Guest Articles
Guest Article : Acting Workshop @ NYFA
By Arjun Kalyan
Oct 11, 2008 - 10:10:00 AM

Arjun Kalyan

A regular visitor of TeluguCinema.Com, Arjun Kalyan, has attended the Summer Workshop for Acting at the Harvard University Campus of the famous New York Film Academy (NYFA), where Aamir Khan's nephew Imran Khan ( Jaane Tu... fame) had been trained in the direction department (at NYFA's California campus). As the only Indian male actor in the workshop this year, Arjun Kalyan shares his learning experiences with other visitors of TeluguCinema.Com in order to reach out other aspirants like him, so as to give at least a "feel" of what he could learn, so that it may help them eventually in shaping their careers too! Also the unofficial winner of "Mr. ATA" at the recent American Telugu Association (ATA) convention in the USA, the acting résumé of Arjun Kalyan may be found here. ( Editor's Note: The previously published résumé is now updated with the hyperlink to the video from the author's ATA performance, which was sent by the author after publishing the original article.) Interested folks may also check out the various videos included in his résumé, some of which were even sent to popular Telugu filmmakers as a part of Arjun Kalyan's audition for their films.

Read on Arjun Kalyan's experiences in his own words...

August 10, 2008
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Today is the first day of my life after I have graduated from the Summer Workshop on Film Acting at the Harvard University, conducted by New York Film Academy (NYFA). The experience comes as a new breath, a new perspective, and a new zeal towards my life and goals. Now, I really feel that I have done something useful for myself in my life so far! I am almost done with my packing, to go back home, and called up a dear friend of mine to share my experiences, and it was his suggestion that prompted me to write this piece up – to enumerate my experiences, joy and struggle (inner and outer struggles) – while doing this course, so that it would help others in the same boat. So, here I am!

The Common Backdrop...
Where shall I start? Let me start from the common platform of all wannabes in showbiz: When I have told my family and friends that I plan to become an actor, they laughed at me! And, some still do! Many of our elders, and even peers, think of it as a foolish, risky, and indecent job. Actors (for that matter people in any profession related to films) don't garner any decent appraisal or respect until they become popular! Even then, people simply look at them as their being extremely lucky and don't think of it as a career path! In fact, people don't consider Acting, or any craft in the film industry, as a "Profession"! I don't want to dwell upon the reasons or the general attitude of people, but I know there shall come a point of realization for everyone...

...It's a risky path alright, but which career path is so easy anyway? It's the same story in the IT and Financial markets now. If you have the talent, guts, and the right approach, I believe you will be a winner in any field, including filmdom! One can't expect to be a Tom Cruise or Shah Rukh Khan all at once, but everyone can eventually find the very space that one would fit in! One should essentially know one's limitations and strengths – that's the key, really, if one doesn't want to end up hurting oneself. And, the most important thing is that one should have something to fall back on if one's efforts are fruitless or if one wants to finally give up – some alternative career that can feed at least oneself!

Having this in my mind, I did my Master of Science in Computer Science in United States. Since then, I have been working in a software firm near Boston, MA. And, the thought to join in the Academy was born out of a discussion with another upcoming actor. I was planning to apply for an audition, and he asked me if I had any experience or training. I applied for an audition anyway, but couldn't make it through for different reasons. (My audition video can be checked out here .) I was disappointed, sure, but I didn't lose my heart! At least, I have understood why the actor asked me if I had any training. This incident prompted me to look for film schools close to my place, to get the required training. And to my amazement, I have found something close to my place. Not just some school, it was no less than an opportunity to be a part of the Harvard University campus, as a participant of the workshop conducted by New York Film Academy (NYFA)! I had to take a break from my job to attend this workshop, using up all my vacation-leave at one go! But, it was worthy every bit!

My attitude and knowledge about Acting and the Art of Film-making have taken a serious turn after my workshop at Harvard. I realized that Acting is a science by itself with specific methodologies and techniques, and that appropriate training is necessary to get a sense of these tools. People here in the Academy are so committed and they know what it takes. ...I haven't been to any film (training) institutes in India and I thus don't know how students there are treated, but here at Harvard/NYFA, students are respected! And, this sense of respect gave me a lot of courage to start with! I wasn't hiding from anyone the fact that I was attending a film workshop. It may be because we were given cool t-shirts that read "Harvard/NYFA" or it's just the place itself! Not so surprisingly, my dad thought it is a waste of money and useless – he just didn't jump in his chair when I told him that I was attending NYFA at H-A-R-V-A-R-D! Well, I didn't lose my heart though, essentially because I reached to the "elastic fatigue zone" that I have stopped caring of what people/society think about me or about those who simply laugh at me! I am kind of used to it by then. A wise man told me the simple fact of an aspirant actor's life: " If you want to be an actor, you should get used to being humiliated all along!"

About NYFA
NYFA is an acclaimed institute that offers courses in various film-related departments – Acting, Screen-writing, Cinematography, Editing, Animation, Direction, and Production – for films, digital movies, TV shows, and music videos. The course was divided into two sections based on age groups – the high school kids (imagine!), and the adults. NYFA also offers degrees in Fine Arts, including the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) for 1 year and 2 years. The teaching staff comprises of accredited people with a lot of stage and/or film experience, who're still contributing to their fields of expertise in these domains! That's probably why people in Hollywood consider this Academy and its students pretty seriously. ...I have no idea about the way people look at the students of film (training) institutes in India, but I really hope it would be the same – those students with a penchant towards film industry deserve it very well! ... I have chosen Acting courses in the workshop, and thus I can talk at length about its relevant courses, and I can give some briefing about the Direction course too; I have little knowledge about other courses, but the Academy website < www.nyfa.com > has all the necessary details of courses offered.

I am in!
Well, I was in, but the first day was all messed up for me in the utter confusion and newness. We had three classes each day – from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. – with one break for lunch. I was making new friends and getting into the groove, though, as I soon realized that all the students that come here are ...just like me! This sense of belongingness gave me some courage. Each batch had a maximum of 16 students, and I was glad to be one of those! The students came from different places and from different walks of life, and different cultures too! Among all the American, British, French, Chinese, Brazilian, Spanish and Columbian students, I was the only Indian male actor in the whole film school at Harvard for this year's workshop, and also thus the only Telugu guy around! It felt different – I was overwhelmed with happiness that I made it while also feeling an engulfing sadness that many others like me could not have realized their dreams because of lack of support to this "career" from families and friends.

Arjun Kalyan

I do... (Class-1: Scene Study)
We started filming from the very first class on the very first day, with all the basic equipment such as camera, lights, boom phone, slate, and so on! It was basic stuff, alright, but we were already doing it! The Instructor would be our Director; they also had a professional Cinematographer to handle the camera for us. We were taught how to work with Boom Phone (microphone for on-spot dubbing) and Slate. When one student is acting, the other students are asked to handle the slate and boom phone and so on, helping each other all through.

First scene: This was on the first day too! Each one of us was supposed to enact the character of a pizza delivery guy, who should go knock the door of a haunted house and deliver pizza to a witch (our instructor/director) that lives in the spooky place! Simple, right? But, I messed it up! I knocked the door and went in casually – I didn't even know if I was supposed to look at the camera or at the person holding the boom microphone or the director! I have told my lines "Here is your cheese pizza, ma'am!" but I was supposed to look scared when entering the spooky house, which I missed! Should I have done something more? Could I ask for a tip? No idea! Since it was our first class, we were all in the same boat in this poor performance. When we were shown the film that was shot, it was funny and embarrassing! It was only after this initial trial that the instructor explained everything. The exercise was to let him assess each one of us with our "raw talent". Obviously, we sucked! He stressed on the importance of getting the sense of the character and the environment! We were also warned that we would not get any such details at a real movie audition either! It's for the artiste to figure out by oneself and stand out from others! Most importantly, our instructor stressed the need to have an empathy with the character, and to also improvise the scene with every rehearsal – ease up, even if you are uncomfortable with your co-artiste (who could be brighter or dumber than you are)!

This class was called " Scene Study" – and we were given scenes to act accordingly. Once the classes went on, we used to have scenes with two actors – working on the chemistry between actors. They also gave us a dummy movie-gun as part of a scene! All our performances are shot by the actual equipment and analyzed later in an in-class discussion that involved the instructor/director. By each day, the scenes were getting tougher, and the instructor explained us the scenario and environment, the character's current situation, and other relevant details. Actors used to perform with a healthy competitive spirit – helping each other in their performances. We used to learn the lines, rehearse, took takes, and shot each scene in three angles with all the equipment . In other words, we enacted each scene at least six times! ...I always wondered how artistes could enact through the same scene over and over, carrying the needed emotion and natural expression, without showing any irritation in their expression or body language! This class helped me go through the experience first-hand, and gave me some patience to deal with myself!

I talk... (Class-2: Monologues & Cold Reading)
The next class is all about actors' lines (dialogues/monologues), voice modulation, dubbing, and voice-over, and how an actor enacts them when the camera is rolling. On the first day, we were given one page full of lines by a single character and were asked to read the lines aloud one by one. Later, the scene and the character were explained, and we were asked to read it again! It was more like a voice-over thing or like a dubbing scene, as we punctuate our lines with the right emotions as we read through. In the next days, we were asked to act with those dialogues, but it wasn't being shot yet. Following one's performance, the director discussed one's mistakes and analyzed aspects of speech: where to pause and how, where to stress and where not, levels of tone, attitude and body of language of the character at various points in the dialogue - keeping in mind the scene and using the depicted environment and so on. All performances and analyses went in front of the whole class, so that we knew one another's characters, learn from one another's mistakes, and help each other. The idea behind this exercise to help each other to make a good movie together!

Soon, we could learn to memorize the whole page of our lines, enact the scene with varied emotions – happiness, angry, depressed, drunk, cold... whatever fits the role. Once we were comfortable with the character, we created a small set or atmosphere that suited our scene, and we were made to act there so that we get used to the set atmosphere. The atmosphere was complete with all the equipment – only the camera wasn't rolling yet but brings in the sense of set atmosphere. " Monologues and Cold Reading" was the name of the class, and like the name suggests, this class was more individualistic than the previous one, as I am the only actor in the frame to speak the lines – and one won't have the advantage of co-actors in the scene (to wait for others dialogues) as in the previous class. We shot two such scenes, each three takes, by the completion of course. ( Editor's Note: One of the scenes can be seen here . This is a later update to the originally published article.)

I emote... (Class-3: Body Language & Acting Techniques)
The last class is about basic body language, and techniques to control the same. These techniques helped one in making one's body get-into the mood of various emotions – angry, depressed, happy, apathy, confident, and so on. The techniques were like shifting gears to control one's body language. Also a part of training was mental relaxation methods that would help us bear the extreme stress one could face in the filmmaking. We performed various exercises and control our emotions as per our wish! Those techniques were amazing. This class was called " Body Language and Acting Techniques".

Boy, was it fun!
As the workshop advanced further, we were made to play some cool games based on acting. A game called "Improv", is like the game "Freeze & Unfreeze": Two actors would do a random scene without any lines, just based on one's spontaneity! Anyone of us could call it "Freeze", replace one of the actors and change the scene completely! The other actor should respond to it too. This has got to be the coolest and the most fun-filled game that I had ever played – and we played it for a couple of hours together! Another game that honed our spontaneity was similar to TV channels: Actors represent various TV channels such as News, MTV, Sports, Movies, and so on, and another actor has the "remote control" to these "channels". The student with the remote can change the channel, increase the volume, mute the volume, and so on, like a real remote control, to which the actors respond according to those "instructions"! It's fun, sure! In another game, one or two actors host a party at their home, and the rest of us are given various characters of celebrities through chits – and the hosts should identify us! The hosts wouldn't know what were in the chits. ...All these games were apparently designed to enhance one's spontaneity leaps and bounds, and give us a fair knowledge of body language and control. We used to play these games more and more, even in lunch breaks and when we didn't have any class! It was fun, after all, and I got to play various characters through these games – Justin Timberlake, Mahatma Gandhi, George Bush, Mike Myers, a Martian robot, A Scottish bagpiper, a Quiz show host ala SRK, a VJ in MTV, a cry-baby, ...lots, indeed! Try these games yourself, and I bet you would have the best fun ever!

A Sense of "Direction"
On weekends, we were combined with students that enrolled in the Direction course, to act in their short-films, which were their weekend assignments (they have classes in weekdays like us). Their film projects were broke down into 3 parts – Pre-production (story, screenplay, story-board, music, and location scouting), Filming, and Post-production (editing and other changes). Their classes involved teaching all those concepts – camera angles, storyboarding, how to work with actors, budget expectations, and so on. They were provided with world-class cameras (16mm, 32mm and High-Definition) and equipment. As a student who acted in their direction, I could get a sense of what their courses were like.

These students were split into batches of 3-4 people each, so that they can form the crew of their own team. One of them directs, one handles the camera, one has the boom microphone, and the other has the lights and slate, and so on, depending on the number of crew. Each job was rotated among themselves in each of their projects. They sometimes chose us (actors), or we sometimes chose them, for their projects. After they are done shooting, they also edit it with the equipment available at the Academy. NYFA provides great technology to edit films – check their website – and the students in Direction course should get used to various editing software available. Initially they were asked to shoot silent films, with or without background score, and with a maximum duration of five minutes each. These silent films are real test to them, as they have to rely completely on the visuals without any dialogues. We don't get much scope to act in this short duration, but it was fun, alright! We used to have brainstorming sessions among ourselves and directors, discussing how to do a particular role/scene, etc. Even in leisure times in our dormitories/hostel – we used to share a lot of knowledge. That helped us a lot, mutually. If you ever go to these institutes, stay in their on-campus dormitories if possible. That's a lot of fun and knowledge right there! Once we even shot a party-night in our dorms in a weekend as a weekend assignment! All these videos were uploaded in YouTube. Check them out!

The Grand Finale
The actors' final project would be the Monologues, shot in the last days of the workshop. The directors' final project would be their films, of course. All our final projects were screened in our Graduation Ceremony! There was some real talent in the hall. The way they made their movies and acted – it was so wonderful! Wow, it was quite a memorable event altogether! We get diplomas from NYFA – of course, with the "Harvard University" name as the campus where we had completed the workshop – one proud moment, definitely, for someone who want to connect with their dreams!

Lastly...
To all my fellow aspiring-actors and directors, and to myself: It's important that we should try figuring out our own limitations and scope, plan our careers, chalk out our alternative options and lastly try convincing our family! May be we can't become lead actors – we could be great comedians or supporting character artistes, or psychopath villains, or something else. Having the right attitude and flexibility would avoid hurting oneself from high expectations. Training at established film institutes gives us a definite push, confidence, and courage – tools required to go forth in our career paths. I learnt a lot, really – things like how to face the camera, how to enact, how to control the body language and other stuff effectively, and so on – things I thought were all simple and easy before I attended the workshop! The experience and training is definitely some real experience that one can showcase to people! But as they say, these crafts can't be mastered in a specific time! All the great directors and actors still figure out something new and surprise themselves. It's a never ending craft, literally, and a wonderful one nevertheless! The best thing about films, for me, is that one can tell thousands of stories and live of thousands of lives, all in one lifetime! That's what drives me, always!

I hope my efforts to share some of my knowledge from the workshop can let people look at things differently, realize the importance of experience and start respecting arts and artistes. Instead of helplessly going around studios and directors with our portfolios, it's better to join any good institute, or even assist a director, and attend auditions with the newly gained experience. That sounds like a plan, to me at least!

And, please wish me the best luck in my efforts to be a successful actor – I promise to bring the deserved respect to this profession. And, I wish you all the very best in your own career paths. I hope we all can meet as colleagues at some point of time, in the film industry!

Love,
Arjun Kalyan

( Edited by: NaChaKi)