Jun 4, 2026 · 29 min · 14 segments
Some actors perform every script exactly the same way. Which is fascinating… because sitcoms and crime dramas are not emotionally identical species. In this Episode, we’re talking about musicality…
Jeff DreisbachHost
And we're going to kind of open up the box, so to speak, because every genre has its own rhythm.
One of the things I teach in my workshops and in classes, I ask the students to kind of come up with the mood of the scene.
So I'll hand out a film or a television scene and I say, now, what mood does this kind of give you when you read through it? And then, of course, the answers vary greatly from, oh, this feels dark, or this feels energized, or this feels really, really a funny mood.
So whatever the mood is of that particular piece is something to really hang on to.
And that is literally, I play a piece of music, just an instrumental piece of music, and see if that scene fits with that music.
Now, you might be surprised to find out what that does is alter the performance.
The energy of the music actually fills the actor with a desire to really embrace what that music is giving you.
Plus, that's also a really great key to finding and making new discoveries in each and every scene.
You know, that's the old-fashioned record player where you kind of have the arm and then you drop the needle in a certain spot on the record.
But in any case, it was really kind of a fun thing that you would get some immediate kind of emotional impact from the music that you're playing.
And we're going to kind of open up the box, so to speak, because every genre has its own rhythm.
One of the things I teach in my workshops and in classes, I ask the students to kind of come up with the mood of the scene.
So I'll hand out a film or a television scene and I say, now, what mood does this kind of give you when you read through it? And then, of course, the answers vary greatly from, oh, this feels dark, or this feels energized, or this feels really, really a funny mood.
So whatever the mood is of that particular piece is something to really hang on to.
And that is literally, I play a piece of music, just an instrumental piece of music, and see if that scene fits with that music.
Now, you might be surprised to find out what that does is alter the performance.
The energy of the music actually fills the actor with a desire to really embrace what that music is giving you.
Plus, that's also a really great key to finding and making new discoveries in each and every scene.
You know, that's the old-fashioned record player where you kind of have the arm and then you drop the needle in a certain spot on the record.
But in any case, it was really kind of a fun thing that you would get some immediate kind of emotional impact from the music that you're playing.
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