Favorite Camera Tricks for Actors

OK since this thread went cold I wanted to try once more to get other actors to give camera tips and tricks.


So, today mine is on hitting your mark on film. A lot of actors are never taught this and oddly, on new shows I can see the actor looking for their mark. I can tell they are trying to make sure they get to it and on occasion that ruins the performance.

So, here is my tool for that one:

Practice it! Take some strips of paper to make toe marks or tape if it won't hurt your floor. You need to make them like a T shape or two lines for each foot. The idea is that your feet should end up lined up to the mark.

This DOES matter because the focus has been set on the camera to that mark and if you are a few inches behind or in front of it, they might have to do another take.

So, place these strips on the floor. Give yourself more than one mark and then start using your side vision to find them. Do it over and over until you stop having to look down for the mark. Over time you may even possibly start to notice without looking down that you are slightly off your mark.

If you do, learn to relax your body back or forward a tiny bit to compensate. Over time it becomes very natural but it seriously helps to practice it so when you get on a set, you don't have an issue with it.

This is one of the easiest things to do at home over and over until it feels natural. You may need a friend to watch you after a bit to check if your eyes are following the mark or not!

OK, who is adding another tip for actors working on camera stuff?
 
Helping the sound mixer/boom op. If you are changing the levels of your voice during your scene this will cause difficulty for sound (a whisper to a shout). If the sound department knows what to expect they can react appropriately. If your dropping lines, speeding up pauses, improvising, changing your delivery from the rehearsal give sound a heads up. Sometimes the rehearsal is filmed and sound is forced to muddle through. The director should be communicating with the sound department and you but it doesn't always happen. Might save some adr or expensive post solutions for the production.
 
Lambert what great additional information! I often tell actors they need to know what all the departments do, so they know if their work affects that part of things.

I hope a few other departments chime in with things actors can do to make their jobs easier during the shoot and post!
 
I'm not really a soundie Michele, but I'm trying to understand some of the challenges of recording decent sound for film. Usually on low budget films if any one is paid its the sound mixer (they don't have reels). Good ones are in demand and newbies can use all the extra help you can give them. If you know your going to be wired and your wearing your own clothing you should speak to a mixer/costumer/director ahead of time. Some fabrics add an extra level (silk, man made fabrics) of complexity. Men (or woman) if you have a hairy chest pack an extra t-shirt, it may help tame a noisy lav. If you strike your chest at the same time you are speaking you may have to record that line later (unless its boomed). Be prepared to record some on set adr (additional dialogue replacement-they record you without the cameras rolling ). You should be happy that you get to give them some great sound while the performance is fresh in your mind (instead of months later). Some real pros should chime in instead of me.
 
Eye line. Always find a point somewhere that is in the direction the director wants you to look, as your focus point.

Example: a dialog scene, director is doing a close up (half profile) on you for your lines. Many times, looking where your counterpart is may not work. Establish where your eyes need to be looking between you and the director and find something there to "focus on".

Sounds simple, but sometimes it's hard, LOL!

Oh, BTW, the innuendo is getting thick..........
 
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Lambert...newbie or not...more great advice!

Doc...good one on eye lines. Some actors don't understand the importance of checking on that early on. The seasoned ones always ask the director or DP.

and innuendo? huh? what did i miss?
 
My experience is that the actors don't need to think about cameras at all unless they have to look at one, or make sure they are NOT looking at one for a certain shot. The floor manager would worry about clearing an actor from a fast crab, or dolly in. The fewer things to worry the actors the better. For dramas, we'd do at least one walk-through or proper rehearsal for each scene, and even when working live, complex things had to be rehearsed first. Camera crib cards would be written/updated at this point. The only time I think the talent needed to pay attention to the tallys was when we were doing live 'Youf' TV with plenty of kids and only a few experienced younger presenters. Direction would be very seat-of-pants, hardly any rehearsal and things would change during the programme. Seeing the tally come on would be very useful for the talent, as sometimes, their in-ears would be far too busy for them to take cues properly, and seeing the light come on would be the one thing that worked.
 
paulears

I keep hearing that about the tally light. But soaps don't give ear pieces unless they changed things. I wish they had told us in advance which cameras would be on but we tried to figure it out during camera blocking.

Are we both talking about 3 camera shoots?

michele
 
No - the earpieces were for presenter style material. Most multi-cam drama doesn't have the talent looking into the lens, they work each other. I suspect that seeing the tally is a good guide to when they're the chosen shot, but my own take is that very often, it's the tally going off that is the help - warning them that at certain points, they've cleared the frame. I can't say that tally for drama is really useful at all, unless there's some particular technical requirement - maybe a gesture that has to come just as the camera is cut to - where perhaps one character says something, the director cuts to the other actor who suddenly has to look surprised, then it cuts back. This is a good example of tally being useful - the actor can see the cut out of the corner of their eye, and do the gesture exactly at the right time. For most of the session, the floor manager's finger is the most useful.
 
paulears...back in the day...(i sound so old), when I worked on the soap, we just had to keep our side vision on the ready....
 
Love these little tidbits Michele, you're super awesome. (Super and awesome). And when I was taught how to use the switcher no one told anyone where the camera was then either. But then again I learned that almost twenty years ago.

-Nate
 
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Nathyn, well I am not the only one giving tricks. I hope more people post them. It can be a great teaching tool and short cut some problems before they get to sets!
 
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