The Method Fest offers insights into the world of films. Below: Brown's Acting Manual excerpts from DW Brown

Brown's Acting Manual
The following is an excerpt from "Brown's Acting Manual" by DW Brown.

DW Brown is the head instructor and co-owner of the famed Joanne Baron/DW Brown Studio in Santa Monica, California . He has lead seminars with actors Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Susan Sarandon, Martin Sheen, Richard Dryfus; and directors Sidney Pollack, John Singleton, Robert Towne and Tom Shayac.

Acting For Film: Presence Is Supreme

Emphasize being in the moment. With work on the stage it is critically important for the player to guide the audience's attention through the play, but in film and television an audience's attention is controlled by the editing; therefore, the emphasis for an actor shifts from being clear to being truthful and present.

When James Cagney was asked what was the most important thing in acting, he answered: "Don't get caught doing it." This is very much the case in most film acting where the style tends to be naturalistic, and, free from the obligation of projecting because of the large magnification of the close up, it is essential for an actor to be relaxed and subtle.

While this is true with theater as well, an actor on film should be especially fluid and be relating deeply and continuously. This deep relatedness will produce subtle activities such as clenching of the jaw, pursing the lips, flashing looks, etc., that come off very dynamic on camera.

Don't say much. A general recommendation for film acting is: "Speak as quickly as you can and act as slowly as you can." What this means is, because being in the moment and telling the truth are the supreme values, it's good to de-emphasize the words. The actor wants to reduce excessive animation, especially in close up, and not try to sell what they are saying. They don't want to be clear with the language.

There are exceptions to this, of course, but for the most part the value of what is said should be minimized and rather be communicated with a deeper subtextual intent. What's being communicated is projected on a very deep, nonverbal level; and the words just fall out on their own.

In order to do this, to be fully present in the moment and concentrating on projecting intent, it is necessary to have one's lines down absolutely cold.

The Moment Of New Response

Get caught reacting. While again, being reactive is nothing new in the process of acting, and it may only be a value emphasized because of the close-up shots with a camera, there are in fact some special techniques for camera work, beyond just listening well.

Reactions are the most powerful aspect of film acting; particularly that moment when an event hits the character's heart for the first time and changes their world. It isn't the talking. Savvy film stars have been known to give away dialogue to innocently grateful secondary actors who then later hear these lines of exposition droning away on the soundtrack while the camera lingers on the stars silent, soulful reaction to events.

Delay your response until it's time to speak. Because there is a tendency for what comes before a line and what comes after the line to be cut, in order to guarantee that the fresh moment of reacting makes the final edit, especially if acting with a star or the leading character of the piece whose performance will tend to be favored by the editor, an actor might tend to save important reactions until just before they speak. In this way if the character opposite says: "Your brother is dead. We did everything we could." The actor, who normally would have their reaction to the death begin with the first sentence, may want to artificially wait until the other character finishes speaking to have their initial response to the death begin as their own line: "He was just talking to me." starts to spill out.

There's nothing wrong, per se, in having already started to react in the natural way on the first sentence; it just increases the likelihood that that precious first reaction will be kept in the film if it happens immediately before one's lines are uttered.

There needn't be a concern that the audience will notice this delay and think it strange. Film reality distorts time so much, slowing it down, speeding it up, chopping it apart, even the most outrageous delays, as with the typical, descending security door that takes forever to close, are usually forgiven if not completely unnoticed.

Always be responding.

This advice on occasionally delaying a response for a major moment is not to suggest that the actor should remain blank faced and passive until it's their turn to speak, and the actor must always be cautious to avoid the major acting fault of indicating responses instead of really having them. It's good to be reacting all the time, giving the editor plenty of film of the character reacting while others are speaking. This delayed reaction is really only a suggestion for big events.

Using the Eyes

Just as the moment of reaction is the most important feature in film acting, the eyes are the most important organ of response. With this in mind, the actor can have a sense of using their eyes effectively. By the same token, lapses in concentration are most profoundly reflected in the eyes.

Use the eyes. An actor may deny the camera their eyes, or let the camera find their eyes for effect, and the player might want to know where their eye light is, the specific fixture called a "Tweeny," so that they can catch that light with their eyes, or, much less frequently, use the shadow on the eyes.

Keep the gaze steady. It's usually preferable to maintain a stillness with the eyes. For this reason, while it's normal in life to look back and forth and down at both of someone's eyes and their mouth, it is probably best for an actor to maintain the attention on only one of the opposite characters eyes when addressing them. When it is the actor's single shot, and the other actor is opposite them standing next to the camera, it's best to look at this actor's eye that is closest to the lens.

When doing a scene with more than one person, it's probably better to keep watching the person who is speaking. In this way the editor has a steady look to use for a character absorbing what is happening. That means not doing what is normal and throwing looks frequently at the other person being spoken to, checking in with their reactions to what is being said, unless it's for a singularly important reaction to what was just presented.

Flash looks

On the other hand, it can be good to dart periodic, reactive looks at people and events so that the editor can use these as a way to cut to said people and events.

Note: It has been advised by some that an affective film technique to convey power is not to blink during a shot. While this might be true, the technique of not blinking is a peculiar skill that probably demands more self-conscious attention, undermining one's power, than it's worth. Worth it or not, going without blinking for long periods will go from conveying power to conveying creepiness.