When the industry shut down due to the pandemic and film, television, and theater productions came to a screeching halt, it might have seemed to be a losing proposition by any standard. But like everything in life, there are always surprising opportunities that present themselves even in challenging times.
With quarantine, actors were inspired out of necessity to think out the box and express their creativity in new and different ways. There’s no question that many actors became more entrepreneurial and started playing around on Zoom and on their iPhones. They began writing material for themselves and putting themselves on-camera. The creativity and imagination needed to make online storytelling and performances vital and effective is a whole new training ground. This out-of-the-box, creative approach actually relates to every aspect of our art online or off. The muscle needed to push boundaries and think of new ways to do things is an essential part of our work and developing this in ourselves further is invaluable practice.
Adaptability is essential for actors throughout their careers. This is true whether an actor is on set and experiences normal technical problems, or online with technological challenges. The online problems that actors experience might make performers feel disrupted, but it’s actually no different than doing a scene that gets cut because a boom is in the shot, or a siren or airplane overhead stops the action and you have to start the action all over again. You must be flexible when faced with these disruptors that you meet you in person on set and actors must not let the interruptions interfere with their adaptability to start again in a fresh, concentrated approach.
How to Keep up With Your Training + Career Plan When Social Distancing Then there’s the possibility that getting off the endless wheel of auditions and appointments can make room for some quiet, mindful meditation and focusing on being present. It’s possible this can make you stop and get in touch in a deeper way with your talents and selves. The shutdown did not shut down people’s talent or artistic growth. In fact, it may have expanded and put them in a position of having to connect and face things that they never would otherwise.
This could be a time for you to work on your accents or techniques. You might learn to dance, take a voice lesson, or take an acting class. Some schools have gone online and offer such options. Ours never stopped training and coaching actors, and we have found the level of work and quality of moving online to be powerful. Online on-camera work is more important than ever in developing strong self-taping skills alone.
So things may be different, but there are still positives that can come from this time if you stay open and look beyond the limitations. You just might see these limitations as opportunities!
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and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.
