Anatomy of a Great Actor

what cinema is or movies you don't have to doesn't necessarily to move the camera the human face the story being told by a person in the frame is the key thing just completely and if it isn't there for me I mean for me it doesn't work that's the case with most people I guess the technicalities like camera movement sound design and editing are all important no doubt but they are all used with respect to the performance of an actor directors funnel their narratives through actor but acting in cinema can be a little tricky because you act for the camera not for the real audience then she gave me some advices I'll just tell you something the own act you don't have to add stop acting don't push it on camera let the camera do the work most of the time the general rule was just keep it simple too less however in Hindi mainstream cinema doing more is considered as the right way of acting and the popularity of this method has led to a lot of actors being hailed as great actors when they are at the most good or average or simply carbage [Music] over the course of 100 years the nature of film acting changed significantly acting in the 20s and the 30s in the beginning the film business was about glamour acting during the war the war affected acting in films and then and then people had became about strength and then in the anti-heroic period it became about having the private moment in public and and then now we've arrived at another place where our great acting is to be physically fit fitness is great acting in the movies however certain characteristic remained constant throughout this period first of which is believability an actor can use a lot of crutches to oversell certain emotions like freezing facial muscles to sell the act of crime of flaring nostrils to show anger these are the moments when actor want you to believe what they are doing but great actors make you believe in the emotions they portray they do that by putting a lot of effort into building the character by way of using their own personality into the personality of the character because ultimately the primary objective is to recreate private moments in public would you recreate private behavior in front of a crew of a hundred people I mean really recreated really lose your mind really break your heart we do this make it happen for us but being believable is not enough the next important thing is being unpredictable audiences are smart when it comes to predicting characters action even if an actor builds the character the chances of her becoming predictable are quite high these are the moments when audience say that the acting was flat what they really mean is that the act of failed to surprise them great actors build a great sense of mystery around them so even when you know and understand the character you never get an idea how they are going to react to certain situations you talking to me throughout the Godfather Part 1 and 2 Michael never acts out any wireless himself therefore this moment comes across as a great surprise similar moment is when an introverted and seemingly innocent Hana and practically justifies her action of letting people die escape we couldn't we were responsible for them of course this all stems from great writing but it is up to an actor to elevate written words into something that is quite palpable heads an excel from there will be blood for comparison I've abandoned my boy performances of this caliber can happen only when an actor allows herself to be affected by the material from inside out when she allows herself to be vulnerable in front of the camera bad actors guard themselves with an aura of invincibility they either hide behind the stardom or the baggage of their previous success or sell their eccentricities in the name of acting it always gives them as a distant performer whereas great actors will always share parts of themselves they keep hidden from the world with each new character they put a different version of themselves in that character it can be ugly it can be mean lonely scared sorrowful or devastating none of the great moments occur on their own great acting is a teamwork and for the teamwork to produce great results an actor needs to be ridiculously good at listening how important is listening that is the most important thing of all that's everything it's essential you know I would put that very high on the list of things it's certainly the most important thing is that it is in acting I think your listening is the first thing you come with if you can't listen then you can't you can't do it an actor who knows how to listen is an actor that is a director you can cut to any time how do you do it and she said well I just listen and you listen once you listen it's like a tennis game to me listening is being able to be changed by the other person it's not hearing them it's not waiting for your cue it's not when are they gonna stop so I can talk it's letting them in listening is important because at the heart of hearts great acting it create reacting and to react with right expression and natural timing you need to listen I mean when it's done this in fact is a perfect scene to understand the difference between great acting and soulless acting here pavada and Siddhas look like waiting to say their lines with same expressions and same intensity whereas Rajat Kapoor and Ratna Potter seem to react to every line spontaneously and differently gradually intensifying the scene they are not just saying dialogues they are actually having a verbal fight and they mean every single word but delivering dialogue is just one of the many things an actor has to do in fact for average actors saying dialogue in a stylistic manner is a job belter tomorrow Russia where as for great actor saying their lines is incidental the real deal is the way they use their entire potty now there's a misconception that has grown over the years where extreme physical transformation has become a parameter for great acting gaining or losing weight or adopting different accents are all important no doubt but ultimately their external factors sometimes they are my new details and sometimes an ornament the secret lies in how actors use the entire body to build their performance how do they move within a frame of with respect to the camera how do they vary the timbre of the voice for different character these decisions add a great deal of depth to their performance then there will be blood Daniel day-lewis uses aggressive postures and a spring in his movement to portray dominance whereas in Lincoln his loud shoulders and slow movement portrays the weight of responsibilities notice his voice in both the films one night I'm gonna come to you inside of your house wherever you're sleeping and I'm gonna cut your throat we're stepped out upon the world stage now now with a fate of human dignity in our hands if you're going to work in a creative field of any kind you give yourself over to that in the Aviator gate Blanchard uses a high pitch voice to match Hepburn Steinberg but it's all tied up inside the body don't you call Verizon Carroll a graceful voice expresses maturity no idea how pleased I am for you and this is just a ridiculous level of brilliance I know he just handed in the final scene when the bell half told me I had a phone call now consider all these parameters believability unpredictability vulnerability ability to listen and react and the use of body now can you apply all of them in the same same obstacle personal of course you can in this scene Sheikh wants to invite Fernandez to his wedding as his guardian but he hesitates as their relationship hasn't even reached the level of friendship so he sets up entire context before reaching the point it is believable because that's the way people approach conversation with power hierarchy in addition Sheikh serious approach to the conversation contrast his over enthusiastic personality portrayed in the film till this point which is quite surprising his vulnerability is also at display as he indirectly talks about his loneliness which is accentuated by the way he continuously looks down in his plate hello and all this while Fernandez listens to him carefully gets affected by his words and accepts the invitation now that is great acting another important criterion to define a great actor was noted by Stella Adler to paraphrase her the greatest allant of an actor lies in her choices that I think stands above everything every single acting technique and his implementation depends on the choice and activates it is the primary reason behind actors getting trapped in a loop of self-aware redundancy and actors constantly pushing their limits through variety of characters it is the difference between actors continuously playing it safe by selecting characters with moral high-ground and actors who continuously play risky characters dealing in model gray areas talent for making right choices daring and risky choices is what helps an actor build not just a great filmography but a legacy through their movies you sure that I'm sure with a guaran-fucking-tee so the next time you watch an actor perform don't accept anything that is not believable and truthful because the primary job of an actor is to hold the mirror up to society in that process if they entertain you that's fine if it owns them a lot of money that's fine but they should under all circumstances hold the mirror up to society through their portrayal of characters we the audience examine our own lives so it is an actor's responsibility to be truthful they over to the script and to the audience and for those of you who are at an early stage of the acting career here's a bit of advice live in front of people live in front of people let them see the good the bad the ugly the weak the strong the conflicted the terrible one of the things about acting that I that gives me the greatest satisfaction is the opportunity for that emotional exercise [Music]

Channel: Cinema Beyond Entertainment

Views: 847,625

Keywords: Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hanks, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Manoj Bajpai, Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Robert Di Nero, Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Anupam Kher, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Film Analysis, Video Essay, Bollywood Film Analysis, Great Actors, Great Acting, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Akshay Kumar, Thugs of Hindostan, Zero

Id: Iz2Fa1d1fRc

Length: 10min 57sec (657 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 15 2017