Relationship: Michael Shurtleff demonstrates that actors must always ask "Where is the love in the scene?" even in a scene of conflict, to get to the deepest emotional content.Conflict: "What are you fighting for" Michael shows how actors must search out the conflict in every scene. Without conflict, there is no drama.The Moment Before: Michael and his students explore how to start a scene with full energy. Something must propel you onto the stage and it must be an action, not simply an idea or a mood.

Michael Shurtleff teaches an approach to acting that helps students learn to locate their own inner strengths and bring these strengths to bear with maximum energy and force in each role and each moment on the stage. In the four programs of "Audition: The Video Series," Michael explores the 12 guideposts with a group of workshop students. Each guidepost is articulated by Michael, then illustrated by the presentation and analysis of brief scenes. Michael probes relentlessly to help his students find the core of each scene and to take emotional risks along the way.

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