Acting - BA (Hons)

This module will consolidate and advance work completed in year one, giving opportunities to explore texts and rehearsal techniques in detail, employing a variety of approaches and with a range of media as used by contemporary practitioners resulting in the deepening, extending and integration of the students acting technique.

Working in groups within a studio environment, students will engage in tutor led study of a variety of current acting methodologies appropriate for the different media of acting for stage, screen and microphone. The student’s development of a personal working system will be advanced by researching, rehearsing and presenting a range of suitably challenging material appropriate to the given medium. This will include solo work or work with another student or students as appropriate. Students will gain experience of working in front of a camera and/or microphone. The viewing of and listening to their own recorded material, feedback and discussion will assist in the study and consideration of performance choices. Students will undertake a variety of seminars, workshops and tutorials as applicable around the different areas of work and/or experience in the recorded media industries, i.e., green screen, motion capture, voice over, etc.

This module will offer students the opportunity to further develop the disciplines necessary to underpin their acting in voice, singing and movement techniques. Attention to these areas of support for the actor is an open-ended activity.

Having gained an awareness of their physicality and of the individual potential in their voice, singing and movement, the actor is required to develop further skills in order to be able to respond to a wide range of textual, physical and emotional demands. In addition the acoustic demands of a variety of performance spaces and the requirements of characterisation, physical and vocal transformation are considered.

To further develop the work of year one, the student actor needs to continue to practice, within a rehearsal and performance experience, to integrate the skills of acting, voice, movement and singing (as/when appropriate) into a holistic characterisation. This module provides an opportunity to rehearse on a selection of material that continues the development of a personal working system that will extend beyond graduation, through the development of a professional attitude to work and a personal working System. The student actor also needs the opportunity to perform live in front of an audience and to learn and develop his/her characterisation, relationship to other actors/characters and the audience through successive performances. This module aims to provide the student with at least 3 performance opportunities for each performance Exercise.

The student actor needs opportunities to bring together, through rehearsal, the skills of acting, voice, movement and singing (where appropriate), into a fully integrated performance for a public audience. Students need to develop the ability to sustain a performance, and to adjust to the demands of different audience and performance venues and to work to industry standards/expectations.

Within this module you will normally rehearse and perform up to three productions (two in Autumn term, one in Spring). A designated number of rehearsal weeks will be assigned to each production to give a broad experience of differing rehearsal demands. Additionally the number of performances may vary in order to develop your awareness of the demands of sustaining a performance. You will be exposed to a variety of material, directors, rehearsal styles, and production concepts and be expected to meet the demands of differing audiences across a selection of professional performance venues. This module aims to provide the student with a simulation of professional working practices within the theatre industry.

Much of an actor’s work is in the fields of Film, TV, Audio and Audio-Visual production. An actor has to be equipped to work at the highest level at auditions and on set, on location and the studio. In part year groupings you will gain practical experience in preparation, rehearsal and recording of both screen and radio pieces, working with the ensemble, a director and/or relevant technical personnel leading to the undertaking of two separate assessments, one for screen, and one for radio, which are equally weighted.

To enter the acting profession, student actors need access to the relevant employment “gatekeepers”, such as agents, casting directors, artistic directors etc. This module facilitates preparation to meet said gatekeepers through audition/ to a professional audience (showcase), normally both in Birmingham and London. It also facilitates preparation of a portfolio of audition material (spoken and sung) for future auditions.

Students also need the knowledge and skills to launch themselves as a self-employed business called ‘actor’. This module aims to develop these basic freelance personal management skills. In group lectures, workshops, seminars students will gain professional advice and guidance from tutors and relevant industry professionals and specialists. As well as traditional lectures, students may engage in problem-based tasks, question and answer sessions, private research, and work using supplied templates to production a Business Portfolio that will support their initial transition into work.