Improving your acting skills is a long process that goes on throughout your life. If you are an actor, you should always be taking steps to improve your skill and your craft. Fortunately, an actor can improve and grow in many ways. You can follow these quick steps to notch up your Acting Game and evolve as a better actor by taking classes, studying, attending auditions, acting, and even experiencing life.
Tip 1 - Learn all about acting
Improving your acting skills, like any skill or talent, is like a muscle that must be exercised if you want it to grow. One of the most important and effective ways to improve is by attending classes and workshops to learn how to act from professionals. Luckily, nowadays technology has progressed a lot and hence Applications like FirstCut have come into the picture that helps budding actors by offering the Acting Tips video of some renowned Actors like Manish Goel.
- The best way to get acting classes in this pandemic is to learn the skills online. You can take classes that interests you and drives you to improve.
- An instructor or professional acting teacher will be able to guide you with the appropriate technique and provide you with tools to improve yourself as an actor. You won't always be able to see what you do, but a teacher can. Your teacher will be able to help you make adjustments, learn the basics, and teach you how to approach your craft mentally.
- You can find acting instructors and teachers who specialize in specific genres and who can help you achieve specific goals. If you want to learn how to be better in auditions in front of a camera, you can find a teacher to help you improve. Acting in front of Camera requires minute detailing like angle, position etc. You may be acting in a closed room wherein you may have to act as if you are at a hilltop. To inculcate the vision and flow, you need the guidance of a teacher
- You must put yourself in the right mindset to learn. You should not consider that you are too good to take classes, as it is not. It is said that there is always a scope for improving and learning. And most importantly, the job of most actors is not to be an actor but to learn and audition.
Tip 2 - Read books about acting
Aside from standing up and learning, it will help if you read and study books to improve your acting skills. It is the same as working on your theory before starting with your practicals.
- Tackles acting as if it were any subject at school. You need to apply and study, because when it comes to acting, exams are auditions.
- You can read countless books on the subject of acting, but avoid just taking the first one you see. Instead, ask your teachers and instructors for recommendations.
- Some books are enormously valuable, such as The Hearing: How to Get a Role by Michael Shurtleff. This book contains 12 guides that go beyond just auditions. You will find the 12 guides in this book in other books, in your technique and in life.
Tip 3 - Take notes from your ideal Actor
Learn from your favorite actors. You can watch interviews, research about them, and study the movies in which they are performing.
- Another excellent resource for you may be the actors who have made it. Pay attention to how they transmit emotion and how they react to something or someone. Look at how truly talented actors can be completely submerged in a moment and experience it as if it were real. Then go back to your work and think about how you can do the same.
- An excellent source for watching these actors performing is through behind the scene (BTS) videos available online. You will be able to learn about how these talented actors have approached acting, the type of studies they have carried out, the way in which an actor approaches a scene or a character, the efforts or drill that goes behind each shot.
- Avoid simply trying to imitate your favorite actors, although you should pay attention to what they consider valuable and useful. Then make an attempt to incorporate it into your own studies. Take Inspiration but do not copy. The key is be raw and real.
Tip 4 - Practice Monologues
The monologues will help you to improve memorization, character study and auditions.
- When looking for monologues, you can do it online, but be careful with what you select. Casting directors don't want you to play the same monologue that 4 other people have played, and this is what happens when people just search for monologues online. Instead, you should look for one that you like from one of the plays you've read.
- Review the monologue and analyze it, which means that you must divide the bars and know what your objective is. This is where the 12 guides will serve you. Find parts of the monologue that correspond to each of these guides. You must know where you are, who you are talking to, who you are, what you need, etc.
- In case you really want to improve your acting skills, then it is suggested to atleast have 4 monologues which you have analyzed and practiced frequently. These should be memorized so well that you can interpret them at any time without preparing. It is advised to bifurcate the monologue lot into two comical and two dramatic. One of each could be contemporary and the other classic.
Tip 5 - Go to Auditions of plays
While acting classes and study are a great way to dissect and develop your skills, auditions for plays are also extremely valuable for improvement.
- Going to an audition allows you to act in a way that you can better understand what your skills are and know what you need to keep working on. Auditions, in addition to being important to make your face and your name known, are also important to practice a little.
- Usually an audition consists of a cold reading scene, a monologue performance, or both. Auditions will help you improve your decision-making in a scene quickly and on the spot. While you won't have much time to analyze your parliaments, learning how to function well with limited time will help you grow.
- Attend as many auditions as you can. You can search auditions for theater or cinema in your area and sign up, or you can ask your teachers for the best places where you can find auditions.
- In the event that you do well in an audition and you are selected for the cast, you will know that you are going in a direction that helps you improve your skills. During the audition, you should approach it as if it were opening night. Use everything you have to fully immerse yourself in the character and make solid decisions. If you have a hard time making solid decisions, auditions will help you improve that skill.
- At this pandemic situation one can check online audition videos available on different social media platforms. You can also check the best opportunities in the industry and submit your audition video on the FirstCut application with the comfort of your home.
Tip 6 - Record yourself Acting
Recording yourself can be a good exercise to identify your peculiarities and specify the parts in which you should improve.
- Install a camera and record yourself playing a monologue or a scene with a partner. You may not like the way you look or sound, but this is fine. Take notes on what you do, how much or how little you move, and if you believe your performance.
- Watching you act with an objective eye can really show you what you need to work on. You may not be enunciating enough or you may always be touching your face. Your movements could be too big and unrealistic. Take note of the parts you want to improve on, and then go back and try again.
- After a good rehearsal you will have the best collection of online audition videos. Hence, it is one of the best moves and it will give you, your most important asset.
Tip 7 - Use what you have learned in your work
If you really want to improve your acting skills, you need to learn to incorporate everything you have learned into your process in a way that works for you. Merely reading or observing won't serve any purpose if you don’t incorporate them into yourself.
- By taking classes and reading plays and books, you will learn about many different theories and methods. While they will not all work or benefit you, avoid underestimating something before trying it.
- Formulate your own process using what you have learned. You must apply it to everything from learning your parliaments to interpreting. Over time, you will develop a process with which you can dig deeply and get the best results from your work. If you want to keep improving, you must be willing to adapt and change that process as you continue to learn.
- Use your knowledge and skills for everything. Interpreting, taking classes, and studying are ways you can improve. You must use what you have and what you think will work for you, then proceed with approaching each audition, scene or play as if it were the most important job you have ever done. If you skip on this process, chances of improvement may decrease.
Apart from all these, use your real life experiences as it helps us a lot to grow. Nobody knows you better than yourself. As you get older and experience more of life, you will have a bank of experiences that you will be able to apply to a character. You'll be amazed at how a play you've read 5 years ago suddenly makes so much more sense and makes a connection to you now. Develop three-dimensional characters using your own life. At last, the most important thing required is self confidence and trust upon yourself, these two things can make your performance perfect. Moreover, Hardwork and patience is the key for everyone’s success. As Nawazuddin Siddiqui said - "Behind every easy role, there is a lot of hard work that goes in."
Stay Motivated and Keep Working on Your Skills.