For the emerging actor, being in a short film can be a way to gain experience, secure material for a showreel, and to be seen, with the hope of future employment. 

Many short films are made on tiny budgets and rely entirely on the goodwill of all involved - student films among them. This blog is about the pros and cons of acting in a student film. Students in our Advanced Diploma of Performance often get to collaborate with student filmmakers as part of their training.  ​

Here are some of the pros of being in a student film:

1. The experience
If you're new to acting, a student film usually allows you to experience what it's like to work on set, with lighting, sound and a range of personnel present.

2. Networking Opportunity
Being on a student film allows you to meet and make friends with the filmmakers of tomorrow. Just as student actors are interested in making contacts, so are student filmmakers. 

3. Practising your audition and "meet and greet" skills.
Sometimes student filmmakers are just desperate to find actors - will take anyone! Certainly you may have to audition for a role, but sometimes in a student film, you can bypass this altogether. A student filmmaker may need to round up a number of characters and if you fit what they're looking for, you're in! So whether you have to audition or just apply, you get to practise these important industry skills on first contact.

4. Sometimes the part is written especially for you
If you're a friend of a student filmmaker, they may write a part in their script with you in mind. Not only is that very flattering, it's also a great opportunity for you to give it what you've got.

5. Getting a copy of the film. 
You may be able to ask for a copy of the film that you can use to promote yourself. Make sure you ask permission, though, before you go posting someone else's film on social medial. Sometimes if a filmmaker is putting their film in a competition or festival, there will be an embargo on distribution prior to the event. Publishing it on social media may disqualify it. So make sure you don't rub anyone up the wrong way by making this mistake. Likewise, if you want to use an extract for your own showreel or website, make sure you ask first, and give credit to the filmmaker. 

6. You can develop more confidence in front of the camera. 
If you've not yet had a lot of screen acting experience, a student film is a fairly safe way to build self-confidence. The stakes aren't super-high if you mess up. ​

Here are some of the cons of being in a student film:

1. You'll work for nothing. 
On the whole, student films tend to offer no pay for the time you spend. Sometimes there's no catering either! 

2. The experience. 
Sometimes student filmmakers take a very long time to make films. As they are in the process of learning their craft, it can take them ages to achieve what they want to achieve. Setting up lights, correcting sound levels, and doing re-takes can seem to take forever. Actors on student films can spend excessively long times waiting for student filmmakers to do the tasks that would normally take a professional a couple of minutes. 

3. Film equipment used by student filmmakers is often unreliable.
Sometimes if they're borrowing equipment from their educational institution, student filmmakers are using equipment that has been through many hands. And because students are learning how to organise themselves, how to work with the equipment, and how to think through problems, sometimes they make technical mistakes. They accidentally delete important footage. Or a camera stops working. Or they don't make a back up of their material. Or they lose their SD card on location. These are all common fails of student filmmakers!

4. Sometimes student films are never finished. 
If the reason you're acting in a student film is the hope that you'll get a good snippet of footage for your own showreel, you might be disappointed if you never get a copy. Like all other kinds of students, sometimes student filmmakers never finish and hand in their assignments! Films can be complex projects and sometimes a student film​maker will decide they've chosen the wrong career and drop out of their course midway through a project. So in this instance, a film you were in may never see the light of day.

5. Roles may be limited
Lecturers in filmmaking frequently chuckle about the fact that student filmmakers love writing horror films - especially zombie films, but also films about dark social themes. So there's not a huge variety of material in the student filmmaking landscape. If you come across a student film that's quite different, you can be sure you've hit on something special. 

So a student filmmaking experience can either be negative or positive - or a mixture of both. If everything goes according to plan, though, you may meet a great contact. You may have a fun time. You may learn something new​. And you may walk away with a film as a memento of your experience. 

Anxiety is the scourge of today's younger generation. And parents can have a tough time knowing what to do and how to help. Here's our CEO of Perform Australia, explaining how participation in the performing arts makes a huge difference in the life of a child. If you want to help your child with anxiety, get your child started in a drama class. 

Sometimes drama class isn't the first thing parents think of when they're looking for something to help their child's development. But here are seven reasons why drama class is the best thing ever for childhood and teenage development. 

#1 Drama helps kids make friends.
As a parent, it's always tough when your child feels they don't have any friends. This moment comes when they have a fight with their bestie, didn't find anyone to play with one lunchtime, or they've been subject to bullying. Unfortunately, these are the social learning experiences of childhood. But go to drama class - and your child develops a circle of friends outside the usual parameters. Not only that, the activities that take place in class are conducive to building friendships. Working on a script, creating a play or scene together, and discussion with classmates about stories and characters - all these encourage friendliness between class members. 

#2 Drama develops self-confidence
This is a big one. Often kids come to us who are shy or anxious. But when they get to experiment on stage as a character other than themselves, they explore parts of themselves and their imagination they didn't know existed. Before they perform in a play, they may be very nervous - but once they get out there and do it, suddenly they feel within themselves they've achieved something. And it was fun. And it was creative. And they received applause. All of these things build self-confidence. 

#3 Drama helps kids become more creative. 
Children and young people are naturally creative - but as they get older, we tend to encourage them "not to be so silly". They have to grow up and learn to be responsible. And yet the World Economic Forum has for several years been saying that creativity is one of the three top skills needed in the contemporary workforce. So often we feel a little conflicted about play and creativity. When you allow children to participate in a drama class, you are actually providing a place for their own creative exploration. When human beings are creative, they flourish. Plus you're giving them a headstart on future work skills they;ll need as they mature. They're learning how to preserve their creative spirit. 

#4 Drama helps kids become more empathetic. 
With so many different voices in our world today, and so many conflicting opinions, it's important that human beings show empathy towards one another. The ability to stand in another person's shoes, and understand them, and feel for them, is something that happens naturally in drama class. Every time a child tries on a new character in their script, they are invited to imagine themselves from that character's point of view. They are asked to think outside themselves - and bring those thoughts into themselves. That's where empathy is born. 

#5 Drama develops communication skills
So much of our children's time is spent in engagement with screens. They're losing touch with their bodies. Communication involves the whole self - body language, voice, eyes, and mind. Drama, with its imaginative movement exercises, its adoption of character traits, it's emphasis on exploring emotion, and its performance experiences, helps children to communicate in a holistic way. In working with words and scripts, they become more articulate. In embodying a character on stage or screen and adopting postures, voices and gestures appropriate to that character, they become more naturally expressive.

#6 Drama builds team skills
In Australia, sport is central to society. As well as health benefits, sport provides opportunity for kids to work as part of a team. But did you know - drama does exactly the same thing? Students of drama learn to support other members of their ensemble, work on a performance project together, complete warm-ups and movement exercises together, and learn how to resolve conflicts together. So if you are looking at what activities your child needs in the coming year, realise that drama will achieve many of the same outcomes as sport - plus a whole lot more. 

#7 Drama creates precious memories
What's interesting about working with adults in the performing arts - whether they come to us to do a qualification, a leisure course, or whether their employer forces them to do one of our corporate programs - is that they will often describe formative drama experiences they had as a child. More often than not, these are extraordinarily happy memories. Being a shepherd in the school nativity play. Being in the ensemble of a school musical. Being spotted by a teacher and encouraged to pursue acting. Heck, even playing a tree! Participation in drama creates previous memories, and why? Because drama engages our hearts as well s our minds. Drama makes us feel like we belong. Drama taps into our creative spirit. Drama allows us to explore things we normally wouldn't think about. All of these aspects work together to imprint vivid memories that stay with us for a lifetime. 

I'd say it's time to enrol your child in drama classes, don't you?

As kids begin school and preschool, parents start to look around for 
after-school activities to enhance children's wellbeing. We love it 
when drama is top of the list! But sometimes parents are unsure 
about whether their little one is really ready for all that drama class 
involves. Here are some answers to common questions in relation to 
our wonderful Speech Bubbles program in Canberra or Brisbane.​
​
Is my child ready for drama? ​
Speech Bubbles is definitely suitable for 5-6 year-olds, and also for some 4-year-olds, but 
not all 4-year-olds. Some 4-year-olds are very happy in drama class, while others are really 
too young to enjoy and appreciate the experience. If you have a four-year-old and you are 
wondering whether he/she is ready for drama class, consider the following: 
●Does my child know how to be part of a group and listen to a teacher's 
instructions? This includes things like sitting down with everybody else, singing 
together, joining in games, following basic instructions, and so on. Some 4-year-olds 
have not yet had much experience  participating in group activities and don't like 
joining in with others, preferring instead to play their own game in a corner or wander 
off to look for mum or dad outside the classroom. If this is the case, your child may 
not be ready to participate in drama class. Of course, we don't expect kids to "have it 
all together" all the time, but a willingness to participate in group activities is an 
important aspect of drama class. 
●Will I have to wake my child from sleep to come to class? We find that some 
children who have been woken from a nap in the afternoon aren't feeling great, and 
consequently are grizzly and reluctant to participate in class afterwards. 
●Is my child fully toilet-trained? Perform Australia teachers are not equipped with 
 
 
spare clothes and prefer not to have to stop the class to attend to an accident - since 
the class is only 45 minutes long, toileting and cleaning up afterwards can bring 
about an early end to the lesson. 
●Is my child intimidated by older/larger children (e.g. boisterous six-year-old 
boys or squealing five year old girls!)? If your 4-year-old is easily frightened by 
children larger than themselves, then your child may not enjoy drama class. At times 
class can be quite noisy and exciting with all those imaginations running wild! - this is 
all part of the adventure.  Drama should be fun, and it's certainly a great vehicle to 
help shy kids come out of themselves. But a little 'nervousness' is different to fear. 
The last thing we want is for a child to be fearful and anxious about coming to class 
because they feel very small compared to the children around them. If your child is 
on the younger side of 4, and this is an issue for him/her at the moment, it may be 
too soon to introduce your child to drama class. 
My child is under 4 years of age. Can he/she join a Speech Bubbles class?​
No, unfortunately, your child needs to wait until age four to start a Speech Bubbles class in 
Canberra or Brisbane. We've designed the material so that it is suitable for children who 
have started or are almost about to start school. Under-4s generally have difficulty with 
some of the concepts we teach. Moreover, it is difficult for a teacher to juggle the needs of a 
three-year-old with those of a nearly-7-year-old in the same class; different approaches to 
drama teaching are required for each age group. It's advisable to wait till your child is a little 
older, when he/she will be able to fully participate in class.​
​
If any of these situations sound familiar, we suggest you wait another 3-6 months before 
enrolling your 4-year-old. Between the ages of 4-5, children develop in leaps and bounds - 
so sometimes it's only a matter of waiting another term before your child is ready. Your child 
will enjoy drama class so much more when he/she is truly open to the experience!​
​
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us on 1300 908 90 ​

​There’s a great little meme for actors circulating Facebook called ‘The Actor’s Iceberg’ shared by the Performer Stuff page. It’s a reminder that acting is not always what it seems. The image shows an iceberg, with the tip of the iceberg surrounded by social media, Oscars and awards, online references, money, cameras flashing and so on… but below sea-level are things like “study and training”, “patience”, “rejection”, “sacrifice”, “building relationships”, and ”determination”.

 A number of our students and graduates have responded warmly to this little graphic – simple though it is, it does capture the life of the actor. What the public sees – the end result, the play or film and its publicity machine – is not the half of it. Acting professionally is work – and requires a high degree of self-motivation, personal preparation and stamina to get to that end point.

Several actors have chimed in on social media with things they’d add to the picture, or noted that rejection appeared four times below the surface. Several others emphasised “therapy” and its importance to the actor.

So why would an actor need therapy? Here are a number of ways counselling can offer help to actors:

• Help with shifting to a “success” mindset
• Help with career planning or coaching
• Help with “stage fright”
• Help with depression or anxiety
• Help with managing feelings around a difficult, emotional role or character
• Help dealing with career discouragement, or feelings of rejection after a failed audition experience
• Help with problems faced in the workplace
• Help with past traumas raised by the content of a play or screenplay you’re working on
• Help with the common problems of life
• Help with family relationships

Did you know Perform Australia offers actors coaching and counselling, with a specific empathy for their particular concerns?

But more than that, sometimes an actor needs some one-on-one attention in other areas. Auditions coaching, to build confidence and prepare for an important opportunity. Accents tuition, for your next role. Or perhaps some private singing training to improve your voice.  Perform Australia can offer you assistance.  Find out more here. 

So there’s a role you’re keen to get, in a musical you love. The audition’s coming up and you’ve registered. You don’t want to botch it - so how can you put your best foot forward?

Song choice is crucial to success at the audition. Here are a few tips to help you make the right choice at your next audition. 

1. Have more than one song ready
When preparing for an audition, you should have about five songs that you can pull out of your hat at any time. These songs should be ones you know you can nail. They should be well rehearsed and memorised - lyrics and melody. If the audition panel wants to hear more from you after the first song, then you'll
have something on hand. Most professional auditions require you to have two songs prepared, in any case. But be prepared to whip out something else at a moment’s notice.
 
2. Prepare contrasting songs
It’s always good to front up to a musical theatre audition with one song that’s pre-1960, and one that’s contemporary. That’s your first contrast. Two contrasting musical theatre traditions.

The second contrast is character. Your songs should display two different characters. One might be Annie Ado with “I Cain’t Say No" from Oklahoma, and the other may be a reprise from Little Red Riding Hood from Into the Woods, for instance. Your songs should show the types of roles you’re capable of playing.  So in your suite of songs, find characters that show a variety of virtues and vices.

3. Choose songs that are age appropriate
If you are twenty, don’t choose to sing an audition song where the character is sixty (like Norma Desmond, from Sunset Boulevard, for instance). Choose audition songs where you would be likely to be cast in the role. Your performance should “make sense” to the audition panel. You don’t want to raise questions, like “Why is he/she singing that?” You need to be believable from the word go.

4. Choose songs that are gender appropriate
You may love a woman’s song from your favourite musical, and sing it well, but if you’re a fella, choose a man’s song for your audition. And vice versa if you’re a woman. Admittedly we live in an age where gender fluidity is up for discussion - but if you are auditioning for a male role in a show, you need to show the panel that you can sing and play a male role. They want to see what you can do, for their show ( - not what you would do for your own personal cabaret performance). If you are going for a male role, sing a male part. If you are going for a female role, sing a female part. By all means, if you are auditioning for a cross-dressing role, a specifically gay or a transgender character, you can choose audition repertoire that reflects this.

5. Choose songs you know you can achieve every time
Sometimes singers have songs they’re working on but haven’t quite mastered. There’s that high note, or that low note, or that difficult melody, that you can’t do consistently well. Only audition with songs you can do well.

6. Learn how to cut your music
You won't always sing an entire song in an audition. Usually, you’ve got to be prepared to cut your music. Depending on the audition requirements (and make sure you familiarise yourself with these), you may only be required to sing a couple of verses and a chorus. So when you sit down to look at your song, make sure you choose the section that will show you off. It may be where there’s a crescendo. It may be where the character is most emotional. It may be the verse that is most similar in sentiment to the character role you’re auditioning for. Select your section, and work out in advance how you are going to explain the section you want sing to the accompanist on the day. Make it clear by crossing out unwanted sections on the sheet music you will provide to the accompanist.
 
7. Prepare your character
Character is so crucial to selling a song in an audition. It’s not enough to sing sweetly and on pitch. You need to understand where your character is coming from and what they are trying to communicate at the moment they sing their song. So make sure you know what your character is singing about, and tell that story through your expression. Ask, “What does my character want here? What is his/her goal? What do they feel?” and “How can I bring these things to life in my face, my hands, my posture, my physicality?” Answer those questions and you'll be telling your character's story.

These parameters are the important to bear in mind for professional musical theatre auditions, as well as auditions for musical theatre training courses, like Perform Australia's CUA40513 Certificate IV in Musical Theatre.
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