quote:

Originally posted by Heather:
I've done theatre for 23 years and the move into film was strange for me as well. They have their similarities but acting isn't just acting when it comes to these two forms.
It's like painting with watercolors and oils. There will be parts that are easier for some and harder in the other but it takes the same skill set.
If you aren't used to memorizing lines, you will have to work on it and ad libbing skills can be very important. Not to mention the basic skill of projection. I've worked in large theatres with no mike set up and you need to be able to get that voice all the way into the back row.
However, if you have a true passion for acting you will be able to do this. Just remember to be willing to listen to the critiques you get and never say "But when I was acting on film"

Projection. Making small things visible and audible to the last row, can you say more about that?

quote:

Originally posted by Truthie:

quote:

Originally posted by Heather:
I've done theatre for 23 years and the move into film was strange for me as well. They have their similarities but acting isn't just acting when it comes to these two forms.
It's like painting with watercolors and oils. There will be parts that are easier for some and harder in the other but it takes the same skill set.
If you aren't used to memorizing lines, you will have to work on it and ad libbing skills can be very important. Not to mention the basic skill of projection. I've worked in large theatres with no mike set up and you need to be able to get that voice all the way into the back row.
However, if you have a true passion for acting you will be able to do this. Just remember to be willing to listen to the critiques you get and never say "But when I was acting on film"

Projection. Making small things visible and audible to the last row, can you say more about that?

It's speaking from the diaphragm. Pure and simple. Practice breathing exercises for the diaphragm. It's a muscle that needs work and once you get it you won't have a problem.

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quote:

Originally posted by Heather:

quote:

Originally posted by Truthie:

quote:

Originally posted by Heather:
I've done theatre for 23 years and the move into film was strange for me as well. They have their similarities but acting isn't just acting when it comes to these two forms.
It's like painting with watercolors and oils. There will be parts that are easier for some and harder in the other but it takes the same skill set.
If you aren't used to memorizing lines, you will have to work on it and ad libbing skills can be very important. Not to mention the basic skill of projection. I've worked in large theatres with no mike set up and you need to be able to get that voice all the way into the back row.
However, if you have a true passion for acting you will be able to do this. Just remember to be willing to listen to the critiques you get and never say "But when I was acting on film"

Projection. Making small things visible and audible to the last row, can you say more about that?

It's speaking from the diaphragm. Pure and simple. Practice breathing exercises for the diaphragm. It's a muscle that needs work and once you get it you won't have a problem.

I mean I'm focusing more on breathing now. But I don't know any real exercises. Where can I get them?

kristen linklater has excellent books on breathing exercises. Using white space, or crystal waters or internal breath exercises really strengthen the diaphragm. "freeing the natural voice" is an excellent book!

quote:

Originally posted by avidactor:
kristen linklater has excellent books on breathing exercises. Using white space, or crystal waters or internal breath exercises really strengthen the diaphragm. "freeing the natural voice" is an excellent book!

Thanks.

I guess I found it.

"Freeing Natural Voice". Is that what you meant?

http://www.amazon.com/Freeing-Natural-Voice-Practice-La...id=1208500617&sr=8-1

Yep thats the one! I've got an older version of the book. It looks updated, or at least the cover is. Its a wonderful book and Kristen is a wonderful voice coach. Pick that book up and work some of the exercises in there. Also, I don't know how familiar you are with the Alexander technique, but studying the relationship between the head, neck, and shoulders can really take your body in new places. It really does free up your breath and tension your body holds. I'm sure you already know about it though. Just a thought!

quote:

Originally posted by avidactor:
I don't know how familiar you are with the Alexander technique, but studying the relationship between the head, neck, and shoulders can really take your body in new places. It really does free up your breath and tension your body holds.

Hi avidactor,

Good tip. I read that you are not only an actor, but also do coaching.

Is the Alexander Technique your field?

Then I'm sure many here would appreciate it if you could enlarge on this a bit.

Hi Robert!
Well, no, I am not a certified Alexander teacher. I have been taught Alexander Technique by certified master trainers. But the main focus on the technique isn't something you can just pick up and learn. It truly does take several months, even years to really grasp. There are certain steps you must take with this "physical training".
Step 1: Noticing your habits. Over time, in the course of our lives, we develop habits that are detrimental to our overall well-being. A good example of this is laying on the floor and watching tv with your head in your hands. After years of doing such an action, your neck becomes used to being compressed in the back, and over-stretched in the front. Over time, your internal organs are heavily affected. Notice some people have a "bump" where their neck meets their shoulders? Its from over-compression. This is due to bad habits with the relationship between the head, neck and shoulders. Military men (excluding recent years)were taught to "stand tall" and "at attention". This lead to them sucking in their gut, sticking out their chests, and holding their heads back. Many of these individuals have developed health issues (spinal, resperatory, etc..). Proper alignment is what the Alexander Technique is all about. We have to "relearn" to stand, walk, sit, move. So we have to learn FIRST, what our habits are. While you're sitting at your computer now, take notice of how your head is sitting on your shoulders. Is the back of your neck compressed a little? Is there tension in your shoulders? How are you resting your wrists to compensate for hand movement on the keyboard? These are things you have to start taking stock in. When you sit down, do you bend with your head going down? While you're sitting, do you slouch to one side or another? If so, you are affecting your internal organs. So the first step is noticing your HABITS. One thing I've noticed about myself is that I always cross my right leg over my left knee (when I cross my legs). And when I cross my leg, my right ankle rests on my left knee. After years of this habit, I've noticed my right leg is slightly longer, and more stretched out than my left leg. Its an experiment. If you know you have a habit of crossing your legs, and you have a predominant leg you cross, try crossing the other one in the same fashion as I do, and see how high up your knee sits, as opposed to the other leg.
Step 2: Understanding the backbone of the technique. This is PRIMARY CONTROL. Primary control is the relationship between your head, neck and shoulders. Treat your head like a balloon, and it has a string tied to the bottom of it, and the bottom of the string is tied to the cross of your shoulders and your spine. Think of your head, neck and shoulder drawing a big plus sign. The top of your head is where the string would continue to go up, if there wasn't a balloon there. Primary control is about how your head moves with the spine and shoulders. The technique really emphasizes the observation of animals. Watch how animals move. They do not succumb to the peer-pressures of habits and laziness. Their movements are natural and their alignment is perfect. Watch a cat stalk its "prey". Observe how its head works with its shoulders. Even watch a baby learning how to walk. Notice how a baby's head moves with the rest of the body. A toddler has not yet been affected by habits yet either, so it will add a human element to the training. Its the head that controls the movement and that movement travels down from the top of the spine. This is the world of the alexander technique. There's more to it than just two steps, but its not really something that can be explained. I would recommend to any and all of you to take some courses in this technique. It free's the mind, and the body in all aspects of art.

Think about our society, with all its habits. Smoking, drinking, slouching, over-eating, over-exercising, lethargy. And think about how you see people walking, moving, using their primary control. Then look at those people in primitive tribes, like the kalahari warriors. Look at their primary control. they stand and sit erect, tall, and aligned. They are not "standing at attention" or stiffening themselves. They are at ease, they are leading with their heads as the body was meant to. Interesting, ain't it?

Hi avidactor,

Good tip. I read that you are not only an actor, but also do coaching.

Is the Alexander Technique your field?

Then I'm sure many here would appreciate it if you could enlarge on this a bit.[/QUOTE]

I have a friend who used the money from her divorce to go through all kinds of self-realization efforts, including, not only therapy and such, but Alexander Technique. She - a wonderfully graceful and spiritual person - feels that Alexander did her the most benefit.

Otherwise, on projection, here's one hint that might be useful:

When you're working on lines, try singing them. Not operatically, or with wide variations, just with a bit of musical tone. You might find it useful to hum a note up and down the scale until you find the most comfortable "placement" for your voice. Then sing the words with the support of that vibration, and bit by bit reduce the musicality until all that's left is the placement.

I honestly can't say if I came up with this myself or if I heard it years ago, and I don't know that it's a total solution. But it is a simple one and perhaps worth a try.

Singing lines is good for exploring them. Or you cna just pick any song, or use dance moves to get out of your head.

Let me add a few comments as far as diaphram and projection. I was fortunate enough to start playing low brass (trombone, euphonium)at a young age and continued well after college. I found that I had developed a remarkable diaphram and control. A few instructors were also responsible for correcting playing posture and positioning using Alexander techniques. When I started working with my voice on air and on stage it made a noticable difference. I don't think I would have been anywhere near as successful in VO work without that training and development.
Just my observation.

Dad, I can use some euph/trombone players for my band, which plays and rehearses in Manhattan--PM me if you'd like to play with us!

I LOVE film vs.theater acting debates, because they are so passionate. Although I know nothing of film, I have watched live theater (Price is Right) often. Ok, I am a sarcastic fool, so here's my real take: donquixote kind of nailed it and stole my thunder, and honestly, that was a brilliant post donquixote!

I always cringe when folks use the word "small" and "internal" to describe how film differs from theater -- it's just as physical and big, but it's conveyed in different ways.

I am so mad, donquiote...die and burn for a great post. My only hope is people will miss yours and read mine.

Robert Kim wrote:
I like to think of film acting as, "Theatre acting with the volume turned down.

It's sort of a weak argument, because the director/editors/sound guys, and the assholes who invented HD (sarcasm), thus making makeup jobs harder should do their jobs and let actors act. I know that is not what you are saying, but often actors are told to "tone it down" and "make it real" so much that it is completely unrealistic and boring, as if we are supposed to scream "WOW THAT WAS SO REAL AND TRUTHFUL".

And because I feel a speech coming on...I think that often the acting teachers who consider themselves pioneers by talking about their methods or "archetypes" (it seems like that is the trendy word these days-which might actually be copywrited for all I know, so please don't sue)...the same stuff has been going on for decades. These methods need to show exciting results, and the irony, is often we are stuck w. the same old debates but no results. This is not an argument for "just wing it and act" -let Paris Hilton do that, but it is an argument to not be obsessed w. one method-or teacher-, and furthermore, one needs to point out that just like "good humor", nobody agrees on what "good acting" is, certainly not in the same way as several other art forms- oddly enough, while the great acting teachers taught truth, Picasso was painting some wierd blue triangle bullshit. Now damn it, if I could only travel back in time 2 years before Picasso, and paint some blue triangle shit, I'd be rich. Maybe someday this post will be priceless, but I can't figure out how to make it blue.

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Kim

Actors NEVER get fired because of re-takes. They get fired because they're either not equipped to play the role, or for being complete a******s. A perfect example of the latter is when Rachel Welch was fired before film completion on "Cannery Row." Her on-set attitude simply wasn't worth the money that Universal had to pay her -- a cool eleven million (that was back in the 80's.

Why was her attitude so bad? Her career was never the same after. I have heard the story of her being fired before. Didn't she sue them after they fired her?

This response really has nothing to do with the exact conversations going on now, but i thought it might be useful to someone passing through. It's 1 of a 6 part series.


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ok so that didn't post as planned. If anyone wants to go to youtube.com and search "Michael Caine acting" it's a 6 part series about acting on film.

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Originally posted by tuscanigirl:

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Kim

Actors NEVER get fired because of re-takes. They get fired because they're either not equipped to play the role, or for being complete a******s. A perfect example of the latter is when Rachel Welch was fired before film completion on "Cannery Row." Her on-set attitude simply wasn't worth the money that Universal had to pay her -- a cool eleven million (that was back in the 80's.

Why was her attitude so bad? Her career was never the same after. I have heard the story of her being fired before. Didn't she sue them after they fired her?

You are correct.

Her professional demeanor on the set was so intolerable, they had no choice but to terminate her services and hire Barbara Hershey to replace her. Even though Universal fired her, she sued them afterwards, and prevailed. They were forced to pay her the entire 11 mil. for a film she never even completed. But karma never fails. It was effectively the end of her film career, and later, Bikram (the yoga teacher who popularized "hot yoga") later sued her for stealing his methods and selling them as her own in her yoga video. He prevailed, and now lives in Racquel's 3.5 million dollar house in the Hollywood Hills.

It appears that her karma ran over her dogma.