Four lemons with your water.
Ok, I have done a lot of acting in front of a camera and I have been on TV for over two hundred hours in my life. On Friday it was the first of class of the acting for the camera class. We had all been instructed to have a short monologue memorized.
I chose the “what a piece of work is man” monologue from Hamlet. So on Friday when we got there, the classroom was full of bright lights and a camera in the middle of the room.
We had to give our monologues right there. The class is made up of mostly real stage actors, a few film students and the old captain. One of the actors went first and did a good job, but I did feel that he was more reserved then when I saw him act this same monologue last semester in his downstage play. Another stage actor went up and the same thing happens.
Ok, the old captain decided that it was his turn. I have found that it is always better to get it over rather then wait. And it is better to pick when you want to go.
I have to say that I did feel a bit nervous, which is rare for me. I talk or teach in front of 120 plus people three times a week. I have been on a National TV show and was a co-host of a local daily TV show. There should be no nerves.
When I was in school and played piano, it was always nerve racking to get up and play your pieces in front of the other real piano majors. After a while, you got use to it. Well this felt like the first time I had to play in piano studio.
So I used Star Trek to help me though this. See long before Captain Picard, there was Captain James Tiberius Kirk. And the one thing that Captain Kirk did that no other captain could do was that he was the man no matter what happened to him. He was always in control, even if everything fell in on him, Captain Kirk was the man. He will always be the man too.
Back when I had to play in piano studio, I did "Captain Kirk It” a few times. I didn’t know the piece well enough, or I hadn’t worked out a rough spot or whatever. It was time to play, so I got up there and I was the man. Right or wrong, I looked like I was playing it corrected and made others believe I did too.
So I got up there and “Captain Kirk It” for a few seconds. Then all of the hours of camera experience came back to me. All of my sci-fi films and TV work came out to show how comfortable I am in the lime light.
Who would have ever thought that a local TV show that no one watched would help me act one day? I never did. But it helped when I was on TechTV. And it helped on this day.
So if you ever have to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable or unknown to you, try and “Captain Kirk It”! Then drawn on your life experiences to finish it. You can only “Captain Kirk It” for a few moments, so use that time wisely.
It is going to be fun to see the results of my acting in a few months. Maybe I can be in the next Star Trek series. I can hope. And Captain Kirk, thanks. I’m a great captain but Kirk is greatest of the great captains. There is only one Captain Kirk.
1 comment:
Heya Herb!
Excellent advise! I tossed my name in the hat for the guest host roster on ROW and I'm going to take your advice on Captain Kirk'in it!
Kirk IS the man, no matter the situation so if you approach it like that, how can you go wrong?
Be sure to chime in and let us know how the class is coming along! I'm curious on your perspective of the class and any obvious "gotchas" that you've discovered that you committed in your past films.
SjN
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