Antonionis actors – David Forgacs pt.3
Antoioni believed that the freedoms of the conventions of film making could completely alter the reception of a scene. The lighting, mise en scene and camera angle will all determine the meaning given to the lines being spoken. For this reason Antonioni would assess the space in which he is working. He would spend 30 minutes familiarising himself with it before he introduces and choreographed actors. If something felt wrong, unbalanced or out of place he would change the way it was utilised in order to give the scene new meaning. Antonioni strongly believed this is the role of the director. He believed that the role of an actor should be entirely separate and not overlap at all. The actors job is to deliver the lines and the directors job is to construct meaning in them by the use of film techniques. Maybe this is why he liked he actors to be uninformed. He wanted them to be spontaneous and natural. When an actor has too much knowledge and understanding of their surroundings, co workers and even of themselves their performance may become more staged and less naturalistic. Robert Breeson believed in similar things, he favoured using the non actor over the actor. He believed that actors often overcompensate their emotions and become un-naturalistically expressive. When the mind is alert and aware of the acting process it can hinder spontaneity. Actors can often try to ‘show’ the audience their emotions rather then just experiencing their subtleties for themselves. In real life we try to conceal our emotions. If someone asks us how we are we generally reply ‘good’ when someone asks us whats the matter we generally reply ‘nothing’, if we are really upset we generally try to mask our tears rather then parading around sobbing. We are aware of our surroundings and often feel that we should deal with our emotions ourselves rather then subjecting anyone else to them. The trained actor can often feel a need to be expressive and compelling and in this pursuit they loose authenticity.