuitive choices and get specific with the details. ACTING TECHNIQUE & STORY TECHNIQUE

Tip 15: Fear Vs Logic
Fears and self-doubts run our lives. Don’t let fears or self-doubts tell you there is a problem. Use your logic. It might tell you there isn’t a problem at all. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 16 Measuring Your Success
Acting is such an ephemeral task that no one offers specific ways of measuring your achievements – if the audience says they like it that’s the best you are likely to get. But MEASURING SUCCESS is an essential skill for the actor. It can only be done by understanding the practicalities of the actor’s craft. ACTING TECHNIQUE
If this tip makes sense to you but you want more specific information about how to measure your performance success then Tip No 20 will give you some additional food for thought.

Tip 17 Patterns are a Problem
Many of the techniques actors use for learning lines or movement result in them getting locked into patterns. The result is that the acting looks controlled rather than spontaneous. This tip evolved from a very successful application of this technique to a production of Shelagh Stephenson’s “The Memory of Water” which I directed in 2017. ACTING TECHNIQUE & STORY TECHNIQUE

Tip 18 Playing a Three Hander
The way people behave in groups is fascinating. The challenge for the actor is creating group behaviour in a logically organized way. ACTING TECHNIQUE

Tip 19 A Challenge for You
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman in his book “Thinking fast and slow” tells us that in life we “We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our own blindness.” So … how good are we at assessing our choices?
ACTING TECHNIQUE & STORY TECHNIQUE

Tip 20 Measuring Your Performance in an Audition
The greatest moment of uncertainty for any actor is as they walk out of the audition room. How do you know how you went?? Here’s a simple checklist that achieves a very clear performance assessment of your audition or any performance. It works!!
When you come out of an audition you can assess how you went.
ACTING TECHNIQUE & STORY TECHNIQUE

TIPS TO INSPIRE 2:

Tip 21 A Path to Being Real
Understanding the core elements of what you are doing provides the foundations on which true achievement is built. A core process element is that acting isn’t about what you are doing, acting is all about what the other person is doing.
ACTING TECHNIQUE CHARACTER

Tip 22 The Importance of Listening to Relationship
This is one essential skill area that has traditionally been left to chance in every acting process until now. The Rehearsal Room’s analysis of how we listen and the development of techniques to generate skills that parallel the way we actually do it in life are unique.
ACTING TECHNIQUE CHARACTER

PROMOTION ONE: Learn more about this acting process
An opportunity to find out more about the nuts and bolts of this approach to acting and what makes it so unique and so practical. Sophia who was doing “Creating a Character in 10 Seconds” explains a discovery she made. She found, to her surprise, that she could completely change the focus of her listening.

Tip 23 19.9 What Makes a Good Audition
Understanding what makes an audition good is the key to being able to put the elements in place to make sure your next one hits the spot.
AUDITION SKILLS
Posted 12/7/2019

TIP 24 Making Your Character Real
It is very easy to over-complicate simple tasks. A simple reality is that Constantine Stanislavski, for all his genius, is too complicated to manage effectively. This is a brilliant simplification of Stanislavski process to make it actionable in a modern world.
ACTING TECHNIQUE CHARACTER
Posted 14/7/2019

TIP 25 A Great Lesson Via Uta Hagen
I often see actors refusing to follow their natural impulses because they are waiting for their ‘cue’. An actor who is waiting for a cue is dysfunctional. A script is only a graph that lays out the dialogue it isn’t a description of how the character should listen and behave. This great thought from German actor Alfred Bassermann (1867 – 1952) comes from Uta Hagen’s experience of working with him.
ACTING TECHNIQUE
Posted 16/7/2019

Tip 26 The Choice to Look Away
Often Casting Directors are heard to say “Don’t just stare at the other character, look away, the way we do in life.” But do you know why you look away in life? Do you understand what impulses drive your choices in a conversation? There is a simple way to decide if you should look away or not.
This tip also explores the challenges of learning acting from books.
ACTING TECHNIQUE
Posted 17/7/2019

Tip 27 How to Action Your Script
'Actioning’ your script with an appropriate verb is a long-standing technique that has been taught in major tertiary acting academies around the world. This is an incisive analysis of its value and a very powerful tip on managing its deficits.
ACTING TECHNIQUE
Posted 5/8/2019

Tip 28 High Quality Listening
Whether in the audition room or on the set, for the actor, it is the quality of the listening that determines the quality of the performance. How to listen to all the meaning in the dialogue is the focus of this tip very useful tip. When you can do this your performance will be FOUR TIMES BETTER.
ACTING TECHNIQUE
Posted 18/8/2019

Tip 29 Making Choices That Feel Right
How you feel about your acting choices has always being something that actors believe is important. But it is absolutely possible, because of the way our minds work, to let feelings override logic – then that happens we can have big problems. Getting the balance right is important.
ACTING TECHNIQUE
Posted 18/8/2019

Tip 30 The Challenges of a Nude Scene
Performing the intimacy of a sex scene in front of onlookers is a challenge for any actor. But to be confronted with this option on your first big professional gig is a whopper of a challenge. Wesley Forke shares the things he learnt when he had to deal with these circumstances.
WORKING ON THE SET
Posted 25/9/2019

Tip 31 A Practical Approach to Pre-history
Pre-history or back-story is an area where a lot of the discussion sounds purposeful but is in fact very vague. This is the first of a series of tips on a practical approach to sorting out you character’s pre-history.
ACTING TECHNIQUE
Posted 7/9/2019

Tip 32 Using Pre-history on a Feature Film Shoot
ANTHONY SHARPE'S first large feature film role was a challenging one. He is an actor who uses The Rehearsal Room’s processes and he used those techniques to plot his way through this role. He finds it faster and more effective than other processes. In this interview he explains how he went about using the pre-history element to set up a scene. This is the second in a series of tips on managing pre-history choices.
ACTING TECHNIQUE – PRE-HISTORY
Posted 14/10/2019Tip 33 Problem Solving is an Acting Skill
Problem solving is not only an acting skill it is a mind management problem. A group of actors came together to explore things that niggled them. What we found was that niggles are often a sign of a much bigger problem. The result was four very useful tips for solving seemingly insurmountable problems.
ACTING TECHNIQUE – PRE-HISTORY
Posted 6/11/2019

Tip 34 A Practical Definition of Character
How to create a character is an important task for an actor. Yet it is one that is mostly dealt with in very vague terms in all the acting literature. The Rehearsal Room has evolved a very specific definition of character. As a result of this clear thinking approach actors who use these techniques can create or change the fundamentals of their character in 10 seconds. This technique is perfect for the modern screen actor who has to work fast and produce results of international standards.
ACTING TECHNIQUE CHARACTER

Tip 35 Two Essential Ingredients of Character Creation
Creating a character is only one issue. How to balance the character’s needs against the text or dialogue is the next hurdle for the actor. That is the key to creating a lifelike complexity. Actor ELlMIR ASIPI explains how he used these techniques to create a challenging character for his first guest role on “Neighbours”.

Tip 36 Two Essential Ingredients of Character Creation
Three actors demonstrate the importance of a professional understanding of managing your centre of gravity in performance. Energy levels in the body have a huge impact on the performance outcome. Understanding how they work is an essential tool. Explore how your energy actually moves in real life and how you can easily control it in performance.

Tip 37 How to Make a Conversation Real
Conversations have a number of specific and measurable patterns and qualities. Using an actual performance of a scene to demonstrate the point, this tip explores the importance of ‘Stepping UP’ and why it makes a conversation look real. It also explains another outcome from understanding how Centre of Gravity works for the actor.
ACTING TECHNIQUE
Posted 30/6/2020

FREE EXERCISE INCLUDED WITH THIS TIP. Some instructions and a scene to enable you to test out these concepts. If you wish you can send them to The Rehearsal Room for personal feedback.

ONGOING UPDATES ARE AUTOMATICALLY EMAILED TO YOU
Once you have subscribed to "Acting Tips to Inspire" you will receive regular reminders of new updates. You will also receive information of other developments in services and classes at The Rehearsal Room.

ENROL HERE

Learn skills you will use throughout your career. Learn to be real, to be versatile, to be a great listener and to be skilled in auditions.

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Nov 22

WEBINAR 10: Monologues

By Richard Sarell | Acting Classes & Workshops

WEBINAR 10: Monologues

Dates:

Sunday 22 November

Duration:

1 hour 30 minutes

Times:

6:30pm - 8:00pm Melbourne
7:30am - 9:00am London
8:30pm - 1opm New Zealand

Tutors:

Richard Sarell

Fee:

$10AUD

ENROL FOR WEBINAR 10:

"Great skills you can apply ... with immediate results" - Travis Waite (Melbourne)
"The webinar was brilliant! The demonstrations. were the best part of it." - Kanapathipillai Kapilthev (Sri Lanka)
"Don't be fooled by his humility, Richard is an exceptional teacher." - Janet Watson-Kruse (Melbourne)

On the whole actors love doing monologues.

So ... why do monologues go wrong so often?

In WEBINAR 10: you will learn where all the traps are; why those traps so cleverly entice you to fall into them; how to recognise them and how to avoid them.

Bring a monologue to the session so you can test out the techniques and see how they work for you.

WEBINAR 10: on Sunday 15 November 2020 - $10
6:30pm Melbourne; 8:30pm Auckland; 7:30am London

ENROL FOR WEBINAR 10:

Richard knows his stuff. He knows what actors must do to be real and he will explain it in simple terms that you can use now.

Kyla K Phoenix - actor

Getting your choices into the ballpark is the first step for the actor. Once you have done that understanding how to refine and adjust them without losing your way is the next step.

Because monologues can be really challenging they are a great skill builder for you basic acting process.

"

Richard Sarell is one of the best teachers of acting. The world is lucky to have him in it and I’m so happy I found The Rehearsal Room. Wish I found it years ago! Time and money well spent!

Alec Hartnell - actor

LEARN TO GENERATE PERFORMANCES THAT ARE CREATIVELY PLAYFUL and CONVINCINGLY REAL

Explore techniques that have been 35 years in development. They bring a new clarity and functionality to acting technique.

THIS IS FOR YOU IF...

Clear and logical explanations work for you
An acting adventure is always fun
You love being involved with the development of new ideas
Understanding more about the actors and directors skill is your passion
Feel you often fall into the same traps
Often aren't clear about your choices so you just wing it.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE THESE SKILLS …

rather than being relaxed at tackling new ideas you will be stressed
you could restrict your openness to new processes
applying yourself to unusual tasks will be challenging
making the obvious choice will become a more regular trap
you won't be confident about floating an unusual idea
the same mistakes will continue to occur

richard-sarrel-television-director-rehearsal-room

ABOUT RICHARD...

Over his twenty-five year directing career Richard found that that there were many unusual behaviours that he would have to encourage actors to adopt for their character. One thing became quickly plain. No matter how odd the behaviour was there was always a conscious or unconscious reason driving it. Everything happened for a reason.

Working out how and why unusual behaviours occurred was fascinating. Then learning to translate that knowledge into acting technique was another fascinating challenge. He became very skilled at it.

Actors have to do the same thing. On some occasions they too are confronted by the unusual and have to start from scratch to work out a practical way to apply a new understanding to a performance.

This webinar will also therefore explore learning how to learn.

WEBINAR 10:
Sunday 22 Oct
6:30pm Melbourne; 8:30pm Auckland; 7:30am London

Have a fun time learning.

ENROL NOW

YOU CAN ADD YOUR NAME TO THE eNEWSLETTER MAILING LIST HERE.

Oct 04

Acting Essentials Workshop

By Richard Sarell | Acting Classes & Workshops

Acting Essentials

Dates:

Duration:

Times:

Tutors:

Los Angeles
7pm Monday 4 Oct
7pm Tuesday 5 Oct
New York
7pm Wednesday 6 Oct
Melbourne
7pm Thursday 7 Oct

10 weeks

7.00pm to 9.30pm

Richard Sarell
Kyahl Anderson

TALK TO RICHARD NOW

OVER FORTY YEARS RICHARD SARELL HAS DIRECTED TOP RATING, AWARD WINNING TV SHOWS AND COACHED WORLD CLASS ACTORS WITH HIS SIMPLE AND UNIQUE PROCESS.

Perfect for beginners - Essential for experienced actors
email contact@rehearsalroom.com or ring +61 407 226 620 for more information
THESE UNIQUE PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ARE NOW AVAILABLE WORLD WIDE.

The Rehearsal Room process is ever expanding. It continually discovers exciting new add-ons that deliver greater flexibility and understanding.

The internet has made this unique Australian technique available to you - no matter where you are in the world.

CONGRATULATIONS!! You have discovered the acting education you have been seeking all your life but never found.

Start your acting career here - or advance your established career and book more gigs.

FREE DOWNLOAD:
Avoid falling into the trap that ensnares between 70% - 95% of actors on their first run in the audition room, despite being well prepared.

Casting directors reveal that actors regularly make this mistake without even knowing that they have done so. Here is your chance to remedy a major flaw in actor training.
DOWN LOAD HERE

11 powerful new acting techniques that make your performance shine
banish your acting fears and boost your confidence
easy to understand theory
learn quickly with modern psychology based teaching techniques
use these skills in your next audition in no time at all

Clearly explained acting processes that are easy to understand and quick to apply.

Logical techniques you will use with confidence.

Gain deep understanding of how they work, why they work and what outcome they produce.

Fix the problems and fill the gaps other acting processes have left you to deal with.

"ACTING REVOLUTION" COMING SOON on Amazon.

WHAT MAKES THIS A REVOLUTION?
The Rehearsal Room process will turn what you know about acting upside down. It will challenge your understanding, fixing your problems and filling in the gaps. Create and modify characters in seconds. Deliver powerful stories through exciting performances.

Auditions made simple. Understand the process.
Know how to OWN YOUR AUDITION!

AKINA EDMONDS LANDS KEY ROLE IN 'HAMILTON'
Why? Because, in her audition, she delivered.
Akina Edmonds was such a standout choice she was amongst the first to be cast.
"What's really exciting, and confronting, is that we're asked to bring our own version - truly bring our own version" to the audition she told Vogue magazine. The version of 'Satisfied' Akina offered nailed it!

"I wanted to look at it like I would for any scene, which is as a conversation," she told Vogue reporter Hannah-Rose Yee. "This is just another conversation."

READ THE VOGUE ARTICLE HERE

Understanding 'conversation' is how Akina nailed her audition!

This revolutionary approach to acting - takes you from reading the script, to preparing the audition and the final performance.

This is a new, unique and powerful tool.

LEARN A PROCESS THAT IS PRECISE, PRACTICAL and PROFESSIONAL.
DON'T LEAVE YOUR ACTING CHOICES TO CHANCE!

If you are an actor who has a problem with nerves or stress this is the course for you?
Nerves are mostly generated by uncertainty.
There is no longer anything to be nervous about ...
when you know what you are doing,
why you are doing it,
how you will do it
and
that it will work.

"

I have completed 14 years of training including 3 years at L.A.M.D.A. in London, 2 years in Stella Adler technique in Los Angeles, and 1 year with Ivanna Chubbuck, plus much more. But after 12 months online at The Rehearsal Room I am booking great roles in high end projects, through top casting agents.
I understand it. It is simple and it works.

Crispian Belfrage - actor (London)

THE REHEARSAL ROOM IS DIFFERENT
Creative, spontaneous, audience captivating performances result from this unique process.

A production of Shelagh Stephenson's "The Memory of Water" wowed audiences in Melbourne in 2017 with a different performance every night. What other acting process can do that?

It is the clarity and precision of this process that delivers such creative freedom for the actors.

Traditional processes are vague, evocative, confusing and teach acting half-truths. This confusion is detrimental to an actors emotional and professional well being.

The Rehearsal Room guarantees all confusion or doubt will be eliminated. It offers a clear and precise, step-by-step process that YOU will understand.

"

I used to be standing in the wings bathed in sweat and visibly shaking. Now when I'm waiting for my entrance cue all those nerves have gone away. I am too busy focusing on my preparation routine to think about whether I am nervous or not. Your process has removed all that stress. So much fun.

Wendy Alberni - actor, singer

TERTIARY COURSES DISAPPOINT
Three year university courses can be a waste of time for many actors.
Actors often emerge from university degree courses confused and NOT ABLE TO CONFIDENTLY AUDITION.

Free Report exploring the "10 Reasons Why University Trained Actors Don't Get Hired"

NOW THESE SESSIONS ARE ONLINE it means actors from anywhere in the world can join these Australian devised classes.
Working online has not changed the quality of these classes and neither has it changed how much you will learn from each session.

Actors from around Australia and the world including US, UK, Canada, India, Brazil, New Zealand and Japan have been benefitting from The Rehearsal Room process for the last 24 years

For more information ring +61 407 226620 and book a free one-on-one half-hour session to sample these techniques. Alternatively email contact@rehearsalroom.com

WHEN WE WERE WORKING IN A STUDIO THIS WAS HOW ACTORS RESPONDED TO THIS UNIQUE APPROACH TO ACTING PROCESS

A Complete Acting Process

Ann Truong -Romper Stomper, Strike Back, Hard Target 2, Hunters, Schapelle, Neighbours

"Something clicks in every class. It’s an amazing feeling - knowing that you are going to learn something profound but you are yet to have any idea of what that is until it happens. I return each week excited knowing that I am about to experience this."

What will be covered in this course?

1) Casting Directors want you to be able to change

Actors with university degree courses (like NIDA) are taught to find the perfect performance for a scene. But in the professional audition room Casting Directors know there isn't one perfect version of a scene. Casting Directors know there are many options for a scene and the professional actor who can see lots of possibilities is an actor who can take direction.

2) Surprise the Casting Director with your skill

An actor who creates characters that experience real 'moments of surprise' stands out in the audition room and on the set. All the great actors play beautiful moments of surprise. Learn techniques for playing surprises that are ONLY TAUGHT HERE. Moments of surprise are the key to being real in performance.

3) Engage an audience and you will engage a Director

Directors want to hire actors who can engage an audience with the comedy or the drama. If you can totally engage an audience with your performance, the professionals who want to hire you will instantly recognize your skills.

4) Gain a modern understanding of Stanislavski techniques

This is a no bullshit approach to traditional theories. It cuts through the complexities of other acting processes and explains them in a simple common sense language. You will be empowered by your new understanding of Stanislavski process. This is an acting process that makes sense.

5) Understand story so you can break a scene down quickly

Instead of questioning if you actually understand the story of a scene. Learn how to break down story effortlessly every time.

6) Remove confusions and clearly measure your success

Instead of walking out of an audition feeling flat and confused. Learn how to make every audition count. Acquire skills that enable you to measure your success.