Monday Myth Debunkers: You Need to Give Yourself Somewhere to Go.

Ok, hear us out with this one. ⁠

How many times has an acting coach, teacher or even casting director given you the direction of “you need to give yourself somewhere to go.”⁠

Meaning—you’ve started out at such a heightened emotion, that the scene won’t be able to have any sense of an arc.⁠

All good, important things to be mindful of. ⁠

But here’s the thing—𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀-𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. ⁠

If your scene starts out with a group of armed people with weapons drawn at you, how high are the stakes?⁠

Are you going to ease into the scene slowly and then dial up the energy at the end?⁠

Please, please, please, 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. ⁠

In the past we’ve talked about how important those first few seconds in a self tape are. ⁠

If we don’t believe you in the first 10-15 seconds, is our creative team going to believe you? Our producers? The director?⁠

If the scene starts out with high stakes, we need to see it!⁠

Don’t worry about the arc. ⁠

Worry about the circumstances that your character is going through. ⁠

Worry about your environment. ⁠

Who you’re speaking to. ⁠

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩. ⁠

Now sure, there will definitely be scenes where the energy and emotion will want to rise. ⁠

But those levels will naturally ebb and flow if you focus on what’s happening to you and authentically reacting to your scene partner. ⁠

#themoreyouknow #mondaymythdebunker #thecastingdirectorscut #actorslife
 

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