MINDSCREEN FILM INSTITUTE
#4, Kanniamman Koil Street,
Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004
Ph: +91 044 4210 8682 / Mobile: 9841612595
Fax: 044 2431 0655 (Please mark Kind attn Ranjeeth Kumar)
Web: www.mindscreen.co.in
E-mail: ranjeethkumar@mindscreen.co.in
MINDSCREEN FILM INSTITUTE TWO MONTHS ACTING FOUNDATION COURSE 2011: 17th January to 16th March 2011
Following the huge success of its Screenwriting and Cinematography courses, the Mind Screen Institute is now launching its first Acting Foundation Course.
This two month course is suited to students with a strong interest and some experience in the performing arts as well as returning students or professional practitioners who would like to refresh their learning and knowledge in a pressure-free environment.
The aim of the acting foundation course is to help performers to become confident and comfortable in the skills needed by an actor today in order to secure quality and regular acting work.
During the course students will begin to understand the nature and language of actor training and the effect will be to gain confidence, and lose any nervousness about acting and being an actor.
Along with modern training, we will also introduce the student in the traditional skills of classical language, with particular reference to the voice.
Course Content
Part 1
The programme will begin with four weeks of intensive training, during which students will attend daily technical classes in voice, movement, speech, acting and improvisation, as well as singing, dance and the martial arts.
Students can expect to gain an in-depth understanding of how to prepare the voice, body and mind for the demanding life of an actor.
Topics covered will include breathe and rhythm, diction, resonance, stage presence, core stability and awareness of the body in space.
A large part of the course will focus on the interpretation and delivery of both contemporary and classical texts and there will also be daily improvisation classes where students will be encouraged to liberate the body and mind to allow room for imagination.
Classical Texts
In the second week, students will have to chance to work with Shakespeare texts and will be encouraged to get up and speak his words naturally and simply in order to bring the writing to life. They will work on scenes, monologues and sonnets as well as movement and stage fighting.
Contemporary Texts
Students will be encouraged to bring their own experience to the classes in order to explore the world in which we live, as well as to imagine the lives of others.
During the afternoons, students will attend classes in dance, martial arts and singing and will learn a variety of styles in each of these disciplines.
Film
A full week of the course will be dedicated to classes in Acting for Film and Television.
Students will not only have the opportunity to work with professional cameras and crew; they will also have the benefit of attending a workshop with Mind Screen Institute’s founder, Film Director and Cinematographer, Mr Rajiv Menon.
Part 2
The second month of the programme will involve the casting and rehearsing of a piece of dramatic text and will culminate in a stage production, in which students will perform to invited members of film and theatre industry.
All students will take part in the production, rehearsing throughout the four weeks for a performance on the final day. They will learn the skills needed to create a character and a strong performance, in the same rehearsal process as they will experience in the professional world.
The Staff
The training is vocational and practical and will be taught by a team of extremely distinguished and respected theatre and film professionals, all of whom, as well as being experts in their fields, enjoy successful careers as actors and directors.
Course Benefits
The Mind Screen Institute feels that it is able to offer a unique course, which will be second to none.
Staffed by a team of broad-minded practitioners, all of whom benefit from a wide experience of both Western and Indian acting styles, this course will attempt to integrate the modern with the classical and bring together the cultures of both Indian and Western traditions.
Students will benefit hugely for the many resources that the Mind Screen Institute has to offer, including an operational film production company, which houses a private screening room.
Successful candidates will be offered a complementary Film Appreciation Option, where they will be given the opportunity to attend a variety of screenings made available at the Institute after school hours.
Launching the Career
As an added bonus, on completion of the course, each student will receive;
· 4 x headshots
· 4 x medium shots and
· A 3 minute show reel
FACULTY
K. C. MANAVENDRANATH.
A Mechanical Engineering from University of Madras,
Founder Director - Campus Theatre, Chennai, 1972.
Founder Member and Artistic Director -The Poor Theatre (Chennai), 1973.
Guest Lecturer - Movement, Voice and Choreography & Extension programmes, School of Drama, Thrissur.
University of Calicut 1982-84. Studied the techniques of the actor training process (Mei orroppu adavus) in Kathakali under Shri V. P. Dhananjayan (1975), the late Shri V.N.Krishnan Nambudiri (1982 -84) and Shri Kavungal Divakara Panicker (1985).
Founder Member - Ankanam Theatre Group, 1983.
Awarded a Junior Fellowship by the Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resources Development to study the training processes of martial arts and performing art forms of Kerala, 1984.
Awarded a Fellowship by The Ford Foundation to develop an integral approach to actor training inspired partly by the theatre teachings of Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Artaud, Grotowski and partly by Kerala’s rich variety of martial arts, ritual and performing practices, 1984.
Studied Kalarippayattu practice under the late Shri Maimunni Gurukkal.
(1984–89), its theoretical aspects under the late Shri Poomulli Neelakantan Nambudiripad
(1984–89) and advanced practice under Gurukkal Shri C. Shankaranarayana Menon (Vallabhatta Kalari) (1991–95). Research Director -Ankanam Theatre Group’s Actor Training Laboratory - on a Theatre Laboratory Grant from The Ford Foundation, 1992-1999.
Collaborated in the interaction between martial arts Kalarippayattu [Kerala] and Thang Ta [Manipur] as a Resource person and scripted for the University Grants Commission, three short T.V. features, on Kalarippayattu and Thang Ta on the national network [Doordarshan], 1993.
Director of ongoing project - ‘Process to performance: A project for the evolution of a living theatre’ under a Repertory/Salary grant from the Dept. of Culture, Govt. of India,
1999-. Senior Fellowship in Theatre from the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi (National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama), New Delhi, 2003- 05.
Director of a process to performance project “Counter Force I – recreating texts for the community” through a re-visitation of the text “Paattabaaki”– with emphasis on the importance of the word, semantics and language in the contemporary theatre, 2009. “Counter Force II – Notes for the Underground” through a production of “Tongues”– a revalidation of the importance of the word, semantics and language in the contemporary theatre,
2010. Interacted with Adishakthi (Mumbai, Pondicherry); Umbrella of Theatre Groups facilitated by Lokendra Arambham (Manipur); Khell [Goa]; The Dance Laboratory (Manipur); Koothu-p-pattarai [Chennai]; Natrang (Jammu & Kashmir), Theatre Living Laboratory [West Bengal]. Has performed in and directed over thirty five productions and has conducted workshops and Art in Education programmes in major cities, small towns and villages in India.
Kamlesh Futnani.
An Aerobic teacher passed the Reebok certification course, an interior designer by profession; Kamlesh has been teaching aerobics from 80’s, an instructor since 1983, has designed workouts and says exercise can't be fun. His techniques are a bunch of carefully chosen kickboxing moves, conventional aerobics and dance moves. This goes along with music, ranging from Techno to Sukhbir. You even get a bit of Cliff Richards thrown in, if his “Dancing Shoes” fit your rhythm and tempo. Kamlesh was trained by Stina Vasu, a pioneer of Aerobics in Chennai.
Kamlesh believes that exercise should make one feel good, lose weight, fight stress and his workout has been all along good music, simple moves and a combination of a good cardio workout with a balanced strengthening program hitting all the major muscle groups of both upper and lower body.
Palani Murugan
An actor, dancer and performer, he comes from a family of ancient Therukoothu performers, a traditional folk theatre background. He has served his repertory company Koothu-p-pattarai for several years, participated in performances of Arangam trust under the able guidance of danseuse Anita Ratnam and experience of working in Cinema with the animation company, Pentamedia.
Acted in all the Koothu-p-pattarai productions and worked with Ramanujam when he recreated the folk art "Kaisiga puraanam, in a production of Mid Summer Nights dream directed by Mr. Tim Supple.
In the year 1999 – 2002 received the junior fellowship award from the cultural ministry for the year 1999 – 2002 and Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar Award from Sangeet Nataka Academi (2009).
Hans Kaushik
Hans is sculptor who brings his gentle sensitivity to stage. He’s a versatile actor equal at ease in Tamil and Hindi as in English. He played the main lead in a national award winning film Oorukku Nooru Per. Having acted in more than forty productions and having done numerous leading roles, he is a classy actor who brings great refinement and economy to his comedy. Hans has also designed and created many a memorable set for our plays and is responsible for our flamboyant festival designs.
J. Jayakumar
A brilliant actor whose enormous training and work won him the Sanskriti award in 1998, his intense yet stylish performance had him essaying difficult characters like Mahatma Gandhi, the dashing hero of Ponniyin Selvan, Don Juan, Caligula and Richard III with panache.
KALAIRANI
Kalairani is an actress with great talent and a special gift for both comic and serious roles. She has exploited this with panache in live theatre performances with the avant-garde theatre group Koothu-p-pattarai. Her theatre performances have equivocally drawn praises from both fans and critics. Her forays into popular cinema have been equally successful. Kalairani's solo works, reflecting the artist's own concerns, have been performed extensively as well. Kalairani has done a number of workshops with children management professionals, educationalists, women's groups, political activists, folk artists, musicians and dancers.
