Acting for the Camera

by Barr, Tony

• ISBN13: 9780060928193
• ISBN10: 0060928190
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-07
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Culled from Tony Barr's 40 years' experience as a performer, director and acting teacher in Hollywood, this highly praised handbook provides readers with the practical knowledge they need when performing in front of the camera. This updated edition includes plenty of new exercises for honing on-camera skills; additional chapters on imagination and movement; and fresh material on character development, monologues, visual focus, playing comedy and working with directors. Inside tips on the studio system and acting guilds make it particularly helpful for people new to the business, and numerous anecdotes from actors such as Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins and examples from current movies illustrate its many lessons. It is perfect for acting classes, workshops, all actors who work in front of the camera -- and all those who want to.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii	(2)
Preface	ix	(4)
Acknowledgments	xiii
ONE ACTING	3	(56)
1 Film and Stage--Two Sides of the Same Coin	3	(5)
2 The Development of Film-Acting Styles	8	(4)
3 The Approach	12	(3)
4 Acting Defined	15	(4)
5 Listening/Sensing	19	(8)
6 The Character	27	(5)
7 Focus and Concentration	32	(4)
8 Energy	36	(4)
9 The Emotions	40	(14)
10 Spontaneity	54	(5)
TWO WORKING ON THE ROLE	59	(38)
11 Preparation	59	(10)
12 Facts and Conditions	69	(11)
13 Imagination	80	(3)
14 Learn the Role--Not the Lines	83	(10)
Station Break	93	(4)
THREE TOOLS	97	(70)
15 Rhythm and Change	97	(13)
16 Dynamics	110	(3)
17 Movement	113	(3)
18 The Need	116	(6)
19 Selectivity	122	(14)
20 Personalization	136	(2)
21 Animate and Inanimate Object Images	138	(4)
22 The Nonsense Exercise--Unorthodoxy	142	(2)
23 Comedy and Drama from the Actor's Point of View	144	(6)
24 Cold Reading and Auditions	150	(5)
25 Working with the Director	155	(5)
26 Working from the Outside In--Or Not	160	(3)
27 In a Nutshell	163	(4)
FOUR THE MACHINERY OF FILM AND TAPE	167	(100)
28 Day One on the Set	167	(2)
29 The Motion Picture Studio and the Soundstage	169	(2)
30 Some Specifics of Film	171	(21)
31 Shooting a Scene	192	(63)
32 The Television Studio	255	(3)
33 The Multiple-Camera Show	258	(2)
34 Stunts	260	(7)
FIVE THE FILM/TAPE CAREER	267	(84)
35 Beginning Your Career	267	(8)
36 Film and Television Unions for Actors	275	(13)
37 The Star	288	(8)
38 Exercises for Acting for the Camera	296	(55)
Epilogue	351	(2)
About the Author	353	(2)
Index	355