On camera
On location
Weekly scene study (often written specifically for actors by Mr.
Gulager)
Film exercises (matching, hitting marks, more)
Each class begins with a lecture about acting and/or film-making.
Stanislavski, Grand Guignol, the intangible capacity and priority of
the artist to “delight and surprise”...one never knows what acting
subject Mr. Gulager’s contemplations will explore. What is for certain
is that students will be privy to a wealth of experience from Mr.
Gulager’s 50 years as a professional actor, director and teacher.
The main body of the class, scene study, was first developed before
video cameras were readily available. Class members would hover close
while the performers “worked” their scene mimicking the intimacy of
working on a set with crew members hovering around you. Locations were
and still are one of the factors which makes this class such a unique
experience. Every week class meets at a different location, sometimes
the beach, sometimes the downtown train station, a parking garage, a
car (for driving scenes) a home, a restaurant (for eating, matching
scenes).
In the 1970's, with the help of his 19 year old son, John, Mr Gulager
started incorporating the use of video cameras into the class
curriculum. By the 1980's, John's camera and Diane's "boom"
(microphone) became an inseparable part of the class.
In present day the use of a different location every week continues
and every scene and most film acting exercises are shot and miked. With
the addition of the camera, the intimate proximity of students and
teacher during scene performances has not changed. It is now the
initial teaching platform where Mr. Gulager helps students become
aware of what makes a scene “camera ready”. “Camera ready” scenes
are shot focusing alternately on each actor. After every scene is
filmed, class meets at the studio where scenes are projected to be
viewed and critiqued by Mr. Gulager.
Next session:
Saturday,
August 21
12:00PM -
7:00PM (sometimes longer)
Rehearsal
during the week and preparation for the scene is expected and
required.
Tuition:
$500 (2 months)
Non-Refundable Deposit
required, class size limited
SCENE STUDY "FILM
PROJECT"
4 week
session:
On camera
On location
The Film
Project class will undertake the making of a short film involving all actors in the class.
The Film Project class is only open to students who have taken the Scene
Study class (so Mr. Gulager can write for each actor's "quality" as he
has come to know it). Enrolment is by invitation only.
With the new millennium a new agenda
has been added to CLU GULAGER’S
FILM ACTING WORKSHOP. Having created several
shorts in the last few
years, some with as little as a one day shooting schedule (including
LIGHT and
UNKNOWN PLEASURES
by John and Diane), the Gulagers have decided to offer a finished short film
as a special 4
week class session. Students will participate as actors in the short,
written and directed by Mr. Gulager with camera and editing by John
Gulager.
The
New Beverly Cinema has
expressed interest in adding a screening of the class short to their
scheduled program.
Each students
will receive 1 DVD of the scene that can be used to create additional
copies.
Prerequisite:
Scene Study or the permission of Mr. Gulager.
Next session:
By invitation
Students
should be prepared for longer classes and shooting on various days
during the week and the possibility of additional photography over the
4 weeks after the official session ends, during editing.
Tuition:
$500 (1 month)
Non-Refundable Deposit
required, class size limited
*Grounds for
Dismissal*
Students may be dismissed from CLU GULAGER’S FILM
ACTING WORKSHOP due to disrespect, inappropriate behavior, absences,
repeated tardiness, or, in the opinion of Mr. Gulager,
non-participation. There are no tuition refunds under these
circumstances.
*Withdrawal*
Students who wish to withdraw from the Workshop for any reason must
submit a written notice (email is acceptable) to Diane Goldner, the
student liaison. The official date of withdrawal will be the date that
she receives the notice. Full refunds (less the deposit) are available
only before the beginning of classes. Refunds of tuition after the
first class will be prorated (less the deposit). On and after the
5th class of the session, no refunds will be
given.
Camera: (and editing on final project)
Director/Cinematographer John Gulager (FEAST Trilogy, PROJECT GREENLIGHT)
Sound, assistant acting coach and student liaison:
Actress Diane Ayala Goldner
(FEAST Trilogy, THE COLLECTOR, Rob Zombie’s H2, THE SHIELD)
In the mid 1960's after working in live television, guest starring on
such series as ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and while still
in the midst of starring in his first series THE TALL MAN
Clu Gulager began teaching his "Film Acting Workshop". Mr. Gulager had
trained with the highly respected
Mr. Paul Baker and studied in Paris
with Jean-Louis
Barrault (CHILDREN
OF PARADISE), yet found himself unprepared for the
challenges unique to working professionally in front of the camera.
Hitting your marks, finding your light, repeating the same section of
a scene over and over again, eating 10 hot dogs, shooting out of
sequence, a noisy grumbling joking crew, almost no rehearsal, being
miked and magnified by the eye of the camera was all part of a new
language. The "Film Acting Workshop" was started to address these
challenges as well as to share the avarice Mr. Gulager feels for the
art of film making.
PSYCHOTRONIC
Magazine article about Clu Gulager
RYAN
MCGINLEY's "MY TOP 10 ART FILMS" picked
Clu Gulager's A DAY WITH THE BOYS
(1968) for VICE magazine.