Zaryo - Actors   ON CAMERA ACTING TIPS

How does one appear on camera?

Remember, even if you have no previous experience on camera acting, even if you never learned the basics of acting, if you have the talent - that's what's important.
 

If you're thinking to yourself that because stage work involves doing an entire play in sequence then the on camera set will be a similar experience - it's not. The director will instruct you before every shoot and can demand as many takes as needed to get it all perfect. That doesn't mean you don't have to prepare, and prepare well.

On the set, actors focus on short parts of each scene at a time. Those parts have no sequence or connexion, no chronology. So, if you haven't prepared properly, you'll find yourself saying empty unconnected sentences. Preparation involves working with the director, but more importantly, working on your character, the situation and the text. You have to arrive on the set with a clear idea of what the role you're playing is all about and what you intend to do with it. You should work on each part with a clear view of the whole.

Learn to trust the camera

When you appear on stage you are in front of an audience from a distance. The camera, on the other hand, will catch every move you make, every drop of perspiration. You must be exact! For the camera will catch every false move.
The camera is like an audience sitting in the very first row of an intimate theatre. So close that the actors might spit on them when speaking. You'll be in a situation where there's no need to accentuate movements. It's like the difference between yelling out of a second story window and being on the ground in order to talk to someone outside.

 

Extreme camera long shot and close ups

The camera sees all. If you've already learned to act a bit, remember that this is true in most instances. In cinema the camera catches you at all different angles and from different distances. When filming close-ups, the camera sees all. But from a distance, when you're only a third of the frame tall, in an extreme long shot, your body needs to make more gestures and your face needs to show the camera more expressive. Know when the camera is filming and make your gestures suitable for the size of the frame. If you're used to making relatively large gestures, that will be suitable for the long shots, but the close ups will catch even the tiniest grimace or glance. The distance that the camera is from you has no connexion to whether it is filming long shots or close ups. This is the magic of the lens. This is the director's job, to tell you what he needs.

The Camera's Strange Angles

Sometimes angles need to be faked: the relatively closed frames, for instance, actors standing closer to each other than it looks. Sometimes, they need to look at one another, but a bit past each other. And of course, the close ups usually involve talking to empty space or to a stand-in.

Homework

At home you can practise with a regular video camera. Choose your favourite monologue and practise filming yourself from different angles; front shot, full body, long shots (from a window) and real close-ups. See what happens; see how every movement is exaggerated. See how gestures look in the close ups. Don't forget to speak to a specific point in the room (or to a friend, if possible), in order to learn how to ignore the camera. And of course, it's always worthwhile to register to a course for on camera.