Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Take the UFO Directing Actors Workshop

3. You begin to appreciate yourself.

While this may be the effect of Number 2, appreciating yourself does not only refer to your traits, skills, accomplishments and characteristics; it is actually about appreciating your physicality, as well, including how you look, how you walk and everything else about you.

At the workshop, you will learn the importance of being able to appreciate who you are as a person, as a human being and as a petite tan-skinned asian-looking crazy haired woman with barely-there brows. Because that is what makes you unique, as cliché as it sounds. It is your branding. Your initial mark in the world. It doesn’t define you, of course. But it’s what makes people remember you, so be proud of that. Quoting Tyrion Lannister/ George R.R. Martin, “Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.” #GoTHangover

 

4. You smile brighter, connect deeper and live lighter.

Okay. I know it sounds like a quote from some Tumblr post you may have seen some years ago, but it’s the only way I know how to describe the feeling that I got after every session. It’s that instinct of appreciating people and actually looking at them. Smiling to the person in front of you and not for the sake of smiling. Basically, it is your attachment to your emotions that makes you- for the lack of better word- more human.

The workshop enabled us to tap into our emotions and into the very core of it. We didn’t only analyse and scrutinise them; we used them, felt them and got a better grasp on them. Whether it was anger or happiness, sadness or joy, lust or love, the workshop gave us a chance to explore our emotions and entertain them. Because of that, we learned how to express our feelings better and be more open; hence, we live lighter.

 

5. You become a good listener.

There’s a thin line between listening and hearing. When you’re acting, you need to be able to react accordingly to your partner. If you are not able to do so, then it’s safe to say you’re not really listening. You’re simply hearing the words and waiting for your turn to speak.

These cases can also be applied to real life. The only difference is that you can’t rehearse what you’re going to say, so you tend to fuck up in the end. Being caught up in our own train of thought, we sometimes forget the role of listening in the conversation that we seldom make a point. Try to imagine the roles reversed: yyou’re the one speaking, while the other one is listening. How would you feel if you were talking about pink peonies and your friend suddenly bursts laughing at all the memes of the back-to-school inspiring quotes post? Yea, not so good.

 

6. You become less of an angry monkey and more of an understanding beauty.

While it is understandable that anger is a strong emotion, it’s no excuse to let it flood your judgement and get the best of you. Although there are other ways to manage your anger, here’s a tip we learned from the workshop: process your emotions. Observe how you act when you’re angry, including your actions, mannerisms and eye movements, the way you walk, the tone of your voice, the way your hands move, the way you stand, the way you look at the person you’re mad at, the emotions mixed within, and basically, how you’re reacting.

Although you are doing it for academic purposes and adding the emotion to your acting repertoire, your anger will actually begin to subside and you will become more reasonable and easier to converse with. A much better alternative than your alter-ego Godzilla, right?

 

7. You learn to build relationships.

Acting is all about relationships. It is about your relationship with your co-actor, your relationship with your director, and your relationship with the character you are playing. As you learn to act, you also learn the importance of building relationships with the people you are working with. It’s not entirely for professional reasons, but purely for the purpose of understanding the other individual- their whole being.

You learn to value sincerity and you get to tell when someone is insincere. With acting, you’re selling the truth. So being sincere with each and every word you say is just as important as believing the words being said to you. Funny as it may sound, you learn to detect lies and know when someone’s lying. It’s not because you have this incredible magical ability given by the gods; it’s simply because you’re more in tune with your emotions and of course, yourself.