I do not know what got into me this semester, but I decided to take an Acting course in college. As a television and film major I thought that it would be a good idea to see the process that actors have to go through. I also though that it would help me with my self- confidence. Well...the first class definitely terrified me. There was a lot of moving in unnatural ways in front of strangers that I did not know and I must admit that I felt very silly. The only thing that improved that situation was that everyone else had to do the same thing so everyone was basically embarrassed as well. By the second class it was much better because I was more used to it and started to relax. That was when the professor uttered the words that would cause me to almost panic. She said that the class would have to put on a performance at the end of the semester out in public on my college campus, and also that we all would have to audition for a role in the play. After I got over my shock, I realized that I would have to do this in order to pass the class and therefore I sucked it up and started to prepare for the audition.
The first thing that my professor taught us was how to stand in an audition. She said that we have to walk in and land in the position in the center of the room. The position that we should stand in while we are saying our introduction is with our feet comfortably shoulder width apart and our arms down and turned out into a vulnerable position. For our introductions we can say our names, the character we will be portraying, the name of the play and the author.
Now when it comes to actually preparing for your audition it is a good idea if you have time to read the play that your excerpt comes from so that you can get the context and know more about your characters. If you don't have enough time then at least research the characters and plot of the play. I found the scene that the play came from so I could know who my character was talking to in the scene and how she was feeling before and after the excerpt so I could know better what feelings to put into the lines.
Next came the memorization of the lines. To do this I made sure to speak the lines aloud so I could hear myself say them. I went line by line, connecting them and then going back to the beginning and repeating the process til I could say the whole thing without looking at the paper. Then I made sure I practiced it a lot until it didn't take much effort to remember the words. The true test came in practicing my audition in front of my friends. It helped me to get used to people watching me while I did it, and it built up my resistance to not bursting out with laughter.
When it came to audition day, I made sure to wear an outfit that I felt confident in and when I got to class, even though everyone was nervous, I told me friends that it would be okay and that it would be over soon, and that helped to keep me calm as well. Overall, even though the audition was a terrifying thought, with enough preparatoin it was not that bad. So don't be nervous, it's just an audition.
