Actors are taught that when the other actor in a scene is speaking, they should give all of their focus to the other actor and let the other actor have his or her moment. However, the other actor is usually off-camera and what’s left on camera is an actor graciously listening, while being completely uninteresting. In editing, we can cut to the actor on camera if we want, but why would we? Someone just listening isn’t interesting. Someone struggling with their own emotional experience because of what the other character is saying, and while the other character is saying it, is cinematic power.
What the film camera loves more than almost anything else is a character caught up in his or her own emotional experience because, no matter how caring we would like to think we as human beings are, we are all, always, wrapped up in our own emotional experience. This doesn’t mean actors shouldn’t be genuine artists who collaborate respectfully with others. What it means is when the artistic and creative work of you and your fellow collaborators is done, and the camera starts to roll, the actor in front of the camera has an artistic responsibility to make every moment, every frame, all about, and only about, what his
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