VOLUME 1: NATURAL ACTING

On the first volume, which you can watch in its entirety here, we lay the philosophical groundwork by understanding which part of the character actually comes from the acting. We talk about how not seeing the story character and not accepting yourself as you are results in pushy acting.

VOLUME 2-8: ACTIVE IDEAS

Active Ideas are the thoughts that produce behavior. What we're looking for is simple thoughts that are easy to think, but that produce complex behavior that runs effortlessly by itself.

There are certain categories of thoughts at the heart of every good acting technique. On Volume 2-8, we not only map every every Active Idea that's known to work, we add a new level of understanding, and we re-evaluate many myths, for example that result directing is bad or that active verbs are good, which is not that simple.

THE LAYERS OF BEHAVIOR

One of the major original contributions of the course is the Layers Of Behavior. Every known acting technique fits neatly into this single concept, and once you realize the connection, it becomes strikingly clear how all acting techniques relate.

It's like each Layer Of Behavior hits a unique psychological frequency. For example, working with objectives is distinct from working with the character's future, or his past, or his present projections, which are distinct from working with his self-image or physical actions or emotional state.

You will see how most Actors and Directors have made their home on just one or two layers, but that rich, nuanced performances come from activating more psychological aspects. This is the most brain-crunching part of the course, but it will take your competence to a new level, both as an Actor or a Director.

VOLUME 9-10: CASTING

It's really true that if you cast someone right, most of your work is already done. Directing Actors takes you through a full casting process, where you learn how to find out if someone is right for the part, whether they can really act, what positive and negative signs to look for, and how to direct during the audition so you get real data.

We're also interested in how to run the casting session, and how to create an environment that encourages Actors to reveal their talents. We discuss everything from how to arrange the casting space, to how to videotape it, going through callbacks, ending in test-pairings of potential leads.

Whether you're a Director or an Actor, sitting in on a casting is an enlightening, but also emotionally painful process.

VOLUME 11: REHEARSAL

The next two volumes are part of a Directing Workflow from rehearsal through shooting, in super slow-motion so we can analyze everything. Starting with rehearsal, this is something many people skip, thinking it'll make the characters more spontaneous.

But not rehearsing makes the characters hollow and empty, you'll have no toolbox or common language on the set, and the acting won't be ready for prime time.

VOLUME 12: DIRECTING WORKFLOW

We're now working on the set in super slow-motion, and we're interested in the entire conversation, what you say when, what you don't say when, how to motivate, and how to criticize constructively. We're also interested in solving every problem that comes up, like nervous actors, or pulling the scene back from a bad place.

We're solving many special situations like interruptions, or performing around missing actors, or when (not) to do rolling resets, as well as cleaning up the production so Actors can concentrate on acting.

VOLUME 13-17: REAL-TIME DIRECTING

We're now rehearsing and shooting for the last six volumes. This is where we turn on the storm and work at full speed using everything we've learned. This is the first time we can truly see how the techniques come together to create living, breathing characters.

We're covering lots of new ground in this part as things come up during the shoot. And the scenes are chosen for their issues, for example a love scene, or emotional and physical violence, which requires special handling.

CRIME DRAMA (4 SCENES)

We're doing 4 scenes from a ficticious crime drama featuring a detective Lily (played by Lee Stark), who is emotionally detached due to childhood trauma and has no interest or experience with personal relationships.

The character Reynold (played by Karl Hamilton) became disturbed after his daughter was murdered, and his mission in life is to expose the person who did it. He's an loner and a conspiracy-theorist, he lives in his car, and sees Lily as his only friend, but she's neither willing nor able.

Through rehearsals and shooting 4 scenes at different points in the character arcs, you will see how the characters take shape as we discover their behavior and find what works for the Actors. You will recognize techniques as they happen in quick succession.

PSYCHOPATH DRAMA (4 SCENES)

A psychopath, Leonard (played by David Scott Crawford), has moved into a wealthy neighborhood, and has everyone fooled that he's a cool tech CEO. His next victim, Elaine (played by Maggie Scrantom), is a controlling and bored housewife, whom he decides to kill after she makes some minor comment. Elaine's husband, Lawrence (played by Pete Navis) is mesmerized by Leonard, and doesn't pick up obvious signals.

These scenes were chosen for the course because a psychopath has no obvious behavior, and is hard to play. The scene also includes physical violence, which is emotionally difficult to shoot, and it needs specific handling on the part of the Director.

POLITICAL DRAMA (LOVE SCENE)

A congressman, Frank (played by Pete Navis) has been promising his staffer and lover Lisa (played by Laura Obenauf) that he will divorce his wife. Lisa dreams of becoming a first lady, and has believed him in spite of many broken promises. But in this scene, it becomes clear that it's never happening.

Love scenes, as well as any scenes that deal in raw emotions or violations of personal boundaries, need to be directed in certain ways, so the Actors can feel safe in committing to the part.