The Great Acting Blog: “A Very Physical Challenge”
The next work to be done on Noirish Project will be scenes near the end of the film. They aim to show Jimmy’s isolation and aimlessness. There will also be no dialogue in these scenes, everything about the character will be shown physically here. Naturally, the filmmaking will add to the feeling, ie -the type of shot, the framing – and I’ll also be using sound, traffic, noisy streets etc, but the focus will be on the character of Jimmy himself. Also, the choice of location will help, the public places can accentuate Jimmy’s isolation by showing him juxtaposed with the wider world. However, as usual, much of the work will be done by the acting, as it should be. I would not say that working without dialogue is any easier than working with, but that the two offer a slightly different challenge. When there is dialogue, of course alot of the work is done for the actor by the writing, however, the pressure is on to deliver the dialogue precisely and truthfully. When the scene is purely physical in nature, it would appear at first glance that the actor would have more freedom, since it is unlikely that every movement would be written down in advance. However, despite the less scripting, the physical expressions still need to be precise and disciplined, otherwise the performance would become a meaningless morass. The actor still needs to serve the particular needs of the scene. In some ways then, this makes a purely physical scene harder to do, because the actor doesn’t have dialogue to drive him and give shape to his work. With this physical work, a look, a turn of the head can say so much about the character’s intentions aswell as his state of being. If this physical work is done well, then the results can be utterly compelling, and even, at times, render such things as the putting of a hand into a pocket, poetic. I have a broad idea in my mind as to what I want to do with the scene, but it’s upto me to baton it down and make sure I deliver in performance. I will be intercutting the scenes on noisy streets with very quiet scenes, where Jimmy will be in doors, and have blank walls as back-drop. I hope all this adds upto an intriguing cinematic sequence.
AND IN OTHER NEWS….
Work on the as yet untitled Backstory short film for Noirish Project, is well underway (image above is from a recent shoot), and will continue over the next couple of weeks. The film will centre on Billy’s search for Jimmy across the streets of London. He hasn’t seen Jimmy for many years, but needs him now, as he is the only one Billy knows who could possibly off-load the stolen pearls. The film will feature voiceover narration, which I am currently in the process of scripting, and having a lot of fun doing so, especially because of the potential for playfulness between the sound-image relationship.
