BODY BEFORE EMOTION workshop
ACTING & DIRECTING FOR FILM
tutors: Sara Alba and Fedor Sendak
The Body Before Emotion workshop promotes a physical approach to both film acting and directing. The workshop brings a group of 12 selected filmmakers and actors together. By using the body as a starting point the workshop builds the students confidence, awaken their creativity and move them away from a blocking kind of self-awareness.
“Emotions can not be staged, while the body can be. Body Before Emotion uses a physical strategy. A variety of strategies is taught promoting simple physical actions and exercises, thorough scene preparation. The classes prepare the actor and director to work together creatively. Participant learn to stay deal with situations on a film set, switch fast from one imaginary situation to another and deal with common mis-en-scene limitations. But above all, the workshop provides a fun and open environment for our students; a world of experiments, where no mistake exists.”
- Fedor Sendak, tutor
METHODOLOGY
Body Before Emotions focusses on experience rather than on reflection. More on doing than talking. The mornings are used for warm up and movement exercises followed by various physical games. Subsequently the students are introduced to various principles of acting, creative cooperation and directing for the screen. During the afternoons the participants have the opportunity to work on actual film scenes. By doing so, participants will experience the role of the actor and the (assistant) director. They will deal with various creative challenges that occur on the filmset. Eventually actual video recordings are made within the final exercise. The 10-day course provides a laboratory that generates plenty of possibilities for all participants to develop their new personal approaches towards the acting and directing craft. It is important to realise that the workshop hours are intense and students need to be ready to invest their time and energy. Additional homework is handed out after each day preparing the next class.
BACKGROUND
In 2013 filmmaker Fedor Sendak and dancer Sara Alba set off to develop the Body Before Emotion program because they understood that both actors and film directors need opportunities to train together, while possibilities are still hardly offered. Body Before Emotion promotes a physical approach as ideal way to break the ice, built a trust relationship and create convincing performances for film. The workshop has received enthusiasm from participants coming from all around Europe and continues to expand its international scope.
ABOUT THE TEACHERS
Fedor Sendak (The Netherlands)
filmmaker and teacher
Filmmaker Fedor Sendak (Amsterdam, 1975) has a keen interest in exotic film stories. He develops screenplays and film plans, short and feature length. He graduated from the The Netherlands Film and Television Academy (directing – fiction) in 2003 and in 2016 he received his Master of Arts (MA Film). With a background in illustration, photography and theatre, he has worked for film festivals, and owns Filmpeople an online platform for the Dutch film industry. He has been a board member of NISI MASA (European Network of Youth Cinema) and has been a full member of the Dutch Directors Guild since 2007.
Sara Alba (Colombia)
dancer and teacher of performing arts
Sara Alba (Cali, 1979) is a dancer and teacher of performance arts. She has taught at the University Francisco José de Caldas, Faculty of Arts (ASAB) and Politécnico Grancolombiano in Colombia. In recent years she worked at schools in Thailand, Turkey, Colombia, Germany, Bulgaria and The Netherlands. As an artist she has worked with choreographers such as Carmen Werner (Spain) and Korpe Dance (Colombia) and Periferic, Bogota-Berlin. She received her degree in contemporary dance from the Dutch university ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in 2005. Currently she is teaching dance and movement classes.
