LABAN WORKSHOPS IN SAN FRANCISCO
Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies
July 29 - August 2, 2002
Ed Groff, Peggy Hackney, and Janice Meaden teach 5 days of in-depth movement work related to Theater and Dance. Fee: $400
Contact Janice Meaden, 206-849-4380, or email jmeadenims@aol.com

ED'S UPCOMING SCHEDULE
SCENE STUDY (Chicago) -- ongoing, Monday and Wednesday night, 7-10:30. Free audit, start any time, 16-week commitment. $135/month.
COMMERCIALS WORKSHOP -- Weekend format, July 20-21. $250 ($175 if you are enrolled in scene study, too.)

ACTING FOR ANIMATORS --
June 22-23 in Vancouver, Canada. Open workshop. Contact the Emily Carr Institute for more information. Telephone: 604-844- 3852 or email vcraig@eciad.bc.ca

June 29th in Dallas, Texas. Open workshop. For info, contact Vince Sidwell at vsidwell@flash.net

July 12th in Los Angeles. Closed workshop. Teaching at Electronic Arts, motion capture division.

NEW FORMAT/TUITION SCHEDULE FOR CHICAGO FILM DEMO CLASS!
Chicago being the superlative stage town it is, I've had a dickens of a time getting my film classes off the ground. Therefore, I've decided to try a new format in Chicago, one that accomplishes much the same results but in an abbreviated time commitment for much less money. It is my hope that stage-oriented Chicago actors might be tempted to dip their talented toes into the world of film with this low-impact format. Here is the skinny:
1) Four-week format. Tuesday nights, 7-10:30. Tuition $250 total.
2) Class size: Either two or four actors. Limit of four. The dynamic in the class will feel more like tutoring than a full tilt class. Very personal instruction.
3) You will shoot one scene on digital video, utilizing traditional film technique: Master shot, close-ups (MCU, ECU) and so on. Then we'll capture the footage onto a computer, and you will edit your own scene with Hooks side-coaching.
4) We'll add music and titles to the edited scene and then transfer it onto VHS so that you walk away from the class with a finished demo scene that is appropriate for showing to agents, casting directors, directors and producers.

This is a significant change from the way I have been teaching film in California for these past many years. There I offered 10-actor classes in which each student shot two scenes. We ran either nine or ten week sessions depending on my schedule and the work load, and the tuition was three times as much. I hope this new format is a more manageable formula for my Chicago students. As far as I know, I am the only one in all of Chicago that offers this kind of professional hands-on film technique training, and it really is good. Making your own scenes is a highly practical and fun way of learning the differences between acting on stage and acting for film.

Next Film Demo start date: July 2nd. Be there, or be square!

CRAFT NOTES
"PACINO"

Al Pacino is giving a masters class in film acting in his new movie "Insomnia". I've seen it twice, just to watch him work, and I very enthusiastically recommend it to anybody that really wants to see how good film acting works.

I'm not going to tell you the plot of the movie because it really doesn't matter. This isn't a movie review, but an acting review. No later than twenty minutes into the film, you should notice that regardless of who else is in the scene with him, you cannot watch anybody but Pacino. He is utterly riveting and magnetic in this flick, shot after shot. Poor Robin Williams. He's acting his heart out trying to be a villian, and he is doing a fine job. But when Pacino is in the scene, it is like Williams is a rank beginner. Pacino blows him off the screen. I know, I know, I sound like a fan, but I'm speaking now as an acting teacher, and these are serious craft notes. True, Pacino is an interesting looking guy in life. But that doesn't explain his work in this movie. Go see it and, afterward, over a latte, review the following notes and let me know what you think.

1) Pacino is a master of the slow reaction, which is a marvelous skill for film. On stage, the audience tends to watch the person that is talking; on film, they tend to watch the person that is listening. Watch the scene Pacino has with the murder victim's boyfriend, Randy, in an empty school classroom. The kid is full of attitude and sasses him. Pacino has an eruption in return. Note how long he takes to get there. Observe that on the way to the eruption, he manages to turn a couple of emotional corners. Fascinating, detailed and masterful work.

2) Watch how physically still he is in shot after shot. In long shots and master shots, you can move around more than you can in close-ups. Stylistically, much of "Insomnia" is shot in medium close-ups and extreme close-ups. When the camera is that close to the actor, a raised eyebrow is an event. Less skilled actors, in an effort to remain still on screen wind up lowering the dramatic stakes, rendering the scene itself boring. Pacino justifies stillness another way, with intense mental activity. Think about this for a moment: Do you know how still you become when you are really really focused on a particular mental challenge? When you are trying to solve a really tricky problem, your gaze fixes in the distance and you become enveloped in the thought. Well, Pacino uses that human trait to justify his stillness in frame. It's all craft, and it's brilliant. He is almost totally still at times, with only his eyeballs shifting -- and yet his mind is going eight hundred and fifty miles a second, and you can't take your eyes off him.

3) An unbendable rule of acting is that you should play an action until something happens to make you play a different action. With that in mind, watch Pacino do his thing. For example, there is an early scene in which his character is being introduced to some cops in a squad room in Alaska. Nothing special, just an introduction for the newly arrived cop. His mind is on getting the formalities out of the way so he can get on with solving the murder he came to solve. One of the cops isn't crazy about this new guy from LA horning in on local affairs, and he mutters something mildly sarcastic under his breath. Watch Pacino's subtle reaction shot. It is nothing more than a glance in the direction of the mutterer, but it says, "Remember that guy. Keep an eye on him. He might be trouble at some point." And then, just as quickly as he glanced that direction, he's back to getting the formalities out the way. That shift from action to action to action, all in pursuit of a single objective, is accomplished in a single quick glance. He does the same hat trick when he's being driven around in the truck with Hilary Swank, after she picks him up from the seaplane. He does it throughout the movie, in fact. He'll set his mind going in one direction, find himself briefly interrupted by a fleeting diversion, make note of it, get back to the main business at hand. Masterful. Never misses a beat.

4) Observe the way he carries context non-verbally. In film, actors learn that the camera sees thoughts. Think it and it's done. The opening shots of him at the top of the film, when he's flying into Alaska in the seaplane are extraordinary for all the information that is carried in his non-verbal gaze. The first time we see him, we know immediately that he is already tired (He won't get much sleep in Alaska because it never gets dark this time of year...) and he has something important on his mind. Maybe more than one thing important on his mind. He is arriving in Alaska fresh from fighting demons someplace else, and he is prioritizing important things in his mind. He glances out the window at the snow below. The camera is in extreme close up. The face tells all. No words. It's craft, not just Pacino's increasingly furrowed and craggy demeanor.

This is an actor at his peak, folks. For a measly $9, you get a heck of a good film acting class. If that is a financial stretch for you, see it at the first matinee showing for $5. Me, I'm in for $14 already, and I just might pony up for a third showing. Let me know what you think, okay?

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