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    • ABOUT
      • Testimonials
      • Policies and Refunds
      • Reviews
      • About MTAS
    • CLASSES
      • Course Structure
      • Taping
      • Class Scehedule
    • COACHING
    • SHOP
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    Category: The Artist’s Path

    A Brief History of Acting

    David September 2, 2015
    2 Comments

    $50 Acting Workshops!

    Hello, friends and fans of Mighty Tripod Productions! I am posting to talk about the seminar we just hosted called The Business of the Business.…

    David November 24, 2013
    0 Comments

    Advice from an Actor on Handling Rejection

    This post features my friend and colleague, Basil Harris. Basil and I have known each other for quite a few years now. We have only…

    David June 18, 2013
    0 Comments
    seattle actor tips, seattle actor training, mighty tripod productions

    YouTube Taught Me How to Act!

    Yep, that’s right, YouTube taught me how to act! Well, not really! I have learned to act, and about the business of acting primarily by…

    David June 16, 2013
    0 Comments
    mighty tripod, mighty tripod productions, film, acting, actor training,

    Camera 1 (Summer Session)

    Our May/June Camera 1 course is full, but, don’t worry, we have another offering this summer! Our Camera 1 Course is for all levels, but…

    David April 14, 2013
    0 Comments

    Actor Vernacular

    This is by no means exhaustive, but below are some words and phrases that you will want to be familiar with as an actor: Given…

    David April 11, 2013
    0 Comments

    Acting Workshop for Young Actors

    We recently offered a one-day workshop for young actors (11 – 18 years old), and it was tremendous. The emphasis was acting in front of…

    David March 7, 2013
    0 Comments
    Honing your craft is important as an actor. Keep training!

    Acting and Training and Training and Acting

    Republished from Actor Craft by David S. Hogan. I am one of “those” actors who thinks that training unleashes talent. Training allows the artist to…

    David February 24, 2013
    0 Comments
    Mighty Tripod is an on-camera acting studio and film production company
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    Forum Description

    Republished from Actor Craft by David S. Hogan. I am one of “those” actors who thinks that training unleashes talent. Training allows the artist to go deeper. It can teach the actor new things about themselves. It’s what happens between acting jobs. Well, let’s be honest, it happens on the job, too. Training never stops. “Training” is such a big word, but for me it means, “that which makes one grow.” That growth can be the acquisition of  a new accent, a “stronger” voice, a deeper soul, a better relationship with discipline, etc. Sure, there is crap training out there, for sure, so know who to avoid, but know this: “It’s all process.” – John Jacobsen. Don’t focus on the result! “Every journey begins with a single step,” said someone famous once, so focus on that step. And then the one after that. Piece by piece, the actor in training (experience + life + class + reflection + meditation + therapy!) gets better and better at perfecting the illusion of *not* acting. Looking like you’re not acting means you will probably be booking more acting jobs. Crazy, isn’t it? The *great* actors, typically, have been honing their craft for years. Sanford Meisner, one of the greatest acting teachers of the 20th century is reported to have said that it takes 20 years to become a master at the craft of acting (I read this in William Esper’s book The Actor’s Art and Craft. I have been working on my craft since 1998. If I attain mastery in 2018, it will have been a magnificent 20 year journey. A journey that has gone by in a flash. What is training? And why do it? An artist, let’s say, a concert cellist, will play his instrument daily to prepare himself for those times where is in front of his conductor and his audience. An athlete, let’s say, a basketball player, will practice daily, often scrimmaging, at other times reviewing video, to prepare herself for the big game. In both cases, the musician and the athlete, prepares/rehearses/trains/practices in order to get closer to mastery and in order to “slip more easily into the zone” when it’s time to perform. “The zone” is that experience where instinct takes over and we are able to operate from place that is larger than our conscious mind can afford. Weprepare so we can get out of our own way. We prepare so we can slip into performing at a high level without the chatter of the thinking brain or the machinations of the ego. We slip into the “no-mind” state easier if we train. The artist as actor must train so she can be slip comfortably into the zone when the camera rolls or the curtain lifts. I have had a wonderful year of training this year, and I would like to thank my teachers: Scotland, my family, my wife, my friends, our dogs, my canine clients, Nike Imoru, John Jacobsen, Carol Roscoe, Enzo from The Art of Racing in the Rain, Paul Weber, Bonnie Gillespie, Eckhart Tolle, and Steven Anderson, to name a few.