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INFOCUS FILM SCHOOLACTING COURSESLearn acting techniques and hone your skills under the mentorship of the city's top actors.GET MORE INFO
AUDITIONS
AUDITION WITH CONFIDENCE
Auditioning is an essential yet intimidating part of the actor’s journey. It is often the introduction to casting directors, producers, and directors who can make or break your shot at landing that dream role. In this course, you will learn how to extract every available story point from scene breakdowns, guiding you towards your best possible performance. You will develop a strategy for multiple scene auditions to showcase acting range and prepare more effectively for call backs. This course is ideal for the novice to emerging actors who have been on professional sets for years.
INSTRUCTOR
CATHERINE LOUGH HAGGQUIST
Instructor Catherine Lough Haggquist’s 30+ year career in the entertainment industry includes the multi-award winning theatre-production: The North Plan. She has also appeared in such film and TV favourites as: The Good Doctor, Elysium, Fifty Shades Freed, Supernatural, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, The Flash. Stargate: SG1, Stargate: Universe, Fringe, Once Upon A Time, Bates Motel, Van Helsing, Godzilla, Continuum and Iron Man: Armored Adventures. She has an ongoing role as Mayor Terry Sternholz in the Aurora Teargarden Mysteries for Hallmark.
COURSE HIGHLIGHTS
- Plot specific, natural blocking for every moment of the scene
- Create effective, reader-utilizing eye-lines for scenes with multiple speakers
- Develop a strategy for multiple scene auditions to showcase range
- Identify and differentiate characters in multi-character auditions to showcase versatility
- Clarify story arc within scenes to greatest storytelling effect and flexibility
- Strategize for the business portion of the audition meeting
- Research efficiently prior to auditions and prepare effectively for call-backs
- Develop awareness of body language and nervous physical habits that undermine character work
- Analyze and critique recorded “self tape” auditions
Course Details
Dates: TBD
Time: Tuesdays, 6:30-9:30
Capacity: 12 Students
Course Cost
$495
SCENE STUDY
KNOW YOUR CHARACTER’S STORY
A great performance starts with the script. You will build confidence as a performer and the ability to convey subtext, genuine emotion, and character psychology, all necessary skills for all actors. You are introduced to the writer’s voice, adapting to their genre and style. This allows you to build a solid, relevant foundation and better connect with your character. In the context of Scene Study, actors put into practice text and character analysis, learning how to rehearse and experiment and making use of the creative offerings from their scene partners.
INSTRUCTOR
KELLY-RUTH MERCIER
Kelly-Ruth Mercier’s resume is 30 years long. She currently recurs in the TNT sci-fi series Snowpiercer and was a guest star on iZombie, She appeared in popular series and films such as Bates Motel, The Killing, The Haunting Hour, the L Word, Robson Arms, Smallville, Supernatural , Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, and Once Upon A TIme. Mercier has co-starred alongside huge actors like Amanda Schull (Pretty Little Liars, One Tree Hill) and Catherine Bell. Mercier has also juried for the Gemini Awards, Leo Awards, Women in the Director’s Chair, and Hot Shots Film Contest.
COURSE HIGHLIGHTS
- Build your interpretive skills
- Create a strong acting foundation
- Learn the process of creating character
- Understand story beats
- Analyze scripts for character traits and arcs
- Overcome nervousness and self-doubt
- Assemble the building blocks of authentic emotional, physical and intelluectual character behaviours.
- Understand and identify character objectives, strategies and tactics
- Build your confidence in taking risks
Course Details
Dates: TBD
Time: Thursdays, 6:30-9:30
Capacity: 12 Students
Course Cost
$495
IMPROV
ACT ON THE FLY
Elements of character can be found between the lines of a script. Improvisation is another way for actors to discover and infuse their performances with those elements. This improv course taught by Second City alumni Gary Jones provides students with a solid foundation of the basic elements of improvisation techniques to help them “Yes, and…” their way through the audition, the stage and the set. You will see how easy and FUN improv can be, bringing nothing but your own life experiences, intelligence, and self awareness to class.
INSTRUCTOR
GARY JONES
For nearly 15 years, Gary Jones played the role of Sgt. Walter Harriman on the massive MGM series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis. His other acting credits include Psych, Supernatural, The Outer Limits, GI Joe, and the hit Netflix show The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. In addition to his accomplishments as an actor, Gary is a Jessie Award-winning playwright. His 30-year career began with Toronto’s fabled Second City Theatre where he studied improvisation and comedy sketch-writing. Gary received a Leo Award nomination for his sketch- writing work on CBC Television’s The Western Alienation Comedy Hour. Gary just finished work on the 13th season of CBC Radio’s long-standing comedy hit The Debaters.
COURSE HIGHLIGHTS
- The importance of status, the foundation of every character relationship in a scene
- How to create characters on the spot
- How to create believable locations and objects out of thin air (literally!)
- How to mime
- How to create and solve problems with “who, what, where?”
- Improvisation in the three-act structure
- Short and long-form games
- How to accept what is offered to you with “yes, and…”
Course Details
Dates: Feb. 4 – Apr. 7, 2020 (10 Weeks)
Time: Tuesdays, 6:30-9:30
Capacity: 12 Students
Course Cost
$495
Have questions? Call us at 604-915-6900 or click here to email us
Cancellations: We require at least two full weeks notice if you intend to cancel. If we receive your cancellation notice less than 10 business days before the course begins, no refund will be issued. A $30 administration fee will apply to all other cancellations.
