Lecture 8: ActingLecture 8: Acting

Professor Michael Green

Heat (1995)Directed by Michael Mann

Previous Lecture 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 2

This LectureThis Lecture

• Stage and movie acting – similarities and differences

• Robert De Niro as star actor

• De Niro’s performance in Raging Bull (1980)

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Stage and Movie and ActingStage and Movie and Acting

Lecture 8: Part I

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)Directed by Kenneth Branagh

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Stage ActingStage 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

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Stage PerformanceStage 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.

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Film ActingFilm 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.

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No Repertory of RolesNo 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)

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Performing in Pieces 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.

Challenges for Movie Actors Challenges for Movie Actors

• Lack of Rehearsal• Out of Continuity

Shooting• No Audience• Impact of Other

Contributors, Film Technology

• Boredom/Frustration

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Out of Continuity ShootingOut 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.

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Limited ControlLimited 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).

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Controlling the ImageControlling 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.

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Brad PittBrad 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.

Summary Film vs. Stage ActingSummary Film vs. Stage Acting• Less Recognition• Live Performance =

Creative Responsibility• Standard of Famous

Roles

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• Fame and Fortune• Collaborative

Performances• One and Done

Early Movie ActingEarly 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.Watch the clip.16

Lillian Gish in Birth of a Nation (1915)

Method ActingMethod Acting

• 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

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Constantin Stanislavski

Inhabiting the CharacterInhabiting the Character• 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

On the Waterfront (1954)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Method ApproachMethod 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)

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Emotional Reality in StoryEmotional 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

Technical ApproachTechnical 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)

Laurence Olivier, Technical ActorLaurence 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.

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Robert De Niro: Star ActorRobert De Niro: Star Actor

Lecture 8: Part II

Raging Bull (1980)Directed by Martin Scorsese

RecognitionRecognitionAcademy Awards:• Best Supporting Actor for The

Godfather, Part II (1974)• Best Actor for Raging Bull

(1980)• Nominated for Taxi Driver

(1976), The Deer Hunter (1978), Awakenings (1990), Cape Fear (1991)

Critical Praise 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

Known for Angry, Violent Known for Angry, Violent Characters 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)

“ “Choked Rage” Choked Rage”

• [De Niro’s] often fearsome screen presence . . . full of choked rage”

--Fred Schruers in Rolling Stone

• Watch the clips fromWatch the clips from The Untouchables The Untouchables andand GoodFellas GoodFellas

The Untouchables (1987)Directed by Brian DePalma

Combined ApproachCombined 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

Good Acting Requires Good Acting Requires Creative ControlCreative Control

• “Good acting is based on . . . authorship.”– Barry King

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Jackie Brown (1997)Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Parodies of MasculinityParodies 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)

Parodies of Masculinity (Example)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?"

Revisionist Roles: Alternative Revisionist Roles: Alternative MasculinityMasculinity

Acting as Social CritiqueActing as Social Critique

Vietnam Veteran in The Deer Hunter (1978),Vigilante in Taxi Driver (1976), Loving

Dad in A Bronx Tale (1993)

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De Niro in De Niro in Raging BullRaging Bull

Lecture 8: Part III

Raging Bull (1980)Directed by Martin Scorsese

De Niro’s Preparation 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.

Dysfunction and RageDysfunction 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 ClipWatch the Clip

Sugar Ray RobinsonSugar Ray Robinson

• Fought LaMotta six times

• Robinson won five• In 1951 Robinson

128-1-2• Welterweight and

Middleweight Champ

Clip 2: Last Robinson FightClip 2: Last Robinson Fight

• 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

WhitenessWhiteness

• 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.

De Niro’s Acting as Social CritiqueDe 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.

• Movie and Stage Acting

• Robert De Niro as Star Actor

• De Niro’s Performance in Raging Bull (1980)

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SummarySummary

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End of Lecture 8End of Lecture 8

Next Lecture: Stars/George Clooney