(Part 2) Top products from r/acting

Jump to the top 20

We found 21 product mentions on r/acting. We ranked the 130 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

Next page

Top comments that mention products on r/acting:

u/not_kewl · 3 pointsr/acting

First and foremost, if you are ever, EVER feeling suicidal, please reach out to somebody:

  • Call +45 70 201 201
  • Visit http://www.livslinien.dk/
  • Speak with your parents (trust them, tell them how you feel)
  • Speak with literally anybody. A friend, the police, anyone

    Sorry to hear you're having a rough time. I've been there. I'm there frequently. A lot of us are. A lot of people who seem to have amazing lives and tons of friends are feeling just as much pain and loneliness as you. You are not alone. Sometimes it can feel like no one cares. Yes, lots of people are selfish and/or busy with their own stuff, but people do care.

    Know that your situation will change. Everything changes. Everything passes. You're feeling crappy right now, but hold on. Be strong. Be brave. Make some changes. If you do, you might blink and it be six months from now and you're having an amazing time in your acting classes, hanging out with a few people you really love spending time with, have forgotten all about your ex, etc. Everything passes. Bad times pass, so try to just ride the wave, roll with the punches, and know things will get better. But also good times pass. So when you're doing something you enjoy, or spending time with someone you care about, try really hard to be present and appreciate every moment, every detail. That's the beauty of life. It's transient. Nothing is permanent. Our species is not permanent. Our world is not permanent. It's a ride. It's a game. It's whatever metaphor you choose, but the point is things go up and down and round and round and in the end nothing really matters other than the fact that we have the gift of the present moment and the ability to try and enjoy little things here and there.

    I know you mentioned having seen a therapist and it did nothing. Hopefully that was just that one therapist. Sometimes it takes trying a couple months with a couple different therapists before you find someone who you really like. You just have to be open, honest, and trust that they are there to listen to you and there to help you. And give them time. There are very few quick fixes in life.

    There are things you can do for yourself, too. Things that will have a huge impact on your happiness, contentment, confidence, loneliness, motivation, etc. Most of the below is scientifically proven to help a lot. You don't have to do all of this at once, and you don't have to be an expert at all of this all at once. The important thing is to try. Bit by bit. Each day try one new thing on this list, and try to make a habit of it. Do it at that time, every day. Start small, with easier things, like doing stuff for 5 minutes, then next week up it to 10 minutes, and so on:

  • Exercise: force yourself to go for a 20-30 minute walk every morning, as soon as you get up. It will be hard at first, but you'll start feeling a bit better every single time. Start mixing things up, depending on where you live and what you have accessible to you, try one day doing your walk, one day going for a cycle, one day a swim, one day run instead of walk, etc.
  • Eat right: Self explanatory. Minimize alcohol. Minimize caffeine. Minimize sugar. Minimize pre-packaged/processed foods. Minimize/skip recreational drugs. Increase the amount of healthy stuff you eat. More veggies (fresh/frozen, cooked/raw, mix it up!), things like eggs or oatmeal for breakfast, etc. You'll find that the more you start changing this stuff, bit by bit each day, the more your body will crave it. When added to the exercise, you'll start massively craving good foods You'll finish a run and want nothing more than to chug a glass of water and eat a banana.
  • Meditation: Meditation is amazingly powerful, just like exercise. The gist is that it teaches you to be very present. When we're going over stuff that's in the past (an ex girlfriend, or what someone said to you, or whatever), we're wasting energy on things we can't do anything about, because they already happened. Same goes for worrying about or thinking about stuff in future. We can only ever play the hand we're dealt. And that involves only being able to do stuff RIGHT NOW. In this moment. Being present will massively help you keep relaxed, de-stressed, less anxious, and it will also help you enjoy things. Like when you're having breakfast or eating a snack you like, you won't blink and realize it's gone and you spent the whole time eating it but thinking about other stuff. Instead, you'll be present, in that moment, enjoying that food or drink 100%. You'll savor every bit. I hugely recommend getting an app like Calm or Headspace. Both have free trials for anywhere from a week to a few weeks. There's also a bunch of completely free meditation apps and youtube videos and things. These guided meditations help a lot because you don't have to look up "how to meditate" or whatever, you just sit comfortable somewhere quiet, put a pair of headphones on, and relax. If you practice this every day, first thing in the morning, and make a habit of it like brushing your teeth (or brushing your mind!), you'll notice a huge difference. It will help you calm any negative voices in your head and know that those thoughts will still pop into your mind now and then, and that's ok. You just let them drift past, instead of giving them any attention. Meditation is amazing. Try it for a couple of months!
  • Socializing: Humans are social creatures. We need to chat with other people in order to feel good. You said you're starting some classes next week. GOOD. Be brave, and reach out to make friends with the people you're in class with. Try and arrange to meet up with people after class to talk about what happened in class, and get to know each other. Organize getting together to work on scenes or exercises together and watch movies, go to plays together, and go get a cup of tea after and talk about them together. Also, try chatting to strangers more. Be brave. Ask someone about the book they're reading, if they've read other stuff by that author, do they recommend it? Take an interest in people, if you introduce yourselves then remember their name (and use it!). Be attentive to what they say and ask them questions. If they talk about something, ask how long they've been doing it, what they like about it, etc. Ask about it as if you're an actor researching a role where you need to know about or do that thing. A lot of people aren't used to this kind of contact and will kind of close down a bit. But try! But you'll be surprised, sometimes you'll have lovely 2 minute chats with people, and you might learn something. And for anyone who you're friends with who doesn't live in Copenhagen, reach out to them! Google Hangout is free and a great way to keep in touch with people. Use that or Skype or Facetime or something, and have little 15 minute or hour-long catch-ups with people you care about. All of this stuff will make a world of difference in terms of how connected you feel to people and how lonely you feel.
  • Reading: Minimizing your electronic device usage in bed will help you sleep better. Reading is a wonderful way to relax you in the evening. Take 30-60 minutes every night as the last thing you do before drifting off, to jump into a book. Try some novels that are in genres you like, try some novels that are in genres you don't like but that people rave about. Classics. Modern award winners. Novels engage your brain in a different way to other types of stimulation. They also make you more empathetic and emotionally connected. You can also switch off between a novel and something like this or [this] (https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business-ebook/dp/B0055PGUYU#nav-subnav), which are amazing books that will help you a lot on your journey to getting more out of your life and feeling better about things.

    All of the above should be the priority here. Your health is #1. If you look after yourself emotionally and physically, you'll be way better set up to deal with all the BS in life and enjoy yourself and form and maintain good relationships with people, and to be motivated and energized about working on acting (or anything else).

    Acting is amazing. But it's very fucking hard. For most actors, it's a tough lifestyle. To pursue it, you have to be cool to roll with the fact that most of the time it's hard work. It is a job. You have to work at it. Actors get rejected all the time. It's part of the job. You have to work hard to be in a good spot emotionally and physically in order to help deal with that. So, like I said, for now, it may be worth putting a lot of energy into that stuff.

    I hope some of this is helpful. Sending you love and good vibes from the other side of the world. xxxx
u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/acting

Understand Shakespeare

The writing of the time is essentially a different language than Modern English, and you'll want to learn that language.

While reading, should you not understand a word, you must look it up. The internet usually has the definitions of such words, but just in case: Shakespearean Lexicons Volume I & Volume II

Learn iambic pentameter.

Learn how to spot operative words. How I do it is to look at a sentence, find the most important words, and see if you can maintain the basic meaning of that statement whilst only using the operative words. As a rule of thumb, operative words are generally not negatives (e.g. never, not, etc.)

Learn how to perform scansion. Scansion is essentially writing out the iambic pentameter and underlining the operative words.

Shakespeare was a poet and was very lyrically gifted, but his stories are often weighed down with non-existent fluffy interpretations. For example, the famous "TO BE... OR... NOT... TO BE!" monologue from Hamlet is too-often used in auditions and is too-often made overly dramatic. A writer/casting director friend of mine said he has only been impressed by one audition of it. The actor walked in, and casually delivered the monologue, hitting the operatives, paying attention to real iambic pentameter, and not over-dramaticizing it. tl;dr Shakespeare may sound like music, but it's not always music... sometimes it is. Be honest with intention.

Audition

Auditioning is a subject in and of itself, but I'll attempt a "quick" guide:

Stay calm and concentrate on the story.

Have monologues with variety, but make sure they are characters you could fit in.

Remember, the people casting the show want you to succeed. They are cheering for you, whether you know it or not.

GOTE or Goals Obstacles Tactics Expectations, and for good measure S for Stakes. What are the character's life goals, play goals, scene goals, and moment goals? What are the obstacles for every goal? What are the tactics used and how often do they change? What do they expect to happen and how do they react?

Most importantly, I am one person. One actor. I can defend my expertise, but still... I am only one opinion. There are no rules in Acting, it is an art. There are good pieces of advice... but that's about it.

Also, everyone loves it when someone usually on the outside of Theatre participates with us! :D I am in love with science, but I pursued my art. We love it, so don't be afraid of us. My only note is that you must treat it with absolute respect. Many of these people are risking absolute destitution, psychological despair, and never-ending passion for a very lofty goal. We have to study as much as anyone else (even those who seem to have the mysterious talent.)

As long as you care about your performance, I'm sure you'll do just fine.

Break legs. :)

EDIT: I seem to have formatted incorrectly earlier. I believe I've fixed it. Sorry. :P
EDIT II: Fixed The Scottish Play*

u/the1manriot · 1 pointr/acting

When I taught acting for young people I relied on four books:

[A Practical Handbook for The Actor]
(https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Handbook-Actor-Melissa-Bruder-ebook/dp/B007QPFFXY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503710497&sr=1-1&keywords=a+practical+handbook+for+the+actor)

True and False

Sanford Meisner On Acting

Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher's Handbook

I taught Acting and Improv to a range of students: from elementary and middle school kids who didn't really want to be there to dedicated high school kids studying theatre 12 hours a day in the summer. This is typically how I built my curriculum:

The Meisner Technique personalizes a student's relationship with whatever text they're working with. Acting exercises shift away from Being A Good Actor and become about being honest in imaginary circumstances, making observations, and taking action. The exercises can be grueling. The games require focus, and a willingness to make observations about scene partners. Good for serious students.

True and False is a series of essays by David Mamet. If you're not familiar with Mr Mamet, he is an important American Playwright who's work will never be performed in a high school. But he was a student of Meisner's and does a masterful job of articulating the point of Meisner's method and distinguishing it from Method Acting.

A Practical Handbook is Second Generation Meisner - based on the notes of David Mamet's and William H Macy's acting students. It focuses on HOW to choose a dynamic action. Much of the material can be made into worksheets for use in later scene analysis. Suitable for all ages.

Many young actors have little experience to draw from to make dynamic choices. For some students it may be the first time they've thought of how and why they reacted to people and situations. Viola Spolin's exercises can help unlock their imaginations - plus, they're fun.

I say all of that to actually answer your question about finding material:
I highly recommend Spare Scenes.

In College we called them Contentless, or Empty Scenes. They are short, two character scenes. Characters are 'A' and 'B' (sometimes there's a 'C' as well) with anywhere from 10 to 20 lines each. There's no real context to the scenes. There is no action described, only vague dialog:

A: Do you believe me?

B: Yes mostly.

A: Mostly.

B: Yes mostly.

A: But not always?

B: Usually always.

A: Usually

B: Yes, usually.

A: But not absolutely always.

B: I guess not.

A: That's strange.

B: Why?

The student must apply techniques from Meisner, and The Practical Handbook to analyze the Spare Scene, create a scenario and choose actions that convey dynamic characters. It's hard. But that's the best part - it is very beneficial to fail at these exercises. When students get their hands on actual text - it's like they only have to do half the work! But, as an educator, you also have an endless source of material to practice. So when you have a play, or a One Act, or an actual performance - it becomes an Event.

I've noticed that while many young musicians are taught the difference between Practice and Performance, many young actors are either On or Off. The Meisner Technique encourages the student to resist the temptation to be The Great Actor, and instead focus on building Great Character.

Please forgive the wall of text. This is my favorite thing to rant about. Hope that helps. (edit: formatting)

u/coolsonicjaker · 8 pointsr/acting

(On mobile so I'm sorry if things are messed up)

Hey there. I also suffer from anxiety and depression, and I'm quite shy as well. I find acting very therapeutic. I'm not in theatre for just that reason, but it certainly helps.

Although yes, theatre and acting is a group and collaborative art there are lots of exercises you could do by yourself that many actors use, especially in the area of understanding your emotions and being more in tune with them. Many of these I use myself not just for acting, but to help my mental health as well.

I would first suggest checking out the book Mindful Way Through Depression I would actually recommend this book to any actor. It helps me be aware of my emotions and helps me when I'm having a particularly hard time. Also Respect for Acting which is an actor book. I recommend this one because it may help to see how universal the emotions of fear, embarrassment and so on, are and to help raise your emotional intelligence. There are actor exercises in this book you may find really silly, but they may be worth trying out.

I'd also recommend yoga and meditation. Not all across do these but I know many that do. They help ground you and get more in touch with the "self" and all that jazz.

Lastly, read a lot of plays. Check out Next to Normal. It's a musical about mental illness. The whole thing can be found on YouTube.

Read Shakespeare. It's hard to read at first yes, but the more you give to Shakespeare the more he'll give back to you. You'll discover a lot about the human condition and probably a lot about yourself as well.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I hope this helps.

u/TheLastGiraffe · 6 pointsr/acting

I agree. Your hunger is an incredibly good thing. But you should always be training and stretching If you're interested in some books on technique here's what I've been reading.

A Practical Handbook for the Actor by a bunch of interesting people. It's a practical, repeatable, and analytical way of approaching acting. While it is best practiced in a classroom with a knowledgable instructor, the text is good enough to stand on it's own.

History of the Theatre by Brockett is a longggggg read. But it's detailed and a great perspective on what was happening when in relation to plays. Also you can older editions for way way less.

I'm just now reading Sanford Meisner on Acting and that's been an interesting so far, it has a lot more of a narrative which is enjoyable to read.

Hope any of that helps someone!

u/pneumatik · 2 pointsr/acting

> It's never too old to start with acting.

Reading this made me feel a lot better. Even though I've been acting since high school and just graduated with a BA in theatre performance, I still sometimes feel like I'm way behind in the game because I wasn't into youth theatre or haven't gotten an agent yet. Great inclusion!


Also, if you wanted to add a book that's a great starting point for reading plays, the Norton Anthology of Drama (Shorter Edition) is a great collection of classics leading up to more contemporary plays. It was basically a staple all 4 years at my university. (Kind of expensive, but if you can find a library where you can check it out, it's definitely worth the read! There's also the full sized Norton Anthology of Drama that comes with two volumes and quite a few great plays.)

u/diagnosed-wanderlust · 2 pointsr/acting

This book might help you. I took the class with Joseph Hacker and I learned so much about filming myself and how to set up attractive shots. I second what everyone else has said as well, don't use a front facing camera. If this is what you want, get accustomed to speaking to the lens as if you were speaking to a friend. Spend time with it. Set up a camera (doesn't have to be on) somewhere in your room and get accustomed to having it look at you. It's not scary, and the more comfortable you get around (any) camera lenses, the better your performance will be. Break a Leg!

u/RollingCompass · 1 pointr/acting

Off-Topic, but does anybody own the book /u/thisisnotarealperson linked to for the men's monologue (this one)? It seems like a nice little collection of monologues, is it any good?

u/howaboutgofuckyrself · 1 pointr/acting

It's not that you shouldn't do that, but you want to replace it with an action. This doesn't necessarily mean doing something physically, but if I assume correctly that the narration in the video is your inner monologue, there needs to be some kind of response to that. You are listening to the voice, so you are engaged by it. Having your blocking be as simple as sitting and listening is fine, but there needs to be a connection between your thoughts and your blocking, which is sitting in the shower/tub.

To fix this, you need to realize that in this scene you have two characters. There is the character of your Inner Monologue and the character of Your Character (physical you). Your Inner Monologue wants one thing, and You want another (again, an assumption, but I assume this because all scenes are built on conflict - if you both wanted suicide, that would happen and there would be no scene to speak of). What do you want the voice to do? Do you want it to stop? How will you make it stop? This page has a breakdown of what objectives are and how you play them.

If you still continue to sit and listen, that's totally okay! But there shouldn't be a disconnect between the two characters in the scene. There should be a give and take, an action and a reaction, a response. Then the other character plays from this response.

I strongly suggest the acting book The Anatomy of a Choice by Maura Vaughn. This has helped me in many situations as an actor. Also, read lots of David Mamet. Read his plays, read his essays on acting. Another book I find helpful is A Practical Handbook for the Actor (written by students of Mamet) and The Art of Acting by Stella Adler. Reading is an actor's greatest tool other than just getting out there and performing.

Understanding objective is the first step toward becoming a fully invested actor. It will change the way you look at the stage and screen.

edit: added a thought

u/db_333 · 1 pointr/acting

My latest find for a contemporary was Lucifer from Immaculate. It's comedic, about the devil explaining why he's the victim. For classical… http://www.shakespeare-monologues.org/home

I would also HIGHLY recommend this book for Shakespeare: http://www.amazon.com/Speak-Speech-Shakespeares-Monologues-Illuminated/dp/0571211224/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421816154&sr=1-1&keywords=speak+the+speech

Used it's quite cheap. It just lists almost every decent Shakespeare monologue for auditions and gives detailed notes on context, footnotes, hidden meanings, how the iambic pentameter should be read, length, frequency of use in auditions etc. etc. GOOD LUCK!

u/InternetLumberjack · 2 pointsr/acting

If you're buying it, and you want to try and hit as wide a shot as possible with your buck, look into anthologies. If you're just starting out, Stages of Drama has been read by every single person with a degree in theatre and is a great "short list" of plays to know. Also, if you end up attending college, you WILL read from this book.

u/kelevra206 · 2 pointsr/acting

So much of the play is in a story-teller monologue style. It's been a couple years since I did it, so I'm having trouble thinking of specifics. It's a great read, though. Looks like you can get the Kindle version for three dollars

u/thisisnotarealperson · 1 pointr/acting

I actually do own it, though I didn't go to it to find this monologue, oddly enough. It is good, I think people tend to look down on monologue books a bit too much. Of course they'll be overdone, but I think it is incredibly difficult to find something not overdone when you select for 1) a play with a monologue 2) written by a good author 3) that's anywhere near appropriate for you to do and 4) somewhat aligns with the thing you're auditioning for. You've just eliminated a massive amount of things that have been written, so of course what's left over will be done by a ton of people (depending on your type).

A lot of the other monologues I've used for the clinics have come from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Actors-Book-Contemporary-Stage-Monologues/dp/0140096493/

u/Pennwisedom · 1 pointr/acting

Well sense memory and all that isn't necessarily any older. But that's a different story.

Nothing can really compare to actually being in a class and doing it. But reading in general is good. I will suggest William Esper's The Actor's Art and Craft as a good place to start. Also based on its name you'll be tempted to buy the other book too, but don't, it'll just confuse you.

u/bflbfl · 2 pointsr/acting

actually it's not the lavalier she recommended - it's this one ($19.99, "youmic") I had already purchased when I saw Audrey's page:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WS5DGCS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have an iphone xr, which is why I picked this one - youmic has others for different phone types