The Timothy Dalton Chat Group Presents
The Actor's Daily Warm Up Page
The Timothy Dalton Chat Group Presents
The Actor's Daily Warm Up Page
Introduction
About The Actorsite Daily Warm Up Excercises.
Below is four Daily Warm Exercises for actors to do, they all begin the same, but...they do not end up that way. The following have been put together by Jack at the Actorsite, for you to practice with, and I have linked his site to the end of this page, as he has so much information there to help you all, plus some excellent forums for actors to post to, and support each other with. Here then are the Actor's Daily Warm Up Exercises:-. Actorsite Daily Warm Up - Number 1 Stand Straight up with your hands by your side. Breathe naturally and deeply. Take your hands, put them in front of you face down and grip them tightly, hold for 5 seconds. Now relax. Now do it again for 7 seconds, RELAX, now do it again for 10 seconds, RELAX, now do again QUICKLY 20 times for ONE
second or until your hands and arms burn. Shake them out to relax. Drop your hands to your side and shake them like rags. Breathe slowly in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, now exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds. Repeat. Do it again and GASP your breathe in for ONE second, filling your lungs to the bottom FAST. Now hold ro 7 seconds and exhale slowly for 8 seconds. Repeat. Stretch your mouth open wide with a big yawn, repeat. Make a fluttering noise with your lips. Like a motorboat. Now do the same and hum while you do it. Start with a low pitch and go higher. Now oscillate the tone while you flap your lips. Try to sound like a siren. Now make a fluttering noise with your tongue. 8 seconds. Now hum while making the fluttering noise with your tongue. Now say slowly: The Lips, The Tongue, Warm ups are fun! Now say slowly with meaning, as if you had been asked a question. "The tea deal filed today failed the test." Now say it faster. Now turn it into a question. "Did the tea deal filed today fail the test?" Then answer, "Yes, the tea deal filed today failed the test." Here's a dialogue to PLAY BOTH CHARACTERS. Give each a unique voice and have them physically move. You can practice this by setting two chairs side by side and moving from one to another as you have the conversation. A. Hi, did Peter put his pet python away? DO THIS 5 TIMES and be sure that each speaks with a distinct voice! Emotional Exercise: Take a friend or classmate or coworker, or anyone you are close to who is having incredible success for whatever reason. Try to capture how they feel and feel it yourself. Take on the mantle of their success and create this positive attitude. Now take a scene that you have already worked on and take that attitude and bring it to your character. It's to make a change...and create empathy. How you are able to use your imagination to share others emotions will help you establish your characters in you scenes. Cold Reading: Cold reading is a skill that has to be practiced EVERY DAY. Look down and get a phrase, look up and say the phrase and make it sound natural and effortless and totally in character. You will find it comes easier with practice. Do this 5 times with this monologue... I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches forever, like an ocean of time....for me, it was lying on my
back at Boy Scout Camp, watching falling stars...and yellow leaves, from
the maple trees that lined my street...Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... and the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird. And Janie...and Janie. And... Carolyn. I guess I could be really pissed off about what happened to me...but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... and then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain. And I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm
talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry...You will someday. From American Beauty. Actorsite Daily Warm Up - Number 2 Use your facial movements strictly to loosen your instrument. Stand Straight up with your hands by your side. Breathe naturally and deeply. Take your hands, put them in front of you face down and grip them tightly, hold for 5 seconds. Now relax. Now do it again for 7 seconds, RELAX, now do it again for 10 seconds, RELAX, now do again QUICKLY 20 times for ONE second or until your hands and arms burn. Shake them out to relax. Drop your hands to your side and shake them like rags. Breathe slowly in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, now exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds. Repeat. Do it again and GASP your breathe in for ONE second, filling your lungs to the bottom FAST. Now hold for 7 seconds and exhale slowly for 8 seconds. Repeat. Stretch your mouth open wide with a big yawn, repeat. Make a fluttering noise with your lips. Like a motorboat. Now do the same and hum while you do it. Start with a low pitch and go higher. Now oscillate the tone while you flap your lips. Try to sound like a siren. Now make a fluttering noise with your tongue. 8 seconds. Now hum while making the fluttering noise with your tongue. Now say slowly: The Lips, The Tongue, Warm ups are fun! Now say slowly, with meaning, as if you are saying a line in a play: Toyboat. Repeat. TOYBOAT. REPEAT as if you are trying to warn someone about it. TOYBOAT TOYBOAT TOYBOAT. YELL IT AS FAST AND LOUD AS YOU CAN. Now whisper it quickly three times. Now say slowly, with meaning. Peanut Butter Gutter. Now say it loudly as if you are making a statement. Now whisper it as if it was a secret. Now say it three times FAST.
B. No, Peter did not put his pet python away.
A. You know I'm afraid of snakes.
B. Yes, but Peter puts his python wherever he wants.
A. Paula, Peter's personality is perfectly pathetic.
B. Perfectly pathetic? That doesn't make sense.
A. This conversation makes no sense.
B. Quit it!
A. Quit what?
B. Quit changing the subject.
A. Sorry.
Repeat.
Remember to work on voice exercises they have be as if you are speaking naturally. DO NOT DO EXERCISES FAST WITHOUT MEANING. Do them precisely and you will warm up QUICKLY.
EMOTIONAL EXERCISE: Practice empathizing with those close to you.
Think of one of your family members and of a situation that they have recently been through. How do they feel? How do you feel about their actions? Try to see their side of it. Try to see others sides of it. Now imagine that you are your family member and imagine how they felt during this episode. Take a simple conversation and practice it as the family member.
A. Hello!
B. Hi!
A. What did you do last night?
B. Nothing.
A. What time is is?
B. I don't have a watch.
A. I have to go.
B. Do you really have to?
A. I better not stay.
B. OK. Bye Bye.
COLD READING: Cold reading is a skill that has to be practiced EVERY DAY. Look down and get a phrase, look up and say the phrase and make it sound natural and effortless and totally in character. You will find it comes easier with practice.
I hate the way you talk to me. And the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare I hate your big dumb combat boots. And the way you read my mind. I hate you so much it makes me sick - it even makes me rhyme. I hate the way you're always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh - even worse when you make me cry. I hate it that you're not around. And the fact that you didn't call. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you - not even close, not even a little bit, not any at all. What movie is this FROM? Find it and enjoy the film... (HINT: It's adapted from a Shakespeare play, and it has to do with "things I hate about you.")
Actorsite Daily Warm Up - Number 3
Stand Straight up with your hands by your side. Breathe naturally and deeply. Take your hands, put them in front of you face down and grip them tightly, hold for 5 seconds. Now relax.
Now do it again for 7 seconds, RELAX, now do it again for 10 seconds, RELAX, now do again QUICKLY 20 times for ONE second or until your hands and arms burn.
Shake them out to relax. Drop your hands to your side and shake them like rags.
Breathe slowly in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, now exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds.
Repeat.
Do it again and GASP your breathe in for ONE second, filling your lungs to the bottom FAST. Now hold for 7 seconds and exhale slowly for 8 seconds.
Repeat.
Stretch your mouth open wide with a big yawn, repeat.
Make a fluttering noise with your lips. Like a motorboat. Now do the same and hum while you do it. Start with a low pitch and go higher. Now oscillate the tone while you flap your lips. Try to sound like a siren.
Now make a fluttering noise with your tongue. 8 seconds. Now hum while making the fluttering noise with your tongue.
Now say slowly: The Lips, The Tongue, Warm ups are fun!
Now say slowly, with meaning, as if you are saying a line in a play: Toyboat. Repeat. TOYBOAT. REPEAT as if you are trying to warn someone about it. TOYBOAT TOYBOAT TOYBOAT. YELL IT AS FAST AND LOUD AS YOU CAN. Now whisper it quickly three times.
Now say slowly, with meaning. Peanut Butter Gutter. Now say it loudly as if you are making a statement. Now whisper it as if it was a secret. Now say it three times FAST.
Imagine someone asks you what is in the cupboard? Here is your answer: A BOX OF BISCUITS, A BOX OF MIXED BISCUITS AND A BOX OF BISCUIT MIX. They say what? Repeat.
Remember to work on voice exercises they have be as if you are speaking naturally. DO NOT DO EXERCISES FAST WITHOUT MEANING. Do them precisely and you will warm up QUICKLY.
EMOTIONAL EXERCISE: Practice empathizing with those close to you.
Think of one of your family members and of a situation that they have recently been through. How do they feel? How do you feel about their actions? Try to see their side of it. Try to see others sides of it. Now imagine that you are your family member and imagine how they felt during this episode. Take a simple conversation and practice it as the family member.
A. Hello!
B. Hi!
A. What did you do last night?
B. Nothing.
A. What time is is?
B. I don't have a watch.
A. I have to go.
B. Do you really have to?
A. I better not stay.
B. OK. Bye Bye.
COLD READING: Cold reading is a skill that has to be practiced EVERY DAY. Look down and get a phrase, look up and say the phrase and make it sound natural and effortless and totally in character. You will find it comes easier with practice.
Imagine you are this character who has just learned that they have half-brothers and sisters out in the old west:
"Neva and G. T. and I were glad enough not to rush right off from the fort. We liked watching the soldiers drill, and the Indians and trappers mill around. But the best part of our stay was getting to know Pa's indian family, which was just about a perfect match for his Missouri Family---That is, us.
Marci got to play with her toddling half sister, Meadow Mouse, and Neva got to learn to scrape hides with her half sister Lark Sings, and Ma visited with Pa's Sioux wife, who was called Stones In The Water. There was no language they both could talk in, but they seemed to enjoy just observing one another's children and looking at one another's things."
This is from LARRY MCMURTRY: Boone's Lick.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
Find a kid's book and read it out loud, acting out all of the characters. Remember to RELAX your face and just be you and real and natural and be the characters in the book.
Actorsite Daily Warm Up - Number 4
Remember to do ALL warm ups with a relaxed face. DO NOT TRY TO ACT WITH YOUR FACE WHEN DOING THESE WARM-UPS.
Use your facial movements strictly to loosen your instrument.
Stand Straight up with your hands by your side. Breathe naturally and deeply. Take your hands, put them in front of you face down and grip them tightly, hold for 5 seconds. Now relax. Now do it again for 7 seconds, RELAX, now do it again for 10 seconds, RELAX, now do again QUICKLY 20 times for ONE second or until your hands and arms burn.
Shake them out to relax. Drop your hands to your side and shake them like rags.
Breathe slowly in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, now exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds.
Repeat.
Do it again and GASP your breathe in for ONE second, filling your lungs to the bottom FAST. Now hold for 7 seconds and exhale slowly for 8 seconds.
Repeat.
Stretch your mouth open wide with a big yawn, repeat.
Make a fluttering noise with your lips. Like a motorboat. Now do the same and hum while you do it. Start with a low pitch and go higher. Now oscillate the tone while you flap your lips. Try to sound like a siren.
Now make a fluttering noise with your tongue. 8 seconds. Now hum while making the fluttering noise with your tongue.
Now say slowly: The Lips, The Tongue, Warm ups are fun!
Now say slowly with meaning, as if you had been asked a question.
"The tea deal filed today failed the test."
Now say it faster. Now turn it into a question. "Did the tea deal filed today fail the test?" Then answer, "Yes, the tea deal filed today failed the test."
Here's a dialogue to PLAY BOTH CHARACTERS. Give each a unique voice and have them physically move. You can practice this by setting two chairs side by side and moving from one to another as you have the conversation.
A. Hi, did Peter put his pet python away?
B. No, Peter did not put his pet python away.
A. You know I'm afraid of snakes.
B. Yes, but Peter puts his python wherever he wants.
A. Paula, Peter's personality is perfectly pathetic.
B. Perfectly pathetic? That doesn't make sense.
A. This conversation makes no sense.
B. Quit it!
A. Quit what?
B. Quit changing the subject.
A. Sorry.
DO THIS 5 TIMES and be sure that each speaks with a distinct voice!
Emotional Exercise:
Take a friend or classmate or coworker, or anyone you are close to who is having incredible success for whatever reason. Try to capture how they feel and feel it yourself. Take on the mantle of their success and create this positive attitude.
Now take a scene that you have already worked on and take that attitude and bring it to your character. It's to make a change...and create empathy. How you are able to use your imagination to share others emotions will help you establish your characters in you scenes.
Cold Reading: Cold reading is a skill that has to be practiced EVERY DAY. Look down and get a phrase, look up and say the phrase and make it sound natural and effortless and totally in character.
You will find it comes easier with practice. Do this 5 times with this monologue...
Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist,I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving... on the road at night... I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The... flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.
Plus Another one:
All my life I've lived and worked in the big city, which now that I think of it, is a problem since I always feel uncomfortable around crowds. I mean it I have this fear of enclosed spaces, everything makes me feel trapped all the time. You know I always tell my self there's got to be something better out there, but maybe I think to much. I think everything must go back to the fact that I had a very anxious childhood, you know my mother never had time for me. You know when your a middle child in a family of five million, you don't get any attention, I mean how's it possible. And I've always had these abandonment issues, which played me, My father was basically a drone like I've said, you know the guy flew away when I was just a larva... and my job, don't get me started on, cause it really annoys me, I was not cut out to be a worker, I'll tell you right now, I feel physically inadequate, I, I, my whole life I've never been able to lift ten times my own body weight and when you get down to it, handling dirt is..... aaaiiiheeww, you know is not my idea of a rewarding career. It's this whole gung-ho super-organism thing that I, I you know I can't get, I try but I can't get it. I mean you know, what is it, I'm supposed to do everything for the colony, and what about my needs, what about me? I mean I gotta believe there's some place out there that's better than this! Otherwise I'd just curl up in a larva position and weep! The whole system out there just makes me feel...Insignificant!
All the best,
Jack
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