Lights! Camera! Acting!

The premise of this study is that film acting is one of the simplest crafts in the world, in the sense that the actor has only to appear natural and believable in front of the camera. On the other hand, this study will show that dealing with all the technical demands associated with the craft makes it one of the more complex crafts to master. This study hopes to help clear some of the bewilderment and ignorance of the new actor to the demands of the film and television media.

Time and again it has been pointed out to me that many student actors do not have a comprehensive guide to help them in negotiating the obstacle course of modern film and television. Hence this study. A fairly ideal situation is surmised, whereby the actor will be intelligent, sensitive, persevering, talented and above all, lucky. The serious acting student or lecturer should find that although a lot of the information seems obvious, they may benefit from the more or less logical fashion of organisation. This study has been set out in the following order, covering the typical (if there is such a thing) actor in steps from finding the differences in acting between film and theatre, to dealing with critics after a film is shown.

Part of this book is given over to the thoughts and ideas of more knowledgeable and experienced people in various related disciplines than I am. I use their ideas, tips and tricks with respect and refer to the sources wherever possible.