In

This

Issue

Features
Act Well Your Part: Learning freedom from the script
Sections

Teacher Tip: Constructive Criticism
Buzz Words: SAG, AFTRA

Upcoming Appearances:

March 2009:
University of Northern Colorado: March 6-7 Greeley, Colorado

Ohio Thespian Festival:    March 27-29      Dayton, Ohio
Student Workshops: March 29-30 Cincinnati, Ohio

April 2009:
West Virginia Scholarship Orientation: April 17-19 Morgantown, West Virginia

Florida Thespian Festival:     April 22-25 Tampa, Florida

Miss Teen Maryland/DC World:        April 25-26 Annapolis, Maryland

Did You Know?
Ever wonder the first role your favorite Hollywood stars played? You may have searched the Internet Movie Database to find out for yourself, but here are a few favorites.

Anne Hathaway: “Get Real”, which was a TV series that aired from 1999-2000. Anne played a character called Meghan Green.

Robert Pattinson:    Before becoming a heartthrob for his role in “Twilight”, Robert started his career with his 2004 role in “Curse of the Ring” and the movie “Vanity Fair.”

Zac Efron: Most commonly known as Troy from High School Musical, Zac began his career in 2002 with a role on the TV series “Firefly”.

Educator’s Corner: Tips for Teachers from Teachers
Vance Fulkerson encourages other educators to remember, “If you treat each student as if he or she is your own child, you can’t go wrong. And, always remember, your faith in their ability is as important as the training you impart to their ultimate happiness and achievements. Reaching the top must first be in the mind and in the heart. As their teacher and mentor you are the most critical external factor in their success in the performing arts.”

-Vance Fulkerson
 Professor of Theatre Arts and Head of the Musical Theatre Program at the University of Northern Colorado 

News at Dolphin

The start date for the production of our first theatrical release of Soul Surfer  has been pushed back since the SAG issue has not yet been resolved. So we are still casting for the roles of Bethany and Alana.
Our first TV-musical, Spectacular! Aired on Monday February 16 and had great ratings with 14 million viewers in the first week. The soundtrack has also been doing well with the number2-ranked kid’s album and the number 5-ranked soundtrack. One week alone sold 60,000 singles.
At the end of March the international sales department will be venturing to Cannes for the 2009 MIPTV conference. We will begin sales for Spectacular! as well as our other properties.

Dolphin Educator’s Network, March Issue!

What a way to start the year! With over 14 million viewers in its first week “Spectacular!” was Nickelodeon’s highest rated original movie.  With its success, Dolphin is more anxious than ever to turn our attention to our feature film slate…especially our musicals.  What fun making movies can be!

Never have we been more grateful to have the opportunity to work with the country’s most talented thespian educators…you’ll find just a few of them in this issue of the Dolphin Educator Network Newsletter. We know that your collective knowledge and the talented young thespians you are mentoring will be a great resource to us as we embark on our musical odyssey!

In the last month, we have received a number of submissions for our LA Experience. Spurred in part by the fact that we are now offering college credit through UNC; this positive reaction is confirmation of just how needed a trip like this is…offering unparalleled access to the film and television industry with the integrity that guides all of our outreach efforts.  We are also working hard to make sure that we are doing what we can to make this once-in-a-lifetime trip available the country’s most talented thespians, regardless of their financial means. To that end, we have created sponsorship and fundraising packages aimed at helping young people raise the money they need to make the trip possible and internally, we are pursuing both state and national sponsors.  Please call Jenn, if you haven’t already, about how to submit your student(s) for the trip.

We hope our travels bring us to your region soon. We are doing as much outreach as our schedule can allow and there is little we enjoy more…there is just so much talent across our great country. If we aren’t in your area, please feel free to reach out to us through our blog or by phone if there is any way we can be of assistance. 

Lesson Plan: Act Well Your Part!

By William J. Eyerly, M.Ed., Ph.D.
Skill: Student uses vocal acting techniques and methods to portray the physical, emotional, and social dimensions of characters from various genres and media

Objective: The student will be able to act by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in improvisation and formal or informal productions.  

Part 1: Freedom from the Script.

As many drama educators know, the motto of the International Thespian Society is the Alexander Pope creed, “Act well your part. There all the honor lies.” Indeed the methodology for getting young actors to “act well” has been constantly evolving over the centuries since Thespis uttered his first lines separate from the chorus in the Great Dionysia some 2600 years ago.

Today, the demands on young actors are even greater. As technology and audiences have evolved and become more sophisticated, getting to the heart of a character quickly is more important than ever. This is especially true when actors are trying their hand at television and film. The audition process is fast-paced and unforgiving. They have a minute to show what they’ve got. The actor must know and understand the given circumstances of the scene as well as the text in order to maintain an eye level on camera and have the freedom to remain present in the moment and react naturally within the dialogue.

One of the best methods I have found to free a young actor from the text is the Whelan Recording Technique (WRT) developed by the late Jeremy Whelan. Jeremy was a dear friend and colleague of mine ever since I encountered one of his first books (Instant Acting) outlining his recording method in 1995. Over the next ten years, I taught workshops with Jeremy, helped him develop his Mosaic Acting System (MAS) while working with my acting students at all levels from elementary to adult, and even helped him complete and edit his final book, Mosaic Acting System, in 2004. I am one of three certified teachers of the Mosaic Acting System that worked and trained directly with Jeremy Whelan. The recording technique allows an actor to rehearse a scene and get “off book” in record time, while retaining the ability to listen and react without having the script in hand. In fact, when I’m using WRT with my students to rehearse a stage production, they never go on stage with a script in hand. I also never give them formal stage blocking. They are completely free to move and interact with their environment and each other, thus maintaining emotional contact from the very first take. Here’s how it works:

1) First, read through the script and notate all given circumstances. Put simply, given circumstances in acting are the details the playwright has given you, the actor, to work with in terms of where you are, who you are, what you are doing, and why you are doing it. This information is vital to the truthful portrayal of the character and must be understood fully before rehearsing. I always tell my actors, “Forgetting or flubbing a line is not a mistake. The only mistake you can make is betraying the given circumstances and breaking character.”

2) Next, using a digital recorder, record the scene. Each actor should keep their eyes on the script and not try to “force” any emotion into the reading.

3) Line out the digital recorder to a quality sound system. Have the actors put down their scripts and get on stage or stand on their mark. Push play. The actors will act out the scene focusing only on actions and emotions. They should not ever move their lips. They are simply reacting: How do I feel hearing that? They can make natural sounds such as groans, sighs, and other onomatopoeia, but they should not try to use words.

4) Once the scene has finished, go right back and make a fresh recording, eyes on script. Put the scripts down, play the new recording and act out the scene again. This time, however, the actors can experiment with different recording styles. For example, you might have them switch roles to examine the scene from the other perspective. If they are too restrained, you might have them go over the top with their emotions and volume. If they are too big, you might tone them down by having them do the scene as if they are in a church. Try exploring the comedy of the scene by recording the lines as if everything was hysterical, laughing during every line. Whatever strategy you or the actors chose, they should match the actions to the recording style during playback. For example, if the actors switch roles, they act those new roles during playback.

5) The role of the teacher or director is more one of a side coach and facilitator at this point, encouraging exploration, making sure actors don’t try to lip sync lines (this becomes more difficult with each new recording), and suggesting new recording styles. The director can also ask the actors about new discoveries between each recording. After each unique recording and playback, the actors should perform an “integration run” where they return to their original character, accent, etc. to apply what they learned in the fresh take.

6) After about 6 times through the scene (six fresh recordings, and six playbacks), the actors should try the scene off book speaking their own lines. They will be amazed to discover that they truly know the scene with minimal prompting. It will take very little effort to learn it cold. Using the typical 2 – 3 page screen test scene, six recordings and playbacks would take about 20 minutes. In less than a half hour, the actor will have a powerful command of the script.

Some of the reasons WRT works so well are that it takes advantage of all learning modalities simultaneously. In addition to engaging physical, intellectual, and emotional memory in the actor, the system also caters to visual, tactile, and audile learners during the process. Of course, in this article I am distilling a couple hundred pages of text into a few hundred words, but it still gives some pretty good insight into the MAS and WRT process.

Good actors, in my opinion, listen and tell the truth. The Whelan Recording Technique develops those essential listening skills while delivering a truthful performance that never feels over-blocked or over-rehearsed, and it delivers this natural performance in record time. In the second installment of this article in the May Educator Newsletter, we will delve deeper into scene analysis and emotional context.

Dr. Eyerly is the Performing Arts Director at Oak Hall School in Gainesville, Florida, teaching classes in performing arts and acting to students in middle and high school. He is also the Executive Director for the Gainesville Association for the Creative Arts, a non-profit, multi-discipline arts agency running arts educational programs in Alachua County.

Ask Casting: How do I Find Out About a Casting?

The best, most efficient, and safest way to find out about a casting is from a reputable agent (for more information on how to find an agent, please visit our blog).  Agents receive jobs directly from a client or a casting agency. When an agency is SAG oriented, they are sanctioned and must follow strict guidelines with the consequence of losing their license and/or being sued. 

Now that we have the obvious method out of the way, there are a few more “grassroots” approaches:

- Acting Programs: Use resources that are readily available to you: local theater group, acting coach, and college/university film or theater departments.  Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box.  If there is a local company that shoots commercials in your area, call them to inquire. Think like a casting director: I am looking for talent in x, y, or z small town America, who should I go to in the community?  Have you thought of the answer? Good, call them and introduce yourself. 
- Online: BEWARE! Reputable online sources are few and far between. However, it is awfully appealing and easily accessible to everyone everywhere. If you choose to use this method, do your homework.  If anyone asks for money or it seems sketchy, then it probably is.  An example of a good site is www.castingaudition.com. 
- Dolphin Entertainment: of course…Check our site and the newsletter for upcoming castings. We are committed to offering casting opportunities to talented thespians across the country.

Buzz Word

SAG- SAG is an abbreviation for Screen Actors Guild.  This is a motion picture performers union founded in 1933 that you can become eligible to join after being under a SAG contract and earning SAG wages either for one day as a principal or three days as an extra.  The union will let you know when you are eligible to join and their goal in part is to protect you from working too many hours or getting too little pay on a job.  There are certain requirements that producers who are SAG signatories (in contract with the union) must follow to avoid imposed fines and other consequences.  This protection from SAG comes at a cost and actors must pay a membership fee to join along with annual dues.  If you are working in Los Angeles, most people are SAG, so in order to compete with other actors and have access to the same auditions, you should be too.  However, there are several other local markets in which you can work plenty and might even benefit from not joining SAG.

AFTRA- AFTRA is the abbreviation for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which is a labor union that represents artists, performers, and journalists for the entertainment and news media. The union negotiates and enforces over 300 collective bargaining agreements that guarantee minimum (but never maximum) salaries, safe working conditions and health and retirement benefits.  Unlike SAG, anyone can join AFTRA at any time just by contacting the local office, making an appointment and paying necessary dues.  However, be aware that if you’re not very experienced, it might be challenging to compete with only other AFTRA members when auditioning for a job because once you join, you can only work on union jobs, which is true of SAG as well.

You may be a member of both unions.