Lecture 8: Acting
Heat (1995)
Directed by Michael Mann
Professor Michael Green
Previous Lecture
• A Brief History of
Sound
• The Three
Components of Film
Sound
– Dialogue
– Sounds Effects
– Music
• The Relationship
between Sound and
Image
• The Piano
2
This Lecture
• Stage and movie
acting – similarities
and differences
• Robert De Niro as
star actor
• De Niro’s
performance in
Raging Bull (1980)
3
Stage and Movie and Acting
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
4
Lecture 8: Part I
Stage Acting
• Generally receives less
recognition than movie
acting.
• Emphasizes roles not
confused with the actor’s
life.
• Is often evaluated by the
actor’s ability to succeed in
well-known roles, such as
Hamlet, King Lear, Willy
Lohman or Blanche DuBois.
Cate Blanchette as Blanche
DuBois
5
Stage Performance
• Is done in one space
and time, before a
live audience.
• It requires sustained
focus for the 2-3
hours of a play.
• The acting styles are
different to reach
different audiences.
6
Film Acting
•
•
Successful film actors
are usually famous and
well compensated.
Such star film actors
are often seen as
having a distinctive,
appealing identity that
they present in all their
roles: Brad Pitt, Mel
Gibson, Julia Roberts.
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No Repertory of Roles
•
•
Film roles are usually
done just once. Movie
actors perform a part
and go on to others.
There is no repertory
of great roles in
cinema as in theater,
as a way to evaluate
acting, though movies
are often remade.
Robert De Niro in the remake of
Cape Fear (1991)
8
Performing in Pieces
• Movie actors
generally
perform for just
a few minutes at
a time, spread
out over the
weeks or
months in which
a film is shot.
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Challenges for Movie Actors
• Lack of Rehearsal
• Out of Continuity
Shooting
• No Audience
• Impact of Other
Contributors, Film
Technology
• Boredom/Frustration
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Out of Continuity Shooting
• Out of continuity shooting is cost efficient.
• The filmmakers can get all shots in one
location at one time.
• Scenes are shot with master shot and
coverage (often without other actors).
• The actor must know the character so well
that he or she can play scenes – or even
individual lines – out of order.
11
Limited Control
• Actors often have
limited control over
their performance.
• The director,
editor, producer
and others help
decide how the
actor will appear.
Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski,
director Steven Spielberg and actor
Diego Luna on the set of The Terminal
(2004).
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Controlling the Image
• Some actors learn
about filmmaking to
have more control
over their own image.
• Marlene Dietrich, for
example, learned
about lighting and
cinematography.
• Clint Eastwood often
directs himself.
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Brad Pitt
• Jeff Kurland, the
costume designer
from Ocean’s
Eleven, has said
that Brad Pitt was
very involved in
developing the
costumes his
character, Rusty
Ryan, wore.
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Summary Film vs. Stage Acting
• Fame and Fortune
• Collaborative
Performances
• One and Done
• Less Recognition
• Live Performance =
Creative Responsibility
• Standard of Famous
Roles
15
Early Movie Acting
• Used emotive,
conventional gestures
from theater.
• Stage actors need to
project to audience to
overcome distance.
• As closer framing brought
viewer nearer, film actors
became more restrained.
• Watch the clip.
16
Lillian Gish in Birth of a
Nation (1915)
Method Acting
• Most Influential Acting
Style in Movies
• Based on
Psychological Realism
of Russian Theater
Director Constantin
Stanislavski
• Adapted by teacher
Stella Adler and actorteacher Lee Strasberg
Constantin Stanislavski
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Inhabiting the Character
• Method actors
connect feelings of
character with their
own experiences to
create performances.
• Marlon Brando, along
with James Dean,
was one of the first
prominent method
actors
On the Waterfront (1954)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Method Approach
• Method actors do a lot of
research and preparation
• De Niro:
– Lived in Sicily for The
Godfather, Part II (1974)
– Drove cab 3 months for Taxi
Driver (1976)
– Did interviews with Vietnam
veterans for Jackknife (1989)
– Went on busts for Midnight
Run (1988)
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Emotional Reality in Story
• Method actors seek
“moments of truth.”
• They express that
truth with their
voice, facial
expressions, body
and props.
• Watch the scene
from The Hustler.
The Hustler (1961)
Directed by Robert Rossen
Technical Approach
• Good, well-trained
actors need not identify
with character or draw
on their own
experiences
• They rely instead on
training and technique,
“pretending” to be the
character, not feeling
as though they need to
inhabit the character.
Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man (1976)
Laurence Olivier, Technical Actor
• Royal Shakespeare actor,
classically trained
• Bragged that during his
“To Be Or Not To Be”
soliloquy from Hamlet,
while the audience was
on the edge of their seats,
he was thinking about
what wine he was going
to have for dinner later
that evening.
Robert De Niro: Star Actor
Raging Bull (1980)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
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Lecture 8: Part II
Recognition
Academy Awards:
• Best Supporting Actor for The
Godfather, Part II (1974)
• Best Actor for Raging Bull
(1980)
• Nominated for Taxi Driver
(1976), The Deer Hunter
(1978), Awakenings (1990),
Cape Fear (1991)
Critical Praise
• “Robert De Niro is nearly incapable of a
thoughtless performance. . . . [He] has
been a prolific screen actor, appearing in
an astonishing variety of roles both
starring and supporting, and playing each
with equal aplomb [complete and
confident composure or self-assurance].”
– Robin Wood
Known for Angry, Violent
Characters
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Taxi Driver (1976)
Raging Bull (1980)
The Untouchables (1987)
GoodFellas (1990)
Cape Fear (1991)
Analyze This (1999)
Meet the Parents (2000)
A Shark’s Tale (2004)
“Choked Rage”
• [De Niro’s] often
fearsome screen
presence . . . full
of choked rage”
--Fred Schruers in
Rolling Stone
• Watch the clips from
The Untouchables
and GoodFellas
The Untouchables (1987)
Directed by Brian DePalma
Combined Approach
• De Niro creates/inhabits
the character
• He was trained in
Method by Stella Adler
• But he also uses
Technical Skills:
• Research
• Physical Transformation
• Improvisation
Midnight Run (1988)
Directed by Martin Brest
Good Acting Requires
Creative Control
• “Good acting is
based on . . .
authorship.”
– Barry King
Jackie Brown (1997)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
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Parodies of Masculinity
• De Niro’s extreme anger, violence as
critique of tough, violent masculinity
• Such anti-social behavior conceals fears
about other desires (connection,
vulnerability).
• Analyze This (1999), Meet the Parents
(2003), Stardust (2007)
Parodies of Masculinity (Example)
Analyze This (1999 )
Directed by Harold Ramis:
"If I talk to you, and you turn me into a fag... I’m gonna’ kill you, you
understand?"
Revisionist Roles: Alternative
Masculinity
Acting as Social Critique
Vietnam Veteran in The Deer Hunter (1978),
Vigilante in Taxi Driver (1976), Loving
Dad in A Bronx Tale (1993)
De Niro in Raging Bull
Raging Bull (1980)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
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Lecture 8: Part III
De Niro’s Preparation
• Research – Time with
Vicki LaMotta
• Training – Jake
LaMotta: De Niro as
good as ranked
middleweight
• Transformation: After
fight scenes shot,
gained 60 lbs. to play
older LaMotta.
Dysfunction and Rage
• LaMotta’s jealousy, self-loathing and anger
is manifested as violence.
• De Niro uses failure of language and
excessive weight to represent Jake’s
frustration and lost control.
• Watch the Clip
Sugar Ray Robinson
• Fought LaMotta
six times
• Robinson won five
• In 1951 Robinson
128-1-2
• Welterweight and
Middleweight
Champ
Clip 2: Last Robinson Fight
• Dark, Expressionist
Setting
• Point of View shots
show us Jake’s
perspective
• Show What’s in
Jake’s Mind
• Masochism attempt
to assert control in
defeat
Whiteness
• Richard Dyer: Identity based on feelings of
unjustified racial superiority.
• LaMotta’s Obsession with control involves
a sense of self as White.
• LaMotta sees Robinson as dark monster
representing his loss of control, dominance
over others.
• He equates Blackness with loss of control.
De Niro’s Acting as Social Critique
• LaMotta’s Masculinity is defined as
domination of others (and Others).
• He destroys himself and those around him.
• De Niro’s performance in collaboration with
Director Martin Scorsese aims to criticize
violence and the negative effects of the
culturally enforced roles of masculinity
through filmmaking techniques such as
cinematography, mise-en-scene and sound.
Summary
• Movie and Stage
Acting
• Robert De Niro as
Star Actor
• De Niro’s
Performance in
Raging Bull (1980)
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End of Lecture 8
Next Lecture: Stars/George Clooney
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