Improving your acting skills is a long process, which basically continues throughout your life. If you are an actor, you should always strive to hone your skills and artistic skills. Fortunately, there are many ways to improve and mature in the field of acting. You can do this by taking courses, studying, auditioning, performing, and even through your own life experiences.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Studying Acting
Step 1. Study acting
As with any skill or talent, you need to practice your acting skills if you wish to improve them. Learning to act from professionals by following classes and workshops is one of the most effective and important ways to become better.
- You can find acting and improvisation courses in your city and local universities. Take lessons that interest you and that inspire you to improve.
- A professional acting teacher will be able to guide you in using the correct techniques and give you the tools you need to improve yourself as an actor. You don't always have a chance to see what you're doing, but an instructor does; it will help you make corrections, learn the basics and teach you what mental approach to take to carry out this job.
- There are acting teachers who specialize in particular techniques who can help you achieve specific goals. If you want to get better at auditioning in front of the cameras, you can find a professional who can help you improve.
- Adopt the right mindset to learn. Don't think you're too good to take lessons, because that's not the case. For most actors, the job is not acting, but learning and holding auditions.
Step 2. Read acting books
In addition to getting busy and learning in the field, reading and studying acting books will help you become a better actor.
- Consider acting as a regular school subject. You have to do your homework and study, because in the world of acting, the exam is an audition.
- There are tons of books on the art of acting, so don't just buy the first one you find. Ask your teacher for advice.
- Some books are really useful, like Michael Shurtleff's Audition. This volume contains twelve general rules that cover much broader topics than auditions. You will find these tips in other books, in the study of technique and in life.
Step 3. Read plays
These texts contain a lot of information about acting, they will help you understand how the characters work and allow you to analyze the material.
- When reading a play, pay attention to the director's directions, pace of action, and dialogue. Each of these components can help you improve your skills.
- Note the strong character of the characters. In plays, characters have a very strong sense of reality and motivation. Whether it's Shakespeare or a modern play, all characters have goals, something they aspire to. Every joke and every action they take are steps towards that goal.
- Take note of what you think these goals are and the strategies for achieving them. Use what you have learned in class and from reading books to analyze the scenes and characters. Practice playing the scenes and monologues aloud. These exercises allow you to understand how to represent a character written in black and white on a stage or in front of a camera.
Step 4. Take notes on the work of the best
Learn from your favorite actors. Watch their interviews, read books about them, and study the films they've been in.
- Actors who have managed to succeed are an excellent resource for you. Pay attention to how they manage to convey emotions, how they react to events or to other people. Notice how truly talented actors seem completely immersed in the moment and experience it as if it were real. Go back to your work and think about how you can imitate them.
- Inside the Actor's Studio is a great source of interviews with famous actors. Thanks to this series you can learn how talented actors approach acting, what kind of studies they have done and how they approach a scene or a character.
- Don't just try to imitate your favorite actors, but pay attention to what they find valuable and useful. Try incorporating their advice into your studies.
Method 2 of 3: Hone Your Skills
Step 1. Practice the monologues
This will help you improve your memory, character study and ability to hold auditions.
- You can search for monologues on the internet, but be careful what you find. Casting directors don't appreciate hearing the same monologue for the fifth time that the four actors presented before you. This can happen if you simply choose the first text you found with a search. Instead, pick one of your favorites from one of the plays you've read.
- Reread the monologue and analyze it. You should find the pace and understand what your goal is. In this case, the twelve rules mentioned above will be very useful to you. Find the places in the monologue where you can show them off. Try to know who you are, who you are talking to, where you are, what you need, etc.
- If you really want to improve your acting skills, you need to know about four monologues. Try them often, analyze them and memorize them. You must be able to recite them at any time, without any preparation. Try to choose two comic and two dramatic ones, preferably one contemporary and the other classic for each category.
Step 2. Take auditions for plays
Taking courses and studying acting is a great way to develop your skills, but auditions are also a great way to improve.
- During an audition you will find yourself acting in a way that allows you to better understand what your skills are and you will be able to get an idea of the things you need to improve. Auditions are important for two reasons: they allow you to be known and are a great opportunity to practice.
- The auditions usually consist of reading a scene, performing a monologue, or both. Auditions help you hone your ability to make immediate decisions during a scene. You won't have time to pre-analyze your lines, but learning to work well without preparation will help you mature.
- Take part in as many auditions as possible. Look for auditions for plays or movies in your area and sign up. Alternatively, ask your teacher what is the best way to find contact sheets.
- If an audition goes well and you are cast, it means that you are on the right path to improving your skills. During the audition, imagine that this is the first. You should do everything possible to fully empathize with the character and make strong choices. If you have a hard time being very firm, auditions will help you.
Step 3. Record while you recite
This can be a useful exercise in identifying your particular characteristics and identifying areas on which you need to improve.
- Turn on a camera and record yourself performing a monologue or scene with a partner. Don't worry if you don't like the way you look or your voice. Take note of what you do, how far you move and if you seem credible.
- Observing yourself as you act with an unbiased eye can go a long way in understanding what you need to work on. Maybe you don't have a good enunciation, you always touch your face or your movements are too theatrical and unrealistic. Write down all the details to improve, then try the same scene again.
Step 4. Improvise producer
Thanks to the technological means and resources at our disposal, it is easy to produce a work on your own, on a stage or in front of a camera.
- You can rent a small stage and present your play, or get some film equipment and shoot a web series. Doing the production work yourself allows you to evaluate your work as an actor from a different point of view. Proposing your work pushes you to give your best.
- Creating something personal for everyone to see will help you develop your style and become a better actor. During the creative process you will discover what you like and what you don't like, which methods work best for you and since you will be your own boss, you will learn to work hard by giving everything you have.
Method 3 of 3: Perfecting your Art
Step 1. Meditate and explore your inner self
Meditating for a few minutes and being able to find out what stimulates you will help you get in touch with the characters you need to play.
- Meditation can become a daily ritual, to be performed even when you are not sitting on the ground. You can do it in the course of activities that stimulate you and activate your artistic talent. Probably, you became an actor by vocation. Acting is a difficult world, where you often have to go out of your way to try to balance your passion for art with jobs that pay the bills.
- Try to take a few minutes every day to perform your monologues. Read a play, a book or watch your favorite movie. All these activities allow you to discover and explore your individuality. Find ways to stay connected to the creative process and not lose sight of your goals and passion for acting.
Step 2. Practice sight reading
Get help from an actor friend or someone willing to read a scene with you and practice.
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Sight reading is one of the most important parts of auditions and they help you improve your skills. When practicing a reading or audition, you should make strong decisions about a few things:
- Relations. Who is your stage partner? What do you want from this person? Always choose positive affirmations. Even if you hate a character, you have to love him. Hate does not allow you to express yourself, while love allows you to explore a multitude of options.
- Conflicts. Find the conflict in the scene. What makes you argue with the other character? Only one of you will win. Practicing your reading will help you figure out how to win the argument, using only the text written on the page and your personal resources.
- Setting. Consider where you are. Learn to visualize the scene environment. Choose real places that you know well. It doesn't matter if the other actor imagines a different place. Knowing in detail the space in which you move changes the way you behave.
- What happened just before. Each scene has a beginning, but something always happens away from the spotlight before the take. Learn to decide without question what your character was doing before the scene described on the page and use this information to get started right. This way you will be able to act with greater determination from the start and make it clear to the other actor and audience that you didn't turn on the light just at the beginning of the scene.
Strengthen Your Acting Skills Step 11 Step 3. Write down your lines
Read them and take note of the information you have discovered, such as the setting, what happened before, conflicts, etc., in order to better act the scene.
- If a certain joke reminds you of an episode in your life, write a note. During the performance, that experience will come back to you. This allows you to draw inspiration from the feelings, body language and emotions you have experienced; uses all these elements in the scene.
- Take notes on the goal of the scene and the lines that will allow you to achieve it. For example, if you want your mom to make you a sandwich, mark the phrases that express your wish. This allows you to act with the right motives and to be really convinced in what you say, instead of just reading the words written on the script.
- Take note of what other characters say about yours, especially in scenes where it isn't present. This will help you get to know your side better, because the words of others are true. You can use this information to fully empathize with the character and deliver a three-dimensional performance. The writer has given you the facts about your character and you are the one who must use them to create it.
Strengthen Your Acting Skills Step 12 Step 4. Take advantage of what you have learned
To truly improve your acting skills you need to learn to integrate everything you have learned into your creative process to deliver the best performance.
- By following the courses, reading plays and books you will learn many different theories and methods. Not all of them will be useful to you, but don't overlook anything before trying it.
- Develop your own acting method using the knowledge you have learned. Apply it to all aspects of the craft, from memorizing lines to actual execution. Over time, this process will help you get the best results from your work. To keep improving, you need to be willing to adapt and change your methods as you learn new things.
- Use the knowledge and skills you have on all occasions. Performing, taking courses, and studying are all ways to improve. Use what you already know and consider each audition, scene or opera as the most important job you face. Taking shortcuts won't help you get any better.
- Use your life experiences to your advantage as well. As the years go by and experience more and more you will have an invaluable reservoir of inspiration to draw on for your characters. You will be surprised how a play you read five years ago today suddenly seems so much clearer to you and you can understand it. Use your life to develop three dimensional characters.
Advice
- Always look for new ways to improve where you are not very good. Take acting classes and if you have a hard time being bright and living in the moment, try an improvisation class.
- Keep studying and reading. Learning about the great actors and your favorite techniques will inspire you to get involved and try new things.
- Be inspired by the greatest actors and actresses.
- Put all of yourself into the part you are playing. Don't just say the lines. Analyze the script to find out who your character really is.
- An acting teacher can offer you personalized advice for your needs.
- Be confident and remember why you became an actor.
- Enjoy what you are doing. Acting is supposed to be fun, even if it's hard work. Reflect for a while on why you love this art.
- To bring out the emotions in your character's dialogues, try reading a book aloud and whenever the characters speak, recite their "lines" conveying the feelings they feel.
