The In Front of the Camera course is a 16-week, cutting-edge exploration into the art and practice of acting for the screen presented in four sessions. Students who complete all four sessions will be basically prepared to audition and perform for television, video and film. Each session requires intensive time demands and a complete commitment on the part of the student. A standard week of study involves classes, rehearsals, and shoots that may take place during weekdays, evenings, and weekends.
The first session concentrates on building a foundation in the craft of acting, using training techniques rooted in the theater but applicable to screen acting. Students participate in a broad array technical, emotional, and physical work necessary for film acting. Since we believe that film actors benefit immeasurably from working in front of a live audience, most of the training in the first session builds towards a live performance of scene work at the Red Carpet Showcase.
In the second session, the core classes continue as the students’ focus intensifies on applying the techniques they have learned to more elaborate scene work, on-camera exercises, and film shoots — all designed to develop and hone their screen-acting ability. During the second session, all students perform in a short film production, original work that was created and developed by the students in collaboration with their instructors. The third and fourth sessions address more of the business of the video and film, successfully marketing techniques for talent, and more individualized independent study designed to allow students to further develop audition techniques, materials and many different film crafts. In contrast to the first session, the second, third and fourth sessions culminate with screenings of the students’ video taped scenes and commercials for family, friends, classmates, and industry contacts.