In our Film 100 book, Moving Pictures: An Introduction to Cinema, the topics discussed are sound and acting. Sound was discussed in Chapter 7 while acting was discussed in Chapter 8. Both accompany the process of cinematography and help to either make or break a film regardless of the quality of the shots and script. For example, one would be uncomfortable hearing happy or funny music playing during a horror movie. Another uncomfortable aspect that sometimes occurs is when one can tell an actor is clearly acting. Both can spoil a good movie plot and ruin a film's experience. Reading these chapters made me realize there is more to these aspects than I know.
In Chapter 7, one fact that surprised me was that in most cases film is made seperately from sound. This is also refered to as dual-system recording. Upon learning this I figured that bonuses to this may include increased control over the volume and the lack of background noises. Furthermore, I never knew that "slates" help with matching sound with film if they have been recorded seperately. When the slate is "slapped" down, this noise helps the editor to line up a scene with its specific sound track. Another aspect of sound I'd like to discuss is "room tone". Room tone is when the actors pause at the end of the scene for at least 60 seconds to allow the boom operator to pick up any background noise. This moment is used to fill any dead space for the editor as they take out, add, and edit scenes. Part of me figured that there was a way for editors or boom operators to cut out bcakground sounds, but if they were the scene would seem less real. When it comes to sound, similar to acting, it has to be believable and realistic. Another way sound is kept realistic is through the use of digetic and non-digetic sounds. There is typically more creativity in non-digetic sounds that play outside of the character's world, as that type of sound does not directly influence the plot of the film. A ball bouncing in a film, in most cases, is paired with a digetic sound that is realistic to what the ball would actually sound like as it hits whatever surface it is shown or implied to be hitting. Although there is many more aspects of sound discussed in the chapter, these are just some important specifics regarding sound that I wanted to discuss.
In Chapter 8, the main message of the chapter seems to be that good acting is when an actor is not acting. In other words, the actor has to become their character in the given movie to transport audiences into that film's world. When transported, audiences can truly dive into the director's vision and take in all aspects of the film. Although, considering this made me question actors such as Tom Hanks, who are classified as being "good actors" but do not truly become their characters. I've seen multiple Tom Hanks movies, but in ever single one it feels like I am just watching the actor himself in different plots. Although part of me wonders if that thought process is due to the recognizability of the actor himself as he is quite popular and most of his characters have similar personalities. To elaberate on my currect idea, I've noticed that a lot of movie stars tend to stick with characters that have similar personalities. Is it just me to realises this or is this purposeful? Perhaps it depends on the genre, or these actors are assigned to similar roles so they can become masters in those genres or personality types. Anyways, another aspect of acting that interested me was the difference between theater acting and acting in front of a camera. Actors in a theater performance are directly infront of their audiences, but there is still quite the gap between the audience and the stage. Therefore, theater actors have to be more expressive and project their voices in order to be seen and heard. As for acting in front of a camera, a camera helps to bring audiences even closer to the actor. So, to be seen and heard an actor must focus on making their expressions less exaggerated and their voices have to be understandable and clear. Even though there is so much more to this chapter than what I discussed, my purose of this sentence is to only discuss what fascinated me the most.
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