Chapter 4: Acting
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Acting in Film vs. Theater
Five unique characteristics that shape
film acting
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007

Lack of rehearsal
 Budgetary
factors create shortage of time
 Director attitudes

Shooting Out of Continuity
 Economies
of time and cost determine shooting
order of scenes
 Shooting close-ups and coverage
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
Amplification of gesture and expressions
 Camera
and microphone magnify performance
 Encourage restrained style of performance

Minimalist styles

Clint Eastwood
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007

Lighting, Lenses and Effects Work
 Hitting

the mark
Performer should know how camera reads scene
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
Depth of field
Lens angle of view
Contrast range – lighting falloff
Camera movement
 Greenscreening
Playing to nonexistent sets and characters
 Scene fully assembled during post-production
compositing

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
Lack of a live audience
 Can’t
calibrate performance according to
audience response
 Chaplin
 Other comedy
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Stars

The Star Persona
 Composite
personality established across many
films
 Greater than the performance in any single film

Personality stars and Character stars
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Technical Acting
Dominant style of screen performance
during 1930s-1950s
 Lack of introspection
 Creation of character from the ‘outside’

 James

Cagney and White Heat (1949)
Imitating the sounds rather than feeling the emotions
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Method

Method Acting
 Brought
to cinema in the 1950s by new
generation of actors
Paul Newman, Shelly Winters, Montgomery Clift
 Marlon Brando


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
On the Waterfront (1954)
The Godfather (1972)
Last Tango in Paris (1973)
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Method
Internalized, richly psychological
performance style
 Formal training at New York’s Actor’s
Studio

 Emotional
memory and sense recall exercises
 Emphasis on inhabiting the character
psychologically
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
The Actor as an Element of
Visual Design
Unique body language of the performer
 Choreographing performance

 Integrating
it with lighting, camera position and
movement

Typage
 Social
 Psychological
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007
Performance, Emotion
and Audience Response
 Interpretive
response
Facial and gestural components
 Influences emotional response

 Emotional

response
Empathy
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2007