Film

Snippets of Film Theory (my own variety)

I’ve created and taught/teach/tutor a class called “Acting and the Camera”; this is not “Acting for the Camera” nor is it “Acting with the Camera”. The distinction is small but crucial: “Acting and the Camera”

Let me explain.

Storytelling is a pie and acting is only one piece of it. The more an actor understands the function and specifics of the pieces of that whole pie, the better that actor can perform his/her individual piece.

Put more simply, you got to know what is going on around you. You got to know what they are trying to accomplish and how you can help them accomplish this. Therefore, know all the jobs on a film set. Know some basic elements of film: The Line Rule, The Kuleshev Effect, a Maguffin, a Dutch Angle, a two shot, spiking the camera, slating and much, much more. OH! & Before I forget, every actor should know this: never call “cut” during a take.

Once you know these—as if it were some small easily acquired thing, it’s not; it too is a process, so, once you start to familiarize yourself with the rest of that busy, swirling pie going on all around you, you’re ready to get in front of the camera. And nothing will teach you the nuances of performance like watching yourself on film.

But before all that, here’s a good place to start:

A good place to start

The camera is like a microscope. It wants to see into you, into your soul. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul and in the case of acting with the camera, this is especially true. Watch anything on TV or on the movie screen, you will see the camera looking into the people that come in front of it. It directs the attention of the viewer as best it can but there is some amount of human nature that draws the observer to the eye of the image.

Once you’re aware of this, you’ll notice that these images, these people aren’t blinking much. Their eyes are open, fixed and very specific. This allows us to see in. The observer wants to see in. People see movies not to live vicariously but to live. In order to feel fulfilled in this way, the observer wants to get into the characters, know them, understand them, and go on their journey. This is accomplished by looking into their eyes.

Think about this next time you’re watching film or TV. More importantly, take this with you into the day-to-day. Observe how people are in life. See if you can turn that on yourself. How are you? Can you blink as a choice and not a reflex?

It’s time to start thinking about what you’re looking at and how you’re looking at it. Train your eyes. Don’t blink. Begin to look at the world around you with an open heart, a readiness and some sense of life within you, behind your eyes. Tear down the walls and let the eyes tell it all. Are you really looking? As a director once quizzed me, “Are you actually, actually looking?”

Don’t look like you’re looking, really look.

(The above is—in a sentence—the culmination of three years of graduate study. The answer to the $35,ooo dollar question. In other words, I just saved you $35,ooo)

And let us not forget James Cagney who advised “Find your mark, look the other fellow in the eye, and tell the truth.”