Differences Between Stage Acting and Film Acting

Acting is Acting, whether for stage or camera. The requirements are the same but how
you execute them is quite different. How you tell the story is quite different. Stage and
film are like telling the same story in two totally different languages. Stage will be the
etiquette training that gives the film actor their polished shine. Film will be the real -
world training that gives a stage actor their true believability. All actors should
experience both in order to be the best working professional they can be.

Facial Expressions and Body Gestures

The biggest difference between acting for stage versus acting for screen is the location of
the audience. In a theatre, the stage tends to be far away from the audience. Depending
on the size of the theatre, the actors need to exaggerate their facial expressions and
gestures so even the patrons in the back row can see what’s going on. For example, actors
cannot express sadness with just a single tear onstage, since only the audience members
closest to the stage will see it.
When acting on screen, however, the camera can get extremely close to the actor, which
closes the gap between the audience and the actors. Because of the close-up perspective,
actors on film must use more subtle, controlled, and natural expressions and gestures.
Large, exaggerated “stage acting” can look awkward and silly on screen.
 Voice and Volume
For each live theatre performance, actors have just one chance to get it right! That’s why
it is so important to have a strong and healthy voice, and to ensure that lines are
memorized. Depending on the show or production budget, microphones may or may not
be used during a performance. Even with a microphone, actors must practice and perform
their lines accurately each time, with crisp diction and clear enunciation. In musicals,
actors must get their notes and lyrics correct on the first try. There are no do-over’s
during a live theatre performance!
For screen performances, actors have multiple “takes” to get a scene right. If they slur
their diction, stumble over a line, or mess up the words, they can do the scene again.
Film and television sets have microphones everywhere on the set to pick up the lines. In
post-production, actors frequently go back to re-record lines to fix any errors that they
made during filming.

Preparation and Performance

In theatre, performances happen in real time. Stage actors spend many rehearsal hours
developing their characters’ personalities and quirks, and spend even more hours
memorizing their lines so they can be performed in the sequence of the show. Despite all
this preparation, stage actors need to be quick on their feet in case something goes wrong
(which, in theatre, it often does!). A missed cue, a forgotten prop, a dropped line or a
wardrobe malfunction–no matter what, the show must go on somehow! Giving live
performances can be taxing on stage actors. They must deliver the same performance
with new energy each time they perform, to get the job done.
In film, performances do not happen in real time. If an actor flubs a line, it’s easy to refer
to a script and fix the mistake on the next take. However, one challenge of film acting is
that scenes are often shot out of sequence due to budgetary concerns, time of day, or
weather. An actor may have to perform an intense scene with lots of running and
screaming immediately followed by a happy scene with laughing and smiling. There is
little time in between to mentally “re-set.” This can be emotionally draining on an actor.
Screen actors must also be prepared to deal with impromptu script changes. Film actors
must often memorize a whole new section of script on the fly.
 Direction

Theatre directors direct actors. They spend many hours during many nights over the
course of many weeks working with their actors. In most cases, it is the director who
casts the actors for a stage production so they are familiar with what the actors are
capable of and what they bring to the table and they work closely with them to build
on that. Directors teach the actors their blocking. They break down the scenes and
develop the characters with them, explaining what they should be feeling or doing in
each scene to convey to the audience precisely what needs to be understood. They give
feedback during and after each rehearsal and they polish the performance and perfect
the show before opening night. It is through stage direction that many actors are truly
taught how to act. They have had months of critiquing under a professional to ensure
they execute their best performance possible. This is not the case in film.

Film directors direct the scene, not the actors. In many cases, casting agents cast the
actors and the director meets them at a table read or on set the day of the shoot. The
directors trust that the actors are professional and do not need coaching. Film shoots
are pressed for time. Time is money. A location is rented for a set amount of hours on a
particular day and a director has to get as much filming done as possible within that set
amount of time. They cannot spend hours going over and over the scenes, correcting an
actor's choice repeatedly if they fall short on their execution. They cannot keep cutting
if an actor does not know the proper way to present their body toward a camera or if
the actor keeps stepping out of frame. Luckily most movies are shot on video these days
rather than actual film, which is quite costly. Some do still shoot on film, however, and
film cannot be recorded over. If an actor needs on screen coaching throughout the
scenes and the director has to keep cutting, that film is wasted—that money is wasted.
A film director needs an actor who is fully capable of directing themselves, properly
playing to the camera, staying within the frame boundaries, and not doing any
unnecessary fidgeting or fumbling. Film directors direct the D.P., the gaffer and grips,
the makeup personnel. The actor directs their self on set. Make sure you are trained to
properly do so.
 Eye-Lines and Other Characters

In the theatre, the actor interacts with other characters. They are face-to-face in the
scene and play off of each other directly or indirectly. Even if the scene involves a
telephone call, the voice of the other actor may be heard or the other actor may even
be seen somewhere else on stage. Either way, the actors receive their stimulation and
energy from their scene partner on the spot. They create magic together in real time,
right before the audience's eyes.

This isn't always the case in film. It is not unheard of for an actor to film their part of
a dialog completely alone. This happens for various reasons. Maybe you are working on
a shoot that involves you talking to an animated character that cannot be physically in
front of you. Maybe your scene partner is not available for filming that day so the
production presses on to at least record your part of the conversation, picking up the
other actor's close-ups and shots later. Maybe the scene takes place inside a two-seater
sports car and the cameraman has to position himself in the seat next to yours in order
to get your shots. When this happens, you have no one to play off of, no direct
stimulation. Many times, I have seen inexperienced actors not know where to look or let
their eyes fall when shooting solo dialogue. I have seen actors fall short of how they say
their own lines because the person reading the lines of the missing character does not
sound the same way they expect their scene partner to sound, thus causing the scene to
fall short in energy and excitement. Truly skilled actors know to create their scene
partner in their head and act toward that invisible person the same as they would if
they were actually present. Truly skilled actors create their own stimulation and play off
that.

You should not really have to fall off a cliff in order to show the fear and energy of
falling off of that cliff. Think back to how excited you got as a child when the floor was
lava and you were going to melt your feet off and die if you touched it. You didn't have
to see flames there to know they were there. You didn't have to have that visual. You
created it and you were genuinely excited about it. Solo dialogue is the same thing.
Only-children play alone quite often, having full conversations with invisible people and
they will become emotional during them. They will sometimes even have heated
arguments with their imaginary friends and to them it is real. If you are listening from
another room, you might even be convinced there is someone in the room with them
and go to see whom they are speaking to. Likewise, you do not truly have to have a
person in front of you to see a person in front of you. You know where their eyes
would be. Look into them. You know what it looks like to give a hug and receive one.
Do it. Even if your animated partner is drawn in later, you can still make your part
convincible.

Sequence

When the actor plays for the stage, he starts at the beginning of the story and ends at
the end. They live throughout the entire life of the character during that particular
story. Everything usually happens in a linear order. Rehearsals might take place in a
random order, with the most difficult scenes being rehearsed first in order to allow
more time to perfect them; but, overall, the production itself takes place from beginning
to end.

In the film, things happen in whatever orders the location and schedule of all actors
permit. The scenes with the most people in them are generally filmed first in order to
“shoot out" actors. This means that scenes with extras or a large group of actors who
are not in every scene will be shot first, in order to get them off the schedule block and
payroll, also freeing them up to work on other projects. The actors who have the most
scenes will then continue to shoot. Because of this, films are never shot in a linear
fashion. This often calls for the middle to be shot first, the ending to be shot in the
middle, and the beginning to be shot at the end.

Audience Feedback

Stage actors are lucky in that they get instant feedback from their audience from the
moment they walk on stage. They can hear, see, and feel the energy coming from the
house and get an idea of what the audience is thinking and feeling during the whole
process. If they hear laughter, they know they are doing a good job. If they hear
scoffing or crying, they know their emotional scenes are on point. If they hear nothing,
that silence tells them they need to turn things up a notch and increase their own
energy in order to project that into the house. Stage actors have about two hours each
night to work on getting the audience's approval. If the audience doesn't like it tonight,
things can be changed and they get to try again tomorrow night. The review in the
paper on opening night might be a flop but by the end of the week, they have had
several chances to earn rave reviews. They get the luxury of “word of mouth" selling
tickets for them. If five people like the show tonight, that might lead to 25 new people
buying tickets tomorrow night. They get many chances to win people over and create a
fan base. And the good part is, many people won't know they won't like it until after
they have bought a ticket and sat through it. Money still comes back to the production
company.

Film actors get no feedback until the job is done, everything has been put into its final
place and the finished product is released. They sit back with their fingers crossed and
hope the critics love what they've done. They do not get the second, third, fourth and
fifth chance to change things and perfect their performance the way stage actors do.
Film actors get one shot and hope it gets accepted into film festivals. Maybe film
festival judges will like it enough to accept it and show it to an audience and maybe
they won't. If it's lucky enough to be shown at a festival, there are still critics to win
over who dictate whether or not the movie will make it any further than that. If the
critics and larger production companies like it, you stand a chance of having it picked
up and released to the general public. If the critics and other professionals don't love it,
however, nobody will pick up the production nor put it into distribution. There will be
nobody buying tickets. Ever. They get one shot to make it or break it. All of the time
and money spent to produce the film is ultimately for nothing because no money was
made back from it.

These are the main differences between stage acting and film acting. We relied on the doctrines of acting experts

Genealogy Freak and Kerry Hishon to document these differences.

BIOSOPE IPA, 29A/2G/1, RAJA S.C.MALLICK ROAD, JADAVPUR, KOLKATA – 700 032Mail:
bioscope70mm@gmail.com Call: 9051676471 / 90382 03620