| STONESTREET SCREEN
ACTING WORKSHOP |
The
Stonestreet Screen Acting Workshop (SSAW) is an acting training
program which is one of the advanced drama conservatories
of New York University's Drama Department. During the Fall
and Spring semesters, the Workshop accepts students who
have completed their training at one of the primary drama
conservatories of New York University, or who have had experience
as actors. During the Summer semester, Stonestreet accepts
students from all over the world with a myriad of backgrounds.
Our Professional Program is always open (call Stonestreet
to learn more about our Professional Program). Acceptance
in the Workshop requires an interview and/or audition.
WE
WELCOME NEW FIRST SEMESTER STUDENTS IN THE SPRING, FALL
and/or SUMMER. PLEASE CALL OR STOP BY OUR STUDIO FOR A VISIT.
Stonestreet
One:
Workshop First Semester Course Descriptions
Stonestreet
Two:
Workshop Advanced Semester Course Descriptions
Independent Studio Course Descriptions
Stonestreet Studios Overview
The
Stonestreet Screen Acting Workshop (SSAW) conducted
over two semesters, consisting of Workshop I and Workshop
II - Advanced. SSAW I is an 8-point
comprehensive program. SSAW II is an advanced 8 point workshop that consists of professionally produced screen production from the beginning of the semester as well as advanced coursework and career management.
A student may take either
SSAW I or SSAW II in the Fall, Spring or
Summer Semesters. SSAW II can only be taken
after completion of Workshop I.
Stonestreet
offers Independent Studio
Credit for those students who wish to work intensively
in small groups or on personal projects after completing
SSAW I or II.
Eclectic
Student and Faculty Population
The
Workshop is open to students from the various acting studios,
and the instructors in the Workshop are familiar with
the different techniques, approaches and perspectives
that the different studios teach their drama students.
The professional actors, directors and instructors affiliated
with the Stonestreet Film & Television Acting Workshop
have trained acting students from all schools of theater
training, including the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting
to the Lee Strasberg Institute, from Sanford Meisner's
Neighborhood Playhouse, Bill Esper's Studio, the Robert
Lewis Workshop to NYU's Meisner Extension, NYU's Experimental
Theater Wing and the Atlantic Theater Company. The instructors
in the Workshop both respect and are sensitive to each
of the approaches, and assist students in adapting and/or
applying their techniques to television and film material.
The professionals that teach in the Stonestreet Film &
Television Acting Workshop acknowledge that while there
are certain similarities between theater and film craft
there are also some distinct and drastic differences that
necessitate more than mere technical adjustments, indeed,
such differences require new thinking and new perspectives
and techniques.
Students
are encouraged and coached to first utilize and adapt
what techniques they already know for the demands of film
and television texts and to learn the problems that stem
from working on a set, in front of one or several cameras,
and then to learn the differences between the techniques
they are familiar with versus other techniques, and what
relevance they may have to each individual student's work.
Although various approaches to acting are taught and emphasized
in different ways by the numerous schools of acting, the
Screen Acting Workshop attempts to impart
on students the bottom line questions actors must ask
themselves when approaching a scene, whether that scene
be from a modern classic or a soap opera. While actors
are encouraged to evolve and expand themselves as artists
as well as to continue to find ways to be imaginative
and creative in an increasingly technical environment,
the focus at the Workshop is on the practical, and it
seeks to help students bridge their previously learned
techniques with the technical demands of film and television
production.
Screen Genres and Material
What
is an actor to do when he or she is confronted with soap
opera or other television material where the writing can
be poor and undeveloped and the shooting schedule leaves
little or no time for rehearsal or character development.
When actors arrive on the set of a soap opera, sit com
or dramatic series, they are expected to breath life into
the material. The sketchiness and failures of the material
can prompt actors to abandon technique and just "play
themselves," or something close to themselves. Hence,
the often poor quality of acting on television programming.
For an actor to remain in this environment can debilitate
and diminish the quality of his or her craft. Actors need
to practice their craft to improve and to grow as artists.
What is an actor to do on a television set when directors
and his or her peers abandon technique because conventional
wisdom teaches that bad material deserves no craft?
Regardless of the quality of the writing,
the same principles of acting technique can apply. If
actors are acutely aware of the elements that are contained
in richer material, then instead of depending on and infusing
the material with their own life, they can use their imagination
to fill in the circumstances and dramatic structure of
weak material. Actors do a disservice to themselves as
artists when they judge the quality of the material as
a litmus test for whether they will employ technique.
Stonestreet teaches actors to remain steadfast in their
craft despite the commercial pressures so that they can
grow as artists in any environment.
The
Actor’s Training and Business Life
Drama
students who are only exposed to stage performance craft
and who have mostly enjoyed performing the works of great
playwrights are generally unprepared to deal with certain
artistic and commercial realities of the actor's world.
Theater is often considered to be a superior venue for
the actor’s work. Although Stonestreet does not deny
the historical truth of this, it is an express policy
of the Workshop to not only elevate the quality of acting
that appears on film and television, but to also improve
the theatrical community's respect for the possibilities
of the film and television medium. This attitude helps
students not to judge any of the three mediums in a general
way but to bring a critical and constructive eye to each
piece of material or project that they work on regardless
of the medium in which it is presented.
The
actor, accustomed to quality direction and weeks of rehearsal
and theatrical exploration, is often at a loss on a film
or television set. There is often little or no time for
rehearsal, the actor is often not guided by dramatically
trained directors, and the material often leaves much
to be desired. In the Workshop, we help students deal
with these realities.
There
are many differences that an actor confronts when he or
she walks on to a stage versus walking on to a film or
television set. The theatrical process is actor-friendly
as compared to the film and television process. In that
way, theater is more an actor's medium than film and television.
Theater directors usually have greater understanding of
the actor's process, and there is usually significantly
more time devoted to achieving performance quality. The
actor who is first exposed to the film and television
process after a long stint in theatre often discovers
that it is a technical medium controlled largely by technical
considerations and by directors with a filmmaking background
and not an actor's background. And even if the director
is sensitive to the actor’s process, the technical
and financial demands of film and television production
are so great, that the actor is often left alone with
little or no guidance or any real direction. The Workshop
guides and encourages students to use their training in
constructive ways as well as to implement additional techniques
that can help them deal with these problems.
In
addition to the utilization of typical film and television
material, such as soaps, sit-coms, dramatic series and
commercials, students also have opportunities to work
on camera with modern classics and Shakespeare during SSAW I & II.
While film
and television do not offer the “live” communal
experience of the theater, the sense of community is there with those that the actor works with on set as well as allowing the audience a level of intimacy of a character in
a way that a stage performance cannot. It is one of Stonestreet's goals to empower actor's imaginations with
the new potentials waiting to be discovered for classic
works performed in different mediums.
Stonestreet’s
Technology
SSAW also permits students to see multiple takes of
their work as well as edited versions of scenes shot on
Stonestreet’s soundstage. Edited material can show
a student one of the unique powers of film and television,
that is, the power of the editor’s cut. The film
cut can enhance or detract from an actor's performance.
The realization that film grammar and editing techniques
affect the audience's perception of actor performance
is crucial for actors to grasp, and it is the very reason
why many successful actors prefer to have some control
in the process of editing rather than leave it entirely
in the hands of others.
The
Audition
Stonestreet
seeks to help students understand an aspect of acting
which is not often considered art: the audition. All actors,
throughout the history of the dramatic arts, had to at
sometime in their careers, go through a process of getting
their work. This process can of course consist of many
variables; but one very important variable in this process
is the audition. Audition skills are related to acting
skills, but it is an aspect of acting which is often ignored
as secondary to an actor's craft. However, to deny the
importance of audition skills, or to consider an attempt
to master them as somehow demeaning to an actor, is to
undercut an important goal in a professional actor's life:
to create and work on a regular basis and to make a living
from his or her craft. Many recognize that success and
merit in theater acting is more closely related than in
film and television acting. Being good may have little
to do with success. Bad actors who master the audition
may have better success than good actors who eschew the
audition as some lesser part of his or her craft. The
Workshop attempts to do away with the notion that audition
skills are unimportant, and teaches students to respect
and master the audition as a crucial aspect of his or
her professional life.
Stonestreet’s
Commitment to Introducing the Student to Industry Professionals
On
a regular basis, the Workshop also introduces actors to
various professionals in the dramatic arts business, such
as agents, casting directors and directors, so they may
receive a range of feedback on their work as well as be
exposed to those working professionals who can aid students
with employment possibilities. The work that students
do in the various classes at Stonestreet is presented
on a weekly basis to a variety of professionals, from
large and small talent agencies to independent, network
and studio casting directors. In addition, students also
have opportunities to meet and perform for directors who
work on television and in feature and independent films.
Faculty
Click
here to go to our Staff
& Faculty Gateway.
Visiting
Professionals
Visiting
professionals from the entertainment industry teach at
the Stonestreet Screen Acting Workshop every week. Click
here to see some of our recent
guest professionals.
Grading
Policy
Click
here for our grading
policies, including our policies of attendance requirements
as well as the NYU Drama Department's Studio Attendance
Policy
Send
Us Information
If
you are an NYU drama student or interested in our professional
program, please e-mail admin@stonestreet.pro.
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