I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.

***************

Let me be short and concise today!

I am totally thrilled about Mark Wakeling’s return to Prague in a month. In case you haven’t heard of him: He is a teacher at the “Actor’s Temple” in London. He held a weekend-seminar in late November of 2009 for us Meisner students at the Prague Film School. (Click here to read about it!) Now he promised to be back from June 7 to 11.

The seminar last year rocked my soul. It helped me keep on keeping on at this difficult time, where none of my efforts at getting started as a professional actor really seem to succeed. His version of Meisner also kept me from dropping out of this class. I have been looking forward to his oncoming seminar ever Brian started to talk about it, i.e. at least four months.

If you can afford it and have the time, please register for the seminar!

Mark will try his best to confront you with the inner barriers you set up to protect yourself against intense feelings. He is relentless in a way. But since Meisner is about the truth, it is absolutely necessary to get rid of these blocks. Mr. Wakeling will get you at places you wouldn’t even have known existed. If you trust him at least a little bit, he will help you free quite a bit of the aspects you carefully held captive inside for so long. You will shine!

Meisner is about getting ready to play anything – no! to be able to live it under imaginary circumstances. If you dare use the technique to the extreme – which Mark will help you with – it will get you there.

Mr. Wakeling will give you a good kick in the butt that will let you fly in the right direction.

He will take Meisner’s image of “the pinch and  the ouch!” in a totally new and really pinchey-ouchey direction.

And that is absolutely, mind-bogglingly exiting to me.

**********************

General stuff:

Our acting class consists of some twelve new and not so new active members, who meet every Monday and Wednesday from 6.30 pm to about 9.30 at the Prague Film School. We do Meisner. And the Meisner-technique really rocks!

If you want to connect with your inmost feelings, expressing them freely in an acting environment and thus getting to know yourself better and better, feel free to join us! If you do, be prepared for some serious thrills!

+++

About the author:

I am Boris Wilke, a German expat in Prague.

I am a writer at large and have been studying Meisner since January 2008. If any of you know of any kind of acting work that befits a laddish, tall 41-year-old, please leave a note!

We are looking for:

We are open to both Czech or English speaking actors – the decision hasn’t been made on whether the film will be shot in English or Czech. Either way, we are looking for a Danish accent to whichever of the two languages is spoken. An English or Czech speaking Dane, Swede or Norwegian would be ideal.

There is no age limit. Nor is there any particular look we are searching for.

The part:

The role to be auditioned for is Kohl Larsson, a disaffected ex-power station worker who is appealing for asylum in the Czech Republic on Ecological grounds. Kohl is a man who likes his coal. He’s not happy about the changes that have taken place in his country over the last twenty years, wind turbines, solar power stations, passively heated housing and is seeking asylum in the Czech Republic, a country he sees as more in tune with his way of life.

Filming dates:

There will be three days of shooting, two in Denmark and one in the Czech Republic. We will be filming either in the week following the Easter weekend (6th – 11th April) -  or the following week (11-18th April).

Pay:

Unfortunately the funding available from the Danish government for this project is very small. All the crew will be working well below industry norms. We can offer 1,500 kc cash a day, plus a delayed payment of an extra 1,500 kc a day should we be successful in selling the film to a commercial television company in this country.

There’s a return flight to Copenhagen and two nights in a hotel there included in the film’s budget. If you’d like to fly out earlier or stay on after the shoot and have an extended stay, we’ve no problem with that (though we can’t cover the extra hotel nights).

The casting will take place at the offices of Duracfilm, Turnovská 365/5, Praha 8, on Monday March 15th. Please contact Pavlina Kalandrova, the producer, 724 328 583 or pavlina@duracfilm.cz to arrange a time for an audition and to receive copies of the texts to be read.

I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.

In this entry I will shut up for once and let Mark Wakeling speak. His workshop (November 28 and 29, 2009) in the attic of the Prague Film School was a life changing experience. After that “Meisner earthquake” the lame exercises we’ve been doing lately in and out of class just don’t cut it any more!

Click on the “CLASSES” button above and then choose “ACTING FOR PROFESSIONALS” to read more about the class itself and where we meet!

This is some of Mark’s wisdom:

To act means to do.

Apart form violence there are no rules.

The intellectual mind switches on when preparing for the acting. The emotional mind switches on when acting.

We’re animals in our impulsive state. And acting means being in our impulsive state.

The only two pure feelings are joy and grief.

More Mark Wakeling quotes:

The seed of the craft of acting is the reality of doing.

We tend to think that the aim of the repetition exercise is “getting it right”. That is irrelevant, though.

What we need to do is to put all our attention on our partner and off ourselves.

The faith to put all your attention on your partner is something that takes about 20 years to build.

Ultimately there is no Meisner technique apart from putting all of your attention on your partner and accepting them the way they are.

Love is acceptance. Thus acting is the most loving experience.

The only thing that exists is the doing it.

Be in the moment! Use all your senses!

Holding hands is a valid form of connection.

Be in the exercise from the very moment it starts. No preparing for it!

Acting is the most perfect way of really living your life. Look at it as a way of being yourself!

The most loving thing is to be brutally honest with your partner. The most terrible thing is to be polite to them.

Be prepared to go in the exercise with everything you got – with the risk of falling flat on your face.

Get into the exercise with a warrior spirit, like being in a battle for life and death.

All the problems you have, are imaginary. Everything that’s holding you back is not real!

Be yourself! The moment you hold back, you’re denying your partner an experience.  You can be 100% you! That is welcomed, even embraced!

Notice how your partner is instead of protecting them from it!

Go all the way! Don’t be the dumbed-down polite little version of yourself that you were deformed into by society! This is all or nothing!

Have an experience other than you’re used to!

You can’t get “good” at the repetition exercise: You can only get honest. It’s as simple as that. Then it’s unique every moment –  a deeply profound experience.

You either commit to it 100% or you better not bother doing it at all!

What is real, is what’s happening right now. Everything else is not real.

We spend most of our lives, living in an unreal state. We worry about stuff that’s over or yet to come.

The personas we have developed to protect ourselves are not real.

The genius of the repetition exercise is that it makes you real.

Nobody cares! No offense meant! So you can let it all out in order to unlock yourself. If you “clear the decks” then you have this wonderful range.

Getting connected is effortless. You just have to use your senses.

You actually help your partner by being ruthlessly honest. There is nothing you can’t say. An actor has to muster the courage to face up with what is really happening.

Every time you say something is another moment. Go further with it. Pursue the moment! Go after your call until you get something!

Fighting one another might be interesting to watch. But it is not real. Anger is an unnecessary state. It’s just avoiding to acknowledge the sadness one really feels deep down.

Being yourself is about being yourself completely.

Avoid falling into an “emotional trap”! When you start to have a strong feeling, don’t retreat into yourself! Keep on placing all of your attention on your partner!  Acting is not about getting emotional.

Nothing needs to happen. Just connect with your partner!

Who are we? It’s what we are feeling right now.

Trying to control your feelings is a problem.

Be pathetic and weak! Yeah! That takes real courage!

Hypersensitivity is a good thing. Doing this work properly will make you notice a pin dropping. And it should!

Putting all your attention on your partner means becoming unselfconscious.

In acting positive thinking is limiting. You need to be ready for bad things as well. Be truthful! You might be ugly. You might be terrible. But that’s great! Where else can you let everything out?

Be normal with each other! Just name it as it is! But be there for one another! Being in the moment is absolutely fine. It’s perfect!

There is no “I don’t know”!

We are only confused about things we don’t want to admit.

All that matters is your opinion, right now!

To pretend to be someone else to other people than you are, is really horrible! It’s insane to deny yourself!

Meisner work is not therapy. You only do it because you want to be an actor. This is not a game.

Showing that we’re all the same underneath is the actor’s job.

***

Mark came all the way from London to teach us because he truly believes that the way acting is generally perceived must change. He’s doing everything to make this change happen. And so should we!

Let me finish by a thing Brian said: “There is so much work ahead of us!”

Oh yes, it is! And that’s great!

**********************

General stuff:

Our acting class consists of some fifteen new and not so new active members, who meet every Monday and Wednesday from 6.30 pm to about 8.30. We do Meisner. And the Meisner-technique really rocks!

If you want to connect with your inmost feelings, expressing them freely in an acting environment and thus getting to know yourself better and better, feel free to join us! If you do, be prepared for some serious thrills!

+++

About the author:

I am Boris Wilke, a German expat in Prague.

I am a writer at large and have been studying Meisner since January 2008. If any of you know of any kind of acting work that befits a laddish, tall 40-year-old, please leave a note!

The film will be between 6 to 10 days of shooting in the second half of October: 3-5 days in denmark, 3- 5 days in Czech. More information after the break:

William writes: “The documentary is for the Danish embassy here, they want an educational documentary that they can take around schools, explaining some of the ecological projects that the country is involved in.

“Because we have to make it fun and interesting for the “youth”, we’ve turned it on its head and the documentary is about a “fictitious” Dane who is applying for aslyum to the Czech Republic because he feels his ecological rights are being infringed in Denmark, where everything is so clean and ecological. The film is a mockumentary in that it’s a series of interviews with him where he explains why he has applied for asylum and in the process explains about the ecological projects the Danish Embassy wishes us to feature. And complains how life is unlivable in such a clean country. This is set against “home video” footage of his holiday in the Czech Republic where he hangs out in Most, and other polluted places.

Right now we’re trying to decide whether the film will be in English, or “broken” Czech and therefore whether we’ll cast a foreigner or a Czech. When I find an actor who fits the role, that’ll make the decision for me.

I’m not sure what type of actor I’m looking for. He might be a greasy biker, he might be a school teacher. I’d like to cast a whole bunch and see if someone stands out. I’m happy to look at non-actors as well as professionals.

If you could ask anyone who is interested in coming to a casting session to send me their email and contact number. I’ll forward this on to the producer and when we make a decision when and where, and how the casting will be organised we’ll do a mass mailing.

For those of you that aren’t going to watch the whole thing or don’t understand the Czech, everyone was basically in agreement that foreign films, which in 2005 brought 5 billion Kc (about $209 million) and this year are only bringing in 1 billion Kc ($50 million), are reaching the point of no return. Soon, if not already, the first-rate crews, equipment and services that made the Czech Republic such a desired location will atrophy and disappear and it will be too late. The message from everyone (including the politicians who seemed to agree on everything except exactly how to enact the support) was that if the Czech Republic is going to have any hope of regaining it’s position as the Hollywood of Europe, legislation has to go into effect this year that gives tax incentives or other financial benefits to producers.

Supporting the film industry in this way (in the second part, Helena Frankova from the Ministry of Culture — I worked with her on Revelations and she really knows her stuff — said that the incentives would cost around 300 million Kc and could generate up to 3 or 4 billion Kc) not only helps the people that work directly on the films, but also helps the tourism industry: restaurants, hotels, transportation. As a side benefit, the money from Hollywood productions fills in gaps in the funding and upkeep of the Czech professionals who make Czech cinema one of the most prolific in Central Europe.

I’m hopeful that, as people are starting to get a clear picture of how foreign cinema affects the Czech economy, the politicians don’t get caught up in sweating the small details. If they can move fast enough, they’ll be able to reclaim Czech’s “rightful” place at the top.

The Prague Film School is happy to announce a casting call at Kino Evald on November 15^th, 2008!

All Actors – irrespective of experience, age & sex – interested in acting in the short films, music videos, documentaries and other student productions of Prague Film School are requested to get in touch with Helena Novakova (Tel.: +420 222510930 or Email: helena@filmstudies.cz) at the earliest for all the details.

The idea is to schedule a time for each actor so we don’t waste anyones time. Please get in touch with us as early as possible so we can agree on the schedule for the day.

There are about 60 students at Prague Film School who make three or four films each in the course of the year. Some samples of their work can be seen on the website www.filmstudies.cz.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP1Dg5tiNtw

Future Shorts returns in June with an extremely high calibre programme of short films and music videos including the 2007 CANNES WINNER ‘VER LLOVER’ (Watching it Rain) from Mexico as well as the EUROPEAN PREMIERE of Alma Har’el’s music video ‘PA BAILAR CON JULIETA’ for the Bajofondo Tango Club. Also check out German thriller (and international festival sensation) ‘Between Walls’ alongside the first in the cult ‘Little Minx Exquisite Corpse’ series, plus many more cinematic treats including an R.E.M. music video from ‘Son of Rambow’ director Garth Jennings. This is fresh cinema – futureshorts.com

PROGRAMME OF FILMS (click more)

Between Walls
Dir: Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu / Germany / 2007
On a building site in Berlin, a situation gets out of control when one of a group of illegal workers needs more money and a dangerous game begins…

Rope a Dope – Little Minx Exquisite Corpse
Dir: Laurent Briet / USA / 2008
Someone is gonna get their ass kicked.
This film is part of series – view them all at www.littleminx.tv

My First Crush
Dir: Julia Pott / UK / 2008
A 3 minute animated film constructed from interviews with friends based on their first encounters with love.

Ver Llover
Dir: Elisa Miller / Mexico / 2006
This the story of Sofía and Jonás, two teenagers living in a small Mexican town. Sofía wants to leave and Jonás has to decide whether to stay or leave with her.

Mushaboom (by Feist)
Dir: Patrick Daughters / USA / 2005
If you live in the city but dream of being somewhere quiet, let Feist lift you away…

Far From Home (by Tiga)
Dir: Nagi Noda / USA / 2006
Stay close to home with Tiga.

Do it Again (By The Chemical Brothers)
Dir: Michael Haussman / USA / 2007
The Chemical Brothers fall from the sky into a Moroccan desert.

La Parabolica
Dir: Xavi Sala / Spain / 2007
During the broadcast of the Pope’s visit, Vicente’s television breaks down. Desperate, he decides to build his own satellite dish.

This is slovenia
Dir: Michael Frank / Slovenia / 2007
Josko Joras is an obstinate man caught between two fires. He lives on the disputed border between Slovenia and Croatia.

Pa Bailar Con Julieta (by Bajofondo Tango Club) *EUROPEAN PREMIERE*
Dir: Alma Har’el / USA / 2007
Beauty therapy Bajofondo style.
www.almaharel.com

Postcards from Italy (by Beirut)
Dir: Alma Har’el / USA / 2007
Super 8, home movie nostalgia from director Alma Har’el to the music of Beirut
www.almaharel.com

Imitation of Life (by REM)
Dir: Garth Jennings / UK / 2001
A flexible Michael Stipe at a crazy LA pool party in a mind-bending video.

www.futureshorts.com/czechrepublic

—
www.zizkovfilmklub.cz