Caine chapter 4

Jazmine Jeffcoat

In this chapter, the advice seemed even more curt and pointed than in previous chapters.

Not to say they are not useful tidbits of information. The first thing that stuck out to me during

the reading was from the first page I believe. It was: “in film, other actors' performances really

are not your concern. If the other actor isn't giving you what you want, act as though he were." I

found this to be highly informative. It’s something that seems so simple but, in the moment,

when you are acting with someone else you could easily be overwhelmed or better yet

underwhelmed. The way the chapter described that sometimes they might even cut the other

actor’s shots entirely changes the mindset of how you act. Such as here when Caine says “if the

other actor isn't giving you what you want, act as though he were. If you feel the wrong actor has

been cast in the part, recast him in your mind.” In this respect it is, unfortunately, very unlike

stage theatre. The way filming is set up almost makes an actor feel isolated despite the number of

people there. To have to focus on how your shot turns out and your shot alone, and in some cases

pretend someone is better than they are. All in all, just to focus on your shot is the best way to

compartmentalize while filming, everything else is for others to worry about.

The next thing that I read helped qualm some nerves and anxieties in a way. Which was

the quote about “no one despises inexperience, only toffee- nosed inexperience.” Which is the

most terrifying part of being new, is being inexperienced and not having any prior knowledge to

refer to when working on a project. It is reassuring to know if you are kind and do your job, you

can go far. It also helped to be given examples of what ways to be kind on set and what goes

beyond kind and into unhelpful territory. Here is said “Do not establish friendliness by moving

your own props or being helpful in a technical vein...And of course, when I say, "be nice" I mean
be cordial.” It has been established in class before how your job is to act and that is all. If you

touch or move something you outside of a scene it can screw up the whole production.

“You use rehearsals to show the director and other actors what you're proposing to do

physically and more or less how you're going to say the lines; you use rehearsals to show the

thorough preparation that you've been hired for.” This line was one I found to be a reiteration of

an important concept. By this point of the class, we all understand how the rehearsal works. It is

still a good thing to think about how different the rehearsal is from the stage. In film you should

already have practiced, memorized the lines, decided what you are doing with blocking, and

studied your character to the fullest. Before you even get on set. Then the rehearsal is just so

everyone else can see and know what you are doing. This ties into another moment in the text

regarding preparation. “Because you've reduced your fear of the unknown by preparing as much

as possible, you should be left with a healthy amount of nervous energy-useful energy that can be

channeled into performance.” Just as in any performance preparation is incredibly important but

regardless of how prepared you are, nervousness is inevitable. Any good performer knows not to

ignore your nerves, but instead use it for your performance. This is not an excuse to be

unprepared and claim your nerves will deliver a beautiful performance. Anxiety won’t magically

allow you to know your lines, but as Caine said there is a healthy number of nerves that you can

manipulate into whatever energy you need for the upcoming scene.

“You should only take that ultimate risk, provide that real surprise, when someone says

"action." Then, by all means, push yourself a little further than you want to go.” So, this quote I

have some questions about. Here Caine is detailing how you should not spend all your energy on

the rehearsal which I agree with. I agree that your fullest acting should be saved for the shot. Yet

here Caine is saying how we shouldn’t take the ‘ultimate risk’ until the camera is running which I
have an issue with. In some instances, I’m sure pulling out a surprise for your scene partner will

make for a great genuine reaction. But from the production side, if you decide to scream without

telling the sound person then the shot will be unusable. Or if you change where you walk in your

blocking how’s the camera gonna pick you up best? While we should strive to use only our best

performance during filming, we also need to make sure we aren’t jeopardizing the shot at the

same time.