DIRECTOR'S LAB IN 2000!

Beginning January 12th, a Director's Lab will meet weekly at my San Francisco studio. This is a six-week program, Wednesday evenings 7-10pm. Initial plans call for the Lab to consist of twelve participants, six directors and six actors. The actors admitted to the Lab will audition within the workshop for scene work and be directed by the participant directors. After the work is reviewed by Hooks et al for content and directorial process, scenes will be videotaped in whatever style the director chooses. The taped scenes will then be reviewed and discussed, with a focus on camera technique, acting for film, etc. Participation in the Lab is by invitation or audition only. If you are interested in learning more, drop me an e-mail at edhooks@best.com.

HEADS UP!
In February 2000, I'm planning to sponsor a one-time San Francisco workshop with Jean Newlove, director of the Jean Newlove Centre for Laban Studies in London. This will be the first time Ms. Newlove, arguably the world's foremost authority on Rudolf Laban's theories of movement analysis, has taught in the Bay Area, and I am honored to be instrumental in bringing her here. I'll devote Craft Notes in a future Newsletter to Rudolf Laban and Ms. Newlove so you'll know better what to expect. For now, please take my word for it: This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and will prove invaluable to actors, dancers and animators. I'll be a student in this one myself, and we expect a very full house.

HOOKS RECOMMENDS
"American Beauty", the new flick starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning, is a how-to manual for film-acting students. Spacey is a remarkably talented and confident actor, and his command of the film medium grows with every project. When you watch his work on camera, notice in particular how, in his close-up shots, you frequently see his thoughts and emotions shift and change. The camera will cut to him for a reaction, which he delivers -- and then he goes further, the reaction itself changing into a different thought. It is a camera technique he uses very effectively. Brando used to do it, too, and it is worth studying if you have in mind spending time in front of the camera.

CRAFT NOTES
"How to Study Acting"

I don't know how other teachers do it, but I figure that actors who study with me want to be paid to act. Even if a student's aspirations reach only to community theatre or acting-class-as-a-recreational activity, I still am going to push her toward the level of work I believe is necessary to be cast on Broadway or in major films.

Given that standard, here is what I expect from all of my students:

1) Commitment. It's okay with me if you are a beginner. We all have to start some place. There is no right age nor time to begin acting any more than there is a right age or time to begin playing the piano or painting. I am particularly interested in working with people -- beginning or experienced -- who are respectful of acting as an art form, who want to make a difference in the world, who are adventurous.

2) Do Your Homework: Learning lines is the least important part of acting. I expect you to do the work that supports the written word. Acting is like an ice berg. 85% of it is under water. But if that 85% is not there, you wind up with ice cubes instead of an ice berg.

3) Support Your Fellow Actors: If you are not feeling good and are contemplating being absent from one of my classes, ask yourself if you are sick enough to miss a show. Would you call the stage manager and tell her you can't make it? If your sickness doesn't pass that litmus test, go to class.

4) Above all, I treasure people who believe, as I do, that acting is not only an honorable thing to do with ones life -- but is fun.

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