Film Acting

A

The work of a film actor is different from that of the stage actor. All that is essential and effective on the stage – the wide gesture, the contrasting make-up, the declamatory style of speech – becomes false, ridiculous on the screen. The cinema has great advantages over the theatre because it enables the spectator to see tiny details in a close-up and hear shades of intonation.

B

The actor, who is cast for the role after numerous tests, reads the script and his lines. The director explains to him his aims, tells him, what he expects from him, introduces him to the atmosphere of the story, the character of the role and its reality. A good actor must give his own interpretation of the part, but it has to be an interpretation the director agrees with. The actor must see all his role in his mind and not only the little fragment he is taking part in at the moment. A good actor tries to embody the director’s conception of the character, to express the director’s idea through his own individuality, to enrich his portrayal of the character by his own observation of life and imagination.

C

This is how Rene Clair describes the process of film shooting: “The shooting of every fragment of a scene is done in the following manner. The actor receives a few brief instructions from the director and goes through the movements the director asks him to perform. During that time the director of photography has the camera placed in such a way as to follow the actor in his movements. While the electricians under the cameraman’s control regulate the lights, the actor rehearses his movements and lines. When the director is satisfied with his performance and the sound engineer manages to have at least one rehearsal in complete silence, when the director of photography finally regulates the last spot lights, then everybody is ready for the shooting. “Action!” The shooting begins. Usually the director takes a scene several times. It can happen that a fragment, which took a whole day’s work to shoot, may occupy the screen just for a few seconds.”

c) Which paragraph mentions the following?

1. how each piece of a movie is shot

2. what a skillful actor tries to do

3. a practice session with no sound at all

4. things that look silly on the screen

5. using life experience while acting

6. the film director sharing his expectations

7. long hard shooting and short appearance on the screen

8. something cinema gives to its audience

d) Follow-up discussion.

Do you know film directors who play in their own movies? Are they better actors or film directors? What actors do you think could teach you something?

Vocabulary

Exercise 34. Match the words in the columns to form phrases.

declamatory brief essential effective ridiculous contrasting tiny his own whole false active rich

style manner instructions detail contribution make-up treatment intonation conception participation imagination supervision

Exercise 35. Give English equivalents of the words in brackets.

1. The actor usually gives (свою собственную) interpretation of the character. 2. (Крупный план) is a great advantage of the cinema. 3. The actor has to use all his (во-ображение) and observation of life to (выразить) the director’s (замысел). 4. (Каждое движение) of the actor must be expressive. 5. Actors (репетируют) their lines before the (съёмки). 6. (Зрители) like to see movies on the wide screen.

Exercise 36. Make the sentences negative.

1. Film actors rehearse as much as stage actors.

2. The success of an actor depends only on his talent.

3. The film director regulates the lights and places the camera himself.

4. The theatre enables the spectator to see tiny details of the actors’ faces.

5. The director usually takes a scene only once.

Exercise 37. Look through the article to find answers.

1. Is the work of a film actor the same as the work of the stage actor?

2. What is essential for a stage actor?

3. What are the advantages of the cinema?

4. How does a film director work with an actor on the set?

5. What is the task of a good film actor?

6. Who regulates the lights?

7. Who records the sound?

8. What signal does the director of photography usually give when everybody is ready to start

the shooting?

9. Why is it essential to take every scene more than once?