Light, camera... action !
Acting is not about being someone different. It's finding the similarity in what is apparently different, then finding myself in there. Meryl Streep
Deep inside each one of us is an actor from Hollywood. What if you went and tickled them? Got them out of their lair? Made them shine under the spotlights ?
More info on the dates in January
Stay tuned !
What will we learn during a cinema workshop?
Script analysis, cold reading, storytelling, acting for film tips and tricks and exercises.
Learn how to become an extraordinary actor, follow your impulses and intuitions.
You will learn how to make better, stronger choices how to take direction in the moment.
The goal is de-mystify the acting process and provide you with tools to be a more confident.
How is a cinema workshop planned?
The coach will select a scene and a scene partner for each one, depending on their personality, your age and gender, your style, etc.
The actors will participate into exercises, discussions and concentrate on scene study work. The workshop will open on exercises depending on the size of the class. Exercises could include physical exercises, script exercises, such as cold reading, character, and connection to the other actor exercises. They will then have a first rehearsal of the scene.
The actors will go through the whole script and then get notes from the coach. The coach do not “fix” scenes. He gives notes about the areas the actors need to explore or explore more. The creativity is in the actors’ hands, not the coach. After that, they take some alone time to rehearse again.
Then the actors will do a second work of their scenes. A second work is usually stop and go, with the coach sometimes moving about the set. This is based on the idea of actually shooting the scene. The difference between a coach and a director will be explored.
And when we are not on stage ?
All participants are to be part of the crew. When they are not acting, the students are assisting the actors, each one with a specific role!
What is the difference between stage acting and camera acting?
1- The acting is more intimate. As we do not act for an audience but for a camera we don’t have to project as far
2- We learn our script differently; the scenes are shorter et can be cut et redone multiple times
3- We focus on the relationship and the connection to the other actor first. With the camera, all the details of our faces and all our micro expressions are visible. The acting must be natural and believable.
4- There is no mime, all the props are real, there are no invisible objects. The actors have to familiarize with the objects around them, in order to use them with a movement that is as close as possible to a real-life gesture.
5- In cinema, we use a process called “stop and go”. It is like a last rehearsal while recording. The director (teacher or coach) can stop the actors mid-scene (to redo a part of the take, to change the framing, move the camera, change the lighting, etc). The actors stay focused and do not come out of character, it’s the crew that moves around the actors.
In cinema and on stage, the intentions of the actors and the truth of the acting are the same. The moral investment is the same and … there is a lot of fun involved!
About the coach
Elsa Pottier is an actress, director screenwriter and acting workshop manager. started her career in theater and cinema in Paris and London after what she moved to Montreal and played in a number of Canadian feature films, commercials, short films and serial TV programs. Throughout the years, she developed a solid and versatile experience of acting coach spanning from training teenagers at Cirque du Soleil in Canada, to coaching professional actors in Ireland, France and Saudi Arabia.
In 2019, she starred in an Arab Film studio (young filmmakers) Image Nation production and she co-produced an independent short film, which won Best Film at the Dubai WOIS Film Festival and Best Editing at the Dubai Film Festival.
