Defining Acting: Art, Craft and Truth

Acting is a centuries-old craft, lies at the heart of storytelling, and forms the backbone of theatre, film, and television. It is both an art and a craft that involves the portrayal of characters, emotions, and situations in front of an audience. While acting might seem intuitive to some, it involves harnessing many skills and techniques to bring a character to life, connect with an audience, and transport them to a different world. Understanding and defining acting, with its depth, complexity, and range of forms, is no simple task.

The root of acting lies in the idea of ‘representation’. In its most basic form, an actor represents a character, embodying their emotions, thoughts, and experiences. This representation can be through speech, physical expression, and gesture. It is the work of an actor to convincingly portray a character, whether they are a fictional creation or a real-life person. Acting can involve a range of genres and styles, from the tragic and dramatic to the comedic, and from realism to mythology.

Several acting techniques and methodologies exist, with different schools of thought on what makes good acting. From Stanislavsky to Strasberg, different actors and acting coaches have advocated for various methods of achieving a believable performance. Some advocate for the ‘method’ approach, involving deep emotional recall and becoming the character, while others lean more towards a technical approach, considering acting as a set of skills that can be learned and honed. And indeed, consistent with both views, acting involves a good deal of practice, discipline, and study.

Not only does an actor need to learn to portray a character convincingly, but also they must learn to work with other actors in a scene, interact with audiences, and take directions from directors. The actor also needs to understand and adapt to different mediums. Acting for the theatre differs significantly from acting for film or television – in theatre, the entire performance is delivered in one continuous go, while in film or television, the final performance is constructed of various scenes shot out of order and often in different locations.

This leads us to an important aspect of acting in film – film editing, understanding of which can enhance an actor’s performance. Film editing is the process of selecting and joining together different shots to create a complete film. Film editing can make or break a film – it determines the pace, rhythm, and tempo of the story, emphasising some moments while downplaying others. A deep understanding of how film editing impacts performance allows an actor to tailor their performance to the needs of the film, understanding how their work might be interpreted and represented in the final cut.

Film editing courses offer insight into the inner workings of the film’s construction. They can be invaluable to actors by providing a broader perspective on how their performances might be interpreted and manipulated post-production. Enrolling in a

film editing course

can load the actor with tools that allow them to think beyond their individual performance and towards how their action contributes to the film’s broader narrative and rhythm.

In conclusion, defining acting incorporates multiple elements – representation, technique, working collaboratively, and understanding the final form of the performance on stage or screen. Whether on stage, on screen, or behind a microphone, acting is instrumental in bringing stories to life and connecting those stories with audiences. It’s a skill, it’s a craft, and above all, it’s a profound form of human expression.