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Acting for the Camera By Lori Shyba (Note: Linked video files have been removed. June 2007.) Antigone, Angelo, Iago, Queen Margaret, Lydia Languish — these are all legendary characters in the world of classical theatre. Scores of theatre students all over the English-speaking world, including a group of 11 students in a second-year performance class at the University of Calgary, have chosen these characters' monologues to develop their art as performers and to impress audition panels. But what distinguishes the work of this particular group of young actors is that they prepared, rehearsed, and delivered their classical monologues not only as highly physical stage presentations, but as intimate filmic close-ups for the camera as well. These acting students, trained
by Professor Kathleen Foreman in a studio situation that made continual
use of a unique “internal and external” mask training
method, made a surprisingly smooth transition from stage performance
to screen performance — a stylistic leap that is often a problem
for actors. Was is something about this mask technique that facilitated
this relatively easy adjustment? How does the ideal of “truth”
connect as criteria against which the effectiveness of their performances
could be measured? What other lessons needed to be incorporated into
their curriculum in order to assure a modicum of understanding of
the creative process of film acting? Drawing upon the expertise of
three master acting coaches, as well as upon the students' survey
feedback, my aim in this essay, and accompanying video clips is twofold:
first, to investigate possible reasons why mask training provides
a solid foundation for believable performances, both on stage and
on screen, and, secondly to outline the materials and extra lessons
used to increase the students' knowledge level in film acting. The Principle of Masks and Believability Before discussing the training
strategies, I'd like to explore the central concept of "truth"
as a qualitative goal in performance. To this end, I have examined
the work of three acknowledged masters in the field, each of whom
expresses a belief in the transcendent power of "the mask"
to create believability of character: Kathleen Foreman, in a recent
series of personal interviews about performance creation, Augusto
Boal's 1992 book, Games for Actors and Non-Actors, and The
National Film Board of Canada's (NFB) videocassette featuring the
work of Pierre LeFevre entitled On Acting. Foreman believes the aim for individual students is to "focus their mind and imagination in creating a belief in a character." She identifies two techniques of building strong character knowledge, both of which metaphorically tie in with a principle of masks and believability — from the "inside out," (internal mask), and from the "outside in" (external mask). When
asked about the "inside out" mask technique, Foreman is
clear to remind us that there is no physical mask or apparatus obscuring
the actors' face and that an exercise that demonstrates this 'inside
out' mask principle can be "as simple as having an image of the
character, and letting that image in the body be reflected out, through
an internal mirror fired by the imagination." Creating the history and background
and doing actor homework, like character analysis, builds knowledge
of the character so you can create an internal image of this person.
And then that knowledge, and imagined experience, is where you focus
in order to be that person. You create the character and their story
and then step into it — an internal mask whose knowledge you
create. You can slip into that skin and allow yourself to imagine
you are that person in that given circumstance. The image in the mind
is allowed to alter the image of the body. It's about 'holding' that
image — it's not a fleeting image. When asked about the "outside
in" mask technique, she reminds us that this comes from a physical
theatre tradition of commedia dell-arte where "the actor puts
on a mask which physically manipulates the body which, in turn, provokes
an interior imaginative impact." She clarifies this concept by
saying that it's a simple idea, where an actor's response is, "if
I look different, and move differently, I feel like someone else."
She further explains that this technique sometimes, but not always,
involves How does this work with masks
lead us toward an aim of "believability" as a goal of acting?
Kathleen Foreman feels that it connects to the idea of "suspension
of disbelief," where "if the actor isn't able to believe
in the reality of the character, then the performance is hollow." This concept leads us to the
work of Brazilian innovator of the "Theatre of the Oppressed;"
Augusto Boal and the structure of "rationalized emotion"
which, he claims, functions behind the actor's work and is strongly
enhanced by internal and external mask exercises. Boal addresses the
ability of the actor to hold two realities in mind at the same time
— an actor reality and a character reality. This is where actors
take the risk of discovering things about their characters but "with
the aim of 'understanding' the experience, not simply 'feeling' it"
(36). Performance theorist Richard Schechner refers to this as "doubling,"
or the "simultaneous presence of performer and performed"
(64). Augusto Boal's description of the actor justifying the nature of performative emotion infers a renovation of the classic "method" approach that Constantin Stanislavsky pioneered at the turn of the 20th century, where the performance becomes an enactment of life. "The very best thing that can happen," Stanislavky thinks, "is to have the actor completely carried away by the play. Then, regardless of his own will, he lives the part, not noticing how he feels, not thinking about what he does, and it all moves of its own accord, subconsciously, and intuitively" (179). Boal, however, warns that "any emotion exercise can be very dangerous unless one afterwards 'rationalizes' what has happened" (35). Pierre Lefevre teaches acting
at the National Theatre School of Canada, using masks as tools to
explore and discover the inner life of the character. He declares,
in the video On Acting, "an important lesson to learn
from working with masks, is it must be credible." And the further
you take it, he says, "the more it must be based in reality —
must be rooted in some truth."
He further elaborates this point, tying it in with Boal's rationalizing
of emotion, by coaching actors to "deal with strong emotions
so they're readable, and not just 'happening to you' without any expression
of it." Thus
all three mask experts, Foreman, Boal, and LeFevre, describe an ideal
of truth and believability as a benchmark of effective performance.
Foreman sums up by saying, directly in relation to the task at hand
of delivering believable performance scenarios for both theatrical
and filmic presentation, "[Through use of mask] we're working
on actor process. We help them build a process to focus on the character
reality. That's what makes it believable for actors and audience."
Each of the four, two-hour class sessions, during the preparation period for the first theatrical performances, started with warm-up exercises in which the actors, firstly, connected with the inner life of their characters through 'internal mask' exercises including breath and physical awareness work, and, secondly, settled the character in through yoga and meditation exercises. To ease the transition into their 'outer mask' workshop session, and to connect with each other, they also participated in games such as Augusto Boal's "Round of Movement and Rhythm Game," and Foreman's "Japanese Beanbag Game." When it came to the "outer mask" work, the students "danced" their way through the action verbs of the script, and "sang" a sounds-only performance of the script suggested by the nouns and images. Concurrent to their classroom
work, the students were given actor homework, which was, according
to Foreman, a kind of 'internal mask' exploratory task. The students
were assigned to read the entire play from which their monologues
were extracted, and to write character descriptions in order to establish
a connection to the world in which these classic characters lived.
They were also expected to develop a text analysis, giving context
to their understanding of the emotional and narrative context of the
monologue to the rest of the play. While the students were preparing
their chosen monologues as theatrical performances, the cameras, lights,
and audio equipment were slowly introduced into the studio environment
as the "clamor and racket" that comes along with the filmic
creative process. Several cameras were tested and put to use —
two professional-level digital video (DV) cameras and a consumer-level
Canon camcorder. The lights were theatre Fresnels, mounted to moveable
light stands and allocated to three separate dimmers, and the microphones
utilized were of the boom, wireless, and on-camera variety. The students' theatrical performances
were filmed on digital videotape (DV) in a manner which would approximate
the experience an audience member would have seated in a small theatre.
That is to say, the camera was mounted on a tripod, there was no zooming
in on close-ups, except for the "opening introductory slate"
and only a limited amount of panning was used, when the actor threatened
to move entirely out of frame. VIDEO
CLIP -- Short Theatrical Performance Excerpt
After these theatrical presentations,
Foreman provided each actor with notes in order to deepen their understanding
of the character. Among the suggestions provided by Foreman to individual
students (notably the three students whose work was chosen for demonstration
on the video) were, to keep focus on the partner, pay attention to
the transitions, and to correct mispronunciations. However, there
was an over-arching reminder, put to each and every student, and that
was, "Don't forget, there's a listener out there." Preparation for Close-Up Filmic
Performances A close-up demands absolute
truth. It's a severe and awesome trial.
Elia Kazan (qtd. in Comey: 10) Before looking at the three videotaped
performances, I'd like to foreground the questions that I used as
the foundation for strategic planning of this learning module.
First, who is the listener? Secondly, what role does the camera
play in the performance process? And thirdly, over and above the mask
training actor workshops, what vocabulary and technique is needed
to achieve an entry-level knowledge base for an actor in the film
industry? In determining the listener for
each scenario, five movie clips were shown depicting different types
of monologue presentation, and each student was asked to place their
scenario into the context of one of these directorial approaches,
dependant on who their listener was: 1. Text discarded and scene treated with visual action,
flashbacks or voiceovers. This is an often-used technique where the
camera can literally take the audience into the characters mind. Examples
of this are Henry Fonda's"Strawberry Picking in the Woods"
scene in On Golden Pond, and various monologues in Lawrence
Olivier's Hamlet.
3. Addressed to another person in the scene in an "over the shoulder" shot or reaction edit sequence. This is a logical and frequently used technique in film monologue — especially since many monologues are truncated (edited). For the audience, this approach makes a monologue practically indistinguishable from a dialogue scene. Examples of this are Michelle Pfeiffer's Titania in Midsummer Night's Dream, and Anthony Hopkins in Titus. 4. Addressed to an object or animal. This technique softens out the insanity factor of the character talking to themselves, by creating a personification of an object. Examples of this are Mel Gibson's "Yorick's Skull" scene in Hamlet, and "Wilson the Volleyball" in Tom Hank's Castaway. 5. Spoken straight to the camera as if the camera
is the character's best friend or buddy. This style creates an intimacy
and affinity with the audience, and an effective example of this is
Michael Caine in Alfie. Caine's thoughts on the issue of credibility reflect an affinity with Foreman's description about internal mask work. His thoughts, "Screen acting today is much more a matter of 'being' than 'performing,'" in tandem with his premise that you have to be aware of the camera in order to ignore it, coincide with Foreman's core beliefs about internal mask, where you can, in her words "slip into that skin, and allow yourself to imagine you are that person in a given circumstance." This is, in my estimation, a pivotal factor in advancing the theory of mask work being the key to the smooth transition from theatrical to filmic presentation for these particular students. Michael Caine's video, also called
Acting for Film, provides the students with performance lessons such
as "listening is what acting is all about," "take it
slow, take it easy, and fell everything" and "movie acting
is relaxation — if you're knocking yourself out, you're doing
it wrong." These words of wisdom, in combination with a brief
course on "acting in snippets" and "hitting marks,"
plus a handout on film-making terminology, completed the theory portion
of the module. Speed. Frame. Action. Putting the Performance in Front of the Lens Three performances were chosen as demonstrations on the
accompanying video for reasons of both art and craft. On an artistic
level, they, firstly, show a positive actor technique development
from the original theatrical presentations, and secondly, they achieved,
in my mind, the operative goal of performance believability in a film
medium. On the filmic "craft" level, the camera movement
and focus, lighting, and audio was satisfactory in these particular
selections, and the editing process, in some way, added to the visual,
and emotional impact of the scenarios. The primary elements that were
added to the performances in "post-production" were cutaway-edits
from actor to "re-actor," (the scene's "listener")
music, and titles. VIDEO CLIP
-- Performance of Angelo from Measure for Measure The first performance is Angelo, from Measure for Measure. Who is Angelo's listener in this scene? The actor, logically, decided upon an approach where, like the Titania scene in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the camera takes on an objective role of observer of a "dialogue" in which only one person is speaking at the time. The respondent, even though mute, becomes complicit in the scene through edited cutaways and therefore enhances the scenario by being both a motivational springboard and an emotional barometer. Isabel is the epitome of virtue
and innocence and it is for these reasons that I find myself so attracted
to her. I know that my usual unwavering sternness has been taken over
by desire. My lust for Isabel now controls me and all internal confusion
shall be subsided until I get what I want. VIDEO CLIP
-- Performance of Lydia Languish from The Rivals
The second performance is Lydia Languish, from The Rivals. Who is Lydia's listener in this scene? Once again, the actor chose an approach where the camera takes on an objective role of observer of a 'dialogue' in which Lydia speaks to Julia, but Julia replies only with gesture and expression. The actor playing Lydia nervously glanced at the camera at both the beginning and end of this take, and since her gaze, even though a mistake per se, was so engaging, a freeze frame was held at both the beginning and the end, effectively bringing the audience into complicity as if, as Michael Caine advises, "a buddy or a best friend was being told a secret" (Acting). In discussion, this actor admitted to having been trained to, "keep in mind the audience and not to close them off," and she may have been using the camera lens as a support mechanism for performance approval. This split focus can also be seen as an example of Augusto Boal's principle of hanging onto two realities, an actor reality and a character reality, where she aimed her gaze at the camera and, at the same time, was able to stay in character. Here is an excerpt from the
actor's character description of Lydia: For the last four months, I
have been keeping a secret boyfriend [...] he has been my dream come
true [...] he has the most beautiful eyes, mouth, ears, and his body
puts to shame the ones read about in the romance novels. I've never
before felt like I did when he was near me.
VIDEO CLIP --
Performance of Iago from Othello
The third performance is Iago,
from Othello, Who is the listener in this scene? In this case, the
actor chose a no-holds-barred attitude of speaking directly to the
camera, in a style reminiscent of Michael Caine's approach in Alfie
but with a force of delivery that suggests the role of the camera
is more like an evil conspirator than simply a buddy or best friend.
Here we get the feeling that Iago's soliloquy is touched with madness
— talking to himself and building momentum to his plan by morroring
his murderous intentions back to himself off the camera lens. (In
discussion, the actor, in fact, made mention about how he gave himself
a fright when he saw himself reflected so closely in the camera lens
at the end of the scene.) Here is an excerpt from the actor's
character description of Iago: I know hate. I've been walked
on, spit on, and bled on because of hate. One man rises above the
turbulent mob, and claimed a place in my heart so dark it almost frightens
me to visit it. The Moor has been the captain of my ship of devastation.
I fear being exposed before my plan has run its course. I need to
succeed to abate the nagging sense of self doubt within. Student Discussion and Feedback A real acid-test for an instructor,
or facilitator, is finding out what the learners perceived to be of
value about the experience. Did they feel, for example, that their
studio experience with mask work had a bearing in their ability to
perform on film? Were there elements of their training as theatrical
actors that they found difficult to resolve in relation to film work?
These questions were put to the students both in discussion and in
the form of a survey (promised to be cited anonymously) and here are
some of the answers relating, firstly, to their mask work: 1. Yes, I believe that my experience in improvisation and mask work did influence my work with the camera. They are both spontaneous in their form, natural, easy, and flowing. 2. The mask work applies to the film close-up in that I learned that whatever is happening with the facial area, allowing my body to move along with the transitions, is still valuable to how my motives are communicated. 3. I don't think that the mask work has had a bearing on my ability to perform in film. I just don't see a relation. 4. I think that mask
work helped with close-ups in the respect that mask made you focus
your exterior energies inside. It helped me to understand expression
within a confined space as did the camera work. Among the most meaningful responses to the second question about the cross-over from theatrical acting to film acting were: 1. Because we were doing work that was focused on bringing about greater physicality, it was a brusque change to be thrown into the stillness of close-up for film work. Otherwise, many of the same concepts still applied: motivated thought process, genuine emotion, sustained focus and attention. 2. I felt lonely in front of the camera because I didn't have that sense of having an attentive and supportive audience. 3. For film, I had to focus on being in the moment, and blocking out distractions from the crew. There were other noteworthy comments
like the following, answering the question, "How has seeing yourself
on film altered the perception of your own performance?" 1. I was able to listen to myself and discover where my transitions were. I was also able to see the final product of my work and realize I didn't screw up as bad as I thought. 2. I now have a greater
understanding of how the internal, and the external, inter-influence
and reflect each other, and of how easy it is to recognize truth from
a put-on version of truth. When asked, "Has this experience affected the way in which you are observing film or television?" Several interesting responses emerged: 1. [The camera] is a great tool for eliminating people's faults where only the most appealing shots can be saved. Being able to choose among a variety of shots also makes it easier to angle message into a direction or suggestion of the director's particular liking. 2. I appreciate, on a deeper level now, the exertion and patience it takes in putting together a film that achieves at least some degree on genuine demonstration of the multi-faceted-ness of human nature. Film is such an interesting medium, it marries together many different art forms and I've come to appreciate its complexity. 3. It's clear how much work and expertise must be behind each film or television piece. I now regard film as a very interactive area of acting in which so many elements come into play to produce something that can be mistaken for the work of one person (the actor). At its conclusion, I consider
the learning module "Acting for the Camera" a success.
Most importantly, as an ideological journey, I feel I was able to
justify, at least in my own mind, the critical intersection between
the methodological process of mask training and its pivotal role in
the creation of believable student-actor performances, both on stage
and on screen. As for its practical
application, as in any experimental work, there are things that could
be explored differently, or more effectively, in upcoming situations
to achieve continuing positive development for all parties concerned.
From a production perspective, my ambition would be to enhance the
final-cut mise-en-scene, with richer backgrounds — at the least,
scenic symbols, or icons, representing the locations in order to provide
environmental ambiance; from an equipment perspective, I would re-assess
the use of low-end dollies — ironically, I found that hand-holding
the camera actually provided more reliable footage with fewer camera
cutaway edits required to compensate for camera jiggle; and, from
a content perspective, I would enjoy evolving this monologue work
into a two-actor dialogue scene in order to examine a richer character
arch for the "listener," and to push the development of
my DV filmmaking skills in new directions.
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