Differences Between Stage And Screen Acting

 

There are a few key differences between stage and screen acting. Each difference is essential to each style; for example, in film or tv the way you project is different to stage, as when you are filming something you have microphones and technology that can pick up your voice easily. They can hear you clear as day without you shouting or even trying to project. This helps the performance look and feel more realistic. However, in theatre you have people sitting ten rows back and if you were speaking normally, they wouldn’t be able to hear you. So, you need to project your voice and make it clear what you are saying so those people all the way in the back can hear you. The same can be said with body language, if you want to get across a particular feeling or action using body language, then they might have to be bigger and more expressive so they can notice them at the back of the audience.

Spacing

In addition to this we have footing and spacing, which also extremely important. In screen acting you are given a very specific place to stand or to walk to, in order to make the scene look good. The smallest wrong movement in film could cause massive problems as even moving your shoulder could block someone out of the shot and ruin the scene you just did. As well as this you would often have to film the scene more than once in order to allow for every camera angle and if you don’t keep to the same movements or placing, you could cause major continuity errors. Nonetheless, in a stage production you do have to make sure you’re not blocking people and making sure you do not turn you back to your audience, but continuity errors would be less of an issue. I will now make sure that if I am filming a performance, that my footing is exactly where the director wants me to be and making sure I am not in the way of anyone else by making sure I know my surroundings.  

Audience Feedback

The feedback you get off an audience member when doing a theatre production can be amazing the laughs, the cheers, the clapping. All of it can really help a performance because you can feel the crowd loving what there are watching, which makes the actors more confidant in their performances. Conversely, in film when you are performing a scene everyone in that room has to be silent, they are not allowed to say a word, as it has the potential to ruin the audio. So, the only person who will be saying anything is the director and the only person who will be giving you feedback, or direction is the director and he will tell you what he wants to happen or if what you have done so far is enough.