DRAMA 454 B: Projects In Acting

Since the early beginnings of cinema, actors have had to adjust their craft to the realities of the two-dimensional moving images.

This class introduces students to the aesthetic, craft based and technical aspects of acting in narrative film.

The foundations of action and objective, obstacle and relationship remain the same in film, but the fact that cinema is a visual medium increases demands on the actor as far as technique, transparency. Also, the fragmented and repetitive nature of filming performances on a set asks the actor to reconsider their approach to scenes and to be familiar with the technical aspects of how a film is shot.

It has been said that a camera is a device designed to “look behind a character’s eyes”. In this sense, a willingness and ability to “allow” the camera to photograph a character’s thoughts and feelings  becomes the true task of the screen actor.