Do you fear the close-up?
Imagine the camera is locked in on your face and the director or casting director asks you to reveal slight sadness or the beginning of fear or incredibly controlled anger or a hint of excitement or boredom. Oh, and they only want to see it in your eyes. Could you do that? Or does even the thought of a close-up make you freeze?
If this is you, you are not alone. Most actors know how their body and voice communicate but know very little about their own faces. And since the close-up is all about the face, this can be a problem.
So let’s talk about how knowing the language your face speaks can prepare you for your close-up. More specifically, let’s talk eyelids.
To keep facial movement to a minimum and execute any one of those directions listed above would require you having access and control over the muscles around the eye, more specifically, your eyelids. Done correctly, with just the smallest amount of tension, the lifting or relaxing of your eyelids can speak volumes to the viewer. Your eyes may be the windows to your soul, but it’s your eyelids that are the workhorses of nonverbal communication.
Below are four common messages your eyelids send the viewer and what they
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