Film & Television Actor’s Conservatory

COURSE OUTLINE

This unique course has been designed to equip actors with the mental, physical and emotional strength needed to flourish in a work environment that often puts actors under intense pressure.

Our aim is to provide a world class television drama training course to:

• Equip and train actors with the craft and experience to perform with excellence in fast turnaround television in Australia and overseas
• Create autonomous actors who understand their role as actors in society, and with a deep understanding of popular culture as it exists in Australia today, who are independent, creative, fulfilled individuals
• Promote personal health, stamina and inner strength
• Actors will be trained by practicing industry professionals and the course has a strong performance focus. Actors will be performing on camera early into the first term. In the final week of the course, the company will shoot film and television scenes with a professional director and crew.

The course has been designed to approximately mirror the schedule of an actual television drama, so from the first read through at 9:00am on the commencement of the training week, actors are developing a mental and physical discipline to deal with performing in industry conditions. The course is dense and very fast-paced, with actors working on the floor with exceptional trainers from Day 1. Actors will be required to do all their reading, preparation and exercises at home ready for the next week.

We hope you will take from this course a way to live in the world as actor, connected and inspired by the world we live in and the ever-changing culture that is produced and nurtured in Australia.

The course is comprised of (2 x 10 week blocks). Classes run for 2 full days each week from 9:00am to 5:00pm (Thursday, Friday). A total of 320 contact hours. The Program is conducted by working industry professionals who are experts in their field. (Please refer to our trainer page for a comprehensive list).

Structure of the day:

MORNING:  Skills Development; Read Through, TV Episode of the Week, VIP Presentations, Voice, Movement and Improvisation.

AFTERNOON:  Analysis, Creativity & Imagination, Rehearsal, American Dialect, Actor Training and Workshops.

All actors will be required to:

Daily:

• Keep a private reflection journal for assessment
• Attend a company meeting

Once a week:

• Watch and be prepared to discuss a set television episode that aired during the week

Once a term:

• Prepare a self-assessment / goals and objective journal for discussion
• Complete a written assignment, which is to be assessed

The Actor Prepares: Connect with your Self/Connect with the Other

The focus for this block is research and development. Learn to identify your strengths and weaknesses as an actor and articulate your own personal plan for improvement over the next 20 weeks. You will have valuable time to connect with your Self and others and develop an understanding of how you and we, as humans and artists behave in the world. This is in preparation for your work as an actor ready to inhabit another soul and to able to interact authentically and vividly with other characters and situations in a professional manner.

This block is also for you to start to be aware of the world we inhabit and the culture we produce. Also to identify how and why actors are valuable and the positive function of an artist’s role in their surrounding society.

Morning

TV Episode of the week and Company Read Through

Exposure to: Laban, Arthur Samuel Joseph’s Vocal Awareness

Exposure to: Alexander Technique, Yoga and Improvisation/Clowning/Mask

Exposure to: Practical Aesthetics, Meisner, Strasberg, Stanislavski, Uta Hagen, Perdekamp Emotional Method (PEM), Stella Adler and Ivana Chubbuck.

Afternoon

The Actor Prepares.

Actor Training, Rehearsals and Workshops: This is an incredibly powerful unit that introduces you to aspects of the Stanislavski Technique. Students will engage principals from Practical Aesthetics, Chubbuck and Lee Strasburg, all of which are taught by leading actor trainers in these specific fields and techniques that are sourced Australia wide. 

This unit encourages you to identify with yourself as artists: building meaningful and truthful screen characters, stretching and accessing your imagination, becoming more present, impulsive and in the moment. Students will also explore archetypes and mask work to further engage as actors.

The Actors Practice: Get a Grip on Text & Performance Space

The focus for this block is to build on the basics, and then advance your technique work with more complex material; to expose you to the widest range of script genres, and experience working with a range of professional actors and directors, all at the top of their game. It includes an introduction to the more technical aspects of performing on set and how to use the camera and work with a crew.

Morning

Skills Training: TV Episode of the Week and Company read through. Voice and Movement classes will continue with the addition of the development of skills needed in the field including US accents and monologue preparation.

• Archery
• Fencing
• Screen Combat
• Safety on set
• Getting to know your film crew

Afternoon

Actor Training, Rehearsals and Workshops:  This unit will see you go deeper into script interpretation, character building and using language with confidence and precision. Your work will be committed, strong and have pure clarity.

Actors will apply these techniques to a variety of genres – training under industry professionals, outstanding in their individual fields that include: 

• Television Soaps
• Children’s Television
• Police Drama
• Social Drama
• Tele-movies
• Feature Films
• Period Drama
• Shakespeare
• Chekhov

Acting for Television: Excellent Craft/Confident Performers

The focus of this program is to provide for the actor maximum opportunity to practice their craft in industry conditions. Actors will demonstrate the ability to prepare a role and always deliver interesting, inventive and authentic performances.

Actors will refine the skills acquired in block one and worked through in block two by revisiting /reviewing key elements of study, including, the various acting techniques studied.

You will explore more complex materials and perform an array of scene work to camera. Students will commence the decision making process of selecting scenes that have been studied throughout the 20-Week intensive for the final industry showcase.

Showcase shoot and screening:

In the final weeks of Block 2, actors will film scenes with a professional director and crew. These showreel scenes are a tool to help you be seen by industry professionals, such as agents and casting directors. Carefully selected by you and the studio team, the scenes will support you as you move forward in the industry. Your Showcase; a private cinema screening to an invited audience of friends and family, will follow in the weeks after the shoot.