I like non-actors (personnages). I think that the deliberate decision of working with ‘real people’, not creating characters to fit into boxes in my head, but instead working with the sensibilities of people I know, people I am aware of, is something that is worthwhile and it offers a great opporutnity to learn about communication in general with others and to get better at understanding people and their nuances, and their own sensibilities.

Les gestes et les paroles ne peuvent pas former la substance d’un film comme ils forment la substance d’une pièce de théâtre. Mais la substance d’un film peut être cette… chose ou ces choses que provoquent les gestes et les paroles et qui se produisent d’une façon obscure chez tes modèles. Ta caméra les voit et les enregistre. On échappe ainsi à la reproduction photographie d’acteurs jouant la comédie et le cinématographe, écriture neuve, devient conjointement méthode de découverte.

Robert Bresson (Notes on cinematography)

Bresson writes about actors, that words and gestures cannot form the base of substance of a film the way they can for theatre, instead, it is what provokes these gestures, what inspires the words that forms our intrigue with actors and with “models” on screen. The camera records not only the movement, but what provokes that and the medium of the moving image allows us to register this in a way that we would not otherwise if the action were live. We can watch and rewatch the action. The action can even be repeated (and the art of editing, of reproduction, of repetition and of projection come into play) . What seems natural can suddenly become unnatural (as an extreme example I am reminded of Martin Arnold, Alone. Life Wastes Andy Hardy (1998)). Repetition becomes an art and that gestures take a new meaning, the provocation of the gestures becomes integral to their way they are captured. Film allows us this nuance. This alternate way of examining life and movement. And it is fascinating.

Actors are not simply the vessel for communication of a message, they are something so much more. They allow us to play with what we know, and with what we don’t know. Replicating an image, creating an image, becomes about working with the limitations of human figures, and sometimes about pushing those boundaries. I see this as a totally new way of working with people. It might even be harsh to say that it is about experimenting with communication with people, actors, models, people on screen. As media students, I think we are more open-minded to what we will try in front of the camera. Coming not from acting background, perhaps this puts me at a disadvantage as I worry that I might push people too far. However I find this all fascinating, and my appreciation and understanding of what actors mean, of what they give to film, and to cinema is not just about communicating story, a message through words and movements, like the nuance of the camera, it is about communicating through the moments before the actions and words take place.