So You Want To Act On Screen? E-Book

Michael Bray

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Seitenzahl: 264

Beschreibung

An essential handbook for anyone who wants to act on television and film – by a leading teacher of screen acting.For any aspiring screen actor, the challenge is to combine all the components of your craft with an ability to handle the technical demands of acting for the camera within the often bewildering environment of a film set.Michael Bray takes you step by step through all the challenges you'll face, demystifying the processes you'll encounter, and helping you develop the necessary skills, including:How to approach the script and prepare your characterHow to maintain your concentration and learn to relax on setHow to deliver your lines and improve your vocal rangeHow to master continuity, eye lines, and hitting your marksHow to tackle auditions to ensure your best chance of getting the jobFull of invaluable advice, extracts from screenplays, numerous illustrations and practical exercises – which can be undertaken on your own, using the camera on your phone – this book is an accessible and authoritative guide to developing a successful career as a screen actor.

Leseprobe

SO YOU WANT TO

ACT ON SCREEN?

Michael Bray

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Dedication

Introduction: Screen versus Stage

Acknowledgements

PART ONE: PROCESS

The Six Myths of Screen Acting

How to Fill a Moment with Thought

How to Find Screen Moments

How to Reveal Your Thoughts to Camera

Preparation

Receiving the Script

Discovering the Character

Unearthing the Motivation

Delivering the Lines

Deciding the Super-objective

Finding the Context

Stimulating the Imagination

Choosing Your Costume

Concentration

Improving Your Concentration

Focusing Your Memory

Sharpening Your Senses

Relaxation

PART TWO: PRACTICE

Film-making

The Crew

The Process

Technical Skills

Single-camera Shooting

Continuity

Eyelines

Frame Sizes

Dialogue

Hitting Marks

Voice

Vocal Range

Walking and Talking

Character and Accents

Voice Production

Casting and Interviews

Casting Breakdowns

Understanding Your Casting

Interviews

Adverts

Conclusion: Final Tips

About the Author

Copyright Information

To Sara, Gabriel and Rose

Introduction

Screen versus Stage

What makes one screen performance better than another? Why are Al Pacino’s screen performances so fascinating? What makes his characters bristle with energy? How does Kate Winslet reveal her thoughts so clearly to the audience? What makes Cate Blanchett so believable? Cary Grant so charming? George Clooney so likeable? Tom Hardy so sexy?

There are any number of actors who are unique and talented but somehow have not fulfilled their potential in front of the camera and, similarly, many whose great stage careers simply haven’t transferred to the screen. Why is this? In part because they lack the screen-acting techniques that would let their talent shine through; the basic skills that would enable them to give the screen performances of which they are truly capable.

I trained as an actor thirty years ago and had a successful career in theatre, film and television before moving into directing film, so I’ve seen this from both sides of the camera. I’ve worked both with brilliant screen actors and, of course, good actors who just didn’t cut it in front of the camera.

So what made the difference? Their process. The process they go through to achieve a performance and the techniques they employ to reveal it to the camera. Sadly, in many cases it’s a lack of technique that is revealed.

When I began my acting career there was little or no training for the screen. There still isn’t enough. The accepted wisdom was that an actor learned to act, then adapted those skills for screen acting. It was only when I started directing film that I realised this assumption was nonsense. While you’re actually filming, there’s little or no time to teach an actor the basics. Nor do you want to have to coax a performance from them as you would in the theatre. You need actors who can arrive on set having done all the necessary preparation, so that their character is fully rounded and ready to be revealed on screen. You need actors who understand the rhythm of film-making, who can enter the world of the character completely, despite being surrounded on all sides by equipment and crew.

So I started to analyse what it is that makes a good screen performance, and how it can be achieved. What I discovered is that actors have to make some simple but profound changes to the way they approach their craft, the text and their preparation.

This book will give you a clear insight into the art of screen acting, enabling you to deliver performances that will both satisfy you as a creative artist and impress industry professionals, so that they want to employ you again. The book contains exercises and observations that will help you avoid basic errors in your preparation and guide you towards creating exciting, real characters that you can deliver on professional film sets, under the exacting time pressure that today’s industry places on the actor.

The book is designed to be read from beginning to end as a step-by-step guide to the art of screen acting, although those who wish to tackle particular acting problems can just dip into it, as can those who have done a number of film and television jobs but feel that they could have done better or want to re-examine their own methods. The exercises can be done easily at home with a video camera or just on a smartphone. You will also need a friend to be your camera operator, preferably someone you can trust not to burst out laughing as you work. Starting to learn the basics of camera craft away from the pressured environment of a studio or a film location will help you tremendously, but for much of the work you will need only yourself, a notebook and your own insight. Remember, this work is not to be viewed by anyone other than yourself. It’s a learning tool, not a showreel, so don’t worry too much about location and lighting, or quality of picture: that’s not the point. The important thing is that you can see the action you have shot clearly.

All the exercises have been designed for single-camera shooting, which means that each angle of the scene is shot with one camera. Consequently, the scene is repeated many times and might even be shot out of sequence, depending how the camera is being moved. Multi-camera work is closer to theatre, in that you will run a scene through and it is then shot by three or more cameras, which are positioned and moved to follow the blocking of the scene. Some television companies still use this system, mostly for soap operas and the occasional comedy programme, but it’s relatively rare these days.

Single-camera shooting, then, is the standard method for both film and television drama, the major differences between the two being time and money. On a big-budget film you might shoot between two and five minutes of footage a day. On a typical television series, however, you would shoot around eight to twelve minutes of useable footage, and some television series film as many as twenty pages in a day. The number of pages shot varies enormously. A lot of low-budget films shoot as much footage in a day as television, and many big television series – especially those currently being made by companies like HBO, Sky, Netflix and Amazon – are much closer in their daily ratio to big-budget films. The shooting process is much the same, some are just shot much more quickly than others. A film will probably do fewer ‘set-ups’ than television, so there’s more sitting around, whereas in television you will be shooting constantly and mostly in mid-shot, with lots more dialogue. More about all this later, but for now let’s just begin by considering the basics…

What is screen acting, and is it really any different from stage acting? Well, yes, it’s almost completely different. Although stage and screen acting have the same root, in that you are trying to make a character as real as possible within the world created by the writer – as Sanford Meisner said, ‘living truthfully under imagined circumstances’ – the process by which you arrive at a performance, and the environment in which you deliver it, are so different as to be virtually two distinct art forms. Let’s compare these differences.

The most fundamental difference is the process you go through in creating a performance. Stage acting is linear and organic. The process begins on day one with a read-through of the script, and after that you, the other actors and the director are in a private rehearsal space, working together towards the first night. Good, bad or indifferent, you have shared the creative process; you have watched each others’ performances develop over the weeks of rehearsal. You are focused on, and share together in, the terrifying pleasure of the first night. When you walk on stage at the beginning of the performance you know what your fellow actors are going to do. You all start at the beginning and move in a direct narrative line towards the end of the play, knowing how and when to build to the play’s climax. In theatre, the audience are very much a part of the stage performance: they imagine the play along with the actors. As the late director Sir Peter Hall said, ‘Theatre is the last place left in our society where people imagine together.’

When Romeo and Juliet lie in bed at the end of Act Three and discuss whether Juliet heard the nightingale or the lark, the audience does not need to see the first glimmers of sunrise creeping through the window. Shakespeare has conveyed all this through the dialogue. The stage actor uses this shared imaginative energy to complete the illusion.

The experience of an actor on a film set, however, is completely different. Screen acting is non-linear and non-organic, and in that single phrase lies the crucial difference of approach. To begin with, the script is usually shot out of sequence, and you don’t get to do detailed rehearsals with the other actors before you shoot your scenes. You may shoot the scene where you leave your husband before the scene in which he proposes to you. You might start the shoot with a passionate bed scene, making love to an actor you only met a few hours earlier. You might kill someone before you meet them.

Because of ever-tighter budgets, hardly any film or television directors get the luxury of rehearsals. So no matter what you had in mind when you were preparing your role at home, it’s very likely that the actors with whom you are playing your scenes are completely different from the way you imagined them. Their portrayal of the role and delivery of the lines will be quite different from what you had envisaged. You have to be adaptable and make it work. After all, it will be your face on the screen. If you give a wooden performance – especially in speedily shot television – the viewers won’t blame the director for getting the casting of the other parts wrong. They’ll just think you weren’t very good.

So, acting on screen you don’t have the advantage of a shared rehearsal period, or the help of the audience’s imagination. You arrive on the film set having never seen what the other actors are doing. You’ve done all the preparation and character development on your own. Every choice you have made, you have made alone, until the moment that you reveal your character to the director and the rest of the crew at the start of the shoot. That’s the harsh reality of screen acting today.

Film and television acting demands enormous courage if you are to succeed. You have to be brave to be good. And to be brave, you need to know what you’re doing.

That is the purpose of this book: to offer techniques on how to prepare your performance for the screen, how to deliver it on the day and how to sustain it over a long shoot or television series.

Summary

•   The difference between screen acting and theatre is the process:

Theatre is linear and organic.

Screen is non-linear and non-organic.

•   ‘Acting is living truthfully under imagined circumstances.’

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all actors featured in the photographs in this book, including Benjamin Adnams, Elizabet Altube, Louisa Boscawen, Frances Brennand Roper, Joshua Diffley, Colin James, Joshua MacLennan, George Phail, Luke Pickett and Mathias Swann; photographs by Mark Duffield and Robert Hamilton.

Scenes from Gosford Park by Julian Fellowes, based on an idea by Robert Altman and Bob Balaban, copyright © 2001 USA Films, LLC, published and reproduced by permission of Nick Hern Books Ltd.

PART ONE

Process

The Six Myths of Screen Acting

Socrates wrote that ‘It is by finding out what something is not that one comes closest to understanding what it is.’ To understand what good screen acting is, we first have to discover what it isn’t. There are some very common myths about how you do it:

•     Screen acting is ‘smaller’ than stage acting.

•     You only need to think a thought and the camera will see it in your eyes.

•     Screen acting is easier than stage acting because you are in the location that fits the scene and you will find it easier to be natural.

•     Because you do a lot of takes you are bound to get a good performance.

•     You need to do less with your face and body.

•     You are less nervous because no one is watching you.

These are the most common assumptions about screen acting – and all of them are wrong. Not only are they wrong, but they can jeopardise a screen career. Through repetition these half-truths have become accepted facts, and by damaging the way screen acting is approached, they can make good actors give bad screen performances.

I’m going to tackle these assumptions head-on and explain why they are wrong, so that we have a clearer picture of what makes good screen acting.

Myth 1: Screen acting is smaller than stage acting

Lots of actors talk about toning down their work for the screen; ‘pulling it in’, ‘making it more internal’. Basically, this manifests itself in them doing less. Terrified of doing too much, they end up doing far too little and risk making their performance flat and boring.

But the oversized performances that they fear belong to another age, when actors were used to playing big theatres that demanded an exaggerated and demonstrative style. Although such acting has fallen out of fashion, modern actors are still aware of its pitfalls and often underplay a role in an effort to appear more ‘real’ on camera. But by misunderstanding the saying ‘less is more’, they tend to react passively to what is going on in the scene, and passivity is boring to watch. It’s dull for the director to edit and ultimately it’s death to a screen career. What really needs to be toned down for screen acting is the vocal level. There’s more on this in a later section, but let me state it here at the outset because it’s crucial.

The way to avoid these small, cautious performances is to have confidence: make bolder choices whilst being as real as possible. As long as you are being truthful and real, you can forget about the size of the performance. As Marlon Brando said, ‘Don’t act; be.’

Myth 2: An actor only needs to think the thought and the camera will record it

That you can just think something and the camera will pick it up as if by magic is an odd idea but, again, widely believed. And, again, it’s not true. I’ve heard any number of actors explaining that they are thinking complex and well-researched thoughts. I don’t doubt that they are, but unfortunately the camera can’t see it.

You have to reveal your character’s thoughts to the camera, and to do this you have both to understand the process of film-making and know how to prepare and structure your thinking. Later on I’ll give you a number of exercises to improve your ability to reveal your thoughts to camera. Remember Ingmar Bergman’s words: ‘The camera is not a mirror. The camera doesn’t reflect. It reveals.’

Myth 3: Location gives the actor greater reality

The location may be nothing like the one intended in the script. I once shot a judge’s summing-up in the stairwell of a London pub because the wooden panelling looked like a courtroom and the production company could not afford a real court for such a small insert. The actor had to make the situation real through his performance. The location looked great on camera but it did little to help him: he was wearing a wig and judge’s gown but he was still sitting on the floor of a pub.

Even if the location fits the scene perfectly, the way the scene is shot may take away any advantage this gives the actor. Pub scenes frequently throw up this problem. The way people would sit together naturally does not work for the camera, so actors find themselves being asked to cheat themselves slightly to the left or lean in a bit, until they are perched in positions that are far from natural or comfortable but look real on the camera. And all that interesting background of people chatting, drinking and laughing, everything that gives the scene so much authenticity, is actually shot in total silence, the extras miming their conversation and laughter. The sound that gives the scene such truth is all added later. In reality, you’d be sitting awkwardly at the bar, trying to look relaxed and real, surrounded by an enormous and intimidating film crew, a microphone inches from your head, and a piece of polystyrene reflecting light into your eyes.

At such moments an actor can only achieve reality through deep concentration. You must be able to project yourself into the world of the character completely, whilst monitoring your own performance and remaining creatively open to the other actors – all this and still be able to absorb the director’s notes. This is quite a feat and can only be achieved by practised concentration.

The great James Dean said that acting is ‘pure concentration’. We will explore in later sections how to expand your power of concentration and enter the world of the character more easily.

Myth 4: Many takes will ensure a good screen performance

Directors do many takes of a scene but this is not only to allow the actor to get it right. The director expects you to be line-perfect and ready to step into character on arrival. The first few takes might be lost because of sound issues or problems with background action, or maybe the camera is moving during the scene and it takes time to coordinate the crew.

What the director wants is for you to be totally convincing in character right from the first take. He wants to mould your performance, not have to coax it out of you. Nothing is more frustrating than watching an actor struggling to produce a performance. Once you reach take six or seven, and you’re still missing the emotional truth of the scene (or worse, fluffing lines), the pressure will start to crush any talent or confidence you had. You struggle with even the most basic moments of the scene. At this point the director and the producers will be starting to think about recasting. On film and in television you have no time to develop a performance: you must arrive with the character fully formed and ready to adapt to any situation that the director throws at you.

Later sections will deal extensively with the right level of preparation and relaxation needed to deal with the pressure of a modern film set. But let’s be clear that the more preparation you do, the more relaxed you will be on the day. Lots of actors, out of fear and ignorance, quickly learn their lines and hope they can wing it on the day.

But Spencer Tracy got it right when he said, ‘Once I get on set I just have to say the lines and hit my marks. The real work is done before I get there.’

Myth 5: Screen acting means doing less with your face and body

Believing that the camera can read their minds, actors do little or nothing with their bodies or faces, concentrating most of the character into the intonation of their voices. This is fine in most theatre productions, where the narrative is driven by dialogue, but it’s of no use in film. Screen acting is driven by thought, and each separate thought affects your breathing – and consequently your body – in some way, and that includes the face. Just watch how animated real people’s faces are, how they struggle to keep their thoughts and emotions from showing.

So it should be for the film actor. Rather than keeping your face blank, you should regard it as a canvas on which to reveal or hide the character’s thoughts. Your body should be free to reveal your character’s thinking, as opposed to being a repressed bundle of fear or passive neutrality.

As long as the reactions are driven by real thoughts, everything you do will be believable. More importantly, you’ll be giving the director material to work with in the edit. Far too often directors sit in the edit suite searching through the rushes for a reaction to cut to, only to discover that the actors have neutralised their facial reactions and body language and that they have nothing to work with.

In film and television drama, you need to reveal the inner thinking of your character, reacting and then suppressing reactions to the other characters and the situation. Things that the stage actor might think of as ‘upstaging’ – because they would draw attention away from the other actors as they were speaking – are absolutely necessary in screen acting. But you need the skill and knowledge to know when and how to do it. Keeping your face neutral and body tense loses you precious screen time.

As director Steven Spielberg remarked, ‘Acting is reacting.’

Myth 6: Nerves are easier to overcome in screen acting because there are fewer people watching

Nonsense. A film or a television set can be very, very frightening. You will arrive on set on your first day to discover that the crew have a camaraderie that you don’t yet share. Unless you are the star, to them you’ll be just another actor. Because you are passing through, they will be polite but won’t spend a great deal of effort trying to get to know you. The director, who you last saw at the casting or perhaps at the read-through, is busy shooting so will pay you little attention until you are actually called onto the set.

The second assistant director will take you to your trailer or dressing room. You get into your costume for the scene you are about to shoot and then you wait. You could be waiting for hours. Being a screen actor can be very isolating, and the isolation creates an echo chamber for all your doubts.

Then you are called to the set. You shake hands with the other actors, whom you have probably never met before. The director, always pressed for time, says, ‘Right, let’s have a stumble through the scene, shall we?’

The tone is always easy and casual, but don’t let that fool you. A lot happens when you first run a scene; many important decisions will be made about how it will be shot. If you are nervous, the bold, brilliant decisions you thought you would make when you were working on the script at home will suddenly shrink into safe, cautious choices.

The director will then shape the scene, giving you your blocking and the rhythm and temperature of the scene. Then the director of photography will start lighting the scene in the shooting order that the director and first assistant director have agreed on.

You will be taken to make-up. Then you sit in your trailer/dressing room, made up and in costume, waiting to do your scene. Perhaps for hours.

Finally you are called onto the set and then, for the first time, you are at the very centre of the storm. The first assistant director shouts for quiet, and everybody on and around the set goes silent. The art department stop moving props and bits of set, the technicians stop joking, turn and stare. The director, the director of photography, and maybe twenty other people are watching.

Can you do it? Trust me, even the most experienced stars get nervous when they walk onto a film set.

What you need to learn is how to handle your nerves properly, so that they don’t hinder your performance. Learn how to focus your preparation, so that when you step into that vulnerable and exposed place in front of the camera, you can use the pressure to excel. By controlling your fear, you will make bolder choices when you first run the scene and not limit yourself to timid, self-conscious choices. You must learn to see the crew not as the enemy but as people who can help you realise your vision of the character. ‘The thing that screen actors need above everything else is confidence,’ observed director Sidney Lumet.

Summary

•   Screen acting is not smaller, just more concentrated and driven by thought. Vocal levels are a lot lower than on stage. Be in the moment as the character.

•   The camera is not a magic device that can read your mind. You have to reveal your thoughts to it.

•   Location is rarely a help to the actor. You have to be totally concentrated on set or in the location because you’ll be surrounded by technicians and equipment.

•   You do not get many takes to get your performance right. There are a lot of things to be coordinated in a scene, so you have to be the character, in the moment, from the first take onwards.

•   Don’t forget that your face and body are crucial in revealing your thoughts on screen. Do not become a talking head, relying on your voice for the whole performance. Stay connected to your centre.

•   Being on set is quite frightening. The more prepared you are, the better you’ll be at controlling your nerves.

Now that we’ve dismissed those common myths, we can move on to what screen acting really is. We’ll start with an exercise.

Exercise: The Dead Body

This exercise looks easy but it embraces all the fundamentals of screen acting. The scene has no dialogue and the action is very clear. Couldn’t be simpler.

We will go back to this exercise throughout the book, so you’ll be able to see your improvement as you learn the techniques.

THE SCENE. ‘The Body in the Kitchen’

Fade in.

Home from work, Leslie enters the kitchen. Stops by the doorway, aware that there is something on the floor. A dead body. Realising someone’s been murdered, Leslie runs out of the kitchen.

CUT.

Clearly this is an extreme event, but not at all uncommon in the world of film and television. Done well, the scene can lead the viewer into a great story; done badly it will just seem vaguely comic or, worse, absurd.

It’s important at this stage in the learning process that you don’t judge yourself too harshly. Remember: you have to get it wrong to get it right.

That is why we do these exercises. If watching your first efforts just makes you throw your hands up in horror, you will simply close up as an artist and ultimately you’ll learn nothing.

Normally I would be beside the student actor when they review their work, pointing out what works and what doesn’t. I know from experience that it’s better to point out what works rather than emphasise the negative. Obviously I can’t do that here, so I am relying on you to be objective but not overly critical. Look for what’s good. Once you see what doesn’t work on screen, you can concentrate on what does work for you. And remember, no one will see this work except you and your camera operator. A good screen actor has to have a positive mindset.

So now I want you to set up the camera in your kitchen. Place it as far from the door as possible. Place a mark (a cross of tape) on the floor, just to the right of the camera. That’s your eyeline for the dead body. Now leave the room and when your camera operator shouts ‘Action!’, I want you to enter the kitchen, see the dead body and then leave.

It would be best if you did the exercise now, without reading on to my round-up of the techniques – and the common mistakes – it involves.

I know from experience that this exercise exposes the following common mistakes:

Your reaction on seeing the body is too small

How do I know? Because most actors monitor the size of their reaction and are frightened of doing too much, so consequently their reactions are much too small. Especially to something as momentous as finding a dead body. Terrified of being melodramatic, you do far too little.

You entered the room looking serious

Many actors generalise in a scene like this. Because you are about to see a dead body, which is a shocking and tragic event, you approach the scene seriously, pre-empting the fact that you are about to see a dead body. That transmits into your attitude toward the scene, so you enter the room looking intense and serious. What you should do is enter the scene with an entirely different mindset, a mental attitude totally different from the one that you will end the scene with. To put it crudely, if you end the scene sad, you should start out happy.

In this scene, Leslie is returning from work, so I want you to imagine that Leslie has just been praised by the boss and given a raise. Already the energy with which you enter the kitchen is different. Your mind is full of thoughts about how to spend the extra money. You are relaxed and happy about being liked and respected at work. Then you see the body.

Now you see that there is a much bigger mental shift for your character to go through. It’s these mental shifts, these sudden changes in your character’s thinking, that are interesting to watch. Each one of these single moments goes toward making up your entire performance.

That’s how the public decide whether a performance is good, brilliant or just ordinary. They don’t sit and analyse your performance, but every little moment that they don’t find convincing undermines your whole performance because, subconsciously, the audience does not believe it. So finding those changes between the beginning and the end of a scene and making them believable is vital.

You ran out of the kitchen too fast

Actors do this instinctively because they think they are being true to the text and, because there is no dialogue to reveal the character’s thinking, why hang around?

The actor who rushes out of the kitchen door is still hooked into stage acting, where thought is revealed through dialogue.

Screen acting is driven by thought, not dialogue. By running out of the kitchen too quickly, you miss the key moments in the scene. Revealing the character’s thoughts on seeing the dead body is a real film moment. And you have to fill it with thought. So how do you do that?

How to Fill a Moment with Thought

We have to start by being very clear about what our character is thinking at each moment. Let’s use the character in the last exercise as an example.

I’ve never found a dead body, and I hope you haven’t either. But once, when I was an actor staying in very rough digs, I found a dead rat in the bathroom. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Even just remembering it I can feel my breathing speeding up, my palms starting to sweat. I immediately turned and rushed out into the hallway, virtually falling through the bathroom door in my desperation to get away from the dead rodent.

That was my instinctive reaction to something frightening and shocking. I think it would be yours too, and probably not dissimilar to your reaction to the body in the kitchen. So, as that was our very real reaction to seeing something shocking, shouldn’t we do something similar on screen?

Yes, but before rushing out of the room you have to reveal and expand your experience at seeing the body on the floor. Screen acting is about playing with time and expanding moments. By expanding the moment when you see the dead body, you allow the audience to enter the experience. It’s like letting them into a racing car as you drive round a corner at high speed – they too experience what your character is feeling and become involved in your dilemmas.