Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. Today I will be talking about my experience of Screen School. I've done this course before, but to get some new footage and also recap my knowledge of how screen acting works (which is a constant learning journey), this couldn't have come at a more perfect timing. So without further ado here is what we did on each day.
Before every session:
Before the sessions began we thought of 3 positive key things to help set us up for the day. These were:
affirmations
What I’m grateful for
Intentions
Whilst I can’t remember everything I said over the past four days (as it’s a lot to take in), I felt as thought I kept true to them. But two of my grateful things were the weather towards the end of the week and how we take the smallest things for granted. I won’t say what as it’s a sensitive topic but it did touch me (which says a lot because autistic people do lack empathy) and touched my other peers too.
Day 1:
The first day is always a nerve wracking one. I’ve met a couple of people before but I knew that there was going to be some new people too. We started with doing an exercise called “innocent or guilty”. This was where we had to turn our head to the front to see what the first thing people thought of was. I was surprised I got guilty as during the first one I got innocent. But that was 3 years ago and alot can happen in that time. But after saying that I’m quirky but do have a sensitive side, I think what the others have said really added into my thought of how is house present my character.
The other exercises we did before we looked at the scenes where “this is a…” and we did 3 versions of it. Again I won’t say what the versions were but with each one they included upping the intensity. As because of the camera angles and how far they need to be, we needed to control our naturalism and knowing when to raise the volume. Because in tv it’s very naturalistic. We also did an exercise where the challenge was to cry on Que. because I did it before I knew the secret which I won’t give away but to this day I still find it intriguing.
My teacher also talked about casting types and how key they are to making a career in the industry. I know I've heard it all before, but it was good to refresh myself of these things as it's something actors still forget to this day. So the main things my teacher mentioned when looking at casting type include:
Jobs they can do
Shows that they can be in
Age bracket
Status
For me and after the exercise earlier, it's helped me get a clear image of where I fit in the industry. And also having refreshed my memory on headshots being the first thing they judge me on, it's also important I meet them so they can get a glimpse of my personality behind the headshot. As I know that I'm quirky with a sensitive side but others might not. So it's important to show them that, especially now that I'm due to update them.
Later on in the afternoon we had a rehearsal of our scenes! I've been meaning to do this type of scene, as I need to show casting directors and other creatives is one of the job roles I can play. And as someone who worked in hospitality, I feel I can give off a more authentic performance. My scene partner was brilliant, and she had lots of ideas on the backstory for her character which she mentioned the next day (I won't say what so I'll leave you to guess on that one), and all in all we managed to get a good rehearsal on camera. This will be more technically challenging as it's filmed at a bar, but after seeing previous screen school scenes I knew that it wasn't impossible. And after hearing what my notes were (which was mainly looking at business and what I could be doing during those moments of not speaking. This should come easy to me as I could incorporate some of my stims into the character. Who knows, all I could say is that I was looking forward to filming!
Day 2:
Day 2 looked at working on the second scene and also more exercises in the group. One of the exercises we did was playing the contrast of a scene. So in this case I performed a monologue from a well known tv show but then I was directed to play the contrast. In this case I talked about my dog and then went into the piece. But it's safe to say that I need to work on the direction, but at least I got to see what it would look like on camera.
My teacher also gave some notes on some key points when acting for camera. These included go with my instincts but be open to change, and also for costumes, dangly earrings and patterns can be abit distracting. Also I've learnt that as an actor everyone has a certain level of confidence in you. So whilst I can't be too cocky, I also need to show that I'm welcoming and know that if anyone needs of any assistance then I'm the person for the job.
We then moved onto the rehearsing scene 2. I had to change my scene last minute due to the number of people there were on the course I also got paired with one of the new people in the workshop and I felt the practice run went really well. To say that this person has done mainly theatre work was impressive, and the direction my teacher gave on how to play the scene did show. All I could say is I couldn't wait to film it. And I made sure I took on board all my notes before working on them for the next day, as we did have an idea but after my teacher gave my scene partner a direction, it did change the game!
Before the end of the session my teacher mentioned about something which I need to get sorted, which is IMDb. I have set up a free pro account for a month then had to cancel it, but because a film I was in is now on it and has my name, I need to sort out my profile before it gets more difficult. And what I meant by that is that some people may have the same name as me, so I would need to think about what it would be if I did change it. We then looked at the order of the day to film each scene, and I couldn't wait to see what they had to offer.
Day 3:
The first day of filming. It was a long day but rewarding one. As I got to Nottingham I realised I forgot two of my props for my second scene. Not professional I know, but thanks to the power of thinking about the first thing that came to my head, I was able to think about another backstory quite quickly. Here below are two selfies of me in my two character scenes, and bonus points if you can guess BEFORE you watch the scenes what they are.
The first scene I did was amazing, as I definitely felt as though my inner front of house staff came to life. I wasn't sure how it was going to go down especially since I'm limited to what I could do on camera without disturbing the sound artist, but I managed to find a way. And I also got an awesome photo of me by a brilliant BTS photographer known as Olly Murphy, where you can follow his instagram which is @ollyhunterphotography. Please see below along with some brilliant BTS shots of my scene and my teacher Tim giving me some direction.
My scene partner was also a brilliant person to work with. We've known eachother through the workshop for some time, and so I knew she would be able to be of a higher status character, which worked really well for this scene. Please see the link to it here to take your guess of what the backstory behind it was: https://youtu.be/FUWEFv403hw?si=k1jA9kYewaOAVWEi
The second scene I did surprisingly went better than expected. Because I forgot a prop for the shoot that day (where in fact it was in my bag the entire time), I had to change my backstory. But as mentioned before, I used the power of saying the first thing that came to my head (where once the scene comes out, I'll let you guess what the backstory is). And my scene partner was also fantastic. And after a conversation before the shoot on his journey and how he mentioned before that he hasn't been on camera before, you clearly wouldn't be able to notice. So all in all a really good day of filming those two scenes. And please see the link to the second scene here to take your guess of what the backstory behind it was: https://youtu.be/hk2WCbvPOWY?si=uS5PE5TJ4sR5wlg4
Day 4:
The final day of screen school got off to abit of a wobbly start. During some extra filming time I had to bow out on this one. Partly because I had abit of a wobble which then led me into abit of a blip. But I managed to control myself and got back to it. But I even managed to do abit of directing at that time, which was intense but also fun. I won't give away too much of what I did, but lets just say that it was great to be back in the directors seat after the success of my short film! Also during both this morning and the afternoon session, I learnt about the different roles of filming. One of which was a sound mixer, who if I’m correct looks at the different shots and switches the shots throughout the scene. It was really fascinating as then you can time the different reactions but also balance it with the dialogue from the other character. So that itself was awesome to see.
During lunch I managed to have a chat with some of the other members, where it was also a chance to get to know them on a deeper level followed by some downtime before filming in the afternoon. This was mainly talking about life as an actor, the football and also other things in our life. And it's moments like this where I get to deeply know other actors. I guess it's abit like being on shows like I'm A Celebrity where you don't have your phone but only each others company. Yes phones are important to keep in contact and with social media strongly linked to it, it has helped massively but sometimes it's taking a step away from a keypad where I get the deepest conversations! And you know what? I enjoyed it so much.
Then the afternoon came for the final scenes. These were improvised, so anything could happen. Please see the picture above to take a guess on what my casting type is. The first time me and my scene partner did it, it looked great. Although I found it quite fascinating as even though we went through it before, its actually more challenging when the filming took place. But when the member directed it, she decided to change the setting to make it look like the appropriate location which was a school canteen. This made a massive difference as the second time we did it along with the direction she gave us, it definitely had a different feel to it but in a good way! Please see the link below to look at the finished product: https://youtu.be/pPkBo2rz9fc?si=4W-LgSxggbWJBEy5
Overall, a brilliant way to end a week of revisiting the art of screen acting. I also got the chance to see other scenes, and wow some of them were intense. I won't give too much away as I want anyone reading this to see for themselves, but everyone upped their game!
After each session:
After each session we sat down and we all gave eachother positive things to say to one another. It was a lovely tradition as it takes 8 positive things to take over 1 negative thing. For me, it was all about how committed I was, investing in the character and how well I did during the scenes itself. Then at the end of the week we all gave each of our positive affirmations and I got some that had me on the verge of tears but in a good way.
And that was my reviews on the June intake of Screen School! A brilliant week to recap my knowledge of screen acting, get some more footage and meeting new people who have the same passion as me... Acting. I hope you enjoyed this read and let me know what you thought the backstory was for each scene I did! Please also be sure to check out The Actors Workshop Nottingham by clicking the link below, as regardless if you live in Nottingham or not they do classes both in person and online, making it accessible for all!
See you soon for another blog. Until next time...
This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)
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