On-Camera Acting at Full Circle
by Amber Adrian

What's the best way for a school to give its students practical experience in film acting? The obvious answer seems to be to plunk them down on a film set and make a movie. Of course, the obvious answer is not always the easy answer. But it's one that Full Circle founder John Howard Swain decided to pursue. Swain escaped the world of acting for teaching (his solution to being around actors without actually having to be an actor) and added color to his San Francisco school by founding a production company along with it--one that uses its advanced students as actors. Swain says, "Other schools are filming scenes, but we're doing whole movies."

Students have discovered the difference between school and the real (so to speak) world of movies: homework. Geared toward making professional film work feel like a day at the beach, movie star hopefuls are required to take an assigned scene and prepare anywhere from 12 to 20 pages of typewritten analysis in which they break down the character, the action and the dialogue. After the scene has been analyzed into oblivion, the student performs it without the benefit of rehearsal.

The reason behind such a fear-inspiring ream of typing is to give actors the tools to convey their character with little or no direction. Full Circle teacher Celia Shuman feels, "I need to impart to my students the ability to take care of themselves. In film you're on your own." Film directors are so involved in the technical aspects of a shot--if the light is right, whether or not there's an airplane flying overhead--that they don't always have the time to give actors in-depth direction. With little director input, it is left to the actor to determine motivation. Shuman says, "I want to prepare them to answer all the questions that might come up on the set. So when the director says 'Action!' they can determine for themselves how to bring the character to life."

With the question, "How does my character serve this story as a whole?" ever prevalent, students work overtime to understand the character's underlying force. Through writing exercises, students decide for themselves what drives their character, rather than relying on an outside source to answer their questions. Shuman says, "The bulk of our technique comes from the writing perspective of how the characters are tailored." Learning to fully explore what's on the page and create a deep inner life for the character brings a story to fruition. "It gives people real concrete ways to solve problems that come up in a scene so it's not just a crap shoot or judgment call."

Full Circle's method ensures that its students are more than ready to tackle an industry that tends to toss actors into the deep end of filming sans rehearsal. Until recently, to get this kind of experience, actors serious about film work needed to go to L.A. or New York to pursue their careers. Swain feels, "If we create enough work here there will be, at the very least, the option to stay longer." In an effort to create that work, Full Circle has made several films and has goals of shooting a San Francisco?based TV show that would use local industry workers both in front of and behind the camera. Swain says, "There's a tremendous pool of talent here; we just need to utilize it."

Unfortunately, full-length movies--the best way to fully train actors in the ways and peculiarities of camera work--are very expensive. However, Swain is adamant about continuing. "It's vital to student training to keep doing it, even though it's a huge monetary loss."

This monetary loss is offset by the relationship Full Circle has developed with Pixar, the Emeryville animation studio that created Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and, most recently, Finding Nemo. This relationship formed during the filming of Full Circle's second movie when a Pixar director strolled into Swain's acting class and asked to observe. He wanted to learn how to deal with actors--directing live action obviously involves a very different set of parameters than directing animation (such as living, breathing people). The director showed up on the set several more times and, at the end of Full Circle's second filming, asked if he could direct its third project.

With hands from Pixar and Industrial Light and Magic behind the camera and Full Circle students in front of it, its third project went so well Swain asked Pixar to help with the fourth. Shuman feels that the huge amount of talent funneling from Pixar has made for a wonderful marriage. Swain teaches at Pixar University and, by working with Full Circle, Pixar experts have additional scope for their talents. Shuman notes, "They're the best in the country--we have a lot to learn from them."

Pixar's help has allowed Full Circle's film production to pick up steam. It has now worked in a number of different genres, from comedy and farce to drama and film noir. Swain says, "The first three movies were purely exercises to give students the opportunity to develop a character over more than a three-minute class scene, so they would learn to shoot out of sequence and build the arc of a character." Its fourth film is so promising that Full Circle hopes to submit it to Sundance this year in the short film category.

The Bay Area has many, perhaps unexpected, advantages for the actor dedicated to doing high-quality film work. The amount of work available is certainly less than in L.A., but the pool of actors is also smaller. An actor in San Francisco is much more likely to land a part in a small indie film than in New York, where a big star with some extra time might snap up the choice role. Even small projects are not available in those markets. Shuman feels, "People here are much more willing to take risks; they're not stuck with formulaic have-to-please-the-studio scripts. It's much more art for art's sake." In exploring her own personal possibility for relocating, Shuman discovered that "although we don't have access to major roles, in terms of high-quality work (albeit low-profile productions) this is a wonderful place to be for theatre as well as film." She continues, "We're very lucky here. I have had students very new to the business get jobs. Granted, they're small, but they're working."

Sumalee Montano, one of Full Circle's working students notes, "Their approach is incredibly thorough, but flexible enough to allow you to incorporate new tools and approaches." Part of Montano's training at Full Circle involved watching herself do scenes on camera, often in close-up. "It was a huge incentive to get rid of bad habits fast," she says. Students learn in a safe environment how unforgiving the camera can be and they learn how to deal with it--before heading out to an audition. Montano says, "It ingrained in me the importance of being still, not to muddy up my performance with lots of extraneous movement." Being put on the spot apparently did the trick. Montano's credits now include recurring appearances on ER and feature roles in Cherish and Teknolust, both of which were part of the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Shuman has decided, "I don't need to be famous. I just like to do good work with good people. The Bay Area offers that opportunity to actors--on a greater scale than I hear of in other markets, like Seattle or Chicago." But if an actor is after the big bucks and the big glory, don't be too hasty to take off. Montano holds, "You have to make the move when it feels right to you." Montano's L.A. representation snapped her up after seeing her in a workshop in San Francisco. "At the time, people were telling me that I was ready for L.A., but I had decided to stay in San Francisco. Thanks to that I got an L.A. agent."

Swain declares, "It's our job to help them realize the dreams they have. Some students might become major players in the business. Some are here just to learn more about themselves." According to Shuman, "We actually kick people out at Full Circle. I've told people, 'Go away! Go audition! We can only teach you so much.'" In the end, working in the job market is the best way to hone those skills. Shuman says, "We feel really proud to have helped plant the seed when you see them out there working."