Film and Television Acting: From stage to screen

It's taken till the new millenium for someone to do a "how to" book about acting that plainly and simply zeroes in on just what it takes to be a great performer in front of a camera. Whether you're young or old, male or female, rookie or pro - if you are, or ever intend to act in film or television - you owe it to yourself (AND your future audience) to read this book. GREG MORRISON, Adjunct Professor, LOS ANGELES FILM SCHOOL

FILM AND TELEVISION ACTING by Ian BernardReviewed by Academy Award and "Emmy" honored actor/writer/producer/director, Don Murray.FILM AND TELEVISION ACTING belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who aspires to a career in motion pictures or is inquisitive about how the process of motion picture acting takes place. Author Ian Bernard, who has distinguished himself as an actor, writer, musical composer and director, adds to his well deserved laurels with this book that leads the actor through the technical steps and creative nuances of acting for both big screen and small.Most actors begin their careers in amateur stage theatrics. No matter how competent their stage training may be, the transition to the screen can be disconcerting. Some aspects of screen acting make the transition easier: Voice projection, vital on the stage, doesn't come into play in screen acting. The "three quarters front" body position on stage is replaced by direct alignment, but exact positions become more vital in front of the camera, in order to remain in focus and within the lights. Much is made of "retakes" in film; if you don't get it right in take one there is take two, and twelve, and twenty if need be. But those extra takes are more often given to correct technical errors than to improve performance (especially in television where time restraints make compromise in the realm of performance common place).Perhaps the most difficult aspect of switching from stage to screen performance is the lack of continuity in shooting a movie. One often performs the love scene before the scene where boy meets girl and since there is no build up of emotion that carries from one scene to another as on stage, the screen actor usually has to stimulate his emotions by his own solitary devices.Mr. Bernard's book is a blueprint for building a bridge between stage and screen acting by providing theory and technique for making the transition.For both aspiring screen actors and those of the motion picture audience who are interested in enhancing their enjoyment through a deeper understanding of the acting process, Ian Bernards's FILM AND TELEVISION ACTING belongs on the b ookshelf right next to Constantin Stanislavski's AN ACTOR PREPARES.