ACTING & FILM SCHOOL

SEMESTER FOUR Classes

ADVANCED SCENE STUDY: STAGE TO SCREEN II
Students work with the instructor in adapting to film the one-act play performed at the conclusion of the first semester. As they have knowledge of their characters from the play, they are now challenged with the task of not only collaborating in the adaptation, but in calibrating their performance to a size appropriate for the screen. This class culminates in a screening of the film at semester’s end.

ADVANCED ACTING TECHNIQUE: METHOD, IMPROVISATION
This class continues to build on the first semester’s Advanced Acting Technique class by challenging the student with more advanced exercises designed to stretch emotional range and deepen emotional access. In addition, this class brings the actors back to the improvisation work they started during the first year, now marrying their strengthened instrument and greater emotional capacity with the sense of spontaneity required in scenes improvised at an advanced level.

ACTING FOR CAMERA: TELEVISION PRODUCTION WORKSHOP II
The students continue production on the episodic series started during the first semester, shooting one full day per week. Well into the routine of performing on a TV show as a recurring character, the actors continue to watch and critique their performances and explore nuances as story arcs develop and unfold.

ADVANCED MOVEMENT II: MASK, CLOWN AND DANCE
Actors explore changes in physical and vocal identity to that of a character suggested by a mask. The work involves moving, improvising, dancing and looking into a mirror to inspire character evolution. This work fosters a connection to the actor’s impulse and encourages risktaking through extreme physical and vocal choices. This class moves into character-based clowning work where the actor gets in touch with his/her primal self by stripping away layers of social conditioning. They find their personal sense of humor as they knock down their walls of inhibition. They create sketches and performances for their clown. In addition, students receive training in basic ballroom dancing.

COMBAT FOR FILM
More and more films today require physical action. In this course, actors learn the invaluable skills and fundamentals of stunt work and fight choreography for the camera. Students learn to safely use prop weapons such as guns, knives, rapier-daggers, broadswords, and quarterstaffs. This class culminates in the production of an elaborate fight sequencebased short film developed specifically for the students.

VOICE/SPEECH: DIALECTS AND ACCENTS
Students revisit the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and apply that learning to the acquisition of convincing regional U.S. dialects and international accents. They study audio speech samples, transcribe text using IPA, and present monologues and/or scene work to demonstrate mastery of an accent or dialect.

AUDITION TECHNIQUE/ THE BUSINESS OF ACTING
Auditioning is a special skill requiring specific techniques. Actors again learn and practice the essentials of a good audition and focus on the set of skills required to handle “sides” for film and television. The goal is to help actors make quick, specific, action-oriented choices and to develop strong listening skills and flexibility in taking direction. This class also covers the business considerations of approaching the film industry as an actor, defining the roles of casting directors, agents, managers, producers, the unions and reintroduce the marketing tools necessary for survival in the film acting industry.

The “Clasical Core” At the center of the New York Film Academy’s Classical Acting Training is an immersion in performance-based scene work. Students blend research and technique through live performance.

• The Gre ks/Rom ans
Students perform using neutral masks to convey epic emotions and timeless mythology. Rooted in the ritual tradition of Greek and Roman drama (the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes, Aristophanes, Plautus), contemporary stories such as the Broadway musical The Lion King and Woody Allen’s film Mighty Aphrodite use masks and choral performance to tell the story.

• The Eng lish Ren aiss ance The atre (Elizabethan, Jacobean and Caroline Theatre )
Scene work and text analysis provide students with the keys to unlocking specific acting choices through the heightened language in the plays of Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, or Ben Jonson. These plays and authors are at the core of English language plays and pose specific challenges in performance.

• The “Neo -Class ics ”
When English theatre stagnated during the mid-17th century, European playwrights flourished. The influence of the Ballet-Russe on the French court had a major impact on the drama of this period, and resulted in the celebrated texts of Corneille, Racine, and Moliere.

Students perform scenes and confront the unique challenges of working with translated texts in performance.

• Restoration Comedy
The re-emergence of theatre in England gave us the highly stylized plays of Sheridan, Congreve, and Wycherley. Also known as “Comedy of Manners”, the influence of these plays can be seen in today’s contemporary “sit-coms” as well as films such as Amadeus, The Duchess, Sense and Sensibility, Age of Innocence, and Dangerous Liaisons.

Students perform in period costume and incorporate appropriate speech, manners and postures.

• Early 20th Century
Noel Coward, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Anton Chekhov have emerged as several of the leading writers of the early 20th Century. Students perform scene work from authors who are perhaps the most familiar names to modern audiences. Students also have the opportunity to interact with visiting acting professionals currently working on classic texts.