In film, you sometimes encounter actors who think they’re going to steal the scene by being big, and bombastic. Proving their value. Those actors are using their bodies and voices instead of their brain! They don’t realize in terms of voice and action, less is more.
Sometimes you encounter the great theater actor who (like all of us) needs to pay bills so is forced to “stoop down” and participate in a film production gig between productions of his Titus Andronicus. Now you put a camera on him. And everyone goes into hysterics. Watch. Now the voice is too loud, and the gestures that once left an entire auditorium audience gasping are over-exaggerated and seem fake. If I’m playing opposite somebody like this, I often think the best thing to do is to come under him. To stick to naturalism, and usually he is left feeling and looking pretty stupid.
In theater, you expect to see great actors acting. On stage, you have to project your voice or the words will sink without a trace into the third row of seats. On stage, the basic premise is ACTION, you have to sell your attitudes to the audience. In movies, the microphone can always hear you no matter how softly you speak, no matter where the scene is taking place. In movies it is REACTION that gives a moment its potency. That’s why listening in films is so important, as well as the use of the eyes in the close-up. You don’t have to shout and scream. You never need to do it big.
Remember that the camera will love you and catch even the smallest detail of your performance. You don’t need to over do it.
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