Unit 7 work-Acting for Film and Tv

Unit 7-Acting for Film and TV

Comment and reflect on film acting focusing on particular actors, formats and reading.

I have chosen to look and talk about the work of actress Rachel Mcadams.

“She was born on November 17, 1978. Rachel became involved with acting as a teenager and by the age of 13 was performing in Shakespearean productions in summer theatre camp; she went on to graduate with honours with a BFA degree in Theatre from York University. After her debut in an episode of Disney's The Famous Jett Jackson (1998), she co-starred in the Canadian TV series Slings and Arrows (2003). Her breakout role as Regina George in the hit comedy Mean Girls (2004) instantly catapulted her onto the short list of Hollywood's hottest young actresses. She followed that film with a star turn opposite Ryan Gosling in The Notebook (2004), which was a surprise box office success and became the predominant romantic drama for a new, young generation of moviegoers. McAdams next showcased her versatility onscreen with the manic comedy Wedding Crashers (2005), the thriller Red Eye (2005), and the holiday drama The Family Stone (2005)”

Rachel Mcadams is one of my all time favourite actors. What makes her acting so magical for me is the pure emotion she feels. It comes across on screen that she really understands the characters inside and out.  I learnt I had to do this very early on in my film and TV lessons. It really made me question the character I was playing and how to approach it.  I found that if you don’t have a sense of your character or you didn’t know enough about them it is harder to portray them believably through a camera lens. We did an exercise in class to help with getting to know the character even better. This was ask them with questions such as what is your objective in the scene. Ask who, what, when where and why and start to think about who the character really is. Find out why they are doing what they are doing. Question what else would they do?

I found acting for camera in large part summed up by this quote

“Film acting is large part reacting and listening”-Michael Caine

I completely agree with this statement. I found these elements were key in making scenes natural and by reacting it helps bring out your physicality. We were told, in lesson that acting is reacting. React to everything; don’t just wait for your lines. These statements have completely made me more aware about thought processes of a character. Rachel Mcadams reacts and listens very well when playing her characters. You can clearly see the thought process that her character is going through at every moment.

An example of this is her audition for The Notebook. This audition was so heartfelt she made it so you really believed every word she said.

Rachel Mcadams has said “I love auditioning. Since The Notebook and Wedding Crashers I don’t have to audition anymore, and I miss it. You get to show your interpretation of the character. I get nervous when I don’t audition. What if they hate what I want to do (with the character?)”

Through the work I have done on film acting I have found that you must make it so you are not seen as an actor but the character itself

“The camera catches everything you do so don’t be afraid to play things subtlety” – Michael Caine

This reinforces something I have learnt through the weeks that we have had working on film acting. I was so used to playing things theatrically which the camera highlighted enormously. I forgot one of the most important aspects of acting. To be natural and this is even more apparent in film acting.

One of my favourite auditions from Rachel Mcadams work is her audition for the character Allie from the Notebook. I watched a behind the scenes YouTube clip where the director and actors talk about being cast. In this her leading man (Ryan Gosling) said regarding having Rachel cast alongside him

“Every girl wanted to talk about the scene and the character and all those things and we talked about it endlessly but  Rachel came in and we said do you want to talk about it and she was like no and we were like nothing? and she was like no no no just let’s do it”-Ryan Gosling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhOmdWLhjjM

They say in the video that she was un-intimidated, up for anything and right for the part.

I feel Rachel uses subtlety very well in her acting. She limits her range of expression, she doesn’t exaggerate with her movements and focuses solely in the moment. This comes across on camera very well. It comes across that she realises a slight range of expression would be magnified by camera which picks up on even slight nuances. It is apparent that her physically is vastly reduced in the movie (The Notebook) from her audition for the same scene.  

In the audition her arms are almost constantly moving and she frequently goes to touch her head. She also turns away from the camera at intervals. Whereas in the movie clip the acting has changed significantly so that her arms are almost completely still and her eyes are more focused on the other actor. Her acting becomes more understated and engaging.

My favourite work of Rachel’s is Allie from the Notebook, Regina George in Mean Girls and Irene Adler in Sherlock Holmes. I love these characters as they all require different acting techniques and style to portray them well. These characters differ in the way that Allie from the Notebook is in a romantic film a young old fashioned character Regina George a  young popular teen character which is played in a comedic style and Irene Adler old fashioned mysterious character in a mystery based film.

I read a book called The Art Of Film Acting A Guide For Actors and Directors. In this is says that the keys to a good performance in film is to

1. Read the material once to promote ideas.
2. Forget what you personally want in the scene.
3. Concentrate and relate to the other actors emotion: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, love.
4. Without judging, respond to anything and everything the other actor gives you.

“Talk to people. Observe and listen until your eyes are fatigued and your ears are numb. This is one of the main steps on the way to brilliant acting” (JComey-p9)

I completely agree with these statements and think it sums up how to deliver a good performance on screen.

Bibliography

BrainyQuote (2014). Rachel Mcadams Quotes. Available from. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/rachel_mcadams.html. Accessed: 21/10/14

IMDB (2014). Rachel Mcadams Biograpgy. Available from. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1046097/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm. Accessed:20/10/14

iryangosling (2013). The Notebook - casting Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams: Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhOmdWLhjjM. Accessed: 19/10/14

Jeramiah Comey (2013). The Art Of Film Acting A Guide For Actors and Dirsctors: Focal Press Burlington.

kittyc16 (2011) Rachel McAdams First Acting Class: Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6URUyeDFZT0. Accessed:20/10/14

No Film School (2014). 10 Lessons in Film Acting from Michael Caine. Available from: http://nofilmschool.com/2012/03/michael-caine-teaches-act-film. Accessed: 21/10/14

Roy Tompson (1998). Grammer of the shot. Focal Press Oxford England.

ScreenSlam (2003) The Notebook: Behind The Scenes Part 2 of 4 - Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Marsden. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEpIzlBaRzs. Accessed: 20/10/14

ScreenSlam (2003) The Notebook: Behind The Scenes Part 1 of 4 - Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnJyYlLJAUM. Accessed: 20/10/14

thepitpirate (2009). "The Notebook" fight scene. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHqU7L1rVFI. Accessed:19/10/14

Headshots

Short film work
 
I've had a look at some short movies but I still cant find any that I really liked. I found some that were interesting though not great but interesting so thought I would send a few examples of the one's I found and my thoughts on them as you wanted us to email you some. There where more but thought I would send you these two.

The most beautiful thing by Cameron Covell- The acting was brilliant very well done but a very predictable storyline.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP8psM4LWXk

Mouse-x by Justine Tagg- This is so weird not really my sort of thing very far fetched. The acting was ok but the effects in my opinion were badly done. Interesting idea though.

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2014/10/02/mouse-x/