Tony Barr's Musical Comedy Acting Masterclass: Learn to Perform for the Camera

Nick Bisk: Enjoyed the read and learned a few things too. A good book for an alternative process to acting.

Canada on Aug 17, 2023

Roque Baños: Me llegó justo a tiempo!

United States on Dec 05, 2022

sumasuma: The media could not be loaded.  Happy

India on Mar 17, 2022

Raunak b.: A great book for actors to learn the process of how to learn.

India on Jan 08, 2022

MohitMohit: THANK YOU TONY BARR SIR. YOU CHANGED MY LIFE ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

India on Sep 09, 2021

Anil Kumar: An amazing and insightful read which draws quite heavily from the Meisner style, reworking the repetition exercise in a more practical and functional way and applying it to scene work as well as a whole host of other practical exercises. The massive emphasis of on working on scenes and utilizing the relevant part of yourself for the role is bang on the money, instead of having to 'act' your way into a role and present an inauthentic version of yourself. Here you learn to start with yourself and then work outwards. With theatre acting you can get away with a hell of a lot and its refreshing to come across a book which talks about the fundamental differences between acting for the camera and the stage. Ultimately, it boils down to truth for both mediums but with camera acting you have to calibrate the energy of the truthfulness required and then apply.

United Kingdom on Dec 06, 2016

Grace Mumm: "Acting for the Camera" includes many different sections valuable not only to the film actor, but any actor, especially those trained in theatre but transitioning to film. Tony Barr begins with the art of acting and finding objective, listening, and reacting to stimuli instead of picking up cues. The book then transitions to tools, and then the business of film and helpful film references and vocabulary, as well as helpful tips on things such as cold reading. Throughout, the author compares theatre to film acting in a way that is helpful to those theatre performers seeking film. The book also contains a large section of film/camera exercises to use to improve one's work. This book tends to be occasionally redundant, although that may also be a plus, seeing as then the information can really 'stick' to the reader. I will definitely refer back to this book many times!

United States on Jun 27, 2014

horseygirl37: I am a beginner in the industry and this book answered a lot of questions that I had about acting. The chapters are short and break down the components of acting down into nice little pieces which makes it easier to understand. It's also very easy to read and actually enjoyable and thought provoking. Would recommend.

United States on Sep 26, 2013

mattreggie21: Tony Barr has done an excellent job with this book. The acting exercises in the last chapter alone make the book worth the purchase. I have it in both hard copy and kindle form, in different editions; this edition is my favorite, mostly because of the arrangement. The first quarter of the book offers a very useful overview of listening and responding in the moment, with your whole self. Although I've learned most of this before in various acting classes it serves as a very good review; at the same time he is thorough and it could easily serve as an introduction. The next section entitled "Tools" blew my mind, a great in depth look at a few great techniques. The "rhythm and change" section gives you an incredibly insightful and useful tool, although he warns it is to be used sparingly. The chapter on "cold reading and auditions" changed the way I thought about auditioning... slightly. Then about halfway through the book he takes the time to outline the way filming is done on a professional set, how a director goes through their process, how a cinematographer sets up a shot, how to check in on set for the first time, what your employers expect from you in terms of professionalism...

United States on May 12, 2013

A.K.: I obtained this book to read while taking an "Audition For Camera" class at my acting school. I'm a relative novice, but had read some books on general acting before, such as Uta Hagen's "A Challenge For The Actor," and really wanted a book that talked about specific aspects of acting in front of a camera.

This book, Tony Barr's "Acting For The Camera," is a little different from what I was initially hoping it would be, in that it basically is a book about general acting, with more than the entire first half of the book devoted to that. I remember often thinking "when are we going to get to the part about camera work?"

Mr. Barr's general thoughts on acting are actually quite good, though, which encouraged me to read through the whole of the first section, and I would say that there are many excellent insights there. It's also a relatively quick read, as opposed to Uta Hagen's book, for example, and many things are presented in ways I hadn't read in other books before.

When I finally got to the "camera" section of the book, I sort of realized that the reason he probably spent so much time with the "general acting" stuff is because ... well, the most important...

United States on Jul 12, 2006