At the start of our On Film Lab, we talked about the battle of ‘results’ vs ‘process’. That’s the natural battle you are set up for as an actor. And, you are especially set up for it in film. I think that the sooner an actor identifies the nature of the battle and their personal weaknesses and strengths, the better off they are.
A film is all set up for ‘results’. We need to get this ‘result’, this ‘performance’ and we need to get it on film.
Acting, on the other hand, is all about ‘process’ with no focus on results whatsoever. You immerse your self in the interaction with the person in front of you and completely let go of the outcomes.
The outcome is the directors job.
If you identify the battle straight away, you can start to train yourself properly, before you develop a whole bunch of bad habits.
In fact, we discussed using the On Film Lab as an opportunity to train specifically on this.
You’ve got the scene you’ve been working on for a few weeks now, you’ve got the lights all on you, and a bunch of people standing behind a camera – and now you are going to practice going fully into the scene, and drop any focus on results.
You can take your training into auditions, which is also another huge battleground for results vs process.
I think this is where theatre is great for actors. You have the opportunity to practice for extended periods of time. It gives you time to work and allow yourself to drop the focus on result. If you have a play night after night, you get to practice this over and over.
And, acting becomes what it supposed to be… enjoyable… when you are practicing something, rather than trying to get a result.
Michelle
actorium.ca