Krater Studios

This meditation is an active meditation to drop the actor in to where he/she needs to be emotional.

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We can all get caught up in the waiting game from time to time.  It happens at various points in our lives, careers and it can manifest itself in our work. It is a place that can cause stagnation, frustration and impede growth. Personally, I think it becomes a habit. As actors we wait on so many things.  We wait for the phone to ring, the cue to come, the word action to be called.  How might it serve the work if we stopped waiting to bring all that we have to offer and started to give of ourselves, express our voice, offer up our talents and get moving! An easy antidote is to be mindful of the definition of "to act".  As a verb it means to take action or to do something.  As a noun it means a thing done; a deed. I have been meditating on this since Monday Evenings Instinct Class at Krater Studios.  We observed how a scene can sit there...feeling like it is an unmoving entity or it can pop and sizzle.  Usually the difference has to do with where the actors are coming from, what they are listening to and/or what they are bringing to the picture. Once in awhile, I see actors get up without much going on either energetically, emotionally or psychically.  The go to the page or the line, point out the most obvious clues from the script to support uninspired choices and they read dialogue. Rather than waiting for someone to point out where the opportunities may be, an actor wants to be in tune with his or her process, opinions, life experience and inner aliveness.  We don't need to be told how to respond to a novel we may be reading in the privacy of our home and it should be no different when we are working.  Lifting that experience up off the page and being willing to play with the other actor takes a certain amount of risk, but it must be done. I see actors wait for the lines to tell them how to feel.  It is common place to have someone sit right in front of your nose and miss what is going on with them.  We don't connect as a society and so from time to time we ignore that obligation when we get up to work.  Ask yourselves if you really give a damn about the person in front of you.  If you aren't sure or the answer is no, turn that around because nine times out of ten your performance is in your partner.  The character you are inhabiting surely cares about the journey he or she is on or there wouldn't be a story to tell. Listening is such a crucial part of an actors process.  Sometimes it seems as if actors believe this is about listening to the line better.  Although that may be true, there are so many other amazing things to connect with when we act.  From time to time we are limiting ourselves to just one or two, but as an actor you want to reach out and listen to the lines, the temperament of your partner, the tone of the environment being established, the moment, your intuition, a deeper level of understanding, your point of view, the obvious....need I go on?  Actors forever will be discovering how to listen better. Lastly, I think it is important to recognize that you have something valuable to offer the production, your community or the world.  An actor must recognize and develop his or her voice.  If we want to be more than a bit player from time to time...it must be done.  It is perfectly okay not to know what that may be, but then we must go about the discovery. In being called to act, suddenly there are so many things to realize, discover and express.  Keeping all of this in mind will prevent you from sitting back when you need to take a stand, keeping quiet when you should speak up and pretending you are just another actor when indeed you are a force to be reckoned with. Think how if feels to be on your heels when you work.  Why search outwardly for someone to offer you the platform or permission to do what you do best. So much of this career becomes about taking care of yourself.  Please make sure that you do. Now, go Act! xo Jen Krater

Paulo.

x                                                                                                                          Jen Krater

x                                                                                                                          Jen Krater

Jen

Potential. Do you know what yours is?   Do you own it? Do you work to make it a reality? Have you taken time in your hectic schedule to find a support system so it can be realized? Does it even matter to you any longer? I think acting and life go hand in hand.  I come around over and over again to the realization that what we have to offer as individuals is so vital to the well being of our society. It is very easy to let this career devolve into an ego driven let down and yet... When I see people step in front of the camera and let down their guards, connect and really begin to discover how they feel about themselves and the world they live in, my soul comes to life. There is so much in this celebrity based culture that suggests only those who are known have a voice.  Art is what reminds us all to stop and take a listen to what truly matters to us as a society. What if...we stopped waiting for someone out there to give us permission to be all that we are and truly play large.  What if...we supported people to be more than they thought they ever could.  What if...we could let go of our cynicism and articulate what it is like to live in 2013. I understand that acting is a business.  I also bristle at the thought of our art form being run like a giant corporation.  Being connected to the world we live in, understanding the daily trials of the average man, woman and child, shining a light on those things in life that shouldn't be overlooked or condoned, this is at the very heart of what we do. Hurray to the story tellers who push to get their voices heard, who rise up against the glorification of the selfish and ignorant in reality TV and easy money.  Hurray to everyone who fights to get their film made the way they see it. As a society we have the potential to do great things, to solve hard problems and to be better tomorrow than we are today.  As film makers we can really reach our audience.   I can't help but be informed by being a parent of two young beautiful girls.  I want to say to the world what I would say to them.  "Go become all that you are able to be!"  Then I have the responsibility to do everything in my power to help make that possible.  Where I fall short, I need to ask the expertise of others to bridge that gap. Art is about reminding the masses that we all have a stake in this world we create and live in.  Acting is about touching the potential of the human spirit and being honest about it.  It isn't some trite easy thing, but it isn't impossible either. I wish for everyone to work and make money etc.  But more than anything, I wish for compelling story telling and the opportunity of us all to be ourselves unapologetically.  I wish for us to stop underestimating ourselves and our peers and really work to be amazing, brilliant, compassionate people. After all, I do see it daily in the work at the studio.  I also see the toll it takes when those things are ignored. So again I ask each and every one of you... Potential.  Do you know what yours is?   Do you own it? Do you work to make it a reality? Have you taken time in your hectic schedule to find a support system so it can be realized? Does it even matter to you any longer? With Love, Jen

Potential. Do you know what yours is?   Do you own it? Do you work to make it a reality? Have you taken time in your hectic schedule to find a support system so it can be realized? Does it even matter to you any longer? I think acting and life go hand in hand.  I come around over and over again to the realization that what we have to offer as individuals is so vital to the well being of our society. It is very easy to let this career devolve into an ego driven let down and yet... When I see people step in front of the camera and let down their guards, connect and really begin to discover how they feel about themselves and the world they live in, my soul comes to life. There is so much in this celebrity based culture that suggests only those who are known have a voice.  Art is what reminds us all to stop and take a listen to what truly matters to us as a society. What if...we stopped waiting for someone out there to give us permission to be all that we are and truly play large.  What if...we supported people to be more than they thought they ever could.  What if...we could let go of our cynicism and articulate what it is like to live in 2013. I understand that acting is a business.  I also bristle at the thought of our art form being run like a giant corporation.  Being connected to the world we live in, understanding the daily trials of the average man, woman and child, shining a light on those things in life that shouldn't be overlooked or condoned, this is at the very heart of what we do. Hurray to the story tellers who push to get their voices heard, who rise up against the glorification of the selfish and ignorant in reality TV and easy money.  Hurray to everyone who fights to get their film made the way they see it. As a society we have the potential to do great things, to solve hard problems and to be better tomorrow than we are today.  As film makers we can really reach our audience.   I can't help but be informed by being a parent of two young beautiful girls.  I want to say to the world what I would say to them.  "Go become all that you are able to be!"  Then I have the responsibility to do everything in my power to help make that possible.  Where I fall short, I need to ask the expertise of others to bridge that gap. Art is about reminding the masses that we all have a stake in this world we create and live in.  Acting is about touching the potential of the human spirit and being honest about it.  It isn't some trite easy thing, but it isn't impossible either. I wish for everyone to work and make money etc.  But more than anything, I wish for compelling story telling and the opportunity of us all to be ourselves unapologetically.  I wish for us to stop underestimating ourselves and our peers and really work to be amazing, brilliant, compassionate people. After all, I do see it daily in the work at the studio.  I also see the toll it takes when those things are ignored. So again I ask each and every one of you... Potential.  Do you know what yours is?   Do you own it? Do you work to make it a reality? Have you taken time in your hectic schedule to find a support system so it can be realized? Does it even matter to you any longer? With Love, Jen

What are you bringing to your work as an artist that is going to make you stand out from among the pack? This is what we are talking about when we talk about Personal Investment. In my classes at Krater Studios the foundation for an actor’s process is built on what you are willing to bring to the table. How much are you willing to risk? How far are willing to go? How full of an experience you are wanting to have? If acting is anything it is about living out full emotional experiences. These experiences, in my opinion, are not things we can fabricate. These experiences have to come from somewhere real. From somewhere within you. This is what makes the work original and authentic. This is what you get to bring to the party. This is what books you the job! Your voice as an artist is as real as it gets. Your voice matters. The next time you find yourself in front of a camera whether on set or in a classroom, before you begin your work take a moment and ask yourself: what am I going to risk today?

Ok, I think we can all own that at times putting yourself out there can be difficult.  To stand up and say "This is who I am" or "This is what I believe" can open you up into all kinds of reactions and yet this is what an actor does everytime he steps in front of the camera.  It takes guts. Telling the truth can ruffle all kinds of feathers.  It can be uncomfortable at times, but ultimately it is incredibly freeing.   The truth is unforgiving sometimes.  The truth also illuminates things that have to be expressed and/or worked through.  Sometimes this can lead to resistence, but ultimately it will lead to growth.   This point in an actors process is incredibly exciting to me as a teacher.  I have seen after 15 years of working with all types of actors what lies on the other side of these discoveries and feel it is in the actors best interest for their limitations to be questioned.  It is amazing to watch at times how an actor will fight to the death to stay stuck. When I experience this I often think of Einstein's definition of insanity:  Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I mean after all isn't art about questioning the status quo? Isn't it about finding meaning? Isn't it about progressing? I have incredible compassion for what the process demands at times.  Film actors have really asked to expose and reveal themselves on so many levels.  I ask every actor to show up.  I also have been trained by one of the best teachers in the business, Sally Johnson.  She pushed me the same way I push all of my actors.  I am grateful for that. As a teacher you are making judement calls constantly.  When to build, when to leave well enough alone and when to talk straight.  Having the opportunity to be on both sides of the camera has lead me to the conclussion that everyone has something at stake when the work takes place. More than someone's comfort, beyond an individual's ego, the work guides the direction.   I know as an actor it is hard to hear the support at times.  It is easy to recoil and become introverted, but an actor's job is to speak up, speak out and discover what wants to happen next. I push, because I care.  Deeply. Jen

Krater Studios On Camera Seminar for the Professional Actor Saturday 8/19 at 3pm.  Email us to [email protected]

Chemistry.  What does your first take look like?  Milly and Ryan dive into a first take in my Advanced Instinct class.  This is their first time through the scene, no rehearsal, no previous run through, at this point no direction.  What do you bring to your first take?

As an artist it is important that you turn your eye to thoughts, inspiration and feelings that open you up, make you feel and encourage you to move forward. I have been teaching now for over twenty years and I have noticed an increase in anxiety over the years.  It tends to lead in many of the conversations we have in class. It is important creatively that we remember it needn’t be this way.   Although I believe in taking a cold, hard look at the world we live in, an artist needs to feel a sense of possibility. In order to bring a role to life, an actor must create a sense of security within themselves, their work and the relationships they foster with others. This week in class, I encouraged our clients to remain open to something wonderful being about to happen...To anticipate something fascinating,soul fueling and kind. The reality of our world can be very overwhelming at times, but there is also great beauty.  People have the capacity to be kind, strong and deeply compassionate. Opening up to anticipation is a pleasurable experience. It is important we find that balance.  It makes the work full.  Hope. Joy. Satisfaction. Understanding.  There is drama in getting what you want in a scene too. Open up.  Stay strong.  Breathe. x Jen

There is magic in this room.

Letting the Moment Find You. This is a cold Read from my advanced Intinct class.  I allowed Hilary and Michael to really take their time.  We were working on being honest and real.

What does your first take look like.  This is a cold read from my Thursday Night Cold Read Class.  Faith and Nicholas have had no rehearsal, at this point no direction and haven’t run it through before hand.  They just got up and laid it down.