When the world is experiencing intensity, or when there is intensity in our environment, we all have our different ways of dealing with it. For me personally, even though I’m a teacher and I spend a lot of my time standing in front of other people expressing myself, in my core I’m actually much more of an introvert and I’ve been so since I was a child. It’s been both an asset and a challenge in my life...
So when intensity hits, instead of hopping forward and immediately making my voice known, I tend to take a couple of steps back so that I can observe, take everything in, listen, be present, and process. I refer to this in my life as going "into the cave". So if ever this is a period of time on social media or on this particular platform where there seems to be an extended period of quiet, like Where’s Christinna? especially if intensity has hit our world, I’m more than likely in the cave. So I say this to you so that if you relate to what I’m saying, if at times you feel overwhelmed and find yourself “in the cave” processing, just know you’re not alone. I’m right there with you. 💕
Now, let’s talk about what’s happening in our industry. We are experiencing a dramatic shift, and it’s taking place right before our very eyes and there are a lot of question marks up in the air as to what production is going to look like in the coming days. But one thing that I think you and I can agree upon at this point in time is that self-taping is going to be the primary method for auditioning in the days to come and possibly indefinitely. As well as virtual callbacks. I highly encourage you, if you have not already set up a self-taping area in your home, I highly encourage you to get on that. And if you have not yet viewed my video “Self-Taping: 5 Key Areas…” I highly encourage you to watch that as well.
I have a lot of thoughts regarding this new paradigm in production that’s coming our way, and I’ll be bringing these thoughts to you on our Youtube channel in the near future. But for today, here’s what I want to get into…
During my days studying with the incredible Larry Moss, whom I will forever consider my master teacher and mentor and who also wrote an incredible book on acting called “The Intent to Live” (if you have not yet read it, now’s a good time). We were encouraged in class to keep what we’d refer to as “The Little Book of Triggers.” What is the Little Book of Triggers?
When intensity hits in your life, and you find yourself going from one emotion quickly to another, you have been triggered. So as an actor you want to be responsible to that emotion that has been ignited in you and write it down. So the Little Book of Triggers is simply a book that you keep on hand, maybe something you can fit inside your purse or your bag or the glove compartment of your car, and when life hits, and you experience that rush of emotion, grab that book and while you’re experiencing this emotion, the actor in you needs to start making notes about it. Pay attention to the temperature that’s around you, write it down. Pay attention to what the day looks like, the weather. Is it sunny out? Is it overcast? Get immediately present to your environment and write it down. Get specific. What specifically affected you? Write down the image, write down the words that were spoken, write down the sensation, the heat, where did the heat rise up in your body? Was it on the back of the neck, was it in the chest, was it flush in the face? Get specific. And the same applies to when you’re having an incredibly high (positive) emotion. For example, you’re out for a walk and something crosses your environment and it’s profoundly inspiring to you and you find yourself in that moment feeling elated. Write it down. Write down what you were looking at, who was there, etc. Get specific.
What you are doing here is you’re building a reference point of emotional sense memory so that when you take on a project and you have a character that is going through a parallel emotion, you’ll have a reference point in your Little Book of Triggers that you can go to and put yourself in that same emotional sense memory recall, and that can help bring back up those emotions when you need them for the audition or on set.
Often times in class when I would have an actor upfront and they’re working on an especially challenging scene, emotionally, it’s not uncommon to hear, “Christinna, I’m stuck. I’m not feeling it, I can’t go there." We all go there at some point in our life, it just can be a lot more difficult to go there when the pressure’s on in the audition or in class when you’re aware that you’re supposed to be having this emotion. In life, we just experience it. In life, intensity happens and it provokes a reaction and we’re there. Again, we all process and experience intensity and input differently, and it’s really important that you as an actor know your instrument better than anyone, because it is your instrument.
I know, to those who aren’t actors it may sound crazy, it may sound nuts that in the middle of having an emotional breakdown you reach over and you grab a little book and start making notes, but that’s what we do! That’s what we do as actors, that is our calling, because our job is to communicate the human condition thru truth, and thru story. It’s our responsibility to be truthful in communicating story.
There is an opportunity right now at hand, with so much that’s going on in the world, so many emotions are heightened, so much intensity is in the air and it’s our responsibility to be surveyors of the human condition. As actors we should be more invested in the human condition than anyone on the planet because it’s our job to climb into the skin of another character and bring that character to life. So we take it upon ourselves to go to that deeper level, to really go deep. The question is…just how deep are you willing to go?
In 2010, Meryl Streep gave a commencement speech and in it she said, “Empathy is at the heart of the actor’s art.” In other words, empathy is the actor’s greatest gift. It’s what allows us to climb into the skin of another person, even if that person is very different than ourself. Because our job as actors is never to judge the characters that we play, our job as actors is to justify the characters that we play. You guys! This is The Golden Rule! To Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You (Luke 6:31), by taking a moment to stand in the shoes of another human being.
For 17 years, this has been one of the most important guiding principles of what we do, and aside from the fact that we have incredible human beings who choose to study here, I really believe that because we practice The Golden Rule within these walls, our students are loving and supportive of one another in an industry that is known for its competitiveness. I’ve said it before many times in class, and I’ll say it again here now on this channel in this video and that is I really believe that if the world simply practiced The Golden Rule more, the world would be a much more loving and peaceful place. 💗
“When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, the world will know Peace.” – Jimi Hendrix 🌷
Now, let’s talk about what’s happening in our industry. We are experiencing a dramatic shift, and it’s taking place right before our very eyes and there are a lot of question marks up in the air as to what production is going to look like in the coming days. But one thing that I think you and I can agree upon at this point in time is that self-taping is going to be the primary method for auditioning in the days to come and possibly indefinitely. As well as virtual callbacks. I highly encourage you, if you have not already set up a self-taping area in your home, I highly encourage you to get on that. And if you have not yet viewed my video “Self-Taping: 5 Key Areas…” I highly encourage you to watch that as well.
I have a lot of thoughts regarding this new paradigm in production that’s coming our way, and I’ll be bringing these thoughts to you on our Youtube channel in the near future. But for today, here’s what I want to get into…
During my days studying with the incredible Larry Moss, whom I will forever consider my master teacher and mentor and who also wrote an incredible book on acting called “The Intent to Live” (if you have not yet read it, now’s a good time). We were encouraged in class to keep what we’d refer to as “The Little Book of Triggers.” What is the Little Book of Triggers?
When intensity hits in your life, and you find yourself going from one emotion quickly to another, you have been triggered. So as an actor you want to be responsible to that emotion that has been ignited in you and write it down. So the Little Book of Triggers is simply a book that you keep on hand, maybe something you can fit inside your purse or your bag or the glove compartment of your car, and when life hits, and you experience that rush of emotion, grab that book and while you’re experiencing this emotion, the actor in you needs to start making notes about it. Pay attention to the temperature that’s around you, write it down. Pay attention to what the day looks like, the weather. Is it sunny out? Is it overcast? Get immediately present to your environment and write it down. Get specific. What specifically affected you? Write down the image, write down the words that were spoken, write down the sensation, the heat, where did the heat rise up in your body? Was it on the back of the neck, was it in the chest, was it flush in the face? Get specific. And the same applies to when you’re having an incredibly high (positive) emotion. For example, you’re out for a walk and something crosses your environment and it’s profoundly inspiring to you and you find yourself in that moment feeling elated. Write it down. Write down what you were looking at, who was there, etc. Get specific.
What you are doing here is you’re building a reference point of emotional sense memory so that when you take on a project and you have a character that is going through a parallel emotion, you’ll have a reference point in your Little Book of Triggers that you can go to and put yourself in that same emotional sense memory recall, and that can help bring back up those emotions when you need them for the audition or on set.
Often times in class when I would have an actor upfront and they’re working on an especially challenging scene, emotionally, it’s not uncommon to hear, “Christinna, I’m stuck. I’m not feeling it, I can’t go there." We all go there at some point in our life, it just can be a lot more difficult to go there when the pressure’s on in the audition or in class when you’re aware that you’re supposed to be having this emotion. In life, we just experience it. In life, intensity happens and it provokes a reaction and we’re there. Again, we all process and experience intensity and input differently, and it’s really important that you as an actor know your instrument better than anyone, because it is your instrument.
I know, to those who aren’t actors it may sound crazy, it may sound nuts that in the middle of having an emotional breakdown you reach over and you grab a little book and start making notes, but that’s what we do! That’s what we do as actors, that is our calling, because our job is to communicate the human condition thru truth, and thru story. It’s our responsibility to be truthful in communicating story.
There is an opportunity right now at hand, with so much that’s going on in the world, so many emotions are heightened, so much intensity is in the air and it’s our responsibility to be surveyors of the human condition. As actors we should be more invested in the human condition than anyone on the planet because it’s our job to climb into the skin of another character and bring that character to life. So we take it upon ourselves to go to that deeper level, to really go deep. The question is…just how deep are you willing to go?
In 2010, Meryl Streep gave a commencement speech and in it she said, “Empathy is at the heart of the actor’s art.” In other words, empathy is the actor’s greatest gift. It’s what allows us to climb into the skin of another person, even if that person is very different than ourself. Because our job as actors is never to judge the characters that we play, our job as actors is to justify the characters that we play. You guys! This is The Golden Rule! To Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You (Luke 6:31), by taking a moment to stand in the shoes of another human being.
For 17 years, this has been one of the most important guiding principles of what we do, and aside from the fact that we have incredible human beings who choose to study here, I really believe that because we practice The Golden Rule within these walls, our students are loving and supportive of one another in an industry that is known for its competitiveness. I’ve said it before many times in class, and I’ll say it again here now on this channel in this video and that is I really believe that if the world simply practiced The Golden Rule more, the world would be a much more loving and peaceful place. 💗
“When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, the world will know Peace.” – Jimi Hendrix 🌷