Acting consistently with different takes

Acting consistently with different takes

Because everything you do in front of the camera is captured on film or videotape, you just have to deliver the best possible performance once and that's it, right? Wrong. In the world of film and television, you don't just perform a scene once. You perform the same scene over and over again, so the director can capture that scene from different angles, or so the actors can try different variations on their acting. The same scene may be shot three or four or ten different times.

If a director wants to shoot the same scene over and over, don't take it personally as if you're doing something wrong. Sometimes, the director just wants to capture several different versions of the same scene, so he can choose the best one to use later. Actor John Ritter once did a commercial where he had to kiss a woman on the beach, and the director made him do it over and over and over again. John Ritter couldn't understand what he was doing wrong, so he asked the director. The director told him that he wasn't doing anything wrong. The director just wanted to capture the different appearances of the sunset in the background.

To maintain consistency from take to take (a take is a short scene that is captured on film or videotape), you have to be aware of continuity each time you perform a scene on camera. (Continuity means making sure your body movements and appearance are identical in every take.)

From an actor's point of view, the problem with shooting the same scene over and over again is that the actors never know which scene (or parts of each scene) will ultimately be used, so they need to be consistent in appearance, movement, and acting in every scene. Part of the first scene that they filmed may possibly be used followed by part of the last take of that same scene and ending with part of the fourth take of that same scene. When viewed one after another, the different mish-mash of scene takes need to blend together seamlessly as if the camera recorded the whole scene at once from start to finish.

To achieve this illusionary blend of reality, film and television actors must know how to act consistently each time they perform a scene, no matter how many times they need to perform it. For example, if an actor is filming a dinner scene and picks up a glass with his right hand, he needs to remember to keep picking up that same glass with his right hand and not suddenly do a retake of the same scene and pick up the glass with his left hand.

The script supervisor is supposed to make sure that the actors perform, dress, and act as closely as possible with each retake of a scene. That way, when the director chooses which scene takes to use, the film or television show gives the illusion that every part of the scene was captured at the same time (even if part of the scene was captured in the morning, another part captured in the afternoon, and the beginning part of the scene captured last).

When doing multiple takes, you need to know the difference between acting and action. Acting deals with how you portray a character, while action is what you do with your body and any props. When shooting another take, subtly altering your acting is okay, but make sure that your actions remain exactly the same.

To see how well you can maintain consistency in front of the camera, videotape yourself and a fellow actor performing a short scene. Shoot the scene three or four times, and if you have a video editing program for your personal computer (such as iMovie found on the iMac), you can mix and match different parts of each take together. Does the entire scene appear to have been filmed at the same time, or can you notice any glaring differences between parts of the scene (such as your hand resting in your lap in one scene but not in another)? If you notice glaring differences, you may need to work on being more consistent when performing in front of the camera, whether it's the first take or the twenty-third take.