Key Concepts

• Actors use imagination, intelligence, vocal technique, facial expressions, body language, and an overall knowledge of the filmmaking process to realize, under the director's guidance, the characters created by the screenwriter(s).
• Although film acting was originally rooted in the theater, it evolved into an art form that is more representational than presentational, relying on subtleties instead of broadness.
• During the studio era, from roughly the 1930s to the 1950s, acting in American movies generally meant "star acting," where the appearance of the actor was far more important than the other elements of acting.
• This chapter describes aspects of performance:
• types of roles
• preparing for roles
• naturalistic and nonnaturalistic styles
• improvisation
• collaboration between directors and actors

Learning Objectives

Once you have read this chapter, you should be able to

• explain how the coming of sound into the movie industry affected film acting.
• describe how movie acting today differs from that of the studio era.
• explain why the relationship between the actor and the camera is so important in making and viewing movies.
• describe the criteria used for casting actors in films.
• describe how naturalistic and nonnaturalistic movie acting differ.
• define improvisational acting.
• explain the potential effects on acting of framing, composition, lighting, and the types and lengths of shots.