Shift #4 Consistency and Follow-through

So far in our quest to be in alignment to book consistently, we have taken a deeper look at ourselves and begun to bring awareness to our level of self-esteem and our goals. With our goals in mind, we looked to increasing our knowledge of the business to determine what actions are needed achieve those goals. With the shift to being more proactive, we started creating and putting our plan in action. We also started to do some housekeeping to make sure that our time and energy is focused on the things we have influence over. Now is the time to see just how reliable our word is and if there needs to be shift in our consistency and follow through. 

Being consistent and following through has a tremendous effect on alignment.  Without it, you neither see the effects of your actions nor have an accurate assessment of what’s working and what isn’t. Whereas being proactive defines your intentions, being consistent and following through is the constant attention you give to achieving those goals.

Getting and staying in alignment to relies on consistency.  And both require a commitment to keep your word with yourself and others. If you’re being consistent, you won’t let six months pass by without taking action.  

To give this area more focus, take a good look at things you may have started but didn’t finish. Examine the steps you’ve taken toward achieving your goals and where you may have stopped taking action.  Where have you dropped the ball?  This is not an easy exercise – it forces you to confront some of your demons.  But it will ultimately lead you to the consciousness needed to get and stay in alignment. 

Take a moment today to think about the contract you made with yourself to be proactive.  To fully execute that contract, you must be vigilant with your word and take the matter of your integrity seriously.  If you don’t stay consistent with your commitment, areas in which you began to make progress will break down and you’ll find yourself having to start all over again.

When you stay consistent and follow through,  you reinforce your commitment to yourself and your goals...

Take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences.   If you like what I have to say don't forget to share it...

www.languageoftheface.com

What Makes an Academy Award Winning Face?

An Academy Award Winning Face always conveys the character's inner thoughts and feelings in a way that is recognizable to the audience. As an actor, there must not be any distortions between what you are feeling and what you are revealing. The first step is to be in EMOTIONAL ALIGNMENT!

Actors are in the emotional communication business. To communicate effectively, you must know how you personally reveal emotion. If there is a difference between what you feel and what your face is revealing, the communicates become unclear and booking is very difficult. The farther you are out of alignment, it becomes almost impossible. There are many reasons why many of us are not in alignment with what we feel and what we reveal. The 3 biggest reasons for this lack of alignment most people can identify with are one or a combination of the following:

1. How you are wired
2. The culture in which you were raised
3. Your family's own personal idiosyncrasies

Most actors don't realize that the biggest problem they have with non-verbal emotional communication is they are out of alignment. The worst part of this problem is that it doesn't go away. The reason for this is, you can’t change what you are not aware of. How you express right now feels appropriate to you. To communicate non-verbally you must be in alignment with what you feel and what you reveal.

To better understand and bring to light any distortions you may have, join me for my one-day Emotional Evaluation Intensive. To learn more, please click HERE to visit my website.

Interview on The Language of the Face PART ONE

This is an interview I did a few months back on the Language of the Face. I also give a quick demonstration of how subtle emotions can appear on your face.

A little something for fun.

More than likely you've seen this spot. I've been meaning to post this for a while now. This is a very funny spot filled with specific reactions. In fact, all the young driver does is react to his environment. For all those who have worked with me and those who haven't- watch the subtleties of excited interest as his eyes widen, then worriment (sad/fear) throughout. Especially watch the other two kids towards the end of the spot and pay attention to their anger brows. They make the moment work. Both of the other two kids have the same reaction. Very funny. Happy Holidays to All!

The Job That Got Away

About 20 years ago, I was at an audition, working with a director who was trying to get me to do a specific emotional reveal (reaction). He loved everything but needed to get this specific moment from me.

He was coaching me with what I call ”romantic language,” words and stories intended to stimulate you. ”You just lost the love of your life” or ”you just booked the role of a lifetime,” etc. The language he used really stimulated me, but when I did the read, the response I got from him was a tight-lipped smile and ”thanks.” I failed to produce the reaction he wanted.

I was a trained actor who had worked before; why did I not have the tools to give him what he was asking for?

Although frustrated, the seed for my future work had been planted. I would come to realize that we don’t all speak the same emotional language. The images that director was giving impacted him one way and me another. Was the craft of acting that hit or miss?

----

Does anybody else have this experience or find themselves in a similar situation?  Post a comment and share with us "the job that got away."

How This All Began...

When I got into casting, the hardest thing for most actors to do was come in, see an ”X” written on a piece of paper taped to the wall, and give a specific reaction to it. Over the years, I saw the same actors repeatedly come in for callbacks and booking the spots. The question that came to my mind was: “What were they doing differently than everyone else?” So I studied them. What I noticed was that 4 things occurred consistently:

1. the actor produced a recognizable facial reaction 
2. the reaction was appropriate to the situation
3. the actor produced a single reaction at a time
4. the reaction was repeatable.

The fact that it was repeatable implied to me that there was an unidentified, and therefore, overlooked skill involved. Somehow these actors who were booking had the ability to interpret the circumstances given to them and react in a recognizable and appropriate way and I was determined to find out how. Over the next 8 years or so the answer came.

The Language of the Face, simply put, is the non-verbal means by which we communicate what we feel and think through specific emotional facial expressions. Although similar to body language interpretation, they are not the same. The science has shown us that the body tells us how well we are coping with an emotion; the face is the source by which we read it.

What I am talking about is not to be confused with ”face acting.” It is the direct result of thought and feeling. With over 140,000 permutations of facial expressions, the face is the densest source of information that we use to communicate.

The Language of the Face is based on the 7 human universal emotions. Anywhere on the planet, people will recognize and reveal with the same muscle groups:

surprise:

fear:

sad:

disgust:

happy:

contempt:

anger:

Every recognizable reaction will contain a part of or a combination of muscle groups found in the 7 universal emotions. 

The actor who wants to work consistently, in front of the camera, needs to understand and create complex human emotions and reveal them in a visually recognizable way, on cue.

To speak the Language of the Face the actor must:

· Recognize how they personally reveal emotion

· Understand the nature of emotions

· Know what emotions look like on your face

When it comes to emotional reveal or specific reactions, the playing field is not leveled. Some actors where born to do it better. You can level it by understanding the Language of the Face.