The Drama School Audition Advice.

Hey everyone again!
Now that all my auditions are over, I thought that it would be an excellent idea to compile a list of all the tips I have learnt about audition over the course of the year.

I Wanna be an Actor.com's Top Tips for auditioning to Drama School...

1. Research, Research, Research
If I was redoing this year again, I would of so done much more research than I did. If you want to go to Drama School then you should know everything there is to know about it. For example: The History of the School, the teachers who currently work there, what they have done, who's trained there, what percentage of student are in employment in the industry, how much they are earning, what the school expects from it's student e.c.t. I could go on forever.
And I don't just mean that about the school either, you should be going the extra mile with you're monologues too. You should know anything and everything about the characters and the play.
You may be asking, "This seems a load of effort for just a 15 minute audition, why bother?" Because hardly anyone else will be going to that length to show how much they want it, and if the panel can see how hard you are prepared to work for it, then they will be more likely to want you.

2. Understanding the costs.
Now this I don't just mean money-wise. Yes it is important to realise that it isn't just the audition fee that you'll be paying, but also travel and accommodation fees too, - which to let you know, if you live outside of London, it may cost you around triple the audition fee alone. - so you can see it is expensive.
But you also have to understand the emotional costs of all this kafuffle. Not only is it stressful getting to these places but you also have to contend with:
a) The pressure of picking/learning you're monologues.
b) Doing the audition.
c) The waiting of the news.
d) Possibly - being rejected from said drama schools.
And if you get through the auditions and receive a place, after graduating you'll be lucky if you can earn more than £3000 a year from a job in the acting industry.
But if you still want it, go get it tiger!

Whoop, lecture over, now carry on.

3. Don't overthink it, feel it.
This is defiantly something I would of recommended myself to do when I was learning my lines last September.
 If I were you, when looking at a new monologue, I would read it a few times. Then I'd stand up and read it out loud. You could do this with someone or no one. If you like how it sounds or you get that poke in you're gut telling you that this is good then investigate the monologue further. If not, set it down, make a note of the monologue in a journal or something and try another one.
Just keep trying new things out until you find monologues that suit you and you ENJOY doing.

4.Be YOURSELF!
I know this is such a cliqué but seriously, you need to get it out of you're head asap that you need to act in a certain way to impress the audition panel. When it boils down to it, they want to want you! Not some version of you that you think they will like. I myself have fallen down this audition rabbit hole this year. I was picking pieces that I thought that the panel would like, not what I enjoyed or showed the best sides of my acting. And for every audition I wore black... I hate black clothing. It reminds me of funeral's. But I thought that it was the "drama school" thing to do.
It sounds silly when you look back at it but that's what I thought you should do. So please don't make the same mistake as me.

5. Just enjoy it!
I realise that it seems like a lot of pressure to get one of those precious places but come on! If you're going to pay £200 for 30 minutes of people judging you then you might as well have fun doing it.
Duh.

^Hope this all helps you, I'll probably re-post this at the beginning of the next academic year so you can re-refer to it then.
Adios,
Terri ;D

P.S - If you were looking for more tips in how to get into Drama School then check out "The Saturday Acting Academy's Blog" page as it is written by some guy who helps out on Drama School panel's.
Hope this (also) helps.

http://thesaturdayactingacademy.blogspot.co.uk/