Acting School

Training/Coaching/Tuition by Digital Academy Mumbai View Contact

Starting from: INR 67,415 Per Course (Plus 12.36% Tax) Request Info

The dictionary meaning of the word "Acting" is pretending, an intended action or deed and the occupation and work of an Actor.

Jean Genet described "Acting" as the discovery of the many selves hidden within an identity of a person. That is how an Actor can be a poor love-lorn youth in one role, and a brash, aggressive, heart breaker in another. Or a woman could be a submissive, simple housewife in one role and a skimming, seductive vamp in another. Be it the role of main protagonists, character actors, comedians, villains, or narrators, it is only the trained and skilled actors who can do justice to the demands of a role.

From time immemorial, human beings have possessed the ability to imitate gestures, expressions, voices and actions of others. In Greek drama, initially there was no concept of an individual performance and the entire "play" consisted of large choruses describing (telling) actions and deeds of various characters in the third person.

Today, it is hard to imagine that there was ever a time when no 'actors' existed. What we see instead is a world which treats acting as one of the finest art forms and loves certain actors so much, that they are called Superstars.

The glitz and the glamour not withstanding, acting is a profession that requires serious application and training. Film and Television acting is a further specialized field and quite different from theatrical acting. It is an art that not only requires its own skill but also requires a larger understanding of the cinematic art form.

In the Acting Course at Digital Academy, we try to hone the skills as well as recondition the minds of the students so that they may perform to the best of their abilities.

Instruction Module:

1. Voice Culture:

Acquiring control over one's voice is part of the basic preparation any actor must make. A good actor must possess command over language, perfect diction, voice throw and audibility and ability to modulate one's voice.
The voice culture exercises conducted at Digital Academy is a graded methodical approach to improve the 'quality' of voices. Breath control, flexing of vocal chords and control of attention are some of the methods used in voice culture. The important thing is to make students understand that voice is one of the tools of acting and needs to be trained just like the body or the face.

2. Spot Memory:

Actors need to develop their memory in such a way in which they can not only memorize large pieces of text, but are also capable of remembering other instructions vis-à-vis look, gaze, gesture, motion and position. Our memory-enhancing exercises make the students improve their short-term memory levels and also help them remember all other technical instructions while performing. We also organize mock auditions to give a simulation of the real world situation where actors have to read scripts and perform on the spot.

3. Body Language:

An actor doesn't necessarily need words or facial expressions to communicate. His/Her body is an eloquent tool of communication too. At Digital Academy, apart from emphasizing the importance of the face and the voice, we also place great importance on using the body appropriately in a performance.

4. Acting on Cue:

One of the greatest problems faced by Film and Television actors is to learn how to perform while being surrounded by the artificial atmosphere of cameras, lights, crew members and non-existent fellow performers. Added to this is the more difficult task of summoning up real emotions again and again, whenever the Director so wishes. Our exercises help the students deal with this critical aspect of Film and Television acting. Over a period of time students become used to the artificial and technical nature of film shooting and are able to perform effortlessly.

5. Emoting and dialogue delivery:

The final test of an actor's caliber is his or her ability to express emotion in the exact manner and degree that a particular role requires. Emotions are expressed in many different ways but the face and especially the eyes are perhaps most communicative in conveying an emotion. Our exercises are aimed at helping students control the degree of emotional expression and establish an 'intellectual' framework within which emotions must be expressed. Dialogue delivery goes hand in hand with emoting and a good actor knows how to create specific emotional effects using both facial expressions and dialogue.

6. Working with other actors:

More often than not, actors need to perform in tandem with other actors, be it a dialogue sequence or simply reacting in silence to the performances of other actors. Students in this project learn how to maintain a unified emotional key for the entire scene as well as issues of rhythm, balance and appropriate silent reactions.

7. Improvisation:

Improvisation is another aspect of acting that requires imagination and creativity. To create text and embellishment even as one performs, is something that each actor needs to know. We devote a great many class room hours to improvisation exercises and emphasize the importance of 'logical fantasy' in an actor's mind.

8. Characterization & Role Analysis:

In order to essay a role well, it is important for an actor to delineate and articulate the specific contours of a character. Characterisation means understanding not only a role from inside out, but also from outside in. This way one arrives at a great unity between thought, expression and gesture. Role analysis exercises are an extension of the characterisation process. In this an actor, not only articulates the dramatic arc of a role, but also places the role within the larger dramatic plan and its contextual relationship with dramatic meaning.

Projects:

P1) Facing the Camera: In this project students learn how to act in front of the camera. They are taught the need to maintain the correct 'Look', 'Position' and 'Body' Orientation', in relationship with the frame. It is common knowledge that facing the camera and following camera related instructions along with delivering an uninhibited performance is quite a difficult skill. That is why this project is repeated every week with increasing levels of difficulty to hone and polish the performative skills of students to match the professional standards of the industry.

P2) Dubbing: Owing to the difficulties inherent in 'Sync Sound' recording more often that not, actors are required to re-record their dialogues in controlled studio environments. This process is called 'Dubbing', where actors sync their dialogues, learning how to arrive at perfect sync by following the lip movements, visible in the projected image. This repeated practice in the in-house dubbing theatre of Digital Academy, is extremely valuable to the budding actors for their professional careers.

P3) Final Project: In the final project, the actors are given a professional shooting environment, complete with lights, sets and moving cameras to record a well developed monologue piece and a scene involving other actors. The rushes are then edited and taken through sound-post to enable the students to carry an excellent showreel that will correctly indicate their acting abilities.

The Digital Academy student benefit:

• No previous experience required

• Students shoot their practical exercises from the first week of the course

• Intense voice modulation and diction sessions

• Infrastructure available for in house shoots

• Focus on improvisation

• Concentrated course structure that builds confidence

• Scene enactment in live shoots

• Practical sessions of dubbing in a professional sound studio set up

• Showreel of the performance
  
  

Note:- Curriculum subject to change

Faculty

We have professionals teaching our course – some of whom are mentioned below.
Any one or more of the experienced faculty can be assigned to a course batch.

Mr. Ashok Purang

Mr. Ashok Purang has been doing theatre since 1980 and was part of the Theatre Action Group, where he learnt the basics of theatre from Mr. Barry John. His French teachers Mr. K. Madvane and Monsieur Philippe Lenglet at the Alliance Francaise de Delhi initiated him into theatre. He is the Founder, Director of the Theatre groups ‘Pierrot’s Troupe’ and ‘Showbiz Action Players’. He has directed over two dozen plays, prominent among them are ‘Letter To A Child Never Born’ (Oriana Fallaci), ‘Tum Ko Chahoon, Ki Na Aao’, ‘Einstein’, ‘Mirror Mirror On The Wall’, ‘Bade Bhai Saheb’, ‘A Christmas Carol’ (Charles Dickens) and many more. He has written a few feature films for children. He has worked with a few Production houses and is the Jury member of a few Film Festivals. For over twenty years he has been working on Acting Training Methods. He has developed unique and practical methods, which are effective in theatre as well TV and films.

Career

Amongst all the careers related to films and television, Acting is perhaps the most lucrative. The sky, in this case is really the limit. The spectacular nature of a successful actor’s career makes it a highly sought-after profession. But acting is not only about becoming a super star and doing the main lead in a film. Each and every character in a script needs an actor-and preferably a trained one.

Theatre is generally the breeding ground for actors. But most theater actors realize that acting for films and television is quite different from theatrical acting. The specific skills required to perform for the ‘frame’- with a deep understanding of lensing, lighting, mise-en-scene, look, position, mark, and body orientation, are something that an actor acquires only after special training.

At Digital Academy the Film School we aim to produce high quality actors, by honing their amateur skills and talents to a level where they can perform with professional ease.

Our aim is not to train only Heroes and Heroines but to produce good actors who can fit into any bill. For it is a well known fact that all the Superstars of the world started out with the simple desire in their hearts to become good actors.

Thus, Students of Digital Academy can hope to join the film and television world anywhere on earth and aim for the sky.

Fees:

Acting Full Time

Fees for Indian Citizens Inclusive 12.36% service tax

INR: 1,34,831/-
10,000/-On admission
42,000/- Before batch starts
42,000/-Within 1 month (PDC)
40,831/-Within 2 months (PDC)
Scholarship Fee Plan for Indian Citizens Inclusive 12.36% service tax

INR:1,12,359/-
10,000/-On admission
35,000/- Before batch starts
35,000/-Within 1 month (PDC)
32359/-Within 2 months (PDC)

Fees for International Students Inclusive 12.36% service tax

USD: 2250
Full Fees to be paid on Admission

Acting Part Time

Fees for Indian Citizens Inclusive 12.36% service tax

INR: 67,415/-
10,000/-On admission
20,000/- Before batch starts
20,000/-Within 1 month (PDC)
17415/-Within 2 months (PDC)

Scholarship Fee Plan for Indian Citizens Inclusive 12.36% service tax

INR: 56,179
10,000/-On admission
15,000/- Before batch starts
15,000/-Within 1 month (PDC)
16,179/-Within 2 months (PDC)

Fees for International Students Inclusive 12.36% service tax

Not applicable

Digital Academy

Digital Academy was the result of a simple thought; to introduce the art and craft of cinema to passionate minds.

We firmly believe in going the extra mile for all our students and hence placements are an integral part of our program. Our well-placed network has enabled us to set our students in ace film and television production houses. And it is pure pride that we wear seeing their success.

At Digital Academy we compete with ourselves to set new standards. And because we believe we can, we always achieve, for a goal is only unattainable when you give up trying. So if you have a dream, come to us and we will make it real.