Something Fishy – ‘Sardines’, My First Screen-Acting Experience

‘Sardines’: series one, episode one of the dark humour series ‘Inside No.9’, and my first interaction with screen acting.

When I first heard that I would be doing this, I felt as though screen acting would be a breeze. I’d seen enough films in my lifetime to understand that it replicated reality much more accurately that on stage. All I had to do was tone down my acting and I’d be fine. (Spoiler Alert – I was wrong).

As it turns out, and as Patrick Tucker explains in ‘The Secrets of Screen Acting’, ‘there has to be a radical departure from what they [the actors] would do in ‘real’ life in order to put them on screen, giving the impression of real life’ (Tucker Patrick, 2015: 13). Meaning, although actors in films look like they are acting ‘naturally’ from the viewpoint of your screen, if you could see the wider picture, it would seem very strange. In comparison to stage acting, which is somewhat realistic in terms of (e.g.) proxemics, only varying slightly in relation to the size of the theatre, screen acting only aims to give the impression of real life.

Entering the space in which my we were going to perform I felt, having discovered this, that I’d now be at least somewhat more prepared for what was about to commence. And, in some ways, I was. I made sure I was listening to the other characters – and I used my reactions to build audience views on my character (Ian). For example, when the characters, Carl and Rebecca, are talking after Carl’s entrance, I drop my smile and become more serious to build tension and make the audience suspicious of Ian. Although I was aware of the existence of the camera when I was performing, I did my best to ignore it, so as not to

break the uncomfortable atmosphere that we were trying to create (which we further enhanced by deciding to pan the camera at certain moments, rather than constantly cutting it).

But that is not to say there weren’t challenges! Actions, face, eyes, timing, body language, positioning – the six keys to success in both stage and screen acting - aka the six things I, for some reason, completely forgot about that day. I think this is because I’d normally bounce off the audience’s energy, but there was no audience, so I had to actively remind myself to still ‘perform’.

Since this was the first time we had ever performed for screen, we found it difficult to know what we wanted in terms of camera angles and shot types. We knew different shots could be very effective in portraying the tone of the performance, but we were unsure how to achieve this. With the help of the media team, we managed to get some varied shots to build atmosphere, but next time, we should definitely plan what we want in detail, so we are more prepared for recording.

In conclusion, this experience came with its challenges but was also a lot of fun! Working with the media team, made it more enjoyable and gave me a deeper insight into what acting for screen is like.

Reference List –

Tucker, Patrick (2015) Secrets of Screen Acting, (third edition) Oxford, Routledge