Theater, Film Radio, or Television. Where do you prefer to act?

Question:

Theater, Film Radio, or Television. Where do you prefer to act?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Acting is a science practiced by an artist. Like the mental side of a sport only requiring more of a mental component, the actor uses himself/herself as an instrument and monitors what is happening while seeking an almost zen state f "just doing" the act involved; the way a musician plays the oboe or the piano.

Theater and radio are reality space-time media. They require a trained voice above all and the necessary accent to accompany it. Film and television both force you to wait a long while between setups to do what you do, and add to that the need for retakes for many causes. Nor i these cases do you always get a real sense of what your accomplishment eventually will look like, since the artificial space-time media require editing, addition of music and wild sound, etc.

Needless to say, the trained and experienced actor knows when he or she has accomplished what he set out to do in every case.

The most rewarding medium for an actor I claim is theater, because of the immediate feedback, the mental-aura presence of an attentive audience, and the solid real-time inter-playing with one's fellow actors.

Radio is a bit more technical and challenging therefore, the best medium for a writer, and a close second for the actor; again, you have interplay with actors and technicians, but no live audience.

Television is done more quickly than are feature films; so
it is less frustrating in that sense; from the performer's standpoint, it is more satisfying immediately, since 52 minutes of film on an hour-long show are frequently completed in 6--8 days' time.

Film often requires months of location or studio work to get less than two hours' result. One does live with and in the character in a strong sense; the reality of location shooting, the physical demands, and the need to keep energy high for whenever the camera eventually films you are memorable, challenging and a genuine problem.

That's the order of general satisfaction--theater, radio, television and feature film--as most actors who have done all these media have testified for the better part of a century.