The Camera Is Allergic To Acting

Michael Caine once said:

“The camera already loves you deeply. You don’t have to win its affection. It hangs on to every word, every look. Like a faithful lover, she can’t take her eyes off you. She is listening to and recording everything you do, however minutely you do it. You have never known such devotion.”

The camera is the most intimate relationship you’ll have on set.

There’s a love affair between actor and lens - even though you’ll spend your entire career looking elsewhere and pretending it isn’t there.

The camera isn’t interested in acting.
The camera only wants to see the behavior of the character.

It loves watching you listen and think.
It sees how you feel about what you just heard - and what you’re going to do about it.
It wants to see the moment-to-moment behavior - what’s going on within you.

Film is so intimate, so subtle. It requires a comfort level that only comes with experience - concentration, relaxation, stillness, and an understanding of the where the camera is.

Acting for camera is a skill. The pros know this. They don’t sit around waiting for auditions or jobs that may or may not come. They practice. They collaborate with other actors, coaches, and teachers, they get in front of the camera and act.

We don’t have to wait for someone else to give us a reason to act.

Getting hired for the job is just one part of being an actor.

Acting coach, Larry Moss said, "You're not an actor just because you call yourself one - you earn it. You earn it by working.”

It takes courage to do what we do. And courage comes from what we create ourselves.