Monthly Archives: January 2012

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January 14, 2012

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Reviews

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Outstanding Performance by Gary Oldman – Review

Predictions for the Best Actor Oscar seem to have overlooked Gary Oldman. His abilities to create incredible characters is surpassed by few, yet when he crafts the perfect secret agent who needs to be non-memorable, or disappear from a room like wallpaper, few recognize his ability because he does disappear.

In “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Oldman plays just such a person with grace, dignity and accuracy. When he’s present in the room, few remember his presence. When he has to move with stealth, he does so without incident.

What amazed me by his performance was his perfect monologue. He didn’t drop a beat or reveal that he was an actor verbalizing his lines. He was so much caught up in his character that I only saw his character. There wasn’t even a momentary glitch in accent or movement. He was George Smiley.

I met Oldman on the set of The Dark Knight. My time with him only lasted about 30 seconds, but it was long enough to meet the real man and not the character of Lt. Jim Gordon that he constructed. The difference between him and his character was amazing. He knew exactly how to become the character that Christopher Nolan required and he performed it with excellence.

There are few master craftsmen left in Hollywood, as most actors seem to have come from the latest reality television program like Katherine McPhee’s “Shark Night in 3D.” It’s as if the likes of Dustin Hoffman and the Gary Oldman are becoming few and far between.

Let me just say outright, that Oldman deserves the Oscar for Best Acting this year, but first he has to be nominated – Not a small task. Regardless of his future notoriety, if you’re interested in seeing an incredible performance, check out Oldman’s George Smiley.

Copyright © 2012 By CJ Powers
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January 13, 2012

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Filmmaking

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Writing a Striking First Image

No matter what camp of writers you follow or attempt to emulate, all know that the opening scene in a feature film must be attention getting and set the tone for the audience. If it can also introduce the main character, you’re one step ahead, but the second scene is sufficient for an introduction.

Big box office screenwriters prefer to leave the main character’s introduction for a subsequent scene and focus on what some call the First Strike. Some great examples include J. J. Abram’s Star Trek reboot, which opens with an attack from a future century Nero who changes the course of history for Kirk and Spock. Typically in the James Bond franchise, the films open with a special 007 mission with cool effects and explosions that aren’t necessarily related to the story.

In the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the opening is of a man who receives a dried flower that causes him such great turmoil, he must do something different to bring an end to his pain. This scene doesn’t qualify as a First Strike, but rather an emotionally charged atmosphere, although some might argue that his misunderstanding of who is sending the dried flowers could be construed as a First Strike. The challenge for the screenwriter was in making the first scene a clear setup for an investigative thriller.

The screenwriter’s goal is to make sure he raises a question in the first scene that gives the audience a desire to find the answer as they watch the movie. This technique would be dressed in accordance with the story’s theme or genre. The audience expects to be taken to a place they’ve never been before, or experience something they haven’t seen.

If the main character is introduced in the scene, the audience expects to learn something special about the hero or what his typical day looks like. They desire to experience something with him that is either humorous, touching or formulated as a crisis – A shared emotion.

These techniques are designed to hook the audience into watching the entire movie and without it, the audience won’t suspend disbelief and enter the screenwriter’s world. It’s therefore important that the screenwriter touches on all the senses by addressing the following elements:

1. Location
2. Time
3. Mood
4. Tone
5. Style
6. Intent
7. Atmosphere

These important elements, coupled with raising the key universal question that drives the audience to seek the answer, will entertain and hook the audience long enough for the screenwriter to get through the needed backstory. It will also give the audience the confidence that they are watching a film worth their time.

Copyright © 2012 By CJ Powers
Photo © GIS – Fotolia.com
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January 5, 2012

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Filmmaking

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Directing Actors

I recently saw that a film festival was offering directing classes to its attending filmmakers. Directing is one of the positions on a production team that few people really understand. Many books have been written on the subject, but few address what really happens between the director and his actors.

The best way to understand directing is for me to put it in relationship terms. The actor, who is exposing great vulnerability during each shot, needs comfort and confidence from the director. She needs to understand and trust that he will protect her performance and make sure it is not bad.

To accomplish this one element of directing, he can call on a couple dozen techniques. The three most common are:

1. Say something to the actor before and after every take.
The actor is unable to see herself or know how to feel about her performance until she takes her cue from the director. He must give her some form of honest feedback. If she did a poor job, then he needs to carefully explain that what “he” attempted in that shot didn’t work and mention that he’d like to try something a bit different. Actors are used to performing variations, so this response would be acceptable.

2. Don’t ask the actor to repeat what she just did.
If the director tells the actor to redo what she just did, she won’t know what he is referring to. Actors do movement, exude emotions, speak dialog, and about a couple dozen other things that spring from the moment, their history, and listening carefully to the other actors. Instead, the director must affirm the previous performance and suggest some action verbs that might help draw out additional emotions or visuals.

3. Give the actor permission to do business.
If the timing is a bit off with the actor’s interaction with a prop or form of touch involving other actors, telling the actor to do something earlier pushes the actor out of the character and into a robotic nightmare. Instead of saying, “pick up the mirror earlier,” the director should affirm the moment and state, “It’s okay, if you feel led to pick up the hand mirror a bit earlier.” This direction keeps the focus on the character and not the prop.

When the actor is allowed to create their character and are continually managed with the above techniques, they are free to be more creative and find a performance that is unique and screen worthy. In fact, the once vulnerable actor might receive a film festival award for best acting, with few people knowing that it was the director who made sure her award winning performance made it to the screen with confidence.

The best part of directing well is the relationship built between the actor and director during the shoot. Both will be keeping a look out for another story worth their collaboration.

Copyright © 2012 By CJ Powers
Photo © T.Tulic – Fotolia.com