My Journey 5th - 9th January 2015 - Acting for Camera

Acting for Camera 5th – 9th January 2015

Games and Exercises:

• Dodge Ball

Scene, Take, Slate, ACTION!

On Wednesday, we started the acting for camera! I felt quite daunted at first because we are so used to theatre and everything that is required of you as an actor. However, I was looking forward to the challenge! (Credited: Google Images)


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We started off learning the basics and finding your mark. This involves a piece of tape being put down and you have to make sure you hit that point at certain moments in the scene. It means the shot will stay in perspective and ensure good positioning and flow. We had to simply walk without looking down and hit the tape. We then did the same thing but in pairs whilst one person said some speech. It was actually much harder than I anticipated! I found myself focusing so much on the marks and where I had to go that it was then really hard to connect to the character. As we were doing this we learnt about how the crew works and the process of starting to film a scene. The following are roles we adopted and how it works: -‐ Director -‐ 1st Assistant Director (1st AD) -‐ Cameraman -‐ Camera guider -‐ Boom operator Assistant Director-‐ Silence on set, we are going for another take. Actors are you ok and ready to go? Turn over Cameraman -‐ Camera Rolling Boom operator -‐ Speed Assistant Director -‐ Scene _ Take _ Slate _ ACTION! (Slate means the shot e.g.: wide then into close up would be two different slates)


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We also did a version where we physically created the camera in front of the actors. This became even more of a challenge as you can’t let the camera distract you or look straight into it! It was really fun to have a go at various roles and doing them practically helps to cement in your mind what it is they exactly do. It feels like such a challenge because everyone has such a vital role to play so you have to be specific and remember exactly what he or she does. I also found that being an actor was so difficult. I felt so fake and struggled to find the ease and fluency inside what I was doing. However, I hope this will come with practice and understanding more about how it all works!

Michael Caine -‐ Acting for camera We watched a clip of Michael Caine teaching acting for camera. It was so interesting and I learnt so many new things from it. It’s such a different world to theatre and a lot of the concepts seem to contradict everything you would do on stage. For example, forgetting about everyone else and just focusing on you and the other actor in the scene, it’s all about listening and reacting. Something Michael Caine said was that to achieve a good performance you have to be concentrated, have no enemies, relax and let it come out. I feel this is going to be a challenge and something that will feel strange at first because naturally in theatre you go into a performance mode where you are exerting yourself and injecting a big energy. However, I would imagine once you find that state where you’re natural and are simply reacting truthfully you connect to the style, scene and characters. It’s amazing when he was demonstrating a close up just how much detail the camera picks up. I think it’s about finding balance -‐ you need to convey the character and meaning over but at the same time you don’t have to demonstrate everything. Just by thinking about it and feeling it, it will read in your face. Michael Caine is a great source to have and I am intrigued and excited by the challenge and chance to learn more. We all got given a short scene in pairs. It is about a couple and one of them has had an affair. I found it difficult at first to connect with the scene and find the truth in the scenario and the character. I am discovering how acting for camera requires you to be much more naturalistic and most of the time it’s about doing less. As an actor this makes me feel quite vulnerable at times because you don’t have a big character to hide behind and it becomes much more intimate. However, I am up for the challenge and am always open to learning new techniques.


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On Thursday, we did a lot more work on acting for camera. We started by going through the Acting for camera booklet. We read through the first section which is all about Equipment I actually found it quite a task to take in so much information and having never done filming in this way before it was hard to imagine how everything works. However, it really helped when we did a little quiz at the end, this helped me to remember everything more and it was good to actually talk about it all. Gavin then went through all of the real equipment we will be using with us! There is so much to remember and it seems quite technical but I’m sure we will get to grips with it all as we practice! It’s also vital how the equipment is put away and how to handle it all. For example: -‐ You always have to remember to take the cassette out of the camera before you put it away. -‐ There always has to be a battery on charge. We then actually started to film the scenes Gav gave us. It’s funny because he told us not to rehearse them again before we film them. This feels strange because in theatre you always rehearse whenever you get the chance. I think this will keep it more raw and in the moment though.

The first pair was Harriet and Levi. We all then took on different responsibilities as crew. I was continuity. This was actually quite a tough job as you always have to be a step ahead, know what the time is, the scene, take and slate as well as noting what the actors are doing in case they change anything and it’s going to affect the continuity. It’s all recorded in a table, which we did.

The next was Lewis and Charley and I was sound. This was really difficult! The pole was actually really heavy and I struggled to keep it in the air the whole time. You also have to move it towards the actors when they are speaking so that you pick up the best sound. You also have to make sure there is no rustling or other sound being picked up so that you get a crisp and clear dialogue. Alex and Erol were next and I was white balance. White balancing is there to ensure consistency from shot to shot for each new lighting circumstance. Its really interesting discovering more about the different roles and putting it all into practice.


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This week the Michael Caine video was a big source of inspiration it inspired me as to how real and honest acting for camera should be. He is a brilliant film actor and the way he explains his techniques was thought provoking and inspiring to watch. Throughout this process I wills strive to be the best I can be and this clip has helped me to understand some of the basic rules and concepts I need to always be thinking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZPLVDwEr7Y

Julia also put a video up on the company site that showed a time lapse. It’s a great clip and show how good camera work can be. It’s amazing the shots and affects that can be created in any piece of film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlGqdUWmDtQ

I feel like we have been doing Acting for Camera much longer than two days, we have learnt so much! It has been great to test ideas and be so practical. Getting scenes filmed is great fun and although there is still a lot to learn its proving very interesting and exciting. My strength this week has included learning so much about all the different roles in film. I think I managed to take on a lot of information and enjoyed learning one role then swapping immediately to another. I enjoyed gaining a deeper understanding of filming as a whole too and think the more we do this and the more we discuss all the different aspects this will help us when working on the floor immensely. (Credited: Google Images)

My weaknesses have included confidence. Going into the acting for camera has felt quite daunting and at times I have really doubted myself, which sometimes causes me to feel I can’t take as many risks. I think I have held back at points because I felt in the dark about what I was doing. I think it’s natural to be apprehensive about something so new but at the same time to improve I will learn to take on the challenge with more confidence and have faith in what we have learnt already, in such a short period of time too! I do feel quite daunted by the tasks ahead but at the same time excited and determined to develop a new skill. I want to continue learning more about all the different responsibilities and put the facts and techniques to work on the floor allowing me to be more confident in what I am doing. I am excited by what is ahead, I want to push myself and not be afraid to fail because that shows you are taking risks!

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My Journey 5th - 9th January 2015 - Acting for Camera