Advice for a young filmaker.?

Question:

Advice for a young filmaker.?

i plan on starting production on a movie soon, adn i was at the local stage theater today. i was watching the stage actors, and i started thinking about usiing stage actors rather than "film actors" i was mesmerized by thier ability to draw presence, they didnt meerly stand and read lines. what do you think?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: So there are two things going on that you need to be aware of.

First -- sometimes the things live-theater actors do to draw presence can end up looking... odd on camera. (Think William Shatner -- great on stage, but stick a camera in his face and he's a one-man Wikipedia entry for "overacting.") With modern technology you can show your actors their performances quickly, using video -- that'll help a LOT because they'll see how they're coming across. And a GOOD actor will be able to tune his performance to suit the medium, the way they are trained to project their voices to fill the size of the theater.

Second -- a lot of what you do to draw presence in a film comes from where you put the camera, where you tilt it, how you light it, how you cut, everything. You & I were talking about "A Touch of Evil" a day or so ago -- go back and watch the shot, late in the picture, where Orson Welles stands up in front of the bull's head mounted on the wall of the Mexican bar, with the camera mounted down at about knee-level. It is AWESOME, especially as a virtual throwaway scene. Yes, sure, it's got Welles' incredible face and presence filling the shot, but with that bull's head over his head it's magic.

So as a filmmaker, remember that you've got the freedom to move the camera, to capture detail and nuance and angle in a way that the live theater doesn't. And, yes, live theater captures a thrill and an excitement and a "tingle" that film doesn't. If you can get some experienced stage actors and use your camera like "an eye in the head of a poet," as Welles described it, you can really get the best of both worlds.