BA in Acting | (3 Years)
Programme Overview
Awarded by: The Tata Institute of Social Sciences – Deemed University under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956
The BA Acting degree serves as both a training ground and an educational field for the student aspiring to be an actor. The objective of this programme is to teach the art and craft of acting primarily for the cinema, as well as for all other allied acting careers; television, advertising, theatre & the voice-over industry.
An actor’s primary aim is to be truthful and believable in the performance of any character that he/she might be asked to play, in any genre and in any medium. To this end, our training is geared towards providing students with a skill set that is tailor-made for the each of them, helping them work through their weaknesses and polish their strengths.
Through this programme, theory is balanced with practice and is applied to every aspect of the programme, be it dramatic literature, script analysis, film & voice-over techniques or the theories behind movement and vocal expression. Students will however spend large parts of the programme performing in both classroom exercises as well as studio based exercises and projects. With in-depth classroom work on acting, voice and movement; camera training; industry guidance and also an understanding of filmmaking and appreciation for cinema, we aim to graduate thinking, expressive, informed and creative actors with the ability to work across genres and media and the confidence to take on the challenges of the entertainment industry.
Semester I Course Structure
|
Course Code |
Course Title |
Theory Credits |
Practical Credits |
Total Credits |
Total Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMBA 1101 | Film Analysis for Actors – B | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMGE 1114 | Basics of Screenwriting | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMBA 1103 | Spoken Hindi – B | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMGE 1122 | Introduction to Filmmaking | 8 | 6 | 14 | 300 |
Semester II Course Structure
|
Course Code |
Course Title |
Theory Credits |
Practical Credits |
Total Credits |
Total Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMBA 1201 | Psychology for Actors | 3 | 0 | 3 | 45 |
| FMBA 1202 | Spoken Hindi Prose – B | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMBA 1203 | Acting Practicals I – B | 0 | 10 | 10 | 300 |
| FMBA 1204 | Acting Theory I – B | 10 | 0 | 10 | 150 |
Semester III Course Structure
|
Course Code |
Course Title |
Theory Credits |
Practical Credits |
Total Credits |
Total Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMBA 1105 | Spoken Hindi Poetry | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMGE 1105 | Culture Studies I | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMBA 2105 | Acting Practicals II – B | 0 | 9 | 9 | 270 |
| FMBA 2106 | Acting Theory II – B | 13 | 0 | 13 | 195 |
Semester IV Course Structure
|
Course Code |
Course Title |
Theory Credits |
Practical Credits |
Total Credits |
Total Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMGE 1102 | Film Analysis and History I | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMGE 1109 | Culture Studies II | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMBA 2205 | Acting Practicals III – B | 0 | 13 | 13 | 390 |
| FMBA 2206 | Acting Theory III – B | 7 | 0 | 7 | 105 |
Semester V Course Structure
|
Course Code |
Course Title |
Theory Credits |
Practical Credits |
Total Credits |
Total Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMGE 1113 | Film Analysis and History II | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMGE 1110 | Culture Studies III | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| FMBA 3105 | Acting Practicals IV – B | 0 | 11 | 11 | 330 |
| FMBA 3106 | Acting Theory IV – B | 9 | 0 | 9 | 135 |
Semester VI Course Structure
|
Course Code |
Course Title |
Theory Credits |
Practical Credits |
Total Credits |
Total Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMBA 3203 | Acting Practicals V – B | 0 | 15 | 15 | 450 |
| FMBA 3202 | Acting Theory V – B | 5 | 0 | 5 | 75 |
Teaching Methods
Theory Lectures: These lectures will be interactive and students will be encouraged to participate actively. For certain specialised topics, leading professionals and industry guest lecturers will be invited.
Practical Acting Classes: Actors learn with practical experience. Hence, hands-on practical learning supports all theory and forms the bulk of the training. Be it dance, yoga, voice, singing, Kalaripayattu (martial arts), scene work, acting exercises or improvisations, students will learn implementation of theory by practical learning.
Acting Workshops: Specialists will be called in to conduct workshops on specific acting skills and areas like make up, costumes, mime & clowning, combat & stunts, auditioning, grooming etc
Interaction with professionals: The acting department regularly invites practicing directors and casting directors to interact with students, not only to share their professional and creative experiences with them, but to make the students understand the implication of their work. Workshops with professional directors are conducted, who guide them in film scenes replicating a professional shoot scenario and demanding from them the same professionalism they expect from working actors.
Film viewing and script analysis: Students will regularly analyse and deconstruct screenplays of existing films, to gain an in-depth understanding of the actor’s process.
Projects: Every term, acting students will participate in co-ordinated film projects with students from other filmmaking departments, where they will learn how to make their own choices in the creation of believable performances
