GRIEF. THE FILM

As part of our project for this second semester, we did an adaptation into film of the play Grief by David Kantonuas (David Kantounas, 2022).

The purpose of doing the adaptation of the play Grief into a film was predominantly to observe and learn the differences between acting for stage and acting for screen and consequently, to understand all the aspects related to the creation of a theatrical production and the work on a film set.

In terms of acting, an actor working in a film should:

• Keep the expressions to the minimum level: The camera picks the most subtle movements of the face, even a simple blink could give a massive meaning to the action in film. The challenge for acting on screen for an actor is to keep it minimal while still being honest with the performance. Suddenly in film the eyes of the actors become extremely important. It is with the eyes an actor can communicate a large range of feelings; the eyes are often referred as “the windows to the soul” and the soul of the character the actor plays is what the public wants to see in the film.

• Relax before the take: If the actor feels tense before the take, it will be captured by the camera and the public will perceive that tension. There are many exercises to do before a take to release the body from any tightness it might hold on, from vocal exercises (to release the tension in the face) to yoga (to let go of the tension in the body). Michael Chekhov recommended yoga as a good practice for actors (Checkov, 1953). Yoga not only helps to quiet your mind but it also allows the yoga practitioner to develop a complete understanding of their body concerning movements and physical limitations.

• The voice needs a different projection: While in theatre the voice of an actor needs to reach a great projection in order to fill the auditorium completely, in cinema the actor can keep the speaking level to the normal level they would use in real life. The public watching a film often observes the situations that happen to others, and keeping the volume of the voice low, the scene seems more intimate and more interesting to watch.

• Restrain their movements according to the frame of the camera: The frame of the camera dictates where the actor moves, the set of movements they can make and where should the actor stop for delivering their lines. The frame of the camera is restrictive for an actor and sometimes that means the actor adopting very unnatural positions which, on the contrary, look good for the camera. During the performance of scene two my scene partner and I found ourselves standing opposite each other but facing our bodies towards the camera and pointing back without looking at a poster we were talking about. In reality it was very awkward to do and see but it looked beautiful for the camera.

• Act for the camera: The camera adopts different points of view; from being the eyes of the audience observing quietly what is happening, to becoming the eyes of any of the characters. As a consequence of the points of view changing, actors have to adapt to those points of view, either limiting themselves to the frame of the camera or to act towards the camera pretending to be their scene partner.

With reference to working towards making a film, the director works closely with the director of photography (from now it will be referred as DOP) to bring their idea to life. The director does their first edit of the film simply by choosing the frames of the camera and adapting the lighting, sometimes using filters to achieve the desired result. A great DOP will know how to translate the idea of the director and make it real with the support of their lighting and camera team. Hence why there should be a great understanding between the director and the DOP.

On set the crew is always present. A small set or close set, it still requires a minimum crew: A DOP, boom operator, lighting engineer, a clapper and a person in charge of the continuity.

The crew of a film is divided in teams: Lighting, props, art department, sound, hair and make-up, costume, camera, health and safety, production, runners, ADs, covid team, location, security, catering and post production. Within each team, depending on the budget of the film, there will be some subteams.

The schedule of a film can be divided into pre-production, filming schedule and post-production. During pre-production, each team works towards preparing whatever would be needed for the filming days. During filming, teams will work closely together in harmony orchestrated by the director. Filming days tend to be extremely long with a standard ten hours filming and one hour break day. On many occasions the filming schedule for the day can increase to twelve or even fourteen working hours days. Film crew and actors are backed up by Unions that regulate their rights, working hours and agree on their fees. One of the most famous unions for actors (and performers in general) in The United Kingdom is Equity (Equity, 2022).

After shooting, the raw material goes into post-production where the final edit of the film takes place. Sometimes, for various reasons, it is required to reshoot some scenes. It is not uncommon for a film to reshoot some scenes almost a year after the final scene was originally shot.

We had the extraordinary opportunity to experience and witness what were some of the implications of adapting the play Grief into a film: The schedule of our filming day was set for a working day of nine hours and one hour lunch break. During that day we had to shoot in three different locations: A house, the marketing suite and the green area outside UEL. We had a small crew for our filming day (some of the members of the crew took various responsibilities from different roles): A director, a DOP, a clapper and a boom operator.

As an actor I had to change my delivery: My actions/movements were restricted by the frame and the movements of the camera. My voice was different, I had to keep my voice to a normal every day level. Our scenes were shorter, some parts of the script had to be taken out, resulting in less dialogues. However our reactions to what our scene partner said to us became crucial and were filmed. Our scenes were divided into takes; every take was settled by the frame and sometimes movement of the camera.

One of the biggest differences in between acting for stage and acting for camera was the fact that actors were given directions prior filming a take or immediately after if our director considered he wanted to see a different action on the screen.

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*This is a project for my MA Acting for Stage and Screen at UEL, London (2022)