Small and large audiences
August 18th 2009 05:10
Some actors perform better with the camera off, or when there's either no audience or only a small crew -- there's less pressure. Robert Rodriguez thinks this worked for him in "El Mariachi".
The technique is obviously useful for intimate scenes: Kubrick reduced the crew number for the "If you only knew" scene in "Eyes Wide Shut".
But some actors do play better when there's an audience. Among other things, they get energy from, can react off the audience. And there's also a sense of upping the ante.
In rehearsals, I've sometimes found you get a better result when up the ante and say, "This take is for real."
Having a light switch with a dimmer can produce surprising results. You do a couple of takes in full light. Then you darken the levels, and the mood of the room changes suddenly, and the actors suddenly take things more seriously.
Very small audiences can often be confrontational. You can be more self-conscious in front of a small group than a large -- perhaps because you're more aware, for the larger group, that you're perceived as a character, and not as yourself.
Small audiences can sometimes include just your family and friends, before whom you feel more self-conscious than strangers.
There's also issues of audience reaction, and how self-conscious the audience itself is, and how willing the audience is to think of itself as a group rather than as individuals.
Comedians find it much harder to play to smaller groups.
The technique is obviously useful for intimate scenes: Kubrick reduced the crew number for the "If you only knew" scene in "Eyes Wide Shut".
But some actors do play better when there's an audience. Among other things, they get energy from, can react off the audience. And there's also a sense of upping the ante.
***
In rehearsals, I've sometimes found you get a better result when up the ante and say, "This take is for real."
Having a light switch with a dimmer can produce surprising results. You do a couple of takes in full light. Then you darken the levels, and the mood of the room changes suddenly, and the actors suddenly take things more seriously.
***
Very small audiences can often be confrontational. You can be more self-conscious in front of a small group than a large -- perhaps because you're more aware, for the larger group, that you're perceived as a character, and not as yourself.
Small audiences can sometimes include just your family and friends, before whom you feel more self-conscious than strangers.
There's also issues of audience reaction, and how self-conscious the audience itself is, and how willing the audience is to think of itself as a group rather than as individuals.
Comedians find it much harder to play to smaller groups.
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Comment by Sim1
Fish on Film
How about we all read our job description and stop with the whining?