Write an essay summarizing and evaluating the key points from both texts.
Use your own words
throughout as far as possible and include your own ideas in your answers.
You should write 240-280 words.
1. Performing techniques: stage vs. screen.
Gesture, movement, and physicality are vital on stage. Whereas tiny gestures can be magnified
in close-up film shots, as a stage actor you will use your body very differently. You will need to
communicate a physical energy and develop a 'stage presence'. The film close-up permits
subtleties of facial expression and movement that don't work on the stage. Camera work and
editing achieve effects on the screen that the stage actor must create largely by using the body.
In film, props and settings are also used extensively to convey meaning and atmosphere. On the
stage, it’s down to you to do that work.
2. Acting: finding your voice
Consider the actor's voice for a moment. Vocal expression is as much about movement and
emotion as sound, and nowhere is this more noticeable than on the stage. Achieving resonance
in your voice requires physical as well as vocal effort. For the screen, the emphasis may be on
perfecting a range of accents rather than pitch, yet even here embracing cultural body language
makes the accent sound more authentic. Interestingly, in the recording studio many voice
actors imitate the movements of their animated characters to achieve better vocal results. The
right training can help you develop such skills to find work in any medium.
The art of acting could easily be one of the more difficult art forms in our world today
because it requires complete control of your body, both the physical and the mental. The texts
fascinatingly examine the vitality of an actor’s ability to control and master two of the most
important elements of their praxis: their body and their voice.
The first text deeply analyzes the importance of the physical form of acting with kinetic
movement, especially when performing on stage. While the command of the body’s
movements is important in all forms of acting, it is essential when performing in a play because
every technological advantage such as cinematography and editing is stripped away.
The second text focuses on the ability and importance of an actor to craft a meaningful
vocal performance through the integration of movement. While film or animation
performances may normally focus on perfecting the actor’s tone or accent, the vocal
performances through those mediums as well as stage performances will only be enhanced
through the integration of movement.
When evaluating both texts, the importance of an actor performing using their physical
body affects every facet of their performance. Correspondingly, there is a direct correlation
between the importance of physicality in a performance and the amount of technology used in
a performance. It is evident over the history of acting that performers have become less reliant
upon their physicality in their performances as technological advancements have been
introduced to the acting profession. For example, pre-camera stage performances ranging from
the amphitheaters of ancient Greece to the Elizabethan Shakespeare stages were almost
entirely dependent upon the actor’s physical performance because many of the patrons,
especially towards the back, were unable to hear the actor’s vocal performance. With the
invention of motion pictures, acting evolved from the stage to the screen in the early 1900s but
was still without the ability to add vocal performances. Thus, silent film stars such as Charlie
Chaplin grew to infamy through the capacity to communicate to an audience entirely through
their body movements.
The physical movement of an actor’s performance has always been a part of the acting
art form from its inception thousands of years ago. No matter what future technological
advances may occur, the most effective performances on stage or screen continue to use the
body’s physical performance as the foundation through which to construct a complete
performance.