Transitioning From The Stage To The Big Screen
Many great stage actors will eventually graduate to the big screen. While theater is a wonderful way to learn the craft of acting, and prepare for a long, dynamic career, when an actor transitions from the stage to television or film, a few adjustments must be made.
Projecting
As a stage actor,
you are trained to project because everyone, including the audience
members in the balcony, must be able to hear your dialog. However when
performing for the camera, projection is no longer necessary.
Blocking
There is blocking in both stage and on-camera productions.
However in theater you’re given a little more flexibility. If you’re
slightly off your mark, the audience will still be able to see you.
But, when acting for the camera, if you’re off on your mark, you may
venture out of frame which will require the director to shoot the scene
again until you get it right. This can be particularly maddening on the
set of soap operas where you must shoot a lot of scenes in a short
amount of time, therefore requiring that the actors be as perfect as
possible when it comes to blocking and knowing your lines.
Delivery
When
acting on the stage, much of your delivery is for the sake of the live
audience. Your facial expressions, movement, gesturing, etc. are all to
engage the audience. When acting on camera, it’s important to
concentrate more on relating to the character, than relating to the
audience. Additionally, you’ll have to learn to embrace the subtleties
of the character, which can be a challenge initially.
Reacting
Theater
is rehearsed so much, and the same scenes performed over and over until
sometimes the actors forget to react to the other players. Instead they
are just performing what they’ve rehearsed. It’s very important that
you don’t do this when you’re performing for the camera. In film
and television, the director always captures what’s called a reaction
shot. Not only are you filmed performing your dialog, but you’re also
taped reacting to the dialog of the other actors in the scene. In order
for your performance to look authentic, it’s very important that you
listen and react to other actors in the scene, rather than just
delivering your lines based on vocal cues.
If you’re interested in roles on-camera and on-stage roles, visit www.EliteCastingNetwork.com today and check out some of our auditions.
