Source: Ivan Gozali

Make sure you support your peers and BUY this one. More information here.

Really awesome blog with lots of posts on acting. Definitely a useful resource. Click the image to check it out!

1000th Post!

I wanted to show this clip from The Way Back because it does a great job showing a fight or flight response. The fight or flight response states that animals/humans react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, priming the person for fighting or fleeing. Males and females tend to deal with stressful situations differently. Males are more likely to respond to an emergency situation with aggression (fight), while females are more likely to flee (flight), turn to others for help, or attempt to defuse the situation. This clip is a great example of someone going through the fight or flight response.

It starts with Ed Harris piecing a lie together, he has this great subtle little smile once he has figured out the girl has been lying to him, this little moment of realization before he speaks helps the audience know he’s figured something out. Saoirse Ronan’s character instantly gets confrontational, its not over the top, but her voice and pacing let you know she’s afraid/upset. Her reaction is perfect the moment he says “your parents weren’t murdered” the quick head turn, the eye blinks, you really feel she’s afraid, that she’s going into “fight or flight” mode. I love clips like this cause it really shows the battle going in within ourselves, sometimes that battle can be far more interesting than external ones. I did a previous post featuring Saoirse Ronan on my blog here. Mark my words, she’ll have an Oscar in 5 years or less (she’s already been nominated once when she was 13)

I originally posted this on YouTube about five years ago, and then re-posted it a few years later including a higher resolution download. I figured since I’ve started up a YouTube account again, I might as well add it again. All six parts will play automatically below. Enjoy…again

I posted last year’s Oscar Round-tables not too long ago. Here’s this year’s batch:

As much as I love this film, it would be boring without these two scenes.

Spline Doctors just posted a link to some amazing reference for animators. Do not miss this. Purely from an entertainment value, my favourites are Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Anthony Mackie, and Leslie Manville. Surprisingly, Natalie Portman’s is my least favorite. Who’d have thought?

I also can’t say enough about the power of music in these pieces, composed by Owen Pallett.

Master Japanese film director, Takeshi Kitano, talks about his approach to film-making. There are some real gems here, particularly part 2 when he talks about acting and improv. There are six parts in total.

From the Peter Serafinowicz Show:

After watching the first part of a lecture series with Eric Goldberg on Animation Mentor, I’m searching for some interviews with Marcel Marceau on the Johnny Carson show. This is all I’ve turned up so far. If anyone knows where I can find the Carson interviews, please leave a comment.

Here’s a great little animation exercise by Jamie Gallant showing a thought process through body language. Great work Jamie!