Mel Churcher’s Intensive Zoom Course:
‘The Screen Acting Confidence Challenge’
Rev up your confidence and challenge yourself
This Zoom course will offer ways to tap into your confident, powerful self; preparation for filming challenging self-tapes; new thoughts on screen work. Resist the idea of typecasting! Yes – you can play the roles you find difficult, or have never had the chance to work on. You can surprise yourself; find the joy of stepping into an unfamiliar self. Let’s open the gates and explore the deep or wild unknown – in a positive way. This course offers guidance, tips and exercises to enable your unique charisma to shine through in any role you play. Suitable both for newly emerging actors and old hands.
(Requires adequate home broadband. Smartphone or camera to film post-course).
SCHEDULE
Pre-course: Participants to send a short intro video to Mel at melchurcher@gmail.com: your name, a few things about yourself, and the kind of role that intrigues you, but you don’t get cast for - or that scares you, but you want to try. Or that someone said you couldn’t play. This must arrive by the Thursday of the week prior to the course (latest!). A short solo text will be sent to participants by the Saturday to work on during the course. All scene work is recorded, and actors are expected to watch any filming done of themselves before the next session. At the end of the course, participants may also self-tape for feedback.
DAY 1: Us and Our Roles: 10.30AM – 5.30PM (90 min lunch break):
you or the role? What is a ‘character’? Finding your life and entering the life of your role. Confidence toolbox. Seeing your unique selves. Your scenes. Homework: actors to watch their work on playback. Scenes sent out.
DAY 2: Stepping into ‘The Magic Circle’: 10.30AM—5.30PM (90 min lunch break):
Discovering other lives, games and more scenes. Each actor will get time to work within the group. (The rest of the group sees the work live, and it’s recorded to watch later.) Homework: actors to watch their work on playback.
DAY 3: Taking a Chance: 10.30AM—5PM (90 min lunch):
(90 min lunch): More texts and games; scene work in pairs. Questions and explorations. Homework: actors to watch their work on playback. (Any toolbox work will also be recorded and can be downloaded.)
Post Course:
You may send Mel any scene from the course, or of your choosing (max 2 scenes) for personal feedback.
BIO
Mel Churcher was an actor and broadcaster for many years. Her work included leading roles with the Royal National Theatre, the New Shakespeare Company and extensive film, radio and television work.
She is now best known as an international acting, dialogue, voice andMpresentation coach and runs workshops and gives lectures all over the world. She has worked in the voice department of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (where she was Head of Voice and Text for twelve years), Shakespeare’s Globe, the Young Vic, Manchester Royal Exchange, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre in London. She served on the Council of the British Voice Association.
Mel is also one of the top acting and dialogue coaches in TV and movies. Her work includes P-Valley, War of the Worlds, Victoria, Outlander, Marco Polo, Control, Danny the Dog/Unleashed, The Fifth Element, King Arthur, The Count of Monte Cristo and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, coaching actors such as Thora Birch, Gerard Butler, Henry Cavill, Daniel Craig, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Paul Giamatti, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Angelina Jolie, Milla Jovovich, Felicity Jones, Keira Knightley, Jet Li, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelson, Sam Riley, Stellan Skarsgåard, Ray Winstone, Benedict Wong, and Michelle Yeoh.
Mel is also a theatre director with her own company, Trojan’s Trumpet.
Mel has an MA in Performing Arts (Mddx), an MA in Voice Studies (CSSD) and an Institute of Phonetics Association Diploma. She is a life-member of BAFTA and a voting member of the EFA. She has written numerous articles on voice and acting, and her books Acting for Film: Truth 24 Times a Second (Virgin Books) and A Screen Acting Workshop (Nick Hern Books) are now recommended reading for major drama schools.
For more information, see www.melchurcher.com or www.actingcoach.london
Or see Mel’s IMdb entries on imdb.me/melchurcher.
