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Actors Benefit From Learning Camera Skills

SCAN5 675x1024 Actors Benefit From Learning Camera Skills

Alan Nurthen is an actor, producer, director, and former surfboard maker. But for him, the most rewarding job is teaching screen acting to teens and adults who want to understand the ins and outs of show business.

“My dad was a teacher with the Australian Air League. He died in 1980 but if he was alive today, he would be really pleased with what I am doing.”, Nurthen said.

He is quoted as saying that he “bummed around the world for a decade making surfboards”. When he came back to Australia, he went to take acting classes at the New Theatre in Newtown.

“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be an actor”, he contemplated.

For the next 8 years after leaving acting school, he won acting gigs in numerous Australian films and television series including Sons and Daughters, The Killing of Angel Street, Young Doctors and The Harp in the South.

In 1986 he was hired as a screen acting teacher by the Mona Vale Film and Television School. After which, he set up his own school at Dee Why which he named the Film and Television Acting Academy. Many students from his school have established screen careers – such as Matt Doran who worked as an actor on Home and Away and continued on to work with George Clooney and Sean Penn in The Thin Red Line.

Nurthen said that it was the people who have overcome their shyness and have become more confident through learning how to act that made teaching all the more worthwhile.

“There was one boy, who was so shy, he used to hide if anyone visited his parent’s house,  and after a few months of classes he won an award for public speaking,” Nurthen proudly mentions.

His classes are not exclusive to actors. Many students of his come from a variety of professions. Some are lawyers, sales people and real estate agents. Nurthen strongly believes that actors must be wise enough to get to know what goes on behind the camera so that they can become better actors.

“They need to work in a television studio environment, in front of  cameras and lights, and have their work edited, he says. “Until they are comfortable with the process and fully understand it, they’re not going to make it in front of the camera.  After all, knowledge is power.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Want To Get A Job? Enroll At Acting School

SCAN7 1024x814 Want To Get A Job? Enroll At Acting School

We all need to have a job because if we do not work, we will not have any money to buy food, clothing and shelter: the three basic things that a man or a woman needs in order to survive.

Men and women who are looking for jobs have turned to acting to get that edge over people who are vying for the same work. They want to offer a little bit more so that they will have an edge over their competitors in this very competitive world.

Due to increased competition, men and women are looking into getting into acting school even if they actually do not want to become actors or actresses.

Alan Nurthen, the man behind the Screen Actors Workshop located in Brookvale, opined that  the art of acting had major relevance in today’s corporate world. But, he says that does not mean that a student should pretend to be someone he or she is not.

“A lot of people come in and do the classes to improve their life skills and confidence to sharpen themselves up when it comes to dealing with others. They aren’t necessarily interested in acting, they just want to improve their everyday career prospects”, Nurthen said.

Rates at Nurthen’s school cost $375 for a basic entry-level 20-hour acting course.  A 30-hour course for aspiring actors costs $475.

Alan Nurthen is an industry professional with three decades of experience in helping students to achieve their full potential. Rest assured that if you study at his school, you will be in good hands.

Dean Carey, the creative director for Actors Centre Australia mentions that the skills that one uses in acting are the same skills that white-collar workers need to have.

“Acting skills are life skills and business skills. Confidence, self-expression, creative thinking and spontaneity all transfer to a corporate environment, from the boardroom down to someone going for an interview”, Carey mentions.

The creative director continues to report that after the stimulus package of the Rudd government, students who enrolled in acting or drama schools have increased significantly.

Carey concluded, “I think a lot of people are spending that money investing in themselves. The skills they learn in these course are about embracing and harnessing your own energy, focus, commitment and sense of expression.”

At the Screen Actors Workshop, Alan Nurthen has seen a similar interest in entry-level classes by a wide range of white collar professionals. Says Nurthen, “Drama is now an integral part of the high school curriculum and the corporate world are also starting to appreciate the life changing benefits of learning how to act.”


 

 

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