Be an Actor: Bring the Script to Life

Be an Actor: Bring the Script to Life — page 1 — introducing The ACTOR You spent last night reading your lines over and over making sure you knew them off by heart You arrived on set early Now with hair and makeup ready you are called onto the movie set All around you there are camera crew members lighting technicians and sound recordists The director calls Action With a camera inches from your face you must forget the crew exists relax and say your lines It is not always easy being an actor A movie actor has to know where the camera is and forget it’s there both at the same time 4

Be an Actor: Bring the Script to Life — page 2 — An actor needs to be able to act be creative be disciplined be able to cope with rejection have a good memory for learning parts quickly be determined have a good understanding of dramatic techniques I’m curious about other people That’s the essence of my acting I’m interested in what it would be like to be you Meryl Streep Cell Phone Movie School If you have always wanted to be a film star try getting together with some friends and making your own movie You can use a smartphone or any camera that can take video See if you can find a friend who is interested in directing movies and one who wants to be a camera operator You may know people with all kinds of hidden talents such as doing hair and makeup making costumes managing lighting and sound and even doing special effects Ask around pin a flyer on your school bulletin board and see what happens 5

Be an Actor: Bring the Script to Life — page 3 — Film Acting Most people have done a little acting perhaps in a school play or during a drama class Movie acting is different in many ways from acting on stage A great theater actor may not be such a great movie actor They may have to tone down their performance for the camera The Differences Between Stage and Film Acting Stage Acting Audience reaction lets actors know what lines are working People may compare your acting to past versions of the play Actors must act so people in the theater’s back row can see them Your audience may know your lines better than you do Film Acting There is no audience reacting to your performance Acting should be natural with no exaggerated sound or movement Actors can play with their lines in the script without the audience noticing The director will though The story is often filmed in the wrong order Both these actors are acting sad Can you guess which actor is playing to a distant audience and which is acting to camera 6

Be an Actor: Bring the Script to Life — page 4 — Cell Phone Movie School Sometimes when acting to camera it is better to not act at all Just thinking what your character is feeling during the scene may be enough That emotion will come out through your eyes and tiny changes in your expression Try it for yourself Get your camera set up to film a close-up of your face and press record Think of the happiest time you can remember Then think of the saddest time you can remember Don’t act just think Now run the footage back Can you see your face change at all Sometimes you’re watching a great film actor and if you stand 10 feet away from them you’re like they’re terrible They’re not doing anything And then you see the close-up and so much expression is happening They were acting for that camera and for no one else Finn Wittrock Can you tell which face is thinking sad or happy thoughts 7

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