Good day!
I am Julia and I am extremely passionate about filmmaking. For this reason, I am a filmmaking student. In the past weeks, I have been struggling with my assignment of making a short film, featuring myself. The assignment specifically asks to explore the acting side of filmmaking and create a short film of maximum five minutes, where each of us film ourselves, acting on a narrative of our choice. The assignment script can be original or it can be inspired from an existing film (which we will have to give credit to, of course).
I have never done this before and for me everything is still new. For this reason, I am here to seek wisdom for those of you who are more experienced. How should I proceed in doing the acting in my own film? What do I do to act natural? I tried filming myself but the result was very cringe and I was very unnatural. My voice was also very off as well and it sounded robotic.
Thank you for your time and I appreciate every advice you will give me!
Julia
If you are just starting, it is easier to record many small scenes rather than one big scene. Use different angles. Try to act 1-2 phrases as best as you can, then switch the angle and go for the next phrases. You can try a wide angle and a closeup and switch between them.
It will take a time, but it is easier this way.
Fjolla Teuta said:
If you are just starting, it is easier to record many small scenes rather than one big scene. Use different angles. Try to act 1-2 phrases as best as you can, then switch the angle and go for the next phrases. You can try a wide angle and a closeup and switch between them.
It will take a time, but it is easier this way.
Thank you, Fjolla!
Julia Doyle said:
Fjolla Teuta said:
If you are just starting, it is easier to record many small scenes rather than one big scene. Use different angles. Try to act 1-2 phrases as best as you can, then switch the angle and go for the next phrases. You can try a wide angle and a closeup and switch between them.
It will take a time, but it is easier this way.
Thank you, Fjolla!
You are most welcomed! Good luck!
You can't be like the best actor you see on TV from your first attempt. It takes years of practice and hard work. Some are natural talents, most of us aren't. What you can do is take it easy, one step at a time. The robotic voice can be something to work on but don't get discouraged if you can't make it right. I am guessing you are acting on a monologue. Otherwise, I would tell you to imagine that you are talking with a friend. Monologues are not easy to act and you can't ask someone to help you out to sound natural. What you can do is talk to yourself. We all have those moments when we talk with ourselves. What voice do you have when you talk to yourself? Let your phone voice recorder run at all times until you forget about it so you can get the voice you have when talking to yourself. Then play that part before starting recording your assignment. What voice do you have when you talk to yourself? What do you feel when you talk to yourself?
Now do the same when you talk in front of the camera. The camera is not there. It is you and yourself. It's just a psychological barrier that you need to overcome.
Anong Lawan said:
You can't be like the best actor you see on TV from your first attempt. It takes years of practice and hard work. Some are natural talents, most of us aren't. What you can do is take it easy, one step at a time. The robotic voice can be something to work on but don't get discouraged if you can't make it right. I am guessing you are acting on a monologue. Otherwise, I would tell you to imagine that you are talking with a friend. Monologues are not easy to act and you can't ask someone to help you out to sound natural. What you can do is talk to yourself. We all have those moments when we talk with ourselves. What voice do you have when you talk to yourself? Let your phone voice recorder run at all times until you forget about it so you can get the voice you have when talking to yourself. Then play that part before starting recording your assignment. What voice do you have when you talk to yourself? What do you feel when you talk to yourself?
Now do the same when you talk in front of the camera. The camera is not there. It is you and yourself. It's just a psychological barrier that you need to overcome.
Thank you! Indeed, it is a psychological barrier and no matter how hard I tried, I could not overcome it. The moment I pressed the "Rec" button, I felt like a completely different person. I did not feel like myself anymore.
Julia Doyle said:
Anong Lawan said:
You can't be like the best actor you see on TV from your first attempt. It takes years of practice and hard work. Some are natural talents, most of us aren't. What you can do is take it easy, one step at a time. The robotic voice can be something to work on but don't get discouraged if you can't make it right. I am guessing you are acting on a monologue. Otherwise, I would tell you to imagine that you are talking with a friend. Monologues are not easy to act and you can't ask someone to help you out to sound natural. What you can do is talk to yourself. We all have those moments when we talk with ourselves. What voice do you have when you talk to yourself? Let your phone voice recorder run at all times until you forget about it so you can get the voice you have when talking to yourself. Then play that part before starting recording your assignment. What voice do you have when you talk to yourself? What do you feel when you talk to yourself?
Now do the same when you talk in front of the camera. The camera is not there. It is you and yourself. It's just a psychological barrier that you need to overcome.Thank you! Indeed, it is a psychological barrier and no matter how hard I tried, I could not overcome it. The moment I pressed the "Rec" button, I felt like a completely different person. I did not feel like myself anymore.
And that is also normal and a part of the learning process. The more you think the camera is there, the harder it will be to make progress.
Anong Lawan said:
Julia Doyle said:
Anong Lawan said:
You can't be like the best actor you see on TV from your first attempt. It takes years of practice and hard work. Some are natural talents, most of us aren't. What you can do is take it easy, one step at a time. The robotic voice can be something to work on but don't get discouraged if you can't make it right. I am guessing you are acting on a monologue. Otherwise, I would tell you to imagine that you are talking with a friend. Monologues are not easy to act and you can't ask someone to help you out to sound natural. What you can do is talk to yourself. We all have those moments when we talk with ourselves. What voice do you have when you talk to yourself? Let your phone voice recorder run at all times until you forget about it so you can get the voice you have when talking to yourself. Then play that part before starting recording your assignment. What voice do you have when you talk to yourself? What do you feel when you talk to yourself?
Now do the same when you talk in front of the camera. The camera is not there. It is you and yourself. It's just a psychological barrier that you need to overcome.Thank you! Indeed, it is a psychological barrier and no matter how hard I tried, I could not overcome it. The moment I pressed the "Rec" button, I felt like a completely different person. I did not feel like myself anymore.
And that is also normal and a part of the learning process. The more you think the camera is there, the harder it will be to make progress.
You are right! Thank you for your kind words, Anong!
