An aspiring actor should study very deeply the human interaction, the way we act and re-act to each other during conversation of all arts and at different situations. Make a study of how you re-act with the person you are conversing with in real life, especially during dialogue exchange. This can't be done in real time of course, but you can review it after the conversation has taken place.
Whatever you learn from this seemingly unimportant event will point you in the direction of how to be natural in front of a camera. Acting in front of a camera requires you "not to act" your character, but to "become" the character. Your facial expressions, the timing of gestures, etc, have to be very convincing, because acting in front of the camera is about trying to convince whoever's watching you, that you are not acting. Of course they know it's acting, but you have to make them "suspend their belief" for a very short time. That magical moment when you're in "the moment" as they say in showbiz.
Samuel Goldwyn once said; "The best thing in acting is honesty, once you learn how to fake that, you're in."
Go out to places where people meet: clubs, cafes, restaurants. Watch and study how people re-act to one another during conversation. Really study them. Because that is how you learn to act in front of a camera.
The camera, the director, and the viewing public are always quietly telling you or daring you to convince them. Make them belief you're actually not acting, that your display of emotions and actions or re-actions are real.
From Agnes, you learn the art of re-acting as opposed to acting. Let us explain. Re-acting is what we do all of our lives naturally. We re-act when a friend greets us with a smile and a hug. We return the favor with our actions.
We re-act when we feel pain or sorrow, our minds and bodies control that. So re-acting should be a breeze for all of us. The hard part of acting, is of course the acting and re-acting in a natural manner.
Never-the-less, lessons learned. Re-acting and becoming the character.
Acting for the stage and film are quiet different. In as much as stage acting is very physical; big body movements, exaggerations, even a whisper is shouted. The reverse happens in film, subtle moves and expressions are more noticeable because of the proximity of the camera. Each media has it's own requirements. It would be wise, as an actor, to study both and then learn to apply them accordingly.
What we as actors must learn, is to use the power of concentration. When we concentrate we become one with the object of thought and lose ourselves in it.
Some other writer wrote on becoming a character;
- "The greatness of an actor lies in the fact that he forgets himself in the portrayal of his character, becoming so identified with it, that the audience is swayed by the realism of the performance."
- What actors strive for is becoming one with one's self, what the Zen folks would call the "is-ness" and the "such-ness" of everyday life. Actors need to seem natural in their roles.
- A natural performance isn't one that is spontaneous; it is contrived to seem spontaneous.
- It isn't "sincere." It is the opposite. It is a lie, a deception. A person is pretending to be something he isn't.
A lot of effort is put into making the role seem genuine. It's art, because the art doesn't show.
Here's where taking the bus trip or going to the mall helps you with different character triads. All your efforts are rewarded. You'll be surprised what you can achieve by combining your talent with your study of people.
To learn more, please visit here: https://childactorla.wordpress.com/
