3-MONTH DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMME
Back Row to Close-Up
A Screen Acting and Self-Tape Course for Stage Actors
For actors trained on the stage who are now asked for self-tapes. Over twelve weeks of distance learning you film your own tapes at home, and your tutor answers each one with a written letter. Week by week the tapes become a casting package in four genres, filmed and finished by you, in English.
The presentation describes the programme week by week. We send it to you personally.
DURATION
12 weeks, about 7 hours a week
FORMAT
Distance learning, in English
FEEDBACK
A written letter on every tape
TUITION
€2,450
From the back row to the close-up
On stage you play to the back row. On a self-tape the audience sits an arm's length away.
For many film, series and commercial productions, the first round of casting is now a self-tape. The request arrives as a written brief with a deadline a few days away, and you film it at home, as actor, camera operator, lighting, sound and editor at once.
Stage training gives you text, partner work and presence. The camera asks for a different size. A performance built for the back row can read as too much in a close-up, and a dark face or an echo in the room can hide good acting before anyone sees it. Once a tape is sent, the usual answer is silence.
Back Row to Close-Up trains this situation on your own tapes, one week at a time, with a tutor who watches each of them.
Who the programme is for
The programme is written for actors with stage training or stage experience who now work, or want to work, on camera. Most come to it from one of three situations.
01
Actors coming from the stage
You work in a repertory or independent company, or did until recently. Self-tape requests now arrive between rehearsals and performances, and you want a reliable way to answer them.
02
Actors auditioning in English
You trained and worked on stage in your own language, at home or in a new country. The castings you want to reach ask for tapes in English, and your casting profile has photographs and an empty video section.
03
Experienced actors returning to castings
You have years of stage work behind you, or you stepped away for a while. Meanwhile the self-tape has become the usual first round, and an agent or a platform asks you for current material.
The programme also suits recent drama school graduates building a first casting package, and musical theatre and physical theatre performers who work with text.
Applicants are 18 or older and have stage training or stage experience and working English. Every tape in the programme is in English from the first week.
What the programme gives you
Attention to every tape
Your tutor watches each tape you send and answers in writing. The letter gives one main correction, with the timecode where it shows on your tape, so you always know what to work on next.
The programme's authors read the letters
Sergei Ostrenko and Gennadiy Ostrenko, who developed the programme, read the letters your tutor writes.
Tapes in English
Every tape is filmed in English, so you finish with material for castings that work in English, wherever you are based.
Four genres in one programme
Drama, comedy, commercials and presenting each have their own block, so your package shows your range on camera.
A routine you keep
A corner at home you can set up in ten minutes, a way to check a tape before it leaves and a routine for answering a brief within its deadline. The aim is that you film, finish and send a tape on your own.
A schedule that fits a working actor
You choose when to work within each week, so the programme fits around rehearsals, performances and other work. You film every tape on your own phone, with one ordinary lamp, in a corner of your home.
What you can do with it
What you build in twelve weeks is material and skill you can put to work.
Answer a self-tape request within its deadline, with a tape you have checked for frame, light, sound and file before it leaves.
Add four tapes and a showreel in English to your casting platform profiles, within each platform's rules.
Approach agents and casting professionals with current material that shows how you work on camera today.
Go into commercial and presenter castings knowing which questions to ask about usage, buyout and exclusivity before you sign.
Prepare for a live audition by video call, the step that can follow a self-tape.
Keep filming after the programme, with the same corner and the same routine.
Roles, representation and replies to a tape depend on much more than any programme, and NIPAI makes no promise of them. Casting platforms, unions and the right to work differ from country to country, and in Week 12 you check them for the market where you work. Work with an agent, work on a film set and voice training are subjects of their own, outside this programme.
What you work on
Twelve weeks in four blocks, after an introductory week. Each block adds part of your casting package.
01
WEEKS 1 TO 4
Drama on camera
Your corner at home, a speech in a close-up, a scene for two with a reader and a dramatic self-tape to a casting brief.
02
WEEKS 5 TO 7
Comedy on camera
Comedy played from what the character needs, timing in a close frame, and a comedic self-tape with a second take after a written redirect.
03
WEEKS 8 TO 10
Commercial and presenter
A thirty-second commercial to an advertising brief, a presenter piece spoken straight to the lens, and the questions to ask about usage, buyout and exclusivity before you sign.
04
WEEKS 11 AND 12
Your casting package
A showreel cut from your own course footage, an online card with real photographs, a one-page CV and a contact email, and a routine for sending your work to a casting brief.
The programme presentation describes every week.
What you finish with
01
A casting package
a dramatic self-tape
a comedic self-tape
a commercial tape
a presenter tape
a showreel cut from your own course footage
an online card that links to all of them
02
Twelve letters on your own work
From Week 1 to Week 12, to reread before your next audition.
03
NIPAI Certificate
A private professional certificate issued by NIPAI when you complete the whole programme and submit every assignment on time.
Who teaches the programme
The programme was developed at NIPAI by Sergei Ostrenko and Gennadiy Ostrenko. Your tutor, Alisa Zichuk, leads it and writes every letter.
TUTOR
Alisa Zichuk
Actress, director, acting teacher and visual storyteller, based in Prague. Alisa has worked with cameras for about twelve years, and she directed, filmed and edited her medium-length film Falsely Coherent Pattern herself. As an actress she has worked on screen in productions in the Czech Republic, Georgia and Ukraine, and on stage in Prague, in Czech and in English. She teaches acting at the private acting school Jsemherec. On your tapes she watches your acting together with the frame, the light and the cut.
PROGRAMME
Sergei Ostrenko
Director, choreographer and teacher of acting and theatre directing, and Head of the Theatre Department at NIPAI. Sergei began in theatre in 1979 as a stage designer, continued his education as an actor and then as a director, and made his directing debut in 1986 with Gogol's The Government Inspector. He has taught in professional theatre education since 1988, at the Latvian Academy of Culture, the University of Calgary and Rosebud School of the Arts, among others, and has directed dozens of productions with international casts and creative teams.
PROGRAMME
Gennadiy Ostrenko
Movement director, stage designer and teacher of theatre biomechanics. Gennadiy designed the Theatre Biomechanics programme for performers, based on Meyerhold's research, and works with improvisation, stage combat and tai chi; he also teaches the biomechanics of working with firearms for the camera. He has been part of the IUGTE and NIPAI production team since 2004.
Other NIPAI programmes
3 MONTHS
Digital Presence for Performing Artists
Professional visibility for performing artists, built on your own work.
5 DAYS · BERLIN
Text, Voice & Physical Action
The International Physical Theatre Workshop with Sergei and Gennadiy Ostrenko.
Programme details
Duration
12 weeks, after an introductory week
Weekly time
About 7 hours a week; Week 1 is lighter, at about 4 hours
Format
Distance learning, with a written lecture and an assignment each week and a written letter from your tutor on every tape
Language
English, for every tape from Week 1
Tuition
€2,450
Paid in one payment.
Tutor
Alisa Zichuk
Developed by
Sergei Ostrenko and Gennadiy Ostrenko
Entry requirements
Aged 18 or over, a high school diploma, stage training or stage experience, and working English
What you need
A phone that films video in 1080p, one lamp, earphones and a quiet corner at home; from Week 3, someone to read the other part of a scene; from Week 4, a laptop or a tablet to check your files
Admission
Send the application form with your CV and links to your work. Each application is reviewed individually; registration, a study contract and enrolment documents follow.
Certificate
NIPAI Certificate, issued when you complete the whole programme and submit every assignment on time
Start dates
Contact us for the dates of the next intake.
Terms
Participation is governed by the NIPAI Terms and Conditions.
Next step
Programme presentation
Every week of the programme in detail, what you need at home and how admission works. We send it to you personally.
A question about your situation
Tell us where you trained, where you work now and the market you want to be seen in. You can also ask for the dates of the next intake.
Application
Send the application form with your CV and links to your work. Each application is reviewed individually.
Frequently asked questions
I already film self-tapes. Is the programme for me?
Week 1 is the lightest week, since it sets up the corner every later tape is filmed in. From Week 2 the work is acting on camera, through a speech in a close-up, a scene with a reader, a tape to a brief, comedy, a redirect, a commercial and a presenter piece. Send a recent tape with your application, and we will tell you how the programme fits your level.
Can acting on camera be learned at a distance?
The programme works on your own recordings, the same kind of material a casting sees in a first round. Each week you film a tape, your tutor answers it in writing, and your next tape shows whether the correction has landed.
Are there live classes?
The programme is taught in writing, on your own recordings, and you choose when to work within each week. Week 7 prepares you for a live audition by video call, which you rehearse with your reader.
What do I need at home?
Your phone, a table and a few books to hold it, one lamp, a sheet of white paper or card, and earphones. From Week 3 you need someone to read the other part of a scene, and for some ways of reading a second device, such as another phone, a tablet or a laptop. From Week 4 you check your files on a laptop or a tablet, and in Week 11 you edit your showreel on a computer, an iPhone or an iPad.
I have no one to read with.
Your reader can sit in the room with you, join you on a video call, record the lines in advance for you to hear in an earphone, or read on a phone call. As a last resort you can record the other part yourself. Your tutor assesses every route in the same way.
English is my second language.
Every tape is in English from Week 1, and the texts you perform were written by NIPAI for the programme. If your English is limited, write to us before you apply.
How much time does it take?
Plan for about seven hours a week. Week 1 is lighter, at about four hours. Most of the time goes into setting up, learning your text, filming, watching your takes and choosing the best one.
When does the next intake start?
Start dates are sent by email. Contact us, and we will send you the dates of the next intake.
Will the programme get me work?
Roles, representation and replies to a tape depend on much more than any programme, and NIPAI makes no promise of them. What you take away is a casting package and a routine for filming, checking and sending a tape on your own, for every request that follows.
Can I use my tapes after the programme?
Yes. In Week 12 NIPAI gives you permission to use your own recordings of the course texts in your casting materials and on the internet. If your reader can be heard on a tape, your reader gives their own written consent for that use.
What kind of certificate do I receive?
The NIPAI Certificate is a private professional certificate issued by NIPAI. It is issued when you complete the whole programme and submit every assignment on time. Casting platforms and schools set their own rules on which training they recognise.