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Teesside University is set to deliver a series of innovative courses aimed at professional actors and film directors. The first of these is Acting for Green Screen – a course which will teach actors how to perform in the virtual environments that have become the norm in today’s Hollywood blockbuster movies.

Led by award-winning director Malachi Bogdanov ( Assoc Director English Shakespeare Company, Wales Theatre Company, directed over 70 professional theatre productions) and Special Effects Technician Mark Buschbacher (Casino Royale, Da Vinci Code & Harry Potter), the course will prepare the delegates for working in modern film industry environments and situations.

Ewan Mcgregor found acting in virtual environments daunting. North East-based actors can learn how it's done at Teesside University in March.

This University accredited three day intensive short course offers a unique opportunity for professional actors to work in Teesside University’s industry standard High-Definition sound stage – the only one of its kind available to actors in the north of England, to develop skills in Green Screen Performance, increasing their employability and enhancing their career options.

Acting with an imaginary character in an imaginary location is a daunting prospect for any actor and a technical discipline is required that is not usually supported by conventional actor training. High profile actors like Ewan McGregor and Gwyneth Paltrow have admitted to finding it ‘very, very hard’ and ‘daunting’ when working with this media. Acting for Green Screen has been designed to offer actors the opportunity to experience firsthand, the challenges and demands of this genre, and to enable them to develop the skills required to achieve convincing and accomplished performance in an environment where nothing is as it seems.

Working with the director and technical director, the delegates will begin by preparing selected scenes where Green Screen technologies will be used. Characters and scenarios will be developed in a rehearsal setting, allowing the actors to work from their established skill set. Once these ideas have been ‘worked up’, they will be filmed in the University’s sound stage and Green Screen facility where objects, surrounding contexts and other characters are recreated and replaced.

Successful participants will be awarded 20 University M-Level credits. These credits can count towards further study such as Post Graduate Certificate or MA courses. The Acting for Green Screen course is being delivered at Teesside University on 19th, 20th, and 21st April. Only 12 places are available so book early to avoid disappointment.

Cost per person: £800.00
Subsidised cost for eligible SMEs: £80.00* (Refer to Subsidised Cost Eligibility for further information)

*Subject to successful ‘ECIF’ and Business Link FSF application (see below). Assistance is provided by Teesside University and BENE.

For further information contact James McDermott on: 01642 384 087 or email: samwfd@tees.ac.uk

About ECIF (Economic Challenge Investment Fund):
Teesside University has been awarded a grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) which is intended to help individuals and companies through the recession. The University’s ECIF project promotes the services of all six OneDoor partners (Teesside together with Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton Riverside Colleges), offering subsidies to qualifying individuals and companies. By collaborating with Business Link North East – which has its own stream of funding (Flexible Skills Fund) – Teesside and its partner colleges are able to offer heavily subsidised higher skills training to those that are eligible.

Subsidised Cost Eligibility:

Subsidised training is aimed at officially registered (with Inland Revenue) SME businesses or freelancers who are invoicing clients and paying staff (or themselves, in the case of sole traders), National Insurance etc. The cost of training for an eligible business/freelance practitioner will be £80.00 per head.

Please note : Those that qualify for a 90% training subsidy will initially be expected by Business Link to meet 55% of the full training costs, 45% of which can be claimed back from Business Link  as a Flexible Skills Fund grant.  The University will issue eligible businesses with a credit note for the remaining 45%, redeemable against the full course fee. Processes are in place to support practitioners/businesses in completing the required application and to ensure that businesses are able to access funding as quickly as possible.

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