Part I: The Fundamentals of Auditioning for Camera
8-10 Participants
This on-camera acting workshop, which Marvin Karon has been teaching since 1998 here in Canada and in England at the Actors Centre, the professional development wing of the British actors’ union, is geared to committed but perhaps inexperienced young artists who are already on the road to a professional acting career and looking to move up from the actor level or small principal roles to larger parts.
Participants learn how to use what they themselves can use to get comfortable in front of the lens. Instruction focuses on understanding technical and emotional adjustments required for working in front of the camera, working in a relaxed and truthful way, and developing intimacy with the camera. Participants hone their acting techniques through scene-study guidelines and sensory and moment-to-moment exercises, as well as monologue work.
Class content includes:
- How to prepare by breaking down sides
- How to start once “action” is called
- What to do before, during, and after the camera rolls
- How to find beats, objectives, and transitions
- How to be specific in your work
- How to connect with your acting partner (the reader)
- Liberating the imagination
- How to make effective and compelling choices
- Dealing with the pressures of an audition situation
- How to be your best in the room
- Business related issues such as standard picture and resume protocol, breakdowns, the basics of securing representation, how the casting process works, unions (ACTRA, SAG), working permits and related applications pertaining to the Canadian and U.S. markets will also be explored.
Course Duration: 3 hours per week for 4 weeks
All classes in both the audition and the scene study workshops are shot and played back for review in class. The performance is recorded for the instructor’s notes which are offered immediately upon completion of a scene when the student’s work is broken down and documented for increased understanding and development.
- Instructor: Marvin Karon
- Date: Saturdays
- Time: 1:00pm to 4:00pm
- Cost: $250
Register below!
ABOUT MARVIN KARON
Marvin Karon is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Education and the Ontario Institute for Studies In Education (OISE). Equally at home in front of a camera or the classroom, he played the recurring role of Headmaster Killerby in the YTV series The Zack Files, a program on which he also served as acting coach. He has appeared in work for the CBC, CTV, Global, Showcase, TVO, CBS, HBO and NBC in projects such as Knight Rider, Paradise Falls, The Newsroom, This Is Wonderland, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Rookie Blue as well as feature films such as Charlie Bartlett, The Rocker and Blindness. His teaching credentials include camera classes at the Actors Centre, the professional development wing of the British actors’ union; Humber College and the ACTRA Members’ Conference. He is the Executive Director of Shakespearience Performing Arts, an interactive workshop which goes into schools across Ontario and England.
It was clear that the course was painstakingly planned. It was incredibly thorough, unbelievably detailed and so sophisticated. Thank you for asking so much of us and making us aware of how good some film acting can be.
Ben Warwick, The Actors Centre, London England
Marvin is an incredible teacher — smart, caring and tough. His on camera acting classes completely changed the way I approached that medium and made me infinitely more confident…
Caissie Levy, Star of Broadway’s Hair, Wicked, Lez Mis
Marvin really knows what he’s talking about and vividly communicates the fun and challenges of finding, practicing and refining a good acting technique. Highly recommended.
Ron Lea, Star of Doc; This is Wonderland, The Best Years
I have found the things I learned in Marvin’s class to be incredibly useful and the tools and techniques I picked up after studying with him are things I still use in an audition situation or in front of the camera to this very day.
Jonathan Keltz Star of HBO’s Entourage; Reign; The Republic of Doyle
