SOCAPA’s one week Acting Boot Camp is closely tied to SOCAPA’s one week Filmmaking Program. When the filmmaking students go out to make their assigned film on Wednesday, they utilize the talent in the Acting for Film Program. This provides our acting students with immediate on-camera experience and allows them to walk away from the program with an online portfolio of the films they performed in.
In addition, acting students work on a scene or monologue to perform live at the student showcase. Students work intensively on their scenes or monologues, receiving feedback and coaching from their teachers and peers.
Providing students with a professional experience working in their craft is a core foundation of all SOCAPA programming. We take set etiquette and professionalism seriously. Both SOCAPA filmmakers and actors are asked to be on time, remain focused to the task, follow instructions, respect locations and persons, and respect the work of their fellow artists. A SOCAPA film teaching assistant accompanies each film to ensure a safe and successful shoot day.
Making a film is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun! Students travel all over the city or campus grabbing shots and performing scenes. Some scenes may be scripted while others may be left to the actor's improvisational techniques. As the story comes to life, filmmakers and actors learn the importance of creative collaboration between filmmaker and actor - an experience that informs their work in their own craft moving forward.
At SOCAPA we create an environment where students feel safe to explore and grow without judgment or gossip. Safe space means that any activity or work done in class stays in class. A lot of things we do in acting class may be abstract, partly because they are steps in a long, evolving process: learning to be an actor. If actors have to worry about “looking silly” or “what others will say during lunch,” they are unable to fully commit to the exercises and let their creativity reach its full potential. This is why we protect each student’s work and their own creative space by committing students to a “safe space” company agreement. Students are asked to not talk about another student’s work or process outside of the classroom.
The Acting Boot Camp is a fast-paced experience in the grounds of acting. During the first two days, instructors introduce the basic foundations of acting, such as active imagination, “as if,” immediacy/partnering, presence, breath, and kinesthetic awareness, among others, through several exercises that foster psycho-physical awareness to their scene work. Students are introduced to Meisner and Method acting principles, although many additional approaches may be utilized. Fun and instructive games are employed day to day to engage students and reinforce lessons. On the third and fourth day, students are out shooting films with the filmmaking students. To wrap up the week, students prepare short scenes or monologues to perform live at the Friday night Showcase for the whole camp!
The final Friday showcase is a celebration of all the work created at SOCAPA during the past week. In addition to seeing yourself featured in films screened on the big screen, perform your live acting scene on stage for the camp and for your family.
Students in the one-week Filmmaking program write and direct the Rodriguez film project, and students in the one-week Acting Boot Camp are cast as the lead and supporting roles. These films are generally 2-4 minutes in length.
An actor without a scene or a monologue is like a photographer without a camera. At auditions, casting directors will often ask actors to perform a prepared scene of the actor’s choosing. A prepared actor will have an arsenal to choose from. With this in mind, SOCAPA has each acting student select a scene or monologue from our library of favorites. Scripts are memorized and rehearsed during the week and are performed live on the last day of the program.
Students at our Los Angeles summer campus enjoy the advantages of being in the heart of the entertainment capital of the world. Chosen as home base by the film industry because of its nonstop sunshine and beautiful scenery, Hollywood, California, has become synonymous with making movies. SOCAPA's summer camps in LA are held at Occidental College, known as the Princeton of the West.
Los Angeles Campus Details
SOCAPA has two campuses in New York City. Our pre-college campus for ages 15-18 is located in the East Village of Manhattan at Astor Place where we use NYU facilities (classrooms, studios, theaters) and the New School's Residence Hall. Our shorter boot camp programs for younger high school students are hosted at Pratt University and FGSC on the Steiner Studios Film Lot in Brooklyn. Our Brooklyn Campus is temporarily closed.
New York City Campus Details
SOCAPA has two summer camp locations in Vermont: one at Champlain College, situated in the picturesque city of Burlington, and the other at the Burke Mountain Hotel in East Burke, a summer haven for mountain biking and other outdoor sports.
Vermont Campuses DetailsIf you have any questions, please send us a message. We will contact you ASAP.
