Episode 4: “Acting for Film”
After learning about acting for the stage, Dante gets curious about acting for film. Hallie joins the podcast to talk about film.
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[INTRO]
DANTE
Dante’s Acting Adventures!
[THEME MUSIC]
Hello to all my wonderful listeners! Welcome to episode four! After talking with Jasmine last week about acting for the stage, I got curious about what other kinds of acting jobs are like. So, today my guest is Hallie. Hallie’s favorite kind of music is-
HALLIE
Classic rock n’ roll.
DANTE
And when Hallie isn’t acting, she likes to-
HALLIE
Film edit.
Hallie and I are going to talk all about acting for film. That’s right, now we’re talking about the movies!
[20th CENTURY FOX FANFARE]
DANTE
Hello Hallie and welcome to my podcast!
HALLIE
Hi, it’s nice to be here.
DANTE
I’m glad to have you. Now you mentioned that when you’re not acting you like to film edit.
HALLIE
Yeah, that’s correct.
DANTE
Wow, I don’t even know what that is.
HALLIE
Film editing is when you put all the pieces of film together for the movie.
DANTE
Wow, so you like, make the final movie.
HALLIE
It’s like all the things that you see in the movies have been put together by a person, like a collage.
DANTE
And you are that person!
HALLIE
I am that person.
DANTE
Wow, that sounds like a pretty important job.
HALLIE
It is very important. It’s what you see at the end of the project.
DANTE
Wow! That sounds really cool!
HALLIE
Well Dante, I have some elements of film-acting to tell you about. Do you want to get started?
DANTE
Let’s get into it!
[MOVIE PREP SOUNDS]
[POPCORN SOUNDS]
HALLIE
Let’s start with going over some terms that you’ll hear when you’re on set and getting ready to perform. Have you ever heard of these before?
[SOUND EFFECT]
Quiet on Set, Sound Speeding, and Camera Rolling
DANTE
Hang on a second, those sounds familiar..but I don’t know what any of it means.
HALLIE
Well, it’s a good thing I’m here!
[BA-DUM-TSS]
These are terms that filmmakers use when they have a scene that’s ready to shoot. This is how they make sure everything is ready before they start. Let’s go over them in the order you hear them on set.
Number one – Quiet on Set:
Can you guess what this means Dante?
DANTE
Hm. What’s a set?
HALLIE
The set is the scenery or place that is built, that you perform on. It means the same thing in theater too!
DANTE
I see. So, ‘quiet on set’ must mean that everyone has to be quiet for the actors to perform?
HALLIE
Yeah, that’s right Dante! The director or assistant director will call, ‘Quiet on Set!’ when everything is in place and it’s time to start filming. This lets everyone know to be quiet so the actors can start. Alright the next one is-
Sound Speeding:
The term, ‘sound speeding’ means that the microphones are on or as the professionals say, the microphones are ‘hot’. The director calls ‘sound speeding?’ and the sound crew responds, “sound speeding”. This means they are recording and ready to go.
And the last one is-
Camera Rolling:
This term means that the camera is recording. Like the term ‘sound speeding’ the director calls, ‘camera rolling?’ and the camera crew respond, “camera rolling”. This means the cameras are recording and ready to go!
Why don’t we give it a try!
DANTE
That sounds like fun. Hey, I’ll be the director! Alright, so I go first?
HALLIE
Mm-hm.
DANTE
Alright. Sound speeding!
HALLIE
Sound speeding!
[MICROPHONE BUZZES]
DANTE
This is fun! [Clears throat] Camera rolling!
HALLIE
Camera rolling!
[FILM BUZZES]
DANTE
Hey, I said ‘quiet on set’ once. Do you think we could give that one a try?
HALLIE
Well, you’re the director so it’s up to you.
DANTE
Well, I guess you’re right. [Clears throat] Quiet on set please!
[CRICKETS SOUND]
DANTE
Well, that was tons of fun! What’s next?
HALLIE
Dante, before we move on to the next element, do you want to know a bonus term?
DANTE
Totally! I love bonus terms!
[SOUND EFFECT]
HALLIE
Slate.
DANTE
Slate? Wait, isn’t that when you say your name and the song or monologue you are going to perform in an audition?
HALLIE
This is a different kind of slate! In film, a slate is referring to when you see a camera operator hold up a marker to the camera.
DANTE
You mean the black and white thing?
[MOVIE SLATE SOUND EFFECT]
HALLIE
Yes, exactly! They announce the scene number and the take number or, how many times they have filmed the scene. This makes it much easier to keep track of things during filming and later in editing. I should know.
DANTE
Well, it’s kind of similar to an audition slate, except you’re talking about the movie scenes.
HALLIE
That’s true, good observation Dante!
DANTE
Well, thanks!
HALLIE
Before we move on, do you think you remember all three terms we just learned?
DANTE
You bet I do. Number one- Quiet on set! Number two- sound speeding! Number three- camera rolling! And the bonus term- slate!
[APPLAUSE]
HALLIE
Alright. We’ve got a couple more terms. These next two are super easy though.
DANTE
Few! Give em’ to me.
[SOUND EFFECT]
HALLIE:
Action & Cut
Action:
Only the director calls action. This is when all the cameras and microphones are rolling, and all the actors are in position and ready to go. The director calls ‘action’ to start the scene. Calling ‘Action’ tells the actors to start the scene.
DANTE
Action! That sounds pretty fun.
HALLIE
Cut:
This is a term used to tell everyone on set to stop recording or acting. Cut is called when a scene is finished or if something went wrong, or someone needs to stop.
DANTE
Well, I think I might be a director! I had to call cut once for an actor when I was recording the trailer to this podcast!
[FLASHBACK TO THE PODCAST TRAILER]
HALLIE
Check you out Dante! You’ve got what it takes to be a director of film!
DANTE
Well it looks like I should keep learning more about film! What’s the next thing you’ve got?
HALLIE
Check you out Dante! You’ve got what it takes to be a director of film!
DANTE
Well it looks like I should keep learning more about film! What’s the next thing you’ve got for me?
[SOUND EFFECT]
HALLIE
Back to One
Dante, have you ever heard someone say “from the top” in rehearsal for a stage play?
DANTE
Yeah.
HALLIE
“Back to one” is the same term in film. All it means is, ‘let’s go again from the beginning of the scene’.
DANTE
Back to one! Got it.
HALLIE
Here are our last terms for today.
[SOUND EFFECT]
Shots
There are so many shots in film that make it easier to see you as an actor. You don’t need to be as big vocally and physically like you would if you were acting on a big stage. Let’s break it down.
In a Close-Up shot, the camera will be getting more of your face instead of your whole body. For close-up shots a good thing to remember is that you don’t have to be as big with your facial expressions. The camera will pick up all the little movements nice and clear.
A Wide-Shot is the opposite of a close-up. A wide shot usually includes more of your full body and the surroundings of the set. This is a good time to be a little bit bigger in your actions, but still remember the camera will pick you up and make your movements clear.
DANTE
A close up shot and a wide shot.
HALLIE
That’s right.
DANTE
I’m learning so many new things!
HALLIE
Well, before we finish today let’s talk about the differences between stage acting and film acting.
DANTE
Let’s do it.
HALLIE
In theater, the audience comes and watches a live performance where the actors perform the story from the beginning to the end. A big difference in movies and tv shows is that the scenes are filmed out of order. Because the scheduling for filming days can be really crazy, sometimes the first thing you film is one of the last scenes in the movie!
DANTE
Woah, now way!
HALLIE
A key to being a great film actor is knowing the entire story, as well as your character’s story so you are prepared to film any part of the script and story on filming day.
DANTE
Wow I had no idea that’s how movies worked! Sounds like an exhausting job for an actor.
HALLIE
It is a lot of hard work, movies have a lot of moving parts. You may have to travel to a location like in, ‘Lord of the Rings’, they filmed in New Zealand. Or shoot in the studio while working with special effects and crazy awesome stunts like in the movie, ‘Avengers’. Because of this, film acting moves a lot faster. Similar to a theater performance, you have hair and make-up crews, sound crews, lighting crews, special effects, and many more people all running around the set to make sure the movie ends up looking awesome. It can also feel a little bit stressful. It’s important as an actor, to stay focused and ready to perform your best, even under all the stress.
DANTE
Wow that’s so many more people than I thought it would take to make a movie!
HALLIE
Exactly! That’s why the credits at the end of movies are so long.
DANTE
Oh, the credits! Huh. You know, last week in my episode with Jasmine we talked about being a good collaborator. Sounds like a really important job in a movie, to be able to work with everybody who’s making it happen.
HALLIE
Exactly.
DANTE
I learned so many new things about film! I’m thinking it could be fun to be a movie star one day! Thanks for joining me on my podcast today, Hallie! Before we head out today, why don’t you help me with one fun-fact about film!
[FUN-FACT MUSIC]
DANTE
Alright Hallie, take it away!
HALLIE
One fun-fact about a film set is that the snack table is called craft-service.
DANTE
Craft-service. Interesting.
HALLIE
Yeah. It’s one of the most important jobs on a film-set, to keep the cast and the crew fed and hydrated.
DANTE
Well, that sounds very important.
HALLIE
It’s separate from the catering service, which is the food and the meals. It’s just the snacks.
DANTE
A film-set has its own little section just for snacks.
HALLIE
And they’re pretty yummy.
DANTE
I can’t wait to work on a film-set one day! Thanks again for coming on my podcast today Hallie. I learned so much!
HALLIE
I’m so glad, thank you for having me.
DANTE
You bet. Well, my stomach’s grumbling. I think it may be time to go visit the craft-station.
HALLIE
That’s a good idea.
DANTE
I hope to see you on a film-set soon!
[THEME MUSIC]