Characterisation
August Rush
The Acting
• Good actors can show a character’s inner life
though their facial expression and body
language. “Acting is not the things you say.
It’s the things you don’t say.” Dame Judi
Dench
– Who do you think did a good acting job in August
Rush?
Use of Costume
• Costume is a useful shortcut in drama and
film, to give us an immediate idea of how we
are supposed to see characters.
– How has costume been used to assist
characterisation?
Use of Light, Sound, Music,
Cinematography, Camera Angles
• Characterisation is helped considerably by
these cinematic techniques – though they
leave little for us to do but respond.
– Look particularly for the use of high angle and low
angle shots to suggest power, threat, vulnerability
etc. Look for the way light and music especially
are used to increase our sympathy for or
identification with a character.