The key to good acting on the stage is using strong, varied actions to overcome obstacles and achieve clear objectives; the same is true in film and animation performance. This course is designed to teach students how to apply these acting skills, and is open to those without previous acting experience. Great actors and animators turn internal emotion or thoughts into clear physical actions. Beginning with the theory that all acting is action, you will learn how to create authentic characters, staged in a visual way with movement, weight, timing, and physics. Exploring the uses and benefits of improvisational theater for film and animation, we will explore issues of pacing, conflict, and relationships between characters. You will do in-class physical acting exercises that you can use in your own work, with your own bodies, in ways that will deepen your expression and insights to character.

In this class you will:

- Build kinesthetic awareness
- Develop tools for storytelling through improvisation work
- Develop a sense of dramatic structure, pacing and timing
- Create characters through the use of observation and referencing your own bodies
- Cultivate awareness of motivation, actions, obstacles and tactics
- Explore ways of applying these skills to animation performance