Hollywood producer/director Steven LaMorte gave acting tips as well as some of the stark realities of reality TV shows to about 20 area youths interested in film acting and production.
The workshop, held at Avenue HQ, was a preview of this summer's Film Academy Camp, an intensive, two-week camp taught by LaMorte and other professionals that will give hands-on experience in the craft of filmmaking. Organizers claim it will be the only summer camp in the nation that will actually make a feature-length film.
The Film Academy will be one of four Showdown Performing Arts Program camps this summer offered by the Jefferson City Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department in conjunction with the California-based Showdown Stage Company.
LaMorte gave the group some distinctions between acting for theater and for film.
"On stage, you're told to walk and talk," he said. "On camera, the camera man would be chasing you with his lens."
For TV/movies, it's more effective to walk to a mark, then begin talking, he said.
Other tips he offered included:
Find your light. If you feel blinded, you're in the right spot.
If you can't see the camera, the camera can't see you.
Know your script, but if you don't, know your character's short-term goal/motivation.
"Never move in a straight line," he advised. "It looks better to walk in an arc. I genuinely don't know why it looks better. It just does."
When you are the subject of an on-camera interview, he said, use each question as part of your answer, lift your head up, smile and have a good posture.
The camp costs $300, and is open to anyone 13 and older. It will run from July 1-13 (with the exception of July 4) at Avenue HQ, 621 E. Capitol Ave.
LaMorte is known for "Never Leave Alive," "Powerpuff Girls: The Long Way Back" and "This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous."
He also gave the scoop on how reality shows milk drama from participants.
He said directors will get participants at odds with each other by telling them individually that the other person said something negative or untrue about them. Sometimes they facilitate dinner dates, telling the two people to show up at different times. Other times they deprive them of sleep or food so they'll be emotional in interviews.
Josh Arnold, who previously has attended Showdown summer camps, came up with the idea for the film camp and will help run it this summer.
"I wanted to kind of branch out and make other opportunities for kids, specifically in Missouri but also all over the world," he said. So he talked to Cindy Marcus, the co-founder and artistic director of Showdown, and they worked to make it happen.
Bradyn Maupin, a Lewis and Clark Middle School student, said he has attended four prior Showdown camps, and said he's always "super excited" to return.
"I've always wanted to do something with movies, and so I saw the new film (camps), and I said, 'That's perfect,' because that's exactly what I've been wanting to do."
He's looking forward to the summer Film Academy, but said he was surprised to find out that reality shows go to the extent of tricking contestants to ramp up the drama.