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Lecture 8: Acting

Lecture 8: Acting. Professor Michael Green. Heat ( 1995) Directed by Michael Mann. Previous Lecture. A Brief History of Sound The Three Components of Film Sound Dialogue Sounds Effects Music The Relationship between Sound and Image The Piano. This Lecture.

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Lecture 8: Acting

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  1. Lecture 8: Acting Professor Michael Green Heat (1995) Directed by Michael Mann

  2. Previous Lecture • A Brief History of Sound • The Three Components of Film Sound • Dialogue • Sounds Effects • Music • The Relationship between Sound and Image • The Piano

  3. This Lecture • Stage and movie acting – similarities and differences • Robert De Niro as star actor • De Niro’s performance in Raging Bull (1980)

  4. Stage and Movie and Acting Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Directed by Kenneth Branagh Lecture 8: Part I

  5. Stage Acting • Generally receives less recognition than movie acting. • Emphasizes roles not confused with the actor’s life. • Is often evaluated by the actor’s ability to succeed in well-known roles, such as Hamlet, King Lear, Willy Lohman or Blanche DuBois. Cate Blanchette as Blanche DuBois

  6. Stage Performance • Is done in one space and time, before a live audience. • It requires sustained focus for the 2-3 hours of a play. • The acting styles are different to reach different audiences.

  7. Film Acting • Successful film actors are usually famous and well compensated. • Such star film actors are often seen as having a distinctive, appealing identity that they present in all their roles: Brad Pitt, Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts.

  8. No Repertory of Roles Film roles are usually done just once. Movie actors perform a part and go on to others. There is no repertory of great roles in cinema as in theater, as a way to evaluate acting, though movies are often remade. Robert De Niro in the remake of Cape Fear (1991) 8

  9. Performing in Pieces • Movie actors generally perform for just a few minutes at a time, spread out over the weeks or months in which a film is shot.

  10. Challenges for Movie Actors • Lack of Rehearsal • Out of Continuity Shooting • No Audience • Impact of Other Contributors, Film Technology • Boredom/Frustration

  11. Out of Continuity Shooting • Out of continuity shooting is cost efficient. • The filmmakers can get all shots in one location at one time. • Scenes are shot with master shot and coverage (often without other actors). • The actor must know the character so well that he or she can play scenes – or even individual lines – out of order.

  12. Limited Control • Actors often have limited control over their performance. • The director, editor, producer and others help decide how the actor will appear. Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, director Steven Spielberg and actor Diego Luna on the set of The Terminal (2004).

  13. Controlling the Image • Some actors learn about filmmaking to have more control over their own image. • Marlene Dietrich, for example, learned about lighting and cinematography. • Clint Eastwood often directs himself.

  14. Brad Pitt • Jeff Kurland, the costume designer from Ocean’s Eleven, has said that Brad Pitt was very involved in developing the costumes his character, Rusty Ryan, wore.

  15. Summary Film vs. Stage Acting • Less Recognition • Live Performance = Creative Responsibility • Standard of Famous Roles • Fame and Fortune • Collaborative Performances • One and Done

  16. Early Movie Acting • Used emotive, conventional gestures from theater. • Stage actors need to project to audience to overcome distance. • As closer framing brought viewer nearer, film actors became more restrained. • Watch the clip. Lillian Gish in Birth of a Nation (1915)

  17. Method Acting Constantin Stanislavski Most Influential Acting Style in Movies Based on Psychological Realism of Russian Theater Director Constantin Stanislavski Adapted by teacher Stella Adler and actor-teacher Lee Strasberg 17

  18. Inhabiting the Character On the Waterfront (1954) Method actors connect feelings of character with their own experiences to create performances. Marlon Brando, along with James Dean, was one of the first prominent method actors A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

  19. Method Approach • Method actors do a lot of research and preparation • De Niro: • Lived in Sicily for The Godfather, Part II (1974) • Drove cab 3 months for Taxi Driver (1976) • Did interviews with Vietnam veterans for Jackknife (1989) • Went on busts for Midnight Run (1988)

  20. Emotional Reality in Story • Method actors seek “moments of truth.” • They express that truth with their voice, facial expressions, body and props. • Watch the scene from The Hustler. The Hustler (1961) Directed by Robert Rossen

  21. Technical Approach • Good, well-trained actors need not identify with character or draw on their own experiences • They rely instead on training and technique, “pretending” to be the character, not feeling as though they need to inhabit the character. Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man (1976)

  22. Laurence Olivier, Technical Actor • Royal Shakespeare actor, classically trained • Bragged that during his “To Be Or Not To Be” soliloquy from Hamlet, while the audience was on the edge of their seats, he was thinking about what wine he was going to have for dinner later that evening.

  23. Robert De Niro: Star Actor Raging Bull (1980) Directed by Martin Scorsese Lecture 8: Part II

  24. Recognition Academy Awards: • Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather, Part II (1974) • Best Actor for Raging Bull (1980) • Nominated for Taxi Driver (1976), TheDeer Hunter (1978), Awakenings (1990), Cape Fear (1991)

  25. Critical Praise • “Robert De Niro is nearly incapable of a thoughtless performance. . . . [He] has been a prolific screen actor, appearing in an astonishing variety of roles both starring and supporting, and playing each with equal aplomb [complete and confident composure or self-assurance].” • Robin Wood

  26. Known for Angry, Violent Characters • Taxi Driver (1976) • Raging Bull (1980) • The Untouchables (1987) • GoodFellas (1990) • Cape Fear (1991) • Analyze This (1999) • Meet the Parents (2000) • A Shark’s Tale (2004)

  27. “Choked Rage” • [De Niro’s] often fearsome screen presence . . . full of choked rage” --Fred Schruers in Rolling Stone • Watch the clips from The Untouchables and GoodFellas The Untouchables (1987) Directed by Brian DePalma

  28. Combined Approach • De Niro creates/inhabits the character • He was trained in Method by Stella Adler • But he also uses Technical Skills: • Research • Physical Transformation • Improvisation Midnight Run (1988) Directed by Martin Brest

  29. Good Acting Requires Creative Control • “Good acting is based on . . . authorship.” • Barry King Jackie Brown (1997) Directed by Quentin Tarantino

  30. Parodies of Masculinity • De Niro’s extreme anger, violence as critique of tough, violent masculinity • Such anti-social behavior conceals fears about other desires (connection, vulnerability). • Analyze This (1999), Meet the Parents (2003), Stardust (2007)

  31. Parodies of Masculinity (Example) Analyze This (1999 ) Directed by Harold Ramis: "If I talk to you, and you turn me into a fag... I’m gonna’ kill you, you understand?"

  32. Revisionist Roles: Alternative Masculinity

  33. Acting as Social Critique Vietnam Veteran in The Deer Hunter (1978), Vigilante in Taxi Driver (1976), Loving Dad in A Bronx Tale (1993)

  34. De Niro in Raging Bull Raging Bull (1980) Directed by Martin Scorsese Lecture 8: Part III

  35. De Niro’s Preparation • Research – Time with Vicki LaMotta • Training – Jake LaMotta: De Niro as good as ranked middleweight • Transformation: After fight scenes shot, gained 60 lbs. to play older LaMotta.

  36. Dysfunction and Rage • LaMotta’s jealousy, self-loathing and anger is manifested as violence. • De Niro uses failure of language and excessive weight to represent Jake’s frustration and lost control. • Watch the Clip

  37. Fought LaMotta six times Robinson won five In 1951 Robinson 128-1-2 Welterweight and Middleweight Champ Sugar Ray Robinson

  38. Dark, Expressionist Setting Point of View shots show us Jake’s perspective Show What’s in Jake’s Mind Masochism attempt to assert control in defeat Clip 2: Last Robinson Fight

  39. Whiteness • Richard Dyer: Identity based on feelings of unjustified racial superiority. • LaMotta’s Obsession with control involves a sense of self as White. • LaMotta sees Robinson as dark monster representing his loss of control, dominance over others. • He equates Blackness with loss of control.

  40. De Niro’s Acting as Social Critique • LaMotta’s Masculinity is defined as domination of others (and Others). • He destroys himself and those around him. • De Niro’s performance in collaboration with Director Martin Scorsese aims to criticize violence and the negative effects of the culturally enforced roles of masculinity through filmmaking techniques such as cinematography, mise-en-scene and sound.

  41. Summary • Movie and Stage Acting • Robert De Niro as Star Actor • De Niro’s Performance in Raging Bull (1980)

  42. End of Lecture 8 Next Lecture: Stars/George Clooney

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