Acting in Front of the Camera
Badass Intensive Acting is one of the only acting academies in the Benelux that focuses on believable acting in front of a camera. Most acting lessons in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are really theatre courses. Unfortunately theatre acting needs to be 'big', whereas film and TV acting generally needs more subdues body motions and facial expressions. The camera picks up on the smallest of details and audiences easily notice when acting is less believable.
Some of our lessons are partially filmed, so that acting students' performances can be reviewed and finetuned afterwards. Are you camera shy? Then don't worry, we tailor-fit our courses to the attending students in order to find a pace you'll be comfortable with. Are there any physical, social or psychological obstacles you feel you should take care of in order to become a better actor? Then you're in the right place: our coaches have a background in psychology, NLP, family constellations, hypnosis and Self Relations. They'll help you to expand your boundaries in a fun, casual way.
Acting Techniques
At Badass Intensive Acting, we don't believe in a single 'best technique'.
Of course, each acting method has its own advantages and drawbacks. Maybe you feel more at home aproaching acting from a certain angle, while you find it emotionally too taxing to use a different technique. Or maybe you've come to find that you like to develop another way of acting only for certain scenes. That's why we cover a wide variety of acting approaches so you can choose whatever works best for you.
We teach acting principles from:
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Classical acting (Stanislavski, Saint-Denis)
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Method acting (Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler)
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Chekhov
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Meisner
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Practical Aesthetics (Mamet, Macy)
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Uta Hagen
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Our unique style, R.E.P.E.A.T. (‘Rehearse – Evaluate – Pinpoint – Enhance – Act – Transfer’)
On top of all that, we teach you how to improvise and we even have our own improv (game) group, the Improvfessionals, who've got their eighteenth show, Improv-Asion XVIII, coming up soon. Improv games and long-form improv performances don't only sharpen your comedic talent, they teach you how to memorise better and how to work with your environment!
‘Good acting -- real acting is impossible to spot. Do you ever catch talents like Robert Duvall or Kathy Bates acting? No. I defy you to show me where.’
William Esper
Other Approaches & Physical Acting
Acting is an extremely broad field that covers many different domains. That's why we also incorporate techniques from a multitude of different domains, such as psychology, sociology and philosophy, as well as more physical lessons. The result is a unique set of courses only available at Badass Intensive Acting.
We use concepts derived from:
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Neuro Linguistic Programming
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Self Relations from Stephen Gilligan
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Facial Action Coding System
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Ericksonian speech
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Permissive hypnosis
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Directive hypnosis
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Hellinger Family Constellations
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gestalt Psychology
Our head teacher, Dirk Vandereyken is not just a coach, but also a hypnotherapist and a Master in NLP. He has been studying the different approaches mentioned above for many years now. As a fourteen-year old, Dirk also took up martial arts and was taught basic stunt and fighting techniques by one of the most famous Hollywood stuntmen.
As an acting student, you'll be able to participate in the optional 'Physical Acting' course, which is taught by Dirk and Tim Ost. Tim is a reputable consultant and coordinator specialised in fighting and weapon techniques, stunts, proper police and gun handling training, special effects and much more. If you already follow our standard acting course, 10 extra Physical Acting lessons of 90 minutes each will only cost you 200 euro. A few martial arts we cover include:
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Jeet kune do
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Jun Fan Gung Fu
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Wing Chun Kung Fu
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Kali/Escrima
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Pentsjak Silat
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Muay Thai
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Mixed Martial Arts
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Brazilian Jujutsu
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Judo
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Nipon Kenpo
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Wado-Ryu Karate
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H’sing-i Kung Fu
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Savate
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Westers Boxing
‘Acting is a question of absorbing other people's personalities and adding some of your own experience.’
Paul Newman
Audition Training
If you'd like to make a career out of acting, you'll probably need to audition... a lot. At Badass Intensive Acting, we're happy to give you all the support you need to do so.
How does one make a good first impression? How should you present yourself? What are some of the do's and dont's? We help you answer all of those questions and many more!
‘The best thing about acting is that I get to lose myself in another character and actually get paid for it... It's a great outlet.’
Leonardo DiCaprio
Experience
Admittedly, not every student comes in with a ton of acting experience under his or her belt. That's one of the reasons why many acting courses divide up their students in levels... but what if you're a newbee who can already act really well? Or what if someone who's already attended 15 lessons still isn't quite as good as another student who's only been to 5?
We believe we found the solution in the United States, where we followed acting lessons at - amongst others - J.D. and Sonia (Screen Actors Studios), Kent Skov (Matthew Perry's and Will Ferrell's teacher) of L.A. Connection fame; and Bobbie Chance, who taught Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore and who's shared her teaching stage with Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston: you'll be joining a group of 4 to maximum 14 other acting students, but you'll be working with scripts and assignments that easily fit your skill level, while still challenging you to up your game.
Students who grow to be great actors get - if they're interested - more responsibility and are allowed to introduce or even teach (part of) an acting class. By acting with people who have less or more experience, you'll be able to work with different kinds of people and dynamics, which allows you to grow faster. Getting more intense or difficult assignments when you're an advanced student makes sure you'll advance faster, since you don't have to learn the same thing over and over again. Of course, just like any other course in the world, there are no refunds if you decide not to come to class other than the 10 days you can legally decide to withdraw; we expect you to take responsibility for coming to class and joining us!
‘Every actor has to make terrible films from time to time, but the trick is never to be terrible in them.’
Christopher Lee
Photo Shoot & Curriculum Vitae
Also included in the standard course is a gree photo shoot. We'll help you put together your own portfolio and create a great curriculum vitae.
Photo shoots are arranged once every two months and if you need a curriculum vitae, we can make you one within two weeks of your course starting. Do you need some extra exposure or would you like to become a professional? We also design websites and film shorts or showreels!
Guest Teachers
At Badass Intensive Acting we're also convinced you can become a more complete actor if you learn from several teachers.
That's why we have a guest actor or actress, vocal coach, casting director, talent agent or other film professional coming in at least every two months. That way, you get to be exposed to the acting profession from a wide variety of different angles.
‘Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made. ’
George Burns
Sfeer
Ook de sfeer op de les is voor ons enorm belangrijk. Daarom staat er wanneer je binnenkomt altijd al een flesje water klaar en gaan we na de les met z’n allen iets drinken – op kosten van de Badass Intensive Acting Studios!
Wij trakteren het eerste rondje – meteen een goed moment om bij te praten, feedback te geven en vragen te stellen waarvoor er tijdens de les geen tijd was. Onze lesplaatsen bevinden zich centraal in Leuven, waardoor de locatie zich uitstekend leent tot dit soort initiatieven.
Atmosphere
Badass Intensive Acting isn't just about the classes, it's also about the cameraderie and the atmosphere. Good vibes are all-important to us. We usually have a bottle of water handy when you come in and go and have a drink after class. You can even trade UiT-points (gained through the UiTPAS) for free drinks!
grabbing a drink together or joining us at team building activities is a great way to catch up, share feedback and ask questions you weren't able to launch during class. Our teaching locations are all centrally located, which makes it easy to stick around for a little longer.
Showcases
We promise: Badass Intensive Acting offers the only workshops in Belgium which allow you to fly over the Los Angeles and participate in showcases - right in front of some of the most famous casting directors, talent agents, directors and producers in Hollywood - and some of the lesser-known ones as well.
It's an excellent way to get in touch with people who are able to cast you without having to settle with an anonymous text or picture.
‘I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.’
Frank Capra
State of the Art Software
The world of cinema and TV is in continuous motion. Film makers try to get even more theatre visitors and viewers through cutting edge technology, such as Augmented Reality ('AR'), Virtual Reality ('VR'), 4DX and other modern developments.
Acting in a VR film is a little different than performing in a 2D movie, so we decided it's only logical we also pay some attention to acting techniques that help you take advantage out of the possibilities offered by those technologies.
In order to help you reach your goals as a little easier, we use the newest trendwatching software, show you what's hot and what's not, talk about different styles of movies and blockbusters, film festivals, everything that goes into move making and more - all of which are good to know if you want to be an actor!
Syllabus
Na elke les waar we ook theorie in behandelen, ontvang je een syllabus rond die les. Daar staat nog eens wat theorie in, aangevuld met weetjes, samenvattingen en foto's.
Omdat leren acteren geen positief-wetenschappelijk vak is, passen we onze lessen vaak aan volgens wie er komt. Zo houden we rekening met vragen, wensen en verschillende niveaus. Daarom bezorgen we telkens pas 1 tot 7 dagen na de les een syllabus. Op die manier kunnen we flexibel werken én heb je een erg knap naslagwerkje vol leuke info!
Quizjes
Na elke les ontvang je ook een quiz met vragen over die les. Je hoeft die niet te beantwoorden, maar het is wel een erg leuke manier om jouw geheugen op te frissen en jouw kennis te checken! Je krijgt ook onmiddellijk de resultaten. Die zijn privé, alleen jouw docent kan zien wat je hebt ingevuld.
Bij Badass Intensive Acting geloven we niet in het geven van punten. Acteren is immers té subjectief. Wél zorgen we ervoor dat je ook jouw theoretische kennis constant kunt bijschaven, als je daar zelf zin in hebt. Bovendien vind je op jouw certificaat geen punten en is niemand ooit over hele lijn 'gebuisd'. Wél krijg je na elke cursusreeks een certificaat waar we expliciet op vermelden wat je al kunt. Het is een veel positievere en motiverende manier om acteren te benaderen dan droge diploma's of beoordelingen.
Vergeet ook nooit: het allerbelangrijkste is dat je goed en geloofwaardig staat te acteren! De praktijk staat bij ons altijd bovenaan, zoals het hoort.
