Movies

Types of Actors

Types of Actors
 by: David Chandler

All humans are actors to some extent. This sounds Shakespearean but it is very true. Many times we have done what we do not like and many times we begin to like what we are doing. We represent those very feelings on stage or before the camera in the form of characters. The person's who enact those characters are actors.

The hero-actor in a play or a film is not always the protagonist though usually he is so. The plot of a story or a play takes the hero through a number of coincides or circumstantial changes to show that he can adjust in any space and time and yet remains a leader or a savoir.

Well! A tragic hero on the other hand distorts his own good circumstance and he also worsens in his temperament in such a way that the spectators sympathizes with wraths than looking down on him. In both the above cases the actors who portray these characters must be very skilled in showing their feelings by their eyes, the face and of course the body. Sometimes they may have to overact.

The comedians have to keep improvising methods to portray the force in the society and the foolishness of the rich who haven't experienced the world around and take it for granted that all happiness can be commodities. Many times a comedian performs serious roles yet he makes us laugh-he is an actor.

The lady on the other hand whether a heroine or a vamp usually shows excess feminine energy either she is a sacrificing friend, a mother or a seductor. To portray these feelings the lady actors need very good supporting actors.

The dancers or singers are also actors who are usually speaking of the hero, the heroine or the villain who would like to confess, or it could be about love, hate, or jealousy. Many times mindsets are condemned through a singer who also dances.

Basically the actors are also informal teachers.

Filmmaking - Five Good Producer Skills

Filmmaking - Five Good Producer Skills
 by: Angela Taylor

You may believe a thorough knowledge of filmmaking and the entertainment industry is enough to make you a good movie producer. While it certainly helps to know the nuts and bolts of movie production, and even the details of financing and marketing a movie, that knowledge is not enough to create a good producer. It might make for a good studio executive, or other job out of the fray, but you need to develop specific skills, to help you make an independent film.

The first and most important skill you need is organization. If you were the kid who kept the minutes of the club meetings, edited the yearbook, or organized the prop-closet by era, you already have this skill. It is something that is hard to teach, but you can certainly learn it, to become more organized.

If you are the person who cant find his keys and has no idea how much is in your checking account, you need help. Get organized. There is simply no substitute for it.

Buy a book about getting organized. I recommend How to Get Organized When You Dont Have The Time, by Stephanie Culp. http://snurl.com/gqg5

Or take a Franklin - Covey course. Do whatever you have to do, but get organized.

Second, you need to be able to make decisions quickly. Despite the best planning, things change moment-to-moment during production. You will have to decide right now whether to set up the next shot despite the looming storm clouds, or to move on to another location, completely disrupting the schedule.

The best way to develop this skill is to completely bury your doubt. Know that you are in charge, any mistakes to be made are yours to make and you will suffer the consequences of bad decisions. If you act decisively, and accept blame when necessary, your cast and crew will accept your decisions unquestioningly.

Third, you must be a good negotiator. You will have to make deals for every single thing on the set - the equipment, the sets, the crew, the film stock, everything. Even if youre borrowing your moms station wagon, you will have to convince her you will take good care of it, and return it washed, and with a full tank of gas. Everything will have to be negotiated.

When negotiating rates, know the maximum you can pay for any one line item on your budget and try to shave 20 or 30 percent off of it. If they negotiate up, you may still save 15 percent or so off what you expected to pay.

There is one thing you need to know when negotiating: You can always say no. If you cant get the deal you want, just say no. Practice it. No. There is no need to be a jerk, just make it clear that you will take your business or offer elsewhere. If a crew member doesnt want to accept your day rate, he doesnt have to. You will find someone else (assuming you set your rate at a reasonable low-budget level).

Fourth, a producer also needs diplomacy. Its surprising how often a film shoot devolves into a third-grade playground. In just a few short weeks, cliques form, rumors start and friendships are formed and ruined. Crew members and actors will, believe it or not, come tattle to you. Sometimes you will have to intercede in petty squabbles and personality conflicts. The trick is to smooth ruffled feathers while not making one combatant feel like youve taken anothers side. That will only set factions against you, and thats the last thing you want on your set.

And fifth, of course, you will need energy. Lots and lots of energy. Caffeine helps to get you started after only a few hours sleep, but it is no substitute for real, healthy human energy. One of the things you must do during pre-production is get yourself in shape for the rigorous weeks of shooting. Youre in training, not for a sprint, but for a marathon.

Working on lower budgets, independent films often have a much tighter schedule, making for longer days and fewer days off. Take it seriously beforehand, and train like a champion. Exercise, eat healthy, and take vitamins and supplements to build your energy stores, so you can get through it.

After you have these five basic producer skills down, you will be ready to develop your knowledge of the filmmaking process and the entertainment industry, by producing a successful independent film.

Filmmaking - What Is A Pro?

Filmmaking - What Is A Pro?
 by: Sam Longoria

The word Professional is often bandied about by indy filmmakers, and Ive heard and read many things I just wouldnt expect a Pro to say, though the person writing or saying them claims to be one. Time for a definition of terms.

Question: What qualifies a person to be a Pro?

Answer: Paycheck.

That's the short answer, but anything longer is just embellishment. It's one thing to make movies. It's a whole different animal to get somebody to cut you a good check, for the work you've done.

Paycheck is more important than anything to a Professional, because you have to eat and pay bills, or you can't function, much less create pleasing Art.

Question: How does a person become a Pro?

Answer: By adopting a Pro attitude. The Pro attitude is I work in the movie business. I do good work, and I must be paid for it. This is regardless of the budget of his current Project, whether it is high or low.

Some dont become a Pro until many paychecks, but you can have a Pro attitude right now, even if youve never been paid for doing your art. If you adopt the Pro attitude now, you multiply your effectiveness many times, and shorten the time until those paychecks come in.

A person with a Pro attitude has aligned his brain cells and unconscious mind, so every action and thought is geared toward one outcome - to be paid for his work, what his work is worth. This has many benefits, chiefly the quality of his work improves.

You can take years to get a Pro attitude, or you can do it right away. I recommend you read a book with a funny name by Stuart Lichtman, an expert on the human brain from MIT. http://snurl.com/brdr

Another great book on developing a Pro attitude is Napoleon Hill's classic "Think And Grow Rich," free in your library, or get it here online. http://snurl.com/hlk4

They are both good books. Stuarts is like a series of games, so its almost effortless, and it will improve every aspect of your life. Napoleon's classic book takes a while, and you have to muscle it through by will power, but its great.

Once you've adjusted your attitude, your unconscious mind will steer your every action and memory, every skill you have, and those you need to learn, toward delivering what you need to do your job, and be paid your paycheck.

Once you do, your natural love of your Art has a chance of being fulfilled. Until you do, you're just floundering.

You may disagree with my brutal bottom-line assessment of what a Pro is. You may feel a Pro isn't defined by a paycheck. To you a Pro might be merely a person with a lot of experience in a certain area, or a person with a natural talent.

Well, Professional is defined,

"Pro*fes"sion*al, n. A person who prosecutes anything professionally, or for a livelihood, and not in the character of an amateur; a professional worker." -- Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Unless he has a paycheck, his "lot of experience" just makes him a hobbyist. By definition, a hobbyist is not a Professional anything. There is nothing wrong with being a hobbyist, or an amateur, (which means you do something for the love of it), but generally, amateur quality is not up to a Pro standard.

Its common to say, "You have so much talent, you're a real Pro," but even natural talent, practiced and refined, wont be Pro until ones work quality is good enough to motivate another to pay him for it.

While skill and/or talent certainly are important, the defining quality of a Professional is payment.

Think paycheck. May you earn many big ones.