Here’s a funny video called Malk that got over 12 million views. Julian Smith is a funny guy. Check out his other videos and you’ll see why!

A great man with great wisdom to share. Listen to what he has to say and apply it to you craft. I truly believe that this applies to anything you are doing.

Steve Jobs… Just saying the name inspires me. How amazing is the fact, that Steve was able to change (literary change) the world to what it is now. I think most of us (I know I do) desire to change like Steve was able to. I believe [...]]]>

Steve Jobs… Just saying the name inspires me. How amazing is the fact, that Steve was able to change (literary change) the world to what it is now. I think most of us (I know I do) desire to change like Steve was able to. I believe this video demonstrates just a tiny bit of the iceberg to world-changing.

I find this advice that Johnny gave very useful and self-empowering. If you are into acting, I think this will be very useful and thought provoking. Enjoy!

Have you ever noticed that there are some personas that don’t really listen to you? For them it is more fun just talking. They become so impatient and craving for a chance to jump in and say something when for some reason they were “forced” to [...]]]>

Talking

Have you ever noticed that there are some personas that don’t really listen to you? For them it is more fun just talking. They become so impatient and craving for a chance to jump in and say something when for some reason they were “forced” to listen to you. You can just see it in their face, all puffed up, eyes sparkling, ready to jump. How much fun would it be to see when two such people have a “dialog”…

Listening

On the contrary, there are those that do like to listen. It is a joy talking to such person. You can share all your troubles, happiness, whine, shout ect, and they just sit there and listen to everything you have to say! Researchers say, that people who listen are more intellectual and have stronger imagination! So listen everywhere and all the time!

The Exercise

When you walk down the street or any other place, without looking, try to “see” what is happening around you just by receiving the sounds you hear. Visualize what is happening. Feel it.

Now, in that area try to elicit particular sounds neglecting all the others. The sound of cars for example. Think of the cars that may have those sounds, what brand, who is driving them, where are they going etc. This is great for your imagination which is so vital in your acting.

Listen to the sounds of footsteps but don’t look who the person is. “See” in your mind, by judging the footsteps’ accent, what kind of person might be in those shoes. Come up with their personality, their biographies, guess where they are going. Just don’t get carried away in your fantasies a start approaching those people and asking if you were correct, like some psychique… (LMAO) We’re developing our skills for acting such as organa sensuum*, imagination, fantasy, perceptive memory, instead of some psycho-deli-crazy-seeing-stuff-type-of-skill (LOL).

Alright Ladies and Gentleman, on that happy note it is time for you to get carried away and have fun!

* - The organs of special sense, including the eye, ear, olfactory organ, taste organs, and the accessory structures associated with these organs. (Source)

Dmitriy Markelov. SangSing - Place for Actors ♣

Since ancient times all over the world masks play an important role in the theatrical tradition. In Eastern culture the masks have acquired a particular importance. Their use in the theater survived until these days, although masks have undergone many changes in form and [...]]]>

ANCIENT TIMES 

Since ancient times all over the world masks play an important role in the theatrical tradition. In Eastern culture the masks have acquired a particular importance. Their use in the theater survived until these days, although masks have undergone many changes in form and expression.

In Europe, the use of masks in art was first widely presented by the ancient Greeks and Romans. A well-known symbol of Performing Arts – laughing and crying masks – originated in the ancient Greek theater.

Greek masks were often made with a wide open mouth which acted as a horn. The masks were made out of bronze and were of great help to the performer’s voice to reach the distant ends of the amphitheater.

In the Middle Ages the wearing of masks during the performance has been associated with mystical considerations. The gods were portrayed by actors in silver or gold mask.

The heyday of masks came in the Renaissance. A large number of balls and masquerades, carnivals and other performances taking place on the streets created a demand for masks and contributed to the prosperity of the mask-craft. Ballet has given much popularity to the masks.

Masked commedia dell’arte (Artistic Comedy) characters are considered precursors of the modern clowns. The famous character of street theater – Harlequin is widely known at the present time.

At present, masks are widely used in the circus and puppet theaters.

Theatrical masks

The masks are widely used in various forms of theater, for example:

• Japanese Noh and Kabuki
• Well-known comedy of masks
• Indonesian Wayang
• Macho Raton - genre of satirical drama in Nicaragua

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Dmitriy Markelov ♣

I have already talked about difficulties that an actor may encounter when entering the world of acting in “Is acting really that hard?” and talked about how body language is important in “Your Body Language“. [...]]]>

I have already talked about difficulties that an actor may encounter when entering the world of acting in “Is acting really that hard?” and talked about how body language is important in “Your Body Language“. In this article I would like to talk about mental and physical aspect of training in more detail.

Mental and Physical form of training

One form of mental and physical training is reaction to the stimulus. Imagine that a group of students – five to eight people – is at the center of a hall. They all sit on chairs and engaged in some kind of business. To their left and right are a couple of windows. Now the fun part!!!

1. When the teacher signals, students sharply turn their head to the right (stimulus is to their right).
2. When students hear the second signal – stimulus to their left – they turn their heads in the opposite direction with a slight movement of the body.
3. The third signal – reaction to the right, the movement of the body is livelier.
4. Fourth – reaction to the left, everyone abruptly stand up.
5. Fifth signal – all run to the window located to their right.
6. The sixth signal – all of the students scatter.

A well-trained student with rich imagination can come up with a few small scenes during each task that last for 10-20 seconds. After each scene, he relaxes for 3-5 seconds and then responds to the other imaginary stimuli.

What’s important:

It is important that in these little episodes a pupil can demonstrate agility, flexibility, change of rhythm and speed, sense of time and space, “explosiveness.” For example: a student stands close by the window, someone else remarks his action and abruptly squats, pauses for a few seconds then rises and quickly runs away, imagines that he got shot and falls down. After completing his action he stands up to let everyone know that the scene is over. After that, they respond to different stimuli and perform other actions. This goes on until the teacher asks the students to stop.

The actor’s ability to focus (read “Focus? blablabla…“) only on himself, his nerves, muscles and spiritual presence at the time of training ensures the success of his work. In other words, if the actor is performing with “here and now” mentality, success is guaranteed!

To summarize →

Mental and physical training must be full of thoughts, emotions, the whole you is present in the moment. The more powerful the energy reservoir of an actor is (his explosive power), the more impact he has on the viewer.

Thank you for your time and attention!

P.S. If you have any questions, please leave a comment. Take care now!

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Dmitriy Markelov ♣

Did you have fun playing the One Letter Word? If not, check “One Letter Word” game. This is another game with letters but a little more advance. Imagine, you’re in a classroom. Whiteboard, desk, a lot of chairs and your friends. [...]]]>

Did you have fun playing the One Letter Word? If not, check “One Letter Word” game. This is another game with letters but a little more advance. Imagine, you’re in a classroom. Whiteboard, desk, a lot of chairs and your friends. And then the leader calls Mrs. Emily Tomson to stand in front of the class.

-  ”Emily, stand in the middle of the class please!”

And there she is, standing in the middle of the class, pale, lights fall upon her from all sides, she’s blushing and has no idea what’s going to happen now.

- “What three letters shall we use to describe Emily?” – Asks the leader. – “Ok, letters T, S and M. And now lets begin describing her looks. Lets mention words that will describe her outer look.“

- “Strange, Masculine, Talkative!” – Someone said.

- “Alright, Alright! No need to be mean to Emily please!” – Kindly said the leader.

- “Mouth, Skin, Teeth” – a girl said.

- “Make-up, Trousers, Sleeves…”

- “Magnetic, Memorable, Tan.” – Said the boy that feels affection to the girl.

- “Tall, Slim, Strings”

- “Smart, Shy, Serious!”

- “Small Shoes…”

- “That’s not true!!!” – protested Emily.

- “Talented!”

As you can see, you can come up with many fun descriptive words. Once first person is done, put someone else upfront. If you play with tracking the time it will be more challenging. So try both ways, with and without time. Have fun!

This is a lot of fun when you are in a group of people, although you can do it by yourself too. Here it goes!

While one of your [...]]]>

Here is another fun practical exercise to work on your visual memory and observation: One Letter Word.

This is a lot of fun when you are in a group of people, although you can do it by yourself too. Here it goes!

While one of your teammates is counting until 30, find as many objects as you can that begin with a letter “B”.

Leading Person (LP) - …29, 30! Who’s first?

1st Person - Book, baby, bread, bed, board, baboon, bottle, bucket, babysitter, bachelor

LP - anyone to add anything else?

2nd P - backdoor, backgammon, backpack

3rd P - basement, backyard, bacon, barbeque

4th P - panties, badger, bag, badminton, bagel, bait, bagpipe

5th P - badge, balcony, ball, ballet shoes

6th P - bananas, bandages, banjo, bandit

LP – Impressive! In 30 sec you were able to find 33 words that start with the letter B. Now, I give you 15 seconds to find objects that start with the letter “S”!

You get the hang of it, don’t you? This is a real fun game, since you develop not only your observation skills but creativity and vocabulary! Have fun!

More games and fun activities in the Workshop section.

You will need a coin of any kind (I used a quarter). Let every member take a look at the coin from all sides and angles. After completing this task divide into two groups called [...]]]>

I find this game great fun to play with your friends in teams!

You will need a coin of any kind (I used a quarter). Let every member take a look at the coin from all sides and angles. After completing this task divide into two groups called “Heads” and “Tails“. You will sit like on a debate, each group face to face. The two groups choose their own supervisor. The supervisors keep the coin.

Let’s say the “Tails” group starts. Their task is to describe their side of the coin to the “Heads” group. And the “Heads” group asks all possible questions about the “Tails’s” tail side. Supervisors keep track of what has been said and in the end add details if both groups have missed anything.

Add more spice to the game!

- “Heads“, tell us about your side of the coin.

- “What if that coin belonged to Abraham himself?” – one of the members began – “Looks like a museum exhibit! Wow, so cool!” Just believe in it for a second. “That is a one interesting quarter. How amazing is the design it has! Pass the coin around and take a good look at it again.

Summary

You can come back to this game after some time has passed. This is not only for the purpose of training your visual memory, but also to train you imagination which is really useful when it comes to acting!

Imagine you were a museum exhibit expert that had to find out whether it is the right quarter or not. It was gone missing last week and now some stranger brought a coin to your office… Was it the same quarter? What signs made you understand that it was the missing coin?

Use your imagination! Think of all the possible stories how that coin might have traveled from one person to another throughout the ages.

Did you like the article? See more fun games in my Workshop section! And click like or tweet. Thanks! And most important – have fun while playing these games!