Acting

Performance

A television and film production is not shot in chronological order of scenes as they appear in the script. Studio scenes may be filmed before or after location scenes for the same episode and different episodes can be shot concurrently.

To keep track of the story from one scene to the next, actors, helped by the director, must keep thinking the story through and keeping a sense of the story in their heads by asking: what has happened in the previous scene? What is going to happen in the following scene?

Through the process of rehearsing a scene, the actors and the director will come to an agreement about how it will be played and how it will be covered by the camera.
The actors must keep a sense of continuity and remember how they say their lines and behave in each take for a scene, as it will usually be filmed from several different angles. The slightest change of emphasis in the dialogue or a different movement could significantly change the interpretation of the story.

Once the longer shots have been taken for the scene, it is usually filmed again to get two shots and close-ups of the actors. Each scene is acted many times.

Actors sometimes use emotional tricks to get inside the mood of the role they are playing. For example, if the character is sad or distraught they might think about sad things to get them into that frame of mind. Similar sorts of tricks can be used with acting comedy as well.

Body language and facial expressions

We often interpret a person's feelings by the expressions on their face and their body language. Actors use facial expressions and gestures to communicate a whole range of different ideas and emotions about their character, and the director will request the use of gestures, stance and facial movements which they think will best be understood by the target audience.

These expressions and body movements communicate a great deal about what a person may be thinking or doing (for example, the way we interpret how someone is sitting, walking or standing). Directors need to monitor actors' body language carefully to make sure their actions are appropriate, and so that unplanned actions (like habits of the actor such as touching their ear or playing with their hair) do not creep in to the action.

Activity
Compare actor Alexandra Milman's body language and facial expressions in the following examples where she is playing two contrasting versions of 'Penelope Townes'. How would you describe the person in each slide?
The normal 'Penelope' The Genie from Down Under.	The out of character 'Penelope' double in episode 8, My Better Half The Genie from Down Under 2.

Activity
Consider the information communicated through body language and facial expression in the following sequence. What is happening and how are these characters feeling? How do you know?

Hitting the mark

A lot of time in acting is spent 'hitting marks'. The position of the actor in the frame is very important and if an actor is out of line by even just a few centimetres it can make a difference.

There are lots of lights on a film set and a lot of time is spent trying to avoid sh adows. The wrong move by an actor can mean their face is hidden by something on the set or in a shadow, or putting a shadow on someone else.

To solve this problem, the director puts marks on the floor to show actors exactly where to stand at every point in the scene. An actor may do a great performance in a scene but if they don't 'hit their mark' the whole shot is useless and has to be done again.

Acting is hard work

Being an actor is very hard work. On a series like The Genie from Down Under or Round the Twist it can take three to four hours to shoot a scene which in the final show may be only two minutes long. During this time the actors spend a lot of time standing around waiting as sets are changed, lighting and camera equipment arranged and the sound set up.

A lead actor such as Alexandra Milman who plays 'Penelope' in both series of The Genie from Down Under has to work hard and constantly. Penelope was in almost every scene in both series and needed to be on the set for most days. Other actors with smaller roles might have done a scene at 8 a.m. and then had to wait until late afternoon to do another.

Acting can also be physically very unpleasant at times. The Genie from Down Under 1 was shot in winter in Victoria and south western New South Wales. Many of the scenes were supposed to look like they had been shot in the hot Australian outback. The actors were often standing around in light summer clothing pretending to be hot while an icy winter wind was freezing them to the bone!

Stunts

Mark Mitchell plays the role of Otto von Meister, the tour guide from hell, in The Genie from Down Under series 1 and 2. He decided to do all his own stunts because he believes that it looks better and gives him opportunities to give the character more impact through his response to the physical dilemma the stunt demands.

Mark describes one of his most memorable stunts which took place in the episode 6, 'Larceny'.

script & storyboard I casting Ilighting & sound I camera I design I acting I editing