GOAT TRACK THEATRE

THE AUDITION PROCESS - TEACHER TOOLKIT

THE GOAT TRACK METHOD

Student learning. Care. Kindness. Curiosity. Craft.

THIS ONE IS FOR THE TEACHERS

Teaching acting is a peculiar craft.

You are part teacher, part director, part facilitator, part technician and part audience. You need to recognise what isn't working in a performance — while resisting the temptation to simply fix it yourself.

This toolkit has been created to make that job easier.

It sits alongside the Acting for Film: Auditions Unit and provides the additional knowledge, questions, coaching strategies and practical tools you can draw upon while teaching.

You don't need to use everything in here.

Use what the actor in front of you needs.

At Goat Track, we are student-learning focused.

The measure of a successful lesson isn't:

Did the teacher give great direction?

It is:

Did the student learn something that makes them a more independent actor?

That distinction sits at the heart of this toolkit.

HOW WE TEACh THE GOAT TRACK METHOD

Our teaching should be:

CURIOUS

Ask before telling.

Find out what the student understands before supplying the answer.

SPECIFIC

Talk about what you can observe.

Move beyond "good" and "bad" to language that actually teaches.

CHALLENGING

Extend the student — don't perform the work for them.

High expectations are an act of respect.

INDIVIDUALISED

Teach the actor in front of you.

Different students may need completely different pathways to the same learning.

PROCESS-FOCUSED

Value preparation, listening, experimentation and adjustment.

Not simply the finished take.

KIND

Students learn best when creative risk feels safe.

Care and high expectations belong together.

THE TEACHER'S JOB IS NOT TO CREATE THE PERFORMANCE.
OUR JOB IS TO DEVELOP THE ACTOR WHO CAN CREATE IT.

THE TEACHING CYCLE - DON'T FIX IT. TEACH IT.

A student performs a scene.

You immediately know what could make it stronger.

The temptation is to tell them exactly what to do.

Instead, try this:

QUESTION

↓

CHOICE

↓

TRY

↓

WATCH

↓

REFLECT

↓

ADJUST

1) QUESTION

What does the student already understand?

2) CHOICE

Ask them to make a specific acting choice.

3) TRY

Stop talking. Test it.

4) WATCH

Observe the performance — or use the camera.

5) REFLECT

Ask the student what they noticed.

6) ADJUST

Choose one useful adjustment and go again.

Don't discuss acting for five minutes when you could discover the answer in thirty seconds on camera.

THE ART OF THE QUESTION - ASK BEFORE YOU TELL

The right question makes the student do the acting work.

1 — RECALL

Use when the student needs to retrieve something they already know.

What is your objective?
Who are you talking to?
Where is your eyeline?
Where is your first beat?

2 — INTERPRET

Ask them to make meaning.

Why does your character need this?
What changes here?
Why can't your character simply tell them the truth?
What has happened immediately before this moment?

3 — CHOOSE

Move from understanding into acting.

What tactic could you try?
What could you be thinking underneath that line?
Who has more power here?
What do you want the other person to do?

4 — EXPERIMENT

Get out of discussion and back into performance.

What happens if you try that?
What if the opposite were true?
Can you make a completely different choice?

5 — EVALUATE

Build independent actors.

What changed?
What worked?
What could you see on playback?
Which choice would you keep? Why?

WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT QUESTION TO ASK...

ASK THIS: “WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO THE OTHER PERSON in the scene?”

Then:

Let them try it.

Screen acting becomes much clearer when students stop trying to feel an emotion and begin trying to affect another human being.

FEEDBACK THAT ACTUALLY TEACHES- THE FEEDBACK LOOP

01 — STUDENT FIRST

Before giving your opinion:

What did you notice?

Give them time to answer.

02 — NAME WHAT IS WORKING

Not:

"That was really good."

Try:

"I could see exactly where your thought changed."

Or:

"Your eyeline stayed connected throughout that take."

Specific positive feedback teaches.

03 — FIND ONE PRIORITY

Ask yourself:

What ONE adjustment would make the biggest difference right now?

Don't give six notes.

04 — MAKE IT PLAYABLE

Change:

Circumstances
Objective
Thought
Relationship
Tactic
Stakes

05 — GO AGAIN

"Take ten seconds. Don't show me the note. Let it change what you're thinking."

ROLL CAMERA.

06 — REFLECT

What changed?

STOP DIRECTING EMOTIONS - DON'T CHASE EMOTION

Avoid:

"Be sadder."
"Get angrier."
"More nervous."
"More emotional."
"More energy."

These are results.

Give the actor something to play instead.

INSTEAD OF:

"Be sadder."

TRY:

"You know this may be the last time you ever see them."

INSTEAD OF:

"Be angrier."

TRY:

"You've just realised they've been lying to you for three weeks."

INSTEAD OF:

"Be more desperate."

TRY:

"This is your final opportunity to convince them."

INSTEAD OF:

"Be more confident."

TRY:

"You know something they don't."

INSTEAD OF:

"Slow down."

TRY:

"Did you actually receive what they said before you answered?"

CHANGE THE THOUGHT.
DON'T MANUFACTURE THE EMOTION.

TEACH THE ACTOR IN FRONT OF YOU - DIFFERENT ACTORS NEED DIFFERENT NOTES

THE OVER-ACTOR

Try:

What are you actually thinking?
Can you stop showing me?
Don't tell us how you feel. Get what you want.
Trust the camera.

THE LINE RECITER

Try:

What are you trying to change in the other person?
What does this line DO?
Where does your thought change?

THE RUSHER

Don't automatically say "slow down."

Try:

What did you just hear?
What thought happens before your next line?

THE UNDER-CONNECTED ACTOR

Try:

Who are you talking to?
What did they just say to you?
What do you need them to understand?

THE SELF-CONSCIOUS ACTOR

Move their attention away from themselves.

Instead of:

"Relax."

Give them a task:

Make them believe you.

THE ACTOR WHO KEEPS REPEATING THE SAME PERFORMANCE

Change one thing:

Circumstances
Relationship
Tactic
Subtext
Moment Before

HEAR → PROCESS → THINK → RESPOND

Same words. Different internal life.

 WHEN A STUDENT IS STRUGGLING -

SIMPLIFY.

More acting terminology isn't always more helpful.

If a student becomes overwhelmed, strip the work back.

Start here:

WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?

Then:

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THEM?

Then:

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

That may be enough.

If camera technique is overwhelming them, establish the frame and eyeline yourself.

Then say:

Forget the camera. Talk to Sam.

If nerves are taking over, give the actor a job.

Instead of:

"Try to relax."

Try:

Your only job this take is to convince them to stay.

SPECIFIC TASKS REDUCE SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS.

EXTENDING THE STRONGER ACTOR - DON'T ASK FOR MORE.

ASK FOR MORE COMPLEXITY.

If the OBJECTIVE is clear:

Try the opposite tactic.

If the BEATS are clear:

Make the transitions less obvious.

If the SUBTEXT is working:

Change what you mean underneath the same words.

If the performance is emotionally strong:

Don't let the other person know how you feel.

If it is beautifully rehearsed:

Throw the rehearsal away. Genuinely listen.

If they're technically excellent:

Do it again and make it genuinely different.

If everything is working:

Completely change the Moment Before.

MORE SPECIFICITY.

MORE COMPLEXITY.

MORE FLEXIBILITY.

LET THE CAMERA TEACH -

PLAYBACK IS EVIDENCE

Rather than:

"You're moving too much."

Try:

"Let's watch it."

Then ask:

What do you notice?

USE PLAYBACK TO INVESTIGATE:

Where can you see yourself thinking?

Where does your attention leave the other person?

Can you identify the beat?

Where does your tactic change?

What happens to your eyeline?

Where do you believe yourself most?

Where do you feel like you're performing?

IMPORTANT

Playback is never an opportunity to embarrass a student.

IT IS EVIDENCE, NOT JUDGEMENT.

 TEACH STUDENTS TO GIVE FEEDBACK - PEER FEEDBACK IS A SKILL

Don't ask:

"What did everyone think?"

Teach students a structure.

NOTICE

NAME

QUESTION

NOTICE

"I noticed your eyeline changed at the second beat."

NAME

"That made the change in thought really clear."

QUESTION

"What were you thinking at that moment?"

Another simple framework:

I SAW...

I BELIEVED...

I WONDER...

Peer feedback should make an actor curious — not self-conscious.

CREATE A ROOM WHERE RISK IS SAFE - GREAT ACTING REQUIRES EXPERIMENTATION.

Students need permission to:

Try something.

Get it wrong.

Look silly.

Change their mind.

Try again.

Make a choice that doesn't work.

Avoid:

"No."

"That's wrong."

"Why did you do that?"

Try:

Interesting. What were you trying?

Let's investigate another possibility.

That gave us one version. Let's find the opposite.

What did you discover?

AN ACTING CHOICE CAN FAIL

WITHOUT THE ACTOR FAILING.

THE ACTOR'S TOOLKIT - ACTOR'S TOOLKIT

OBJECTIVE

What do I want?

MOTIVATION

Why do I need it?

TACTICS

How am I trying to get it?

BEATS

Where does something change?

MOMENT BEFORE

What has just happened?

INNER MONOLOGUE

What am I thinking?

SUBTEXT

What do I really mean?

CAN THE CAMERA

SEE YOU THINKING?

THE SCREEN TOOLKIT - SCREEN TOOLKIT

FRAME

Am I correctly framed for the shot?

EYELINE

Do I know exactly where I'm looking?

CONNECTION

Am I really talking and listening to someone?

STILLNESS

Am I avoiding unnecessary movement?

VOICE

Can I be heard clearly without projecting?

FOCUS

Am I inside the circumstances rather than thinking about the camera?

FINISH

Stay in the performance until CUT.

BREATHE → THINK → CONNECT → GO

AUDITION ROOM LANGUAGE -

WHAT OUR TEACHERS SHOULD KNOW

MARK

The designated position for the actor.

HIT YOUR MARK

Move accurately and naturally into the designated position.

EYELINE

Where the actor directs their gaze relative to camera and scene partner.

OC / OFF CAMERA

A person or action occurring outside the camera frame.

READER

The person reading the other character's dialogue.

FRAME

The portion of the actor/environment visible to camera.

FIRST POSITIONS

Return to where the take begins.

ROLLING

Camera is recording.

ACTION

Begin.

CUT

The take has ended.

TAKE

One recorded attempt.

RESET

Return actors/props/scene to the starting state.

ADJUSTMENT / NOTE

Direction asking the actor to change something.

BEAT

A moment where something changes.

BEFORE CLASS - BEFORE EVERY

ACTING FOR FILM CLASS

□ What are students LEARNING today?

□ What will I be able to SEE or HEAR if they have learned it?

□ How can students DISCOVER this rather than me simply telling them?

□ Where will students get time to TRY the skill?

□ How will I use the CAMERA / PLAYBACK as evidence?

□ Which students may need the concept SIMPLIFIED?

□ Which students may need an EXTENSION?

□ Have I allowed time to TRY AGAIN?

Then:

CLASSROOM CULTURE CHECK

□ Curious
□ Specific
□ Challenging
□ Safe
□ Individualised
□ Process-focused
□ Kind

CAMERA-SIDE FEEDBACK CARD

BEFORE YOU GIVE THE NOTE...

01 ASK FIRST

What did you notice?

02 FIND THE PRIORITY

What ONE thing will help most?

03 MAKE IT PLAYABLE

Circumstance
Objective
Thought
Relationship
Tactic

04 STOP TALKING

Roll camera.

05 WATCH

Use evidence.

06 ASK AGAIN

What changed?

07 EXTEND

What happens if we try the opposite?

PREPARED.

PRESENT.

PLAYABLE.