ACTION! Professional Acting for Film and Television

by Benedetti, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780321418258
• ISBN10: 0321418255
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-22
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

In Action!, Peabody and multiple Emmy award-winning producer and leading teacher of acting Robert Benedetti offers a practical, detailed and clearly structured approach to the fundamentals of acting for the camera. The first part of the book is a step-by-step guide to how an actor fits into the process of shooting a film or television show. The second part describes how to prepare yourself for any role through detailed instructions for creating the inner life of a character. Benedetti's analysis of sample scenes, such as Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and the sitcom Cheers, helps readers become experts and complete naturals in front of a camera. The book features: How acting for the camera is different from acting on stage Complete coverage on how to start an acting career in film or television All major film production personnel, terms and forms Detailed discussion of self-training for the camera

Author Biography

Robert Benedetti was formerly Dean of the School of Theatre at the California Institute of the Arts and Head of the Acting Department at the Yale Drama School. For the past eight years he has been a film and television producer/writer, and recently won an Emmy and a Peabody award as producer of the HBO film, A Lesson Before Dying, and an Emmy award for HBO's Miss Evers Boys. His other published works include The Director at Work, The Actor at Work, and The Actor in You.

Table of Contents

Figures	xi
Exercises	xii
Preface	xiii
About the Author	xvii
PART ONE Working with the Camera	1	(76)
Getting Started	1	(2)
How a Film Is Organized	3	(14)
Prep	5	(6)
Rehearsal	11	(2)
Handling Your Lines	13	(4)
Acting for a Single-Camera Film	17	(18)
Shooting	21	(10)
Postproduction: Looping	31	(4)
Shot Size	35	(10)
Distance and Relationship	37	(3)
Screen Size and the Actor	40	(5)
Blocking, Marks, and Eye-Lines	45	(10)
Blocking for the Camera	46	(2)
Group Shots	48	(3)
Eye-Lines	51	(2)
Overlapping	53	(2)
Continuity	55	(8)
Matching Levels of Intensity	56	(1)
Matching Rhythm and Tempo	57	(1)
Matching Business and Props	58	(2)
Matching Take to Take	60	(1)
Cheating	61	(2)
Working with Multiple Cameras	63	(14)
Film versus Video	65	(3)
Acting for Multiple Cameras	68	(1)
Sitcoms	69	(6)
Soap Operas	75	(2)
PART TWO Preparing Yourself and Your Role	77	(94)
A Scene of Your Own	78	(2)
Your Own Camera System	80	(3)
Training for the Camera	83	(8)
Acting on Stage and on Camera	85	(2)
The Fum Actor's Consciousness	87	(4)
The Inner Discipline of Camera Acting	91	(14)
Transformation and ``the Magic If''	91	(3)
Personalizing	94	(2)
Action and Public Solitude	96	(1)
Justification	97	(3)
Indicating	100	(2)
Transformation for the Camera	102	(3)
Inner Action	105	(10)
Seeing and Listening	108	(2)
Attitude	110	(1)
Choice	111	(4)
Actions and Objectives	115	(14)
Defining Productive Objectives	115	(3)
Defining Playable Actions	118	(3)
Spontaneity	121	(2)
The Inner Monologue	123	(1)
Emotion Memory and Substitution	124	(5)
The Four Types of Action	129	(10)
Automatic Actions	129	(2)
Direct and Indirect Action: Subtext	131	(3)
Doing Nothing	134	(5)
Dramatic Structure	139	(14)
Beats	139	(2)
The Shape of Drama	141	(2)
Story Architecture	143	(3)
Scene Structure	146	(3)
The Superobjective	149	(4)
Starting a Career in Film and Television	153	(18)
Getting Started	154	(2)
Getting an Agent	156	(2)
Joining a Union	158	(2)
The Casting Process	160	(2)
Commercials, Industrials, and Looping	162	(2)
Auditions	164	(7)
AFTERWORD: The Ethics of Film Acting	171	(4)
APPENDIX A: Sample Scenes	175	(12)
From Miss Evers' Boys by Walter Bernstein	175	(4)
From Cheers by Tom Reeder	179	(8)
APPENDIX B: Useful Scene Sources	187	(12)
Screenplays	187	(3)
Plays	190	(7)
Useful Collections	197	(2)
Glossary: Of Film and Television Terms	199	(12)
Index	211