Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

nostalgia (n.) 1726, “morbid longing to return to one’s home or native country, severe homesickness considered as a disease,” Modern Latin, coined 1688 in a dissertation on the topic at the University of Basel by scholar Johannes Hofer (1669-1752) as a rendering of German heimweh “homesickness” (for which see home + woe).From Greek algos “pain,Continue reading “Nostalgia”

The tao that can be toldis not the eternal TaoThe name that can be namedis not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real.Naming is the originof all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery.Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. Yet mystery and manifestationsarise from the same source.This source isContinue reading “Myths, Miracles and Mystery”

Faith, love and gratitude are certainly feelings. And good feelings at that. But they become virtues when they are rooted in action. When they become regular practices. Especially when practiced in absence of feeling.

“If deadlines are the only things that motivate you to get stuff done, then it pays to get better at setting and enforcing your own deadlines. The alternative is waiting on other people to set deadlines for you. But then you’ll always be dependent on others for you to get your stuff done. The problem is weContinue reading “Set Your Own Deadlines”

“The knowledge that every day there is something more to learn, something higher to reach for, something new to make for others, makes each day infinitely precious. And I am grateful.” – Uta Hagen, A Challenge For The Actor “When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is truly ready, the teacher disappears.”Continue reading “Those Who Can’t Do…”

“The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.” -Mortimer Adler “Writing is the process by which you realize that you do not understand what you are talking about. Of course, you can learn a lot about something without writing about it. However, writing aboutContinue reading “Write To Know What You Think”

“People will forget what you said, and they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” -Muhammad Ali Just like an actor wants to make the other person feel something, (check out this post about legendary acting teacher Earle Gister and his advice on how to do so)Continue reading “Make ‘Em Feel It First”

“Action alleviates anxiety.” -Sigmund Freud “Use the relaxation to eliminate fear and tension that interrupts expression.” -Lee Strasberg “The wrong kind of concentration is a stumbling block, and once you have removed it, you are better. If you can concentrate your genuine human powers of attention on fulfilling a concrete task in performance, you willContinue reading “Relaxation And Concentration”

“We treat the body rigorously so that it will not be disobedient to the mind.” -Seneca “Art is choosing to do something skillfully,caring about the details,bringing all of yourselfto make the finest work you can.It is beyond ego, vanity, self-glorfification,and need for approval.”― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being “The cave youContinue reading “Your Artistic Misogi Awaits”

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” -Anton Chekov For the screenwriter… A useful exercise after completing your first draft is to go back and see how much dialogue you can eliminate. Challenge yourself to convey each scene’s intent and purpose without the characters uttering aContinue reading “The Silent Film Exercise”