Discover the Best Acting Classes in Los Angeles
Hollywood, movies, commercials, and celebrities are words that come to mind when considering the acting world, so acting and Los Angeles go hand in hand. There are many parts to consider if you are thinking about entering the world of acting. Yes, you could be in movies, but you could also act in plays or television. The acting world has so many levels that it is likely something for everyone.
Why You Should Learn Acting in Los Angeles
Learning how to act in Los Angeles might feel like “everyone is doing it,” but there are some benefits to learning this new skill. Even if you are not looking for a career in acting, many of the classes offered can help boost your confidence and help with a fear of public speaking. The skill developed in acting classes can help you feel silly, confident, and think on your feet, which can shift to any field that requires engaging with others. Acting could also be a great hobby that helps break up your traditional day. For example, taking an improv or voiceover class can break up someone’s typical 9-5 day, particularly if you have limited engagement with others. Speaking of engaging with others, learning acting in Los Angeles can give you a way into a new community. The acting community in LA could be locals or people from all over with varying interests. Either way, you will likely meet someone new and perhaps someone with similar interests as you outside of acting.
In-Person Acting Classes in Los Angeles
Various schools offer numerous options for in-person acting classes in Los Angeles. The Actors Circle in Culver City provides film and television workshops to artists of all ages. In addition, they offer scene study, improv, cold reading, and audition techniques. All of these areas are important to an up-and-coming actor. For example, their Acting for Adults class is a cold reading class that offers scene study, cold reading, interview techniques, and character development. The course is $54 and averages about ten students. It’s designed to develop and foster confidence, focus, self-awareness, and creativity and build the necessary tools to be a competent actor. Students and instructors use terms you can expect to hear on film sets to help develop the on-set vocabulary with actors, another skill that will help the industry. Students can positively encourage each other’s performances, but no critiques are allowed.
The Actors Circle also offers Teens Acting (12-16 yrs old) at their Westside location. The class has similar setups to the Acting for Adults class offering teens scene study, cold reading, interview techniques, improvisation, and character development. The goal of the course, similar to all of the classes offered at the Actors Circle, is to expose actors to many different ways to get to the same place within their emotional subtext. For $48, teens can expect to be more confident, focused, and self-aware and to leave with the stamina necessary while filming or taping. You also get the same experience from the Kids Acting (5-11 yrs old) course offered here. This course provides the same structure as the other two. Still, it focuses on the younger actors, particularly with character development, so that younger actors are recognized for how to act as opposed to being cast as the “typical kid.” These offerings are great examples of how the Actors Circle in Culver City has something for everyone.
Voiceovers are also a technique and form of acting that many would want to learn. Numerous schools offer courses to help master this skill. Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California, provides a Voiceovers - Now is Your Time class. This class shows you how to take command of your career as a voiceover actor, empowering you with the skills to use your voice for commercials, films, and videos. It’s a 2-hour class for $35 that can significantly improve your skills.
Acting Class Now, located in Koreatown, Los Angeles, offers a variety of classes to help teach actors to trust their instincts and impulses using their experience, imagination, research, and intelligence. The IK Connection Method: Scene Study class is split into four sessions for $180. As a scene study class, students can expect lots of physical work. It offers mindfulness techniques from guided grounding or meditation at the beginning of each session to stretching and breathing together and using your entire body to be engaged in the work. In addition, students can feed off each other’s energy and learn the techniques of method acting. The IK Connection Method: Moment 2 Moment class allows students to take their method acting to the next step by being present in their emotions. Moment 2 Moment is a 3-hour class that’s good for actors or just life skills, that helps students get present in behavior, word, and action with a partner to help them connect with others.
Virtual Acting Classes
Many people assume acting classes can only be done in person, but that’s not true. Online cases do work a lot differently than in-person classes, however. Online classes offer you the flexibility of learning from anywhere. You can take a class from home, on your lunch break, even while on vacation. Additionally, taking online classes cuts out your commute. No more getting stuck in traffic, finding parking, or riding your bike in the rain. Online acting classes are a great way to learn, but some disadvantages exist. If you take a virtual acting class, you will likely have to supply your materials. Also, some might have difficulty connecting in more emotion-based acting classes over Zoom, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other great options for virtual acting classes.
For example, Edge Studio Voice Over offers numerous online courses. The Don’t Embarrass Yourself class is an online option for casual learners, aspiring professionals, and working professionals looking to start thinking like a voice actor to ensure you start to book the jobs you want. This class helps its student learn about the entire studio process for auditioning and recording sessions, helps with understanding the expectations of studio actors, and how to list inappropriate studio behaviors and know what to do when a session ends. You can access the class by telephone or on any internet device with a microphone, like an iPad.
The Los Angeles City College offers a Booking Commercials, six session course. For this beginner’s level course, you only need a reliable internet connection to successfully log in to Zoom each week. This course will teach you everything you need to know about how the commercial world works and how to book a commercial. Students will learn how to read off cue cards, memorize quickly and create exciting and unique characters while maintaining a sense of reality in a 30-second commercial.
If you want to expand your skills even more, the 2-Week On-Camera Acting Intensive with Tracy Kilpatrick course offered at Acting & Voice Studios might be best for you. It’s a 2-week intensive course over Zoom for actors 16 years and up. It’s live and interactive, with feedback directly from top casting director Tracey Kilpatrick. In the end, you will be sent your recordings from class for educational purposes.
Private Group Acting Classes in Los Angeles
Even if you are not looking to make acting a career or a serious hobby, taking an acting class can have other benefits. Are you looking for a fun team-building event for your next business function? CourseHorse can deliver online group classes like private group acting classes in Los Angeles. You can find a Virtual Team-Building Improv Workshop for up to 40 people. Pricing starts at $500 for up to 10 people and then $25 per person thereafter. The workshop teaches improv techniques to help teams better collaborate and make quick decisions while still having fun, making the skill of improv transferable to almost any industry. For 60 minutes, teams can expect to practice listening, collaboration, problem-solving, improved communication, and being fun and silly. If organizations need any customizations to the course, there is a $150 charge to ensure your group has what it needs.
If CourseHorse does not have something you are looking for, you can still contact them directly to plan the correct event for you. Use the contact form on their site and input your group size, preferred dates, and details on what you want in a virtual event. You can expect a response within two business hours to help get your event scheduled. If you need to make changes to your group size after booking, CourseHorse can help. They also support multiple video platforms, and there are no booking fees to schedule the event making the process simple and accommodating.
