Acting for the Camera: Keeping it Natural
Acting in Front of a Camera is All About Keeping Your Acting Styles Natural.
When you're acting for the camera, there are many things that you must remember to do. Throughout the multitude of duties a film actor must carry out, the main responsibility is giving a believable performance. For anyone who has acted in film and then on stage, there is a completely difference between the two. When you are on stage, you are animated, loud, boisterous and then when you're performing on camera, everything is brought down to a more - natural - level. This is the main point I'm trying to get at, acting for the camera requires one thing, natural acting styles. However, how do you keep it natural?
Well, I have asked countless acting coaches out there how you can keep your acting styles natural. Even though most of them worded their answers differently, they all had the same points to get at. Acting for the camera is a completely unique and extraordinary experience, however, if you don't know how to perform in such a fashion, than don't be surprised if you can't book too many film gigs. Below you will find the top four tips I have gathered throughout my years of film acting.
1. Listen to yourself. Now, I could easily turn this section into a very new age and spiritually awakening paragraph. However, when I say "listen to yourself," I'm not talking about in a spiritual self, I literally mean, listen to the way you sound when you are talking with your friends or co-workers in a casual atmosphere. Take note the volume of your voice compared to your surroundings. What inflections are you using on what words? How is your body language? In order to gain a true perspective of "acting naturally" you must first examine, "what is natural?" After doing this, you will have a complete understanding of creating a natural character that is believable and interesting.
2. Understand what your body is doing. This second tip stems from the first one. As you are listening to your voice and the way you are "acting" around your friends, pay attention to your body. Did you know that body language can tell you more about a person that anything else? If you are sitting in a room of friends, and strangers, and you begin conversing with someone, note their body. Note where their knees are points, see if their feet are pointing towards you.
Are their shoulders square with your shoulders? These are all things that our bodies do subconsciously in order to quietly inform someone that we are interested in them. That we actually are interested in what they are talking about. Once you grasp the entire concept of true body movement, than your characters won't be dull and stagnant, but you can add a genuine "body language" along with your dialogue.
3. Observe all those around you. I love this part of character "research." Whenever I land a new role, or even if I am up for a major audition, I seek out individuals that resemble what I think the character would be like if they were real. When you're at the mall, take note of everyone around you. Watch, observe and ultimately mimic. This world is full of every type of personality, voice strength and overall presence. And when you start focusing on an individuals "presence" than you will be able to grasp something that is completely outside of yourself.
A great actor can completely disconnect every "tick" and "characteristic" that belongs to him or her. They become completely engrossed in a new person. However, this doesn't happen overnight, and usually takes weeks, if not months, of just observing and taking note - and, of course, practicing your new walks, voices, conversational exchanges and eye glances.
When you're looking at people, don't only focus on the outward characteristics, but also delve as deep as you can into their personality by just watching them. What do you think their insecurities are? What are their secret goals? What is something they are keeping from someone they love? When you create a "character" from this stranger in the mall, you will be helping your ability to create strong and interesting characters quickly, which is great if you're into performing improv.
4. Take what you learned in stage performing and minimize it. Whenever you are acting for the stage, you will more than likely hear your director say this once or twice, "Bigger, I need you to go bigger." Well, this is fantastic when you are on stage. The bigger the better, usually. However, when you are on film, you must understand that minimalistic acting is key. You can't go on film and make your movements larger than life, your voice louder than normal and your body in that "theater" stance.
Film is imitating real life, not imitating farce life. And since you will be imitating life, you must act like you act in real situations. There are times for BIG and LOUD, however, those times come few and far between. Learning how to separate parts of your theater training that will hinder your film acting is key to becoming a multi-dimensional actor. You can learn some amazing things when you act for the stage, however, don't get stuck in the "stage rut." You'll soon be regretting it.
Published by Prior Aphter
Prior Aphter has been a professional freelance writer since 2005, and throughout his experience he has worked for online and offline clients dealing with healthcare advancements, natural remedies, scientific... View
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නින් යන්න ඕනෑ කිව්වා. මං බලෙන් වගේ එතනින් ආවේ. එයා ගොඩක් හොඳ කෙනෙක් කියලා මට ඒත්තු ගැන්නුවා. ඒත් මං රැවටුණේ නැහැ.
