3 ms·
That sounds great for the cinema: if it goes off the rails the director can let it run for a bit if it looks some great improv or else shout CUT if it doesn't.
by bloak 2y ago
That sounds great for the cinema: if it goes off the rails the director can let it run for a bit if it looks some great improv or else shout CUT if it doesn't. However, on the stage ... I'm not so sure ... your fellow actors might not be so flexible and you might need to help them. Also, stage drama doesn't necessarily aim for the kind of "naturally" that is expected in modern cinema: a lot of it is deliberately "theatrical" in one way of another. The audience can't see a slightly raised eyebrow so you can do some dramatic gesture with your arms for the audience while slightly raising your eyebrow to communicate something to your fellow actor. Perhaps. I don't have practical experience of this. I'm just speculating. I expect someone will tell me if I've got it all wrong.
- the_af 2y ago> However, on the stage ... I'm not so sure ... your fellow actors might not be so flexible and you might need to help them. Isn't this why they do stage rehearsals? Not so much to memorize the lines, but to see how each plays off the other actors. And it is while rehearsing that they can detect that something "isn't working". To me, what Michael Caine is saying seems essential for the stage, even more so than for cinema. For cinema, you can reshoot if a line or interaction feels unnatural. For theater you don't have this luxury. If you are saying out loud "memorized lines" you're really not paying attention to the other actor. Some theater is deliberately "artificial", but a lot isn't. And they definitely want to play off what the other actors are saying, otherwise it feels mechanical... which is what happens in unprofessional or kids' plays, everyone is "reciting" and it doesn't feel like a real play!