Screen Acting #1 - Do I Really Look Like That?
- Emily Jade
- Oct 18, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 23, 2020
Our first screen acting session was interesting for me, personally as I haven't ever done any acting for the screen as the opportunity has never arisen.
The most important similarity between stage and screen acting in my opinion is to communicate ideas and emotions to your audience through your portrayal of the character; whereas the biggest difference between stage and screen is a combination of both speaking volume and physicalization. This is because when you're performing to a live audience, you need to over-exaggerate most of your performance so everyone throughout the theatre can detect what is happening in front of them. For the camera, you don't need to over-exaggerate emotions as the climate is different, and editing plays a big part in the atmosphere. Editing plays a big part in the atmosphere in a TV show or film as it is there to increase the tension, or the emotion into specific scenes, and on the screen, it is far easier to say less as the scene is already set before the actors have spoken.
Shots are so important in TV and film, as it is the make or break part of the film. In the theatre, you can use every inch of your body, whereas on camera, you have a specific frame, in which you can only use specific parts of your body, or sometimes just your face. I would like to test out each different shot over the course of this module so I can get a feel of the atmosphere each one gives to the audience.
For our first task of the module, we had to each sit in front of the camera and use our facial expressions as opposed to speech to get our message across. The dynamic through the group changed as more people went up and you could see the calmness most people portrayed as they attempted the exercise. The objective was that I was sat in a doctors surgery, and someone had entered desperate to see a doctor; attempting to get in before me; and after watching my videos back, I believe I did better in the original attempt I did, seen below.
As opposed to my second, once again, seen below.
Personally, it felt like much more of a natural run than the second one, as I was going off of instinct as opposed to comments, which, although mostly positive, I felt hindered my performance as I was focussing on attempting to adapt and better them as opposed to focussing on what I did right.
The feedback of being told I looked 'like a serial killer' or that people were 'invested in the tension' of my performance has definitely given me a few ideas on my final monologue for this module, and I am looking forward to adapting my skills.
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