A screen actor who lacks technique will never sustain a long term career. A good actor is aware of what their body is doing at all times. They keep their actions simple and precise, thereby embodying their physical performance with real meaning. But the most expressive part of the body is the eyes: the window to the soul. The eyes are a prime form of emotional expression. And eye lines are very important on camera.
Precise eye lines help to create impact on screen and can make your character appear honest and forthright. Good eye lines can also give the character you are playing strength, power and determination, be they protagonist or antagonist. Sloppy eye lines – eyes that are wandering all over the place – make your character appear shifty and untrustworthy. Editors cut along eye lines and there is nothing more annoying or time wasting in the edit suite than an actor with wandering eyes or bad continuity. When cutting scenes with more than two actors, say a dinner party scene, the actors must be aware that through all of the camera set ups used to cover the scene they must use precise eye lines when speaking and responding to the other characters.
But when do you look at someone and when do you look away? To a large extent the moment by moment emotional content of the scene will dictate where to direct your eye lines. With experience little thought is required, as with all technique it becomes intuitive after a while. And once you understand the required technique and its application you can always break it to achieve the opposite effect.
Another annoying habit some actors have is to sigh at the beginning of a line. When you expel breath via a sigh, you are also expelling must needed energy.
Some actors click their tongue making a “tchh” sound before every line. Very annoying when cutting a scene as the editor has to waste valuable time cueing the dialogue after the sound or removing the sound entirely. And if it is done repeatedly, the actor starts to really grate on everyone in the room. Would the director hire this person again? Highly unlikely.
Few acting schools teach technique in their classes. At the Screen Actors Workshop, the theoretical and practical application of good technique goes hand in hand with performance studies. It’s one thing to learn how to act and quite another to understand the importance of seamlessly applying technique to the on-camera performance.
Actors with good technique invariably develop and sustain long term careers.
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