Potential health issues as an actor
There is physical and mental side of the story.
Physical , quite obvious one is getting injured on set, having a fall or cut. Many models and actors develop eating disorders, due to wanting to or having to look a certain way for a role. Sometimes actors are advised to lose weight or put muscle on for a role and these usually need to happen quickly. There is also abuse and sexual abuse that can come from the director or crew on set and also from people in real life or online. Bullying online and in comments under famous peoples posts and pictures are very common and it can be very damaging for new starters. Even some of the fans become bullies when overstepping lines and start harassing or following their favourite actors, not just in social media, but in real life. Some of them go as far as finding out where the actor live or where they like shopping. We all heard of famous people being killed, one of the most famous ones are Tupac Shakar, shot to death or Amy Winehouse dying from drug abuse. Justin Bieber came out with his new single "Yummy" in 2020 singing and showing us in poetic images how he has been abused from childhood because everyone thought he was a pretty boy. John F. Kennedy who fatally shot .
Princess Diana, had a fatal car crash in Paris, while being chased by reporters . There are many conspiracies that the Royal family had her murdered. Dorothy Stratten, model and actress was murdered by her husband. Her body was later found raped and beaten and she had a gunshot wound on her face.
Gianni Versace
Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was murdered by serial killer Andrew Cunnanan on July 15, 1997.
Is being an actor stressful?
Any physical injury or abuse will of course come with mental health problems too. It isn't easy not to lose hope when we are working in an industry where we are being judged on our look, weight, accent, skin colour whether or not we would fit the role. We might even hear a 100 NOs before we get our first YES. The YES that would be our breakthrough but many give up trying before it could happen. So how can we ease our mind and be kind to ourselves>
What can we do for ourselves?
Looking after mental health
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Eat well and drink enough water.
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Get enough sleep.
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Keep in touch with friends and family
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Enjoy your hobbies
Keeping safe at auditions
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Don't overwork and overbook yourself
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Learn to accept rejection
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Don't take personal comments on the heart
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Do not pay for auditions, beware of scams
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Check if an agency or company is legit for example Google reviews, Yell.com
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Check out the building / locations before you enter (Does the building exist at all?)
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Check that agencies have reasonable commission rates and avoid ones with large sign-up fees promising quick and fast work
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Always read contracts
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Trust your gut - good people , bad people
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Be careful with foreign jobs being offered to you , asking you to travel to a different country, or prepay your accommodation to them
On the job
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Listen to safety instructions
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Don't get involved in activates you aren't comfortable in / trained on, for example stage combat
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Make sure they provide you time to drink and eat and have regular breaks
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Check how long your days are predicted to be and whether you are prepared to be on set for that long
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Do not let them pressure you into scenes and activates that make you feel uncomfortable or go againts your morals and faith
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Ask for an intimacy coordinator at intimate scenes
Feedbacks -
You deserve to be treated with respect by all actors and crew
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Do not read or take on heart negative and nasty comments, only the ones that are written with constructive criticism
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Ignore comments made on your body or looks and focus on delivering your lines to the best of your possibility
Legistations for keeping actors safe
What is the code of conduct for actors?
Display control, respect and professionalism in all activities; Be courteous in dealings with others; Control their temper; Refrain from any violent behaviour
The #MeToo movement was first used on social media in 2006 by sexual assault survivor and activist Tarana Burke. The trend started in 2017 and it has led to increased awareness of sexual harassment and assault, mainly women talking about their sufferings at work from males but it encouraged every survivor to speak out and it became so large and so important that the movement achieved change in workplace policies , it increased legal standards and positively changed people's attitude towards each other offline and online. By just one person breaking the silence, it encouraged others to share their stories and to name and shame their abusers, many famous and rich men have been held accountable for their actions. Anti-harassment policies were brought in, clearly defining what abuse is and what consequences they come with. In England, there are charities and non-profit organisations who help women get the justice they deserve. One of them is the Survivor Trust or SARSAS . There is also a national 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line (0808 500 2222).
There is also a Sex Offenders Database available online. There is also an App, where you can track your friends and family members to make sure they are safe, called Hollie Guard. The app holds the memory of the 20-year-old Hollie Gazzard, who was stabbed to death by her jealous ex-boyfriend. It happened in 2014 at her workplace in Gloucestershire. The app also offers quick emergency call by simply shaking your phone. This will share your location with your emergency contacts. There is also a "meeting" feature on there where you can set a timeslot for your meeting and when it is done, unless you mark yourself as safe or request extra time, it will contact your close friends or family to check on you. The "man down" feature detects if you had a sudden fall or stopped moving for a long time. It also helps with keeping logs of abuse and incidents happened to you lets you quickly add notes and pictures.
Have a plan B and keep your interest broad
One of the things you can do for taking care of your mental heath as an actor is to have a broad interest and a skills within the industry and outside the industry as well. This way, if you don't land on any big roles as an actor, you have other things to keep you occupied. For example, I recently learnt editing so now I can offer help for anyone who wants their films or videos edited. Other usual skills to learn are operating lights and sound in the theatre or ones in the beauty industry, doing makeup and hair. I have a classmate who's passion is voice acting but dogs as well, so he has a dog training business. This way he is keeping himself busy and fulfilled by always doing what he loves. I personally haven't found my other passion yet. I have always been interested in acting so all my hobbies involved performing and singing since childhood. However, I do enjoy traveling and cooking and my puppies bring a lot of happiness into my life. One thing that I did as a child that I would like to get back to is playing volleyball. I believe I was good at it and it is also a great exercise, so I am hoping now that my husband has a car and we can travel around, this will be something I can do once a week in Stroud in Gloucester in the near future.
Hierarchy in the performing arts industry
Who reports to who and who can you ask for help?
This map brilliantly show the hierarchy in the performing arts industry, who's responsible for who and and who reports to who. Actors usually report to their stage manager, dancers to the choreographer and musicians to the musical director. These also called line managers and they should be their first point of contact. If a performer is troubled by their line manager, they can ask help from the directors in their own area of work.
Investigating the range and accessibility of employment opportunities
There are many websites available in the performing industry where we can show our work and apply for jobs. Few of these are Mandy, Backstage, Spotlight and Create Britain. As soon as I started Higher Education, I created an account on Backstage. I find it very easy to use, I have information included about me and examples of the work I have done. It is similar to the job website, Indeed, but for performers. What I like about it as that I can find many projects, some professional and some student ones so it gives opportunities for actors on levels. I have applied for a few productions early on but at that point I hadnt had much to show. This year, I am busy with my acting for the camera and voice acting unit, so I have not been looking at jobs. However I worked together with media students at college and I will be filming with the Gloucestershire Firefighters on a knife crime campaign, starting at the end of April. I am also in many groups for actors and directors on Facebook, where I can ask others professional opinion on the work I have done or any questions I have. My strategy is trying to appear in a lot of different projects , build connections with other performers and creative people and find my style and niche.
Marketing myself as an actor
In my opinion, to have a career in the acting industry, you must be seen, you must be present, you must be there. Where? Everywhere. The best social media platforms with the best algorithm to be seen are Tiktok and Instagram right now. I have a Tiktok account but I only use them to show videos of my puppies. However, I can see just how fast these videos travels as some of them have been viewed by 10 thousand people, which is incredible as a new account. I use Instagram to post pictures and talk about current projects I am working on and just keeping my viewers updated. I also, of course, have this website that I am using for college purposes and I am trying to keep is professional. I already have a few content of me on here and made many changes since I started it after regularly talking to my lecturer, Sonia. For example, she suggested to show examples of my work on the Home page and have my headshot there in black and white to draw attention because there is a lot of colour on the front page. I am keeping every college unit on a different tab, with the latest ones on the top. I would like to fill my website up with lots of good quality work. Here are some professional websites that I liked and inspired me to make mine better:
My next step in my professional career will be completing HNC and then HND as well and looking out for small jobs to work on.
I am already grateful for the opportunities the Media department provided me with, working together with award-winning filmmakers, Harvey Thompson and Thomas George, and also Lewis, from Gloucestershire Firefighters to film his knife crime campaign with me. This might sounds small to some but without the college, I could have never met these opportunities. Networking is key, but we have to make sure that anyone we meet, we ask a contact detail from and share our contact details with them, directing them to our website. Without this, many opportunities can be lost. It is also beneficial to check on these people , offering them help, to try to make them remember us positively.
What jobs available to me and what do I need to improve on?
So, I previously mentioned the platforms I am using e.g. Backstage or Facebook groups and there are plenty of cast calls on there. Realistically, I would try to work together with other students and low budget productions to gain experience and broaden my portfolio. Because I haven't exactly found my acting style or my best match it is important that I try myself in a variety of roles and all types of films. Although, I think I am leaning towards playing in drama films, it is crucial to remain versatile. There are also plenty of crewing jobs available, perhaps I could help with dressing actors on stage and making sure their costumes and props are available and clean for them because I am interested in fashion and styling outfits, this could be a good start to get the ball going. I always enjoyed taking photos and this year I tried myself behind the camera as well, not just directing but filming too. I learnt to use an editing program as well, so I believe this is also a great addition to my skill list.
Diversity challenges in the industry
I believe that I will face many diversity challenges while trying to find work in the industry. I grew up in a small village and I enjoy the countryside but most work is located in big cities, the closes one to me is Bristol, or in the capital, London. I couldn't enjoy living in such a busy place but as an actor starting out I must be prepared to travel to these places for work and auditions. I don't drive just yet so I would need to rely on public transport, which could add to the stress because it isn't always reliable and not cheap either. So, realistically, I must have spare money to travel for the auditions and being prepared not getting the job. I return ticket to London from Gloucester usually cost 60-80 pounds, which is a lot. Even if I get the job, unless its a bigger show, it is unlikely that I will be paid for it but in some cases they would cover travel cost and sometimes offer free lunch too.
Next to audition fees or agency fees, that alone surprised me that exist, lets not forget about the prep work. For any workplace to consider you, you must have professional headshots which you must pay for if you haven't got connections. The cost of the training, courses and university. The battle of having a job and committing to a full-time course. Many websites , like Spotlight or Backstage charges a fee when registering to their websites as well.
I also feel like at the moment it is harder to make it to the industry as a woman , especially for singers. In my personal opinion young women and teenage girls are more likely to become fans, buy merch, follow and comment on social media, so there is no wonder why men are more successful in the performing arts industry, including singing and dancing too.
Please note, these are American figures and legislations can be different from the UK.
From this chart, we can read that some of the roles woman take up in the industry are very poor. While the ratio of the cast between the two genders aren't too far from each other it seems like we don't see much work coming from writers and directors being used in the performing arts industry, which is a shame because it is never been scientifically proven that men write better stories than women. This could also mean that women are more likely to be employed as assistant writes or assistant director, ending up earning less money than men.
A story that came to my mind is the Barbie movie from 2023. The main character is played by Margot Robbie (Barbie) and Ryan Gosling plays Ken. Altough the story in nut shell is about Barbie coming to conscious and making great changes in "Barbieland" it was Ryan Gosling who won The Male Movie Star of the Year and Best Supporting Actor yet the director and writer Greta Gerwig and lead role Margot Robbie weren't recognised by the Academy.
Organisations who currently fight for a change
Directors UK:
Is campaigning to improve access, training, and opportunities for women directors in UK television production.
Women in Film and Television UK (WFTV):
WFTV UK is an organization that works to promote gender equality in the film and television industry.
BECTU:
The media and entertainment union, BECTU also plays a role in advocating for gender equality.
Calling the Shots:
A research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council that examines women and contemporary film culture in the UK
Next to being a woman, I was also born abroad so I don't fit the standard American or British look, for example because I have olive skin so most people think I am Spanish. However, the bigger problem is that I haven't got a British accent nor a pure European one anymore. Because I moved here at the age of 17 and spent most of my time in Hampshire, my accent is a great mixture and I struggle with performing believable English or European English. I am currently watching Viking from 2013 and I really enjoy the diversity of accents on the show. It shows the Scandinavian/Norwegian Vikings raiding and traveling across England, France and India and I this is a show I could imagine myself playing in.
UNIT 2
Skills required to become a successful actor
Memorization / Remembering your lines
As an actor my job is the bring the character to life so it is important to understand and analyse the script and learn my lines. There are many techniques to successfully and quickly achieve this. I struggle concentrating on the paper and keep reading long texts so after I got a general feel of the character, I record myself and listen it back while I am doing washing up or other housework.
Communication
Effectively communicating with others is something we can not avoid, no matter where we work. While acting itself is communication, there are real life scenarios, such as emailing agents or talking to directors, casting directors at auditions. We must present ourselves well, speak up and articulate because first impression counts.
Body and Voice Control
I believe that people who excel in acting know their bodies. They understand the little tricks of changing accent, tone and range. They know where they need to look to project their voice towards the audience. They know how to belt, they know what the diaphragm is. They are able to manipulate their voice because they are in full control of their body. Voice actors are highly skilled in this because often expected to play more than one character in a show. Their voice is like a fine-tuned instrument.
Script Analysis
Script analysis is a skill. An actor has to look behind the given circumstances and dig deeper. I remember I used to hate my literature teaching always asking us "What did the writer think.... when saying the curtains are blue?" but now I understand. An actor must be poetic, must have emotional intelligence and creative thinking under their belt. Knowing the different genres, understanding peoples feelings and basic reactions -she broke the vase because she was angry- might sound simple but very important. Finally, always learning, always researching, checking old words or slang online is the only way to perform a line with authenticity.
Stamina
Next to keeping fit and having a strong core , it is important to have a strong soul too. A NO doesn't mean NEVER. Actors must believe in themselves and don't take rejection personally, rather concentrate on constructive criticism. Auditions should get easier every time as we gain experience and confidence.
Taking Direction
Taking directions sometimes might feel like being criticised but it shouldn't be the case. Just like in any job, the manager / the director in this case would oversee the job of the worker/ performer. Be flexible and be ready to take stage directions and try different ways of delivering your lines. This should be the actor and the director working together on creating the best version of the character. Remember that the director/ audience sees/hears you differently from how you see yourself.
Basic technology knowledge
First of all, I would recommend to spend your spare money on purchasing a reliable laptop and phone instead of buying asking something unnecessarily for your birthday. This is your work tool and must understand how to apply for jobs or write emails. Many productions require a self-tape so a good camera is crucial to record yourself. A ring light is helpful for better light, recording in landscape mode and polishing the recording with the help of an editing tool. Understanding not only how to take selfies on your phone but researching camera movements and angles and the different effects they can have on the audience.
Business Mindset
Headshots, CV, experience, networking, social media presence. They are the key to be seen online and getting a change to being where paid work can ben found. Having an actors degree, taking up extra skills, such as stage combat to become more versatile and desirable for directors. And of course keeping up to date with the industry, it trends and fails. Understanding what kind of movies people watch and who are the leading actors in the industry, perhaps watching interviews with them on how they became famous as these are the people we want to learn from.
Have I got what it takes?
Professional development plan
My plan for the future is to successfully pass this year (HNC) and then role onto the next year (HND). I haven't decided what to do next but perhaps I have to do Level 6 to get a full degree and then I would also like to do a year of teaching training as well. Meanwhile, I will keep my eyes open and build my friend list in the performing arts industry and keep networking with others while trying myself in different roles because I still have a lot to learn on character development and working to the smallest details e.g. voice, movement. I am a very chatty person with big movements and strong facial emotions so I would really like to see myself being mindfully subtle on stage by the end of HND. I am already very proud of having to work with Sonia Friend, who is a very knowledge actor, Spike Hart who has a Master Degree in directing, Thomas George, award-winning filmmaker and Lewis Whitter, Serious Violence Project & Evaluation Lead of Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Services.
The Pearson-set theme:
"AI in the Creative Industries
The concept of artificial intelligence has been prominent in the creative industries for many years, going back to the revolutionary science fiction film Metropolis in 1927 and the Tin Man’s lack of a real heart in the 1939 film Wizard of Oz. Move forward to 2024 and AI is no longer purely a concept and is in fact, to varying degrees, an increasingly integral part of life across the world. The creative industries have always been at the fore front of innovation, embracing new technologies and developing stimulating and challenging work. The growth of AI has seen significant development in the arts including the first AI-written play (AI: When a robot writes a play) performed in 2021, Spotify releasing their AI DJ initiative (2023), and although AI generated music was first created in the 1950s, tech giants are releasing and updating a diverse range of free and accessible tools for music creation and production and generative A.I. tools have transformed the visual creation industry. However, the use of AI is not without challenges and concerns with many controversies gaining significant attention over the past two years. The Sony World Photography of the Year award was given to a photographer who created his image entirely from AI, to provoke controversy and see if anyone noticed – and no one did. The 2023 track ‘Heart On My Sleeve’ created with generative artificial intelligence technology ‘from’ Drake and the Weeknd went viral before being taken down by streaming services. The writers and actors strikes in Hollywood, which were, in part, protesting against use of AI, shut down film and TV sets across the world for months, (almost making history for the longest industry strike) managed to successfully negotiate new contracts detailing how AI can be used. Working with this theme, students must reflect on the impact of AI in the creative industries and how this has developed in their own specialist area. "
What do I know about AI?
AI means artificial intelligence and it works by browsing the internet , gathering information from the websites available and finding answers to your questions. It can be something as simple as When was Henry the VIII was born? which we can simply find on Wikipedia too but we can ask AI more specific and personal questions too, e.g. How do you impress the man you like? In this case, AI probably going to collect its answers from blogs written by real people, copying their answers and presenting them like its own idea and by us using them word to word, we are copying, stealing someone else's thoughts and existing work. It can be the same when commanding AI to make a poster for us for our next charity event. In that case, AI will take parts of photos, photographed and edited by others and mash them into one picture for us. So, while we might think that it is safe to copy and paste these information, because we taking the information from a robot, who hasn't got the right the own things and hasn't got feelings, this isn't reality. So, how ethical do we think it is and can we call these findings of AI our own? We shouldn't. Performers and artist are of course suing companies for illegally using their work and that can easily happen to us so we must be careful when taking photos or writing from CHAT GPT.
AI replacing jobs
I have heard of AI replacing jobs and I am not surprised at all. When there is a new piece of technology arise, there is always a huge hype around it and people want to try it, use it because it always promises to be time and cost effectively. H&M recently announced that they will be replacing their models with AI models. Which is devastating not only for the models and their families but for makeup artist, stylist, designers too or even just drivers who used to get paid for taking these models from A to B.
94%
of performers working in AI think the government should regulate “deepfakes” and AI manipulation of likenesses.
93%
think the government should introduce new legal protections for performers
79%
felt they didn't have a full understanding of their performers’ rights before signing the contract
AI generated videos/films
I have never seen an AI generated video previously or at least I am not aware of it but for the purpose of this unit I have watched some and I must say that I am quite upset how amazing and believable they are. The sound is perfect to my ears and the picture is 90 percent convincing, some are better than others. The "Battalion" short film looks like an introduction to a real drama movie, using the dialogue and music we are used to seeing in these types of films. This makes me seriously worried for the future of filming and I hope that AI will be strictly controlled worldwide.
There is a campaign called "Stop AI Stealing the Show" and it is supported by famous people like Talulah Riley (actress), Lord Clement-Jones CBE, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence or Bev Standing (voice actor). Bev has already won a settlement when TikTok used her voice without her consent to launch their new text-to-speech feature.
Research material:
https://popcrush.com/murdered-celebrities/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
https://popcrush.com/murdered-celebrities/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
https://popcrush.com/murdered-celebrities/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie_(film)
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/hollywood-diversity-report-spring-2023-movie-industry
https://actorstoolkit.co.uk/safety-for-actors-the-ultimate-guide/
https://www.equity.org.uk/campaigns-policy/stop-ai-stealing-the-show
https://www.equity.org.uk/campaigns-policy/abolish-audition-fees
Gender pay gap within culture sector increases - Arts Professional
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/acting-skills-to-learn-75028/