I acted in my first short.

B

Boxing Fanatix

Member
I would like to get feedback on the acting, not the short (or you can do both, but I'm primarily focused on the acting). This was two years ago when I was a junior in high school. I had no acting experience at the time, but now I am taking professional acting classes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeHtK3fWFbo

Any feedback is appreciated, thanks.
 
Hey Boxing,

just finished watching. For your first short ever, i think you did a very good job. Is this the first short you ever filmed or ever acted in?

Disregarding technical detail, I think if this is the very first time you have ever acted, then I think you did much better than most would ever do. I prefer the fact that you under acted as opposed to the opposite, which is much more common of any amateur.

Unfortunately, taking on a character that has such an interior moral dilemma, there seems to be much that you didn't investigate or show. This dude kills for a living and for the fun of it, yet you seem to be pretty stone-faced the entire way through. Were you trying to mimic someone's performance in general? I definitely feel that the performance was acted and not experienced. Although, this is a very difficult subject matter, so getting to that level may be something that you can work towards.

Is it a sport for him? Does he get joy out of it? Does it burden him inside, these are all things we want to see without being directly shown, if that makes sense. In a sense, you need to be able to emote without directly telling us how your feeling. That's the key, feeling it, thinking it, being it. Experience your character.

What does it feel like to pull the trigger, what is the smell of the gunpowder. What is the sound of your victims last breath, what is the adrenaline rush you get right before the trigger is pulled. What is the look on their faces seconds before they leave us, there needs to be something that hooks you and we want to know what it is so that we can share your excitement or resentment for what it is you do.

Great first attempt man. Don't be afraid to asking yourself things about your character and trying to experience them in your imagination. Experience the smell of the gun powder, what the weight of the gun is in your hand, how fast blood leaves their bodies when they die. The gun has no silencer, does this bother you? Do you fear others hear you? Are you paranoid with your job. So many amazing things to experience and you can choose to focus on any one of them.

Cheers.
 
Boxing

For your first acting gig it is not bad. I did feel you were a bit too disconnected from the part. Often finding only one expression on your face. And the voice over needed more warmth from your voice...not from the character but your voice. I am glad you are taking classes because it will help a lot. You have some good basic skills in the fact that you are not over trained and doing things too big for camera but you will want to work on subtle expressions to go with the words in the voice over if you ever do that type of role again.

Good luck with the classes and let us know when you do something else so we can see how far you are coming!

Michele
 
Yes, this was the first short I ever filmed and acted in.

I did a couple of shorts but they were pretty much just tests.

Thanks for the feedback though. I know what I have to work on now, and I promise to make everything better in my next short.
 
Boxing,

First, tell me how YOU feel about your delivery. Me, I was impressed, considering this is your first time out. ( I have a couple probs with the editing, but has nothing to do with your performance.)

Good job selling the gunshots. Michelle did mention the facial expressions, so, no need for me to elaborate on that aspect. I was torn between your role and the delivery. One one hand, I know a contract killer is usually impartial and calculating, but overly done, it made your character a bit stale. But is that what the director wanted? Maybe. So, I cannot say yes or no.

Hence my original question.

But overall, a good start, if you are looking for this as a career. But you have a long way to go as each and everyone of us do. You can never stop pushing the envelope, or learning more. Today's success can be tomorrow's failure. LOL, basically don't get TOO overconfident.
 
Doc Bernard said:
Boxing,

First, tell me how YOU feel about your delivery. Me, I was impressed, considering this is your first time out. ( I have a couple probs with the editing, but has nothing to do with your performance.)

Good job selling the gunshots. Michelle did mention the facial expressions, so, no need for me to elaborate on that aspect. I was torn between your role and the delivery. One one hand, I know a contract killer is usually impartial and calculating, but overly done, it made your character a bit stale. But is that what the director wanted? Maybe. So, I cannot say yes or no.

Hence my original question.

But overall, a good start, if you are looking for this as a career. But you have a long way to go as each and everyone of us do. You can never stop pushing the envelope, or learning more. Today's success can be tomorrow's failure. LOL, basically don't get TOO overconfident.
Click to expand...

I felt it was okay when I first finished the film, but the more I got to watch it, I noticed things that you guys did.

Thank you for your feedback though, it means alot.
 
Boxing...always remember we are our own worst critics too! Always good to look for outside feedback as you did this time!
 
Boxing,

Good Job man. I am a SAG actor now and it took awhile to get here. I used to suck real bad when I started, at least I thought I did. But hard work and being honest with myself got me to where I am now. I dont feel that I'm great or anything, but much better than when I started.

But I feel from seeing your performance you'll go places. You just now need to live and breath acting! Get in as much roles as possible. Stage and screen. Keeping in mind that stage acting can ruin screen acting because for the screen you have to play smaller.

I was impressed seeing as this was your first. You seemed to know that you should not be so big. GOOD! A lot of new actors act way too real for the camera. Not real, I mean BIG!

Your performance could be better. But from seeing what you did so far, I know you'll be great. There were levels of emotion and realism that you were missing. But that just comes with time and 'living'. I mean that, by your life experiences, will you become a better actor. Go out and 'live' first, before you become the actor you want to be. Go through all the experiences that life will throw at you. All the good moments and bad. As you get older and more experienced at life. You will have moments in your real life that you can draw upon to add to your characters emotions. You will be able to sit and think of all the details and levels of emotion that your character is going through. And you'll have enough experience in your own life to draw from, and make honest choices.

The best advise I got from an acting book was this. DO NOT ACT---JUST BE. It was from a book called "No Acting Please"

I also remember when I first started in school. I asked a seasoned actor this question...

"If I have to cry in a scene. How do I act like I'm crying?"

He said. "You dont act, you just cry."

Good luck man, and keep at it!
 
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