2025

V. Acting for the Camera: Shape Your Acting Muscle

Level: COMMITTED ACTORS WHO HAVE COMPLETED CORE TECHNIQUE
FALL SATURDAY WORKSHOP: SATURDAYS 12:00 - 16:00, SEPTEMBER 6-13
location: welserstr. 5-7, Berlin-schöneberg
FEE: €200

On stage, an actor's technical performance is sculpted through movement, gesture, and vocal energy that reaches the back row. On camera, the frame tightens. The canvas shrinks to a close-up, revealing meaning through a subtle glance or a breath. Storytelling shifts to the inner life of the character, their thoughts and desires. As the saying goes, the camera doesn’t lie. An actor's performance should always be rooted in the character's given circumstances, objectives, and actions. But the lens demands a special degree of focus and honesty.

In this two-day workshop, students will develop technical and emotional precision to craft compelling on-camera performances. You will learn how to “play the piece of the pie,” so that your performance lands in the right slice of the frame with clarity and nuance. You will learn how to limit and sharpen your focal points, so that every shift in attention drives the story with intention. You will explore how to bring depth, imagination, and spontaneity to each take. Most importantly, you will learn how to fuse your creative choices with technical awareness, so that you give the director and editors the range they need to shape a dynamic, truthful performance in post-production.

Hands-on work with the camera will be an essential part of this class. You will spend time both in front of and behind the lens, gaining a practical understanding of how framing, focus, lighting, and camera movement shape a performance. By working directly with the tools of the medium, you will learn to act with the camera, while contributing to the collective effort of a creative and technical team.

Whether you’re preparing for film, television, or self-tapes, this course equips you with the tools to meet the camera with clarity and honesty so that it can capture your story.

Instructor: Adam Ludwig

The course will be conducted in English. Students are encouraged to contribute ideas or ask questions in German or French. Copies of readings, assigned scenes, and plays will be provided.