THE ACTOR'S GUIDE: How to Become an Actor

- 1.3: Screen Acting Terms

5. Be aware that when speaking with a strong accent there is a tendency to speak louder - don't.

6. With a studio audience, if they can hear you without the benefit of microphones, you are probably
speaking too loudly.

7. Never project louder than the star (or regulars on a series). They set the style for the program.

8. When speaking at low levels, all other sounds seem too loud, so take care with all footsteps,
clattering cups, newspaper rustling - even breathing.

9. When speaking at low levels, do not lose energy or adopt a slower pace.

10. As the scene builds, you would expect the voices to rise, but since the shots are liable to get
tighter, you have to square the circle by getting more intense - and quieter - at the same time.

11. Gently ask if you are going to be in a contained 2-shot, or if they are going to cross-cut with reverses, in which case be prepared to not overlap dialogue.

V. Acting for the Camera:

1. Your main acting note is the you were given the part, so work your looks, personality, and
background into your performance. Use yourself. That is what they purchased.

2. The shots the director chooses are in themselves acting notes, so obey their implicit instructions:

a. Long Shot = allow your body to do the talking. (Be bigger).

b. Reaction shot = do a reaction (even if you feel you are "pulling faces").

c. Two-shot + react as you listen to the other actor.

d. Close-up = put your thoughts onto your face.

e. Close-up of your hand holding a prop = channel your acting and thoughts into that.

3. Do all your acting to an Audience of One - the other player (the camera will pick you up).

4. Create good acting reasons for all your pieces of business (including camera-motivating ones).

5. Learn your lines well. They should fit you like a glove. If they don't, and you don't have the
rehearsal time to create the character who would say those lines, then ask to change them.

6. Find positive ways of communicating negative thoughts.

7. Give yourself something to do after a shot ends!!! This will keep your face alive right to the end of
the take.

8. Let your inner voice give you those continuous instructions that silent movie actors got from their
directors' megaphones.

9. Let an acting impulse that would lead to a move on stage lead to a gesture or look on the screen.

10. When the camera is on you in a single shot, it is as if you were alone on a stage and ll the other
performers were in the wings: now how do you act?

VI. The Editor:

1. The better your continuity, the easier it is for the editor to cut to you for your best moments.

2. Editors like to cut on movements, so put some in before one of your important bits of acting.

3. Mark changes of thought with appropriate pieces of business.

4. During a speech, look at the other characters. The editor needs your "eyeflashes" to motivate cuts.

5. Reactions don't have to be logical or consistent. The editor is only looking for a slice of a good reaction, and several different ones give him/her a better choice (to cut to you!).

VII. Reactions and Business:

1. React before you speak, and react to the upcoming thought. This is best done on the intake of breath before the line.

2. React while others are speaking - on screen we watch the listening character.

3. The best moments are nonverbal ones - so give yourself time.

4. Learn all your lines and business in advance of the shoot very very well. During the shoot you will be concentrating on all the new things, such as remembering camera angles and hitting marks. But also be prepared to change lines and business at the very last moment - be flexible in a very cooperative way.

5. Pace consists of continuous events, not continuous speaking.

6. Fully motivate any large reactions. Don't reduce your size, increase your believability.

7. Remember the camera cannot follow fast movements, so lift that cup slowly, gently rise up out of
that chair.

8. In a multicamera studio a red light means the camera is on, so keep a reaction on your face until it
has been sampled by that camera.

9. Eyes can be very effective. Try looking up as well as down, especially when "listening" to another
character. Some try looking from one eye to the other.

10. At an interview and reading, plan at least one major reaction in the middle of a reading. Remember
to react during the "feed" lines, and to keep your eyes up.

VIII. Some Final Thoughts:

1. To come across as truthful and believable needs both talent, technique, and brains.

2. Don't panic over any problem. There has never been a trouble-free shoot, and anyway tomorrow's
problem is already in the mail.

3. Don't do today's job as an audition for tomorrow's. Do it because this is what you want to do today. Play for the moment at hand. Concentrate on today's acting.

4. All rules are made to be broken - so know which rules you are breaking! And have a good reason
for doing so.

5. If screen acting is going to be a very important part of your career, find out how to enjoy and relish it all. If you allow it, it can (and should) be a lot of fun.

* Adapted from "The Famous Screen Acting Checklist" in SECRETS OF SCREEN ACTING, by Patrick Tucker, Routledge, 1994