Name_____________________

Acting Guided Notes

I. What is Acting?
i. Name five things the actor uses in screen acting:
a. Imagination f. Knowledge of filmmaking process
b. Memory g. Psychology
c. Body language h. Facial expressions
d. Intelligence
e. Vocal technique

II. Movie actors

i. What makes movie acting different from stage acting?
Movie actors always come closer to the audience, appear larger, than actors on the stage do.
ii. What is “the single element that most radically differentiates the movie actor’s
performance?”
The camera

iii. How does the process of delivering lines differ between stage acting and movie acting?
Movie actors don't always recite their lines in order
iv. What are the four key types of actors?
1. Personality actors - actors who take their personae from role to role
2. Actors who deliberately play against our expectations of their personae
3. Chameleon actors - actors who seem to be different in every role
4. Actors, often nonprofessionals or people who have achieved success in another field (sports or
music, for example), who are cast to bring verisimilitude to a part.
III. The Evolution of Screen Acting

A. Early Screen­Acting Styles
i. What characterized early screen acting?
Exaggerated gestures, overly emphatic facial expressions, and mouthed words.
b. D.W. Griffith and Lillian Gish
i. Who was D.W. Griffith?
Director of Birth of a Nation and the first to really give people time to become actual actors with natural movement
ii. Who was Lillian Gish?
Invented the art of screen acting, Broken Blossoms 1919 was e first great film performance.
c. The Influence of Sound
i. Name three challenges actors were faced with when sound was introduced to
filmmaking.
1. Actors had to curtail their movements inside the circumscribed sphere where recording took place
2. Created a need for screenplays and dialogue coaches
3. Directors were forced to rehearse more extensively with their actors.
ii. How did the “talkies” influence actors and acting?
v. How did the “talkies” impact directors?

d. Acting in the Classical Studio Era
i. What is a movie star?
A movie star is two people: the actor and the character(s) he or she has played. The star embodies an image
created by the studio to coincide with the kinds of roles associated with the actor.
 ii. What’s the difference between a film “star” and a film “actor?”
The star is who the studio wants you to see, film actors are those trained in the craft of acting
iii. What type of acting existed during the golden age of Hollywood (roughly from the
1930s­1950s)?

iv. What was an option contract?
Seven year so tract that was reviewed every six months
e. Method Acting
i. What is Method acting?
Speaking, moving, and using gestures just as they would in their own lives.
ii. Who developed Method acting?
Stanislavsky
f. Screen Acting Today
i. What are two key differences between screen acting today and screen acting during
the golden age of Hollywood?
The freedom to choose roles and negotiate earnings, actors supplement films with commercials and television.
g. Technology and Acting
i. What is a“synthespian?” Give two examples.
Synthesized actor (CGI or motion capture) like Gollum or Jar Jar Binks
III. Casting Actors
a. What is casting?
i. What is casting?
Process of choosing and hiring actors for a movie
ii. How is casting done?
Characters may be written for a certain actor or it takes place in pre-production after the script is written
iii. What are the two primary actors’ unions?
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
b. Factors Involved in Casting
i. What are the factors involved in casting?
Budget and expected revenues, race, ethnicity, gender, and age
IV. Aspects of Performance
a. Types of Roles
i. Define major role:
Help move plot forward
ii. Define stand­in:
Actors who look reasonably like stars in height, weight, coloring
iii. Define stuntperson:
Double for actors doing stunts
iv. Define minor roles:
Supporting roles that rank second
v. Define character role:
Represent distinctive character types
vi. Define bit player:
Small speaking parts
vii. Define extra:
Usually appear in nonspeaking crowd roles and receive no credit
viii. Define cameo:
Small but significant roles, often taken by famous actors
 ix. Define walk­on:
Even smaller roles, reserved for highly-recognizable actors or personalities
b. Preparing for Roles
i. How can actors prepare for roles?
Synthesize basic sources, including the script and their own experiences, also influences from other actors.
c. Naturalistic and Nonnaturalistic Styles
i. What is naturalistic screen acting?
"Method" acting. It's natural.
ii. What is nonnaturalistic screen acting?
Not realistic, over the top
iii. Who was Bertolt Brecht?
Exemplified nonnaturalistic acting style, wanted the audience to know it was fake
iv. What is the alienation effect or distancing effect?
The creation of a psychological distance between audience and stage, reminds the audience of the artificiality
d. Improvisational Acting
i. What is improvisation?
Extemporizing or playing through a moment
ii. What role does improvised acting require directors to play?
It requires them to play an active part in the acting part.
e. Directors and Actors
i. What is an “actors’ director?”
The directors inspire such confidence they can actively shape actors' performances
V. How Filmmaking Affects Acting
a. Framing, Composition, Lighting, and the Long Take
i. How can framing and composition work in relationship to actors?
They bring actors together in a shot or keep them apart
ii. What is a long take?
Uninterrupted shot
b. The Camera and the Close­up
i. What must actors consider when filming a close­up?
Forget their bodies' expressive possibilities, stand as close to the camera as they would a person, balance voice, use subtlety
c. Acting and Editing
i. What role does the editor play with regard to the actor’s performance?
He can mold the performance, patch up mistakes and control the length of time the actor spends on screen
VI. Analyzing Acting
i. What should we keep in mind as we analyze acting?
That it is a formal component of filmmaking
VII. Screening Checklist: Acting
(You’ll answer these questions for It’s a Wonderful Life)
1. Why was this actor, and not another, cast for the role?
2. Does the actor’s performance create a coherent, unified character? If so, how?
3. Does the actor look the part? Is it necessary for the actor to look the part?
4. Does the actor’s performance convey the actions, thoughts, and internal complexities
that we associate with natural or recognizable characters? Or does it exhibit the
excessive approach we associate with nonnaturalistic characters?
5. What elements are most distinctive in how the actor conveys the character’s actions,
thoughts, and internal complexities: body language, gestures, facial expressions,
language?
6. What special talents of imagination or intelligence has the actor brought to the role?
7. How important is the filmmaking process in creating the character? Is the actor’s
performance overshadowed by the filmmaking process?
8. Does the actor work well with fellow actors in this film? Do any of the other actors
detract from the lead actor’s performance?
9. How, if at all, is the actor’s conception of the character based on logic? How does the
performance demonstrate expressive coherence?
10. Does the actor’s performance have the expressive power to make us forget that he or
she is acting? If it does, how do you think the actor achieved this effect?