Product details
- ASIN: B079588LP3
- Publisher: AuthorHouse (March 29, 2011)
- Publication date: March 29, 2011
- Language: English
- Print length: 251 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN: 1456735772
- Genre: Books On The Performing Arts
The BookViral Review:
A great little manual for the aspiring actor new to the game. Davis offers a practical no-nonsense guide containing a plethora of tips and tricks to help all who are new to the hard-to-negotiate and sometimes disheartening process of auditioning and negotiating through their career.
Like a good cookbook, Davis seems to have covered every angle, ensuring his readers are fully prepared for every eventuality. From the physical presentation, such as clothing and how to move and hold yourself, to the inevitable clerical aspects of promotion, ‘Camera, speech…..Action’ is invaluable in supporting actors to develop the skill of marketing themselves, and in particular, improving a ‘newbies’ chances within a crazily competitive arena.
Davis goes into incredible detail, with helpful examples of resumes and scripts to demonstrate the most effective way to understand, create and use effective tools of the trade, with a whole chapter given over to vital terms and phrases which sound like a foreign language to anyone alien to the industry. The detail behind these explanations is staggering, showing the length breadth and depth of Davis’ experience. As is the case with every successful career, Davis promotes self-evaluation as key to remaining relevant and modest, whilst endorsing the best of yourself.
With his dry humorous wit and entertaining asides, Davis keeps his audience fully engaged and entertained. His advice is smattered with useful (and often entertaining) anecdotes and realistic scenarios, which lend a personal note to his writing. His advice is that of a cool but reassuring and competent professional, and his insight into the field of film, while being super helpful, is also realistic, reducing self-blame by explaining that failure is often not connected to skill but rather to a certain look, or bearing that the casting director is looking for.
The realism of Davis’ perspective shines through as he takes a no holds barred attitude in his descriptions of the long hours and extremely pressured workload of the average actor. Nevertheless, he still conveys the magic and sheer euphoria of this complex industry, as expressed in his own last words ‘There’s no business like show business’.
Camera, Speed…ACTION!: An insider’s secrets to the real world of acting is unreservedly recommended.
