Read Acting in Film for Free Online Page B

six cups, and your lips will twitch.
    But whether you're supposed to be tense or relaxed in a scene, hang on to the knowledge that everyone is there to get the greatest performance from you that you've ever given. Don't be intimidated by anyone. Everybody's on your side. They all want you to be great. I've produced movies and I can tell you that if I put you in a movie, I want you to be great, even more than you want to be great.

    The electrician will scramble up on the catwalks to set the light so that there's no glint in your eye; you've got seventy or eighty people concentrating on getting your best face on that screen and helping you say the line right. You may think, "I've got to do something, otherwise I'm not going to be interesting." But if you can attain that basic relaxation, that's all you need. Just block everybody out and relax. No one's going to kill you; no one's going to upset you. Everything is being done to help you do it right, because film acting is bloody difficult work, and everybody knows that.

    ®1979 Warner Bros Inc.
    BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE
    Directed by Irwin Allen. Warner Brothers, 1979. 1 .1 - 11 -.11
    Pictured with Sally Fuld.

     

The
Take

    "Acting is not a competition; everything must be done for the good of the film or else everybody loses."

     

CLOSE-UPS AND CONTINUITY
    Film people admire professionals. Given a choice between two actors (all else being equal), professionalism will be the deciding factor. Competence is a crucial, basic quality treasured far more than erratic brilliance. It implies an understanding of the extra disciplines that filming demands. You've got to know how to help the camera. In a close-up, the camera lens magnifies your actions, so you have to know how to scale down the action of your performance without losing the intensity as the shot gets tighter. The film actor knows how to reduce a performance physically but not mentally. In fact, oddly enough, your mind should work even harder in a close-up than it does during other shots because in the close-up, the performance is all in your eyes; you can't use the rest of your body to express yourself.
The Eyes Have It
    When you are the on-camera actor in a close-up, never shift your focus from one eye to the other. Sounds odd, doesn't it? But when you look at something, one of your eyes leads. So during a close-up, be especially careful not to change whichever eye you are leading with. It's an infinitesimal thing, but noticeable on the screen. The camera misses nothing! Another tip from my own experience: when it is my close-up being shot, I pick the off-camera actor's eye that is closest to the camera and look at it with my eye that is furthest from the camera. This turns my face more squarely toward the camera, so as much of my full face as possible is in the shot.

    01971 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Irx.
    GET CARTER
    Directed by Michael Hodges. MGM, 1971.

    And I don't blink. Blinking makes your character seem weak. Try it yourself: say the same line twice, first blinking and then not blinking. I practiced not blinking to excess when I first made this discovery, went around not blinking all the time and probably disconcerted a lot of people. But by not blinking you will appear strong on screen. Remember: on film that eye can be eight feet across.
    I emphasize the eyes because that's where it all happens, especially in a close-up. Don't make faces. What I call "pulling faces" happens when an actor is insecure and starts signaling to the audience. He sends messages, facial twitches, that indicate "This is what you're supposed to feel," or "This is where you're supposed to laugh." An audience picks up on that and will resent it. They don't want to be nudged into a reaction: they want to react spontaneously to what appears to be spontaneous. Just rely on your character's thought processes and your face will behave normally. It's no good practicing in front of a mirror because in the mirror is you-someone you've been