The S.T.E.P.S. approach to screen acting
S.T.E.P.S. is an acronmyn that stands for Story, Truth, Expression, Physicality, Spontaneity. These are the 5 tenets of acting technique primarily explored in our unique and original approach to acting that is not derived from traditional acting methods, but rather distilled from the years of on-set experience of our coaches. The S.T.E.P.S. approach contains dozens of sub-concepts and is exercise-based, in that the training, much like with athletes, develops an actor's skills in an extraordinary number of different ways to allow them to simply and beautifully harness their authentic selves in performance.
Sub-concepts explored include:
-acting muscle memory (impulses, instincts, intuition)
-attention (observation, listening, awareness)
-dramatic improvisation (not "improv" comedy)
-scene comprehension (understanding)
-scene interpretation (not analysis)
-scene exploration (active discovery)
-concepts of emotion: awareness, intelligence, accessibility, sensitivity, control, complexity, resistance, resonance
-emotional spaces, including transitions, weight, vibrato, mask
-inner dialogue vs inner monologue
-heirarchy of human needs
-naturalism, authenticity, and organic performance
-modes, scales, and levels
-modes of being
-pain modes
-energy modes (kinetic, potential)
-energy scale (low-low through to high-high)
-tone scale (witty to gritty)
-substitution (active vs passive)
-visualization and imagination work (active vs passive)
-flexible wants
-behavior spaces
-conflict modes (external vs internal)
-conflict scale
-musicality in dialogue
-scale of engagement
-engagement modes
-creative collaboration (making "offers")
-blocking & body language
-style vs substance
-risk taking and what it actually means at any stage in your career
-on-set communicating with directors, actors, and other creatives
-8 types of direction and how to approach taking each type naturalistically
-modes of breathing
-silence
-playing moment-to-moment
-pre-occupation and introspection
-focus and concentration
-eyes up vs mind's eye
-owning the moment
-vulnerability
-dynamics (shape of a scene)
-playing extremes
-rage and aggression
-everything / nothing theory
-recognizable human behavior
-stillness and movement
-camera coverage
-eyelines and camera awareness
-scale of maturity (child to adult)
-shooting multiple takes (different, same/different, same/same)
-the G.U.T.S. and B.E.S.T. approaches to auditioning with simplicity
-concepts of character: history, ghost, fear, need, misbelief, point of view, arc
Our approach introduces a great number of concepts and theory, while allowing actors to completely let them all go and play on instinct. Actors learn that most compelling performances they see contain many elements outlined above, however actors don't necessarily need to be aware of any of the above concepts to actually convey them in performance. Many times they are simply present due to the performance being a reflection of life. The S.T.E.P.S. approach helps identify these behavioral characteristics, distills them into concepts and exercises, and then trains actors to be able to convey them through their own instrument with minimal preparation.