PAG CRAFT NOTES  - Feb. 2003

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS

I have mentioned this before, but I feel compelled to say it again.  When you go in for an audition, there is usually a slot on the sign in sheet asking for your social security number.  Do not, I repeat, do not, that's NOT, N-O-T, write down your social security number on that sheet!!!  By law, only your employer or a governmental agency has the right to see your SS# and you aren't hired yet.  I don't know when this started, but putting down your SS# where ANYONE looking at that sheet can see it is the height of ignorance.  Identity theft is the fasting growing crime in the U. S. and all they need is your  name and SS#, so write down your name with your SS# on a sign in sheet at your own peril!  Nuff said.

DIALOGUE -  LEARN IT OR MEMORIZE IT?

At my twice weekly PAG Group studies, we regularly have Directors and Producers drop in to audit the PAG players and I am constantly being told how impressed they are with the level of talent in the group,  especially the group wide ability to be off book in twenty minutes, or less, even with a 8 to 10 page scene.  My reply to them is that the PAG players have learned to never 'memorize' dialogue, but to 'learn' and know the story instead.  'Memorization' begets 'recitation', which in and of itself, sterilizes the scene.  When you learn and know the story (Acting is Storytelling) the words will 'be there' with out you having to 'marry them' by memorizing.  I came up with a system to 'learn' dialogue when I was on General Hospital back in the 80's out of necessity.  When you have to shoot an hour show every day, well, that's a lot of dialogue, especially when there are constant rewrites handed to you.  I cover this system extensively in chapter 12 of my book, "Acting is Storytelling" and new PAG players pick the system up usually by the third or fourth meeting, with comments like; "I never learned dialogue this fast in my life." or "I was always scared of 'dropping lines' but not any more."  There is a brief synopsis of the system at one of my web pages, but you can't learn it just by reading about it, you have to practice it just like any other acting skill. (http://acting.freeservers.com/Dialogue.htm)
"You will forget what I teach you, but you will never forget what you learn and you learn by doing." - Ken Farmer

I have a few openings in my Tues. and Thurs. group meetings for 7 to 10pm.  The first session/audit is always free.  Come in and talk to some the the "old heads" (I have some PAG players that have been coming for over 4 years), about the difference between 'memorizing' and 'learning', you'll be glad you did.  http://acting.freeservers.com/Group.htm

PAG membership rates:
4 sessions -    $100
10 sessions -  $200

Autographed copy of "Acting is Storytelling©"  - $28.00
About Ken Farmer - Acting Resume - http://kenfarmer.actorsite.com/KEN.htm
Bio - http://kenfarmer.actorsite.com/Bio.htm

Call Ken Farmer @ 214-533-4964 or email pagact@yahoo.com to reserve your space.  PAG meetings are held at 3906 Lemmon Ave., suite #222, Dallas.

"Listening is the single most important thing an actor can do during a performance." - (Meryl Streep)  "Don't listen to the words, listen to the person."  - (Jack Lemmon).

PAG Craft Notes: Jan. - 2003

CHOICES

by Ken Farmer

"The very worst thing an actor can do is to decide the outcome of a scene before you do it." - Jessica Lange

Yet, so many acting coaches teach the archaic technique of deciding what choices the character will make before... before they ever do the scene.  This process has the direct and immediate effect of sterilizing the scene, creating the epitome of what I call "fence post acting".  Anyone who ever tells you to write down the emotional choices your character is going to make next to lines of dialogue is telling you to destroy the scene and your character.  You have just become a "reciter".  And additionally, the causal factors that you based your choreographed choices on may not even be there when your character actually does the scene.  Don't marry the dialogue!   In my  thirty years as a professional actor, I have never done a movie or TV show that was shot exactly the way it was written.  Just compare a few "scripts" with the "transcripts".  (Just in case some of you don't know, a "script" is what was written and the "transcript" is what actually wound up on film.)

Choreographing of gestures and/or emotions, to me, is like painting a picture "by the numbers", it is not "creating" and playing the moment.  (Don't confuse Choreographing with Directing) "I don’t look for a puppet or someone to recite the lines when I cast, I look for actors who can bring something special to the story, hopefully something no one has thought of yet. I look for creativity."   Ron Howard

Your BACK STORY will dictate what choices your character will make. Avoid choreographing choices like avoiding stepping in a fresh cow pie on a hot day, trust the instincts and impulses of the character. The character's choices will always flow from the character traits YOU established in the Back Story.  Remember, you, the actor will know all the dialogue, but your character doesn't, you must get out of the way and allow the character to create and react to the moment as it happens.  The key here is YOU getting out of the way. ("Never let yourself get between you and your character." - Michael Caine)

The above excerpted from my book,              "ACTING IS STORYTELLING©

About Ken Farmer - http://kenfarmer.actorsite.com/Bio.htm

PAG Group Sessions - http://acting.freeservers.com/Group.htm

Reserve your space in the PAG ongoing group sessions now!  At PAG, we deal with what the actor really needs to know on a working set, not class room theory devised .   There are just a few openings in both the Tues. and Thurs. evening sessions held at 3906 Lemmon Ave., suite #222, Dallas. Call Ken Farmer at 214-533-4964 or email pagact@yahoo.com

PAG membership fees:

1 Session   -  $30

4 Sessions    $100

10 Sessions   $200

Membership includes a Free posting at Ken's web site of your pics and resume. (http://acting.freeservers.com/Main.htm ) and your first session/audit  is free.

"THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN ACTING IS: PASSION!" - KF
 

PAG NEWSLETTER - DEC
PAG NOTES:

Good luck to Jennifer Breckel on her move to La-La Land. We'll miss her.

Welcome new PAG members Yvette Gonzalez, Paris Rea, Grant Corbin and Linda Luna.

Tonjua Swann ( http://acting.freeservers.com/Tonjua.htm ) booked on "La Place Transform" and also starring as Jenny Lynn in "Melancholia".

Todd Farr and Aaron Garrette ( http://acting.freeservers.com/Aaron.htm ) now represented by Linda McAlister Talent ( http://mcalistertalent.com ).

Linda Luna (Ivette Stone Agency) is Producing and Hosting her own TV show, "VIP Access" for North Texas Television.

CRAFT NOTES:

ACTING - A MIRROR IMAGE

Acting is never "real", it is illusionary, a mirror image of life, and it is this illusion that we use to create the effects of reality.

There are four major aspects of the actor’s training. (a) Absorbing experiences (b) Mental discipline (assimilation), (c) Developing techniques of _expression and (d) Commitment. Absorption represents the cause or source of experience; origin, genesis, inspiration, idea, conception, etc.

MENTAL DISCIPLINE :

Mental discipline represents the "on deck" or staging area between the inflow and outflow of experiences. During this stage, ideas are channeled, nurtured, fertilized and allowed to grow freely and then directed along the proper channels of mental and specialized physical activity (muscle memory).

TECHNIQUE:

Technique is the effect and result of all expressional training and creativity . It represents the forms through which _expression reveals itself and is as unique as each individual. It is reported that Sir Laurence Olivier was once asked if he didn't believe in technique and he replied, "No, I don't believe in technique, I believe in great technique".

COMMITMENT:

Commitment is the glue that binds it all together. Without total and unconditionalcommitment to the character, the story and to the training that acting requires, the actor is, and will always remain an amateur.

STUDENT OF ORIGINALITY:

Absorption involves intelligence and empathy . Through absorption, the actor acquires a knowledge and conception of a characterization that is used throughout the BACK STORY. The actor is, and must practice being, a student of originality. He should constantly be on the alert for novel or unique experiences and expressions; to capture and remember the elements in each circumstance that he comes in contact with that makes them unique and absorb them for use in his BACK STORIES. "Actors are observers and collectors of nuances of speech, attitude, actions and trivia that we use in the creation of our characters". -Whoopi Goldberg.

SKILLS:

The actor who has skills in creating, developing and absorbing original and unique characters, lives longest in the memories of the audience. We all tend to rapidly forget the average or commonplace when it is in competition with unique and sensational circumstances; so, unless you are "eye candy", and face it, most of us aren't (at least for long), it is your skills, not your looks, that will never let you down.

AFFECTED MEMORY:

I congratulate Michael Chekhov's deviation from Stanislaviski's "Affective Memory" (I actually refer to it as "Affected Memory") to create his "Faculty of Imagination" which was to become the foundation to his acting approach. Some of Chekhov's other approaches I no longer agree with because of the changing audience preferences. Sanford Meisner also falls into this category of evolution from Stanislaviski; he recognized the overwhelming danger to the actor's own psyche and his creativity by using his own emotional memories and created a system that led actors away from that minefield and into their imagination to create fantasy emotional memories. The major problem with the Meisner technique is that it is very clumsy, involves entirely too much intellectualism or analysis, creates an inordinate level of stiffness, stifles creativity and leaves the actor no choice but to play in his own head rather than the character, creating the epitome of what I call, fence post acting. It tends to make the actor a craftsman rather than an artisan.  Most actors analyze too much and create too little.

ANALYZING CHARACTERS:

Analyzing a character, or a scene, is like dissecting a frog,... the frog always winds updead . The more effort you put into analyzing, the stiffer you become, your mind gets so clouded with trying to peek into the writer's mind that your own creativity is smothered. Gene Hackman once told me, "Kenny, acting is not a murder trial, stop looking for a motive." Don't think about it, just do it.

OUTPICTURING:

Technique is involved in _expression itself; through it, the absorbed concepts, enriched by the imagination and coupled with intense study and mastery of the emotions , are revealed in appropriate outward form with internalizedenergy. ("From energy, you can create anything, but you can't create energy." - Neale Donald Walsch) The actor must reject any external expressions that are not the result of outpicturing because these expressions will be superficial (outside in) and his behavior will then be false (choreographed) and not the result of visualization of his inflow. He should trust the instinctsof hischaracter, by never negating an impulse of the character that is based on inflow. "The worst thing an actor can do is to decide the outcome of a scene before you do it."  - Jessica Lange

NO CONSEQUENCES:

This is one of the great joys of acting; no matter how vile, evil or morally destitute the character the actor is called upon to create and play, there are no consequences, no one gets hurt. The character can be as "bad", "evil" or "mean" as the actor chooses to make him and the actor can still walk away leaving his character on theset when the Director says, "Cut", feeling good about himself. Acting is, after all, only "pretend or play like", it is never '"real", it is illusionary, a mirror image of life, and it is this illusion we use to create the effects of reality .

COMMITMENT:

Commitment, being the glue or catalyst, is the one characteristic any actor must possess to the nth degree if he is to be successful in this business. Commitment allows, precedes and carries outflow; it forces the actor to the next class, audition or role. It is the apex of focus. Commitment to the character and commitment to studying and training should be the bywords of all actors. Actors must ask themselves if they want to be an actor or need to be an actor. If I had to choose between commitment and talent in an actor; I would take commitment every time.

"Story and Character always come before Dialogue." - KF

(The above is excerpted from my book, "Acting is Storytelling ©", chapter 4)

"Acting is Storytelling © " may be ordered at http://acting.freeservers.com/Order.htm

There are a few openings in the PAG membership.  Sessions are held on Tues. and Thurs. evenings (7 to 10) at 3906 Lemmon Ave., suite #222 in Dallas.

Membership fees for the PAG GROUP STUDY   are:

One Session - $30

Four Sessions - $100

Ten Sessions - $200

http://acting.freeservers.com/Group.htm

Call Ken Farmer  at 214-533-4964 or email pagact@yahoo.com  for reservations.  You may audit/participate the first session for free.

"GOOD ACTING IS NEVER OBSERVED, IT IS EXPERIENCED." - KF
Sept. 27, 2002

It seems like there is an absolute plethora (that means 'a bunch') of these low/no budget digital movies being made today. Most are pro bono (means 'no pay') for cast and crew. Just a word of caution; if the feature ever sells (most don't), you, the actor, should be paid. This can be set up on a 'percentage of profits' (that means after pay out for the cost of making the film) for the actor or a flat rate. The production company will, most likely, have you sign a 'release' for the right to use your likeness, (don't sign your life away) you should add to the release an addendum requiring that you be paid either a set amount or an ongoing percentage of the revenue, after break even. If it is a SAG experimental or limited exhibition (festivals only), SAG requires that you be paid full rate for the particular category of budget when and if the film is sold. Remember, slavery went out 137 years ago and believe me, someone is going to make money on the film, if it sells (to a distributor). We all need experience, but if you're willing to continually give your talents away, why should they pay.

If films are nonunion, there are no controls for safety, hours worked, pay, residuals, food, travel, use of or recutting of the footage (this can be real scary depending on what they might add to it, like pornography). If you sign a plain release, they can do anything they want to the footage (FOREVER). Use your head and if in doubt about the release or contract, seek legal counsel.

PAG ACTORS ON THE MOVE

Denton Everett (http://acting.freeservers.com/Denton.htm) - Campbell Agency - just wrapped the SAG experimental, "The Photograph", directed by James McDonald.

Jennifer Breckel taped a segment of the Japanese TV show, "Astonishing News", as a forensic scientist.

Eryn Brooke (http://erynbrooke.actorsite.com) - Campbell Agency - leaves for Galveston on Oct. 3 to begin filming as costar, 'Lucy', in Joe Scott's "Ocean Front Property". Eryn also just wrapped two industrials for 'Radio Shack'.

CRAFT NOTES

WHAT IS ACTING?
 

This is a question I ask each new acting student at the beginning of class. I get every type of answer one can imagine; from "Being someone else", Playing a character," to "Being real". So far no one yet has gotten it right. I ask them next;
 

"WHAT IS A NOVEL?"
 

After a few hints they eventually say; "A story?" Then I ask; "If a novel is a story, then what is a stage play?" They hesitatingly answer; "A story."
 

"WHAT IS A SCREEN PLAY?"
 

They answer; "A story." And what is a commercial? They answer; "A mini story." "If all these things are stories, then who is telling the story?" "The actor?" "Wrong." "The writer?" "Wrong." (he writes the story) "The characters?" "Bingo". The story is told by the characters and since we, as actors, are portraying (acting as, not like) the characters, could we not say that acting is storytelling? The look that comes over their faces when they figure out what acting really is, is classic, it should be photographed. (I’ll do that one day)
 

ACTING IS STORYTELLING:
 

Is, always has been and always will be. That bears repeating: ACTING IS STORYTELLING; is, always has been and always will be.
 

THE DEFINITION:
 

When actors realize what acting really is and what it’s all about, I can see the light come on in their eyes at the simplicity of it. Acting is Storytelling. Storytelling is the oldest form of communication/education/healing in the history of mankind, dating back to the "storyteller" (the shaman) around the campfires of prehistoric or primitive villages. The stories painted or drawn on the walls of caves in petroglyphs, on animal skins and in the oral tradition, were man’s first form of education, communication, entertainment and healing, far predating the written word.
 

THE "ORAL TRADITION":
 

The Twelve Tribes of Israel used the "oral tradition" for centuries in passing down the parables of the Creation and Noah's Flood. It was not until King Solomon decreed that these stories be written down, that we had any records from which much of the "Old Testament" was taken. We, as actors, have a responsibility to carry on this tradition, yes, in fact, mankind has a "need" for "storytellers" that is almost as great as his need for love.
 

HOW DO YOU TELL THE STORY?
 

The actor must first know the story; in fact, under The Millennium System©, knowing the story is the New Age Actor's first responsibility. [Notice I did not say "plot"; there is a great difference between story and plot.] He must know each event down to the tiniest detail in proper sequence (all stories have a sequence of events; one thing happenend first, one thing happened second, etc.). He then must create his character. Stories are told by and through the characters by visualization and by coloring the events with emotions.
 

AN ART FORM:
 

Acting, (Storytelling) as an art form, is evolving and freeing itself from the dogmas, rituals, routines and authorities of the past. Stanislaviski’s Method, Meisner’s Technique, Chekhov's Approach and the other psycho-intellectual forms of acting have become antiquated, limiting, cumbersome, ponderous, clumsy, stiff, dangerous to the actor, confusing, basically ineffectual and stifling to creativity. (Other than these problems, the old methods are probably all right.)
 

OLD METHODS:
 

In these old methods, (which were based on audience tastes and preferences at the time; theater has always been an extension of a culture's attempt at self analysis) things were done according to formula, the "guideposts", or "gote sheet" (gag... puke), even to the archaic planning of gestures or movements and the choreographing of emotions. Choreographing of actions, gestures and/or emotions is like painting a picture "by the numbers", it is not "creating" and playing the moment. I was originally trained in the "Method", in college, but soon abandoned it for Meisner and eventually trying or experimenting with most of the other so-called psyco-intellectual forms that evolved from the "Method" in my thirty year career (so far) as a professional actor; I like to say, "been there, done that, got the 'T' shirt and now I wash my horse with it."
 

PATTERNS of  EXPRESSION:
 

Today, the actor or creative artist, must work out his own uninhibited patterns of expression, get out of his head, create his character, play and stay in the moment. He should never negate or resist an impulse of the character; all lines (or the emotional content thereof) of dialogue will cause the character to (a) stand still; (b) move back; or (c) move toward. The movements (toward or back) may be half an inch or half a mile; even if it is infinitesimal, especially on film, it is a byproduct of listening and responding to the other character's dialogue/action or your own character's. "Listening is the single most important thing an actor can do during a performance." - (Meryl Streep) "Don't listen to the words, listen to the person." - (Jack Lemmon)
 

DIRECTORS:
 

Directors are learning (at least some are) that they get better performances "when they set actors free, to give them openendedness (freedom to explore); create a space, or perimeter, where actors feel empowered and have room to let go and enjoy letting their creative juices flow." (James Cameron) Every major actor I know or seen interviewed, has stated that they preferred a director who understands the acting process and allows them the freedom to create. A Director should tell the actor what he wants from the character, supply the vision, not how to do it. He is not there to give acting lessons; film making can cost twenty thousand dollars an hour and up (way up), he does not have the time. "I don’t look for a puppet or someone to recite the lines when I cast, I look for actors who can bring something special to the story, hopefully something no one has thought of yet. I look for creativity." (Ron Howard) The professional actor must commit his creative responsibility to the story and to the character.
 

"Once the Casting is Done, the Art Belongs to the Actor."

-Robert Altman-

The above is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of my book , 'Acting is Storytelling ©'. If you don't already own a copy, you may order one direct from Ken Farmer. (http://acting.freeservers.com/Order.htm)

'...Treat yourself to this book, you'll be grateful your entire career. It will become your acting Bible.' - Peter Brown (http://peterbrown.tv)
 

For more information on Ken's PAG workshops and book, go to:  http://acting.freeservers.com/Workshop.htm

or contact Ken at: pagact@yahoo.com or call -

214-533-4964

The PAG workshop in Houston is set for Saturday, Oct. 5. from 10 am to 6 pm.

Fee - $150 includes Free copy of Ken's book, "Acting is Storytelling©" (a $28.00 value) and a copy of Ken's booklet, "So You Want To Be In Commercials". Contact Carla Hill @832-236-8570 or chill@scnetwork.com for reservations. (Hurry!! A few seats still left and time's running out.)

Until next time, remember, "The most important ingredient in acting is PASSION!" - KF
 
 

Copyright © 2002