Scene: Scenes can be from plays or screenplays. A two-person scene should be no longer than ten minutes in length. Add five minutes for each additional speaking character (not walk-ons). If you are having a particular problem putting your scene together, you can either address it in your critique, or book a “rehearsal.” The more you prepare for a scene, the more you will get out of the critique.

Shoot: This is an unrehearsed, two-person scene, usually from a film (or screenplay). It should be only two to four minutes long. The actors gets a script for a week or two before the exercise, and each actor prepares on his or her own. Only one twenty-minute rehearsal is allowed to coordinate blocking. Do not think that because you do not rehearse with your shoot partner, a shoot is less work or requires less investment. Prepare as though you were working with Martin Scorsese.

Rehearsal: An in-class, observed rehearsal is a way to address a scene or shoot that is giving you a great deal of trouble. An observed rehearsal can be used to help coordinate a particular element in the scene (like physical violence), or simply to learn how to conduct a rehearsal to achieve optimum results.

Cold Reading: The actor gets the sides the night of the exercise, and has about 15 minutes to work on them. These are mock auditions. The actor reads with a reader/casting director (someone from class, or a teacher) or with another actor, “auditioning” as well. The cold reading exercise is designed to approximate the circumstances of auditions in the real world.

Warm Reading: Same as a cold reading, however, the actor has received the sides several days or a week before.

Absorption: Having sides, but not an entire script, can be challenging when preparing for an audition. An absorption exercise is designed to help an actor discern as much information as possible from sides. An actor reads a set of sides, describes his or her assessment of the story based on those sides, and the instructor then analyzes how much was correctly perceived by the actor, and how he or she can improve this analysis. Once the sides have been properly “texted”, we plot a course of action for building beliefs & and playing with the sides.