Reframing Screen Performance

"A significant contribution to the literature on screen performance studies, Reframing Screen Performance brings the study of film acting up to date. It should be of interest to those within cinema studies as well as general readers." ---Frank P. Tomasulo, Florida State University Reframing Screen Performance is a groundbreaking study of film acting that challenges the long held belief that great cinematic performances are created in the editing room. Surveying the changing attitudes and practices of film acting---from the silent films of Charlie Chaplin to the rise of Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio in the 1950s to the eclecticism found in contemporary cinema---this volume argues that screen acting is a vital component of film and that it can be understood in the same way as theatrical performance. This richly illustrated volume shows how and why the evocative details of actors' voices, gestures, expressions, and actions are as significant as filmic narrative and audiovisual design. The book features in-depth studies of performances by Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, and Julianne Moore (among others) alongside subtle analyses of directors like Robert Altman and Akira Kurosawa, Sally Potter and Orson Welles. The book bridges the disparate fields of cinema studies and theater studies as it persuasively demonstrates the how theater theory can be illuminate the screen actor's craft. Reframing Screen Performance brings the study of film acting into the twenty-first century and is an essential text for actors, directors, cinema studies scholars, and cinephiles eager to know more about the building blocks of memorable screen performance. Cynthia Baron is Associate Professor of Film Studies at Bowling Green State University and co-editor of More Than a Method: Trends and Traditions in Contemporary Film Performance. Sharon Carnicke is Professor of Theater and Slavic Studies and Associate Dean of Theater at the University of Southern California and author of Stanislavsky in Focus.

Reframing Screen Performance is a ground-breaking study of film acting that challenges the long held belief that great cinematic performances are created in the editing room. Surveying the changing attitudes and practices of film acting-from the silent films of Charlie Chaplin to the rise of Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in the 1950s to the eclecticism found in contemporary cinema-the authors argue that screen acting is a vital component of film and that it can be understood in the same way as theatrical performance. This richly illustrated volume shows how and why the evocative details of actors' voices, gestures, expressions, and actions are as significant as filmic narrative and audiovisual design. The book features in-depth studies of performances by Anjelica Huston, John Cusack, Julianne Moore, and many more actors alongside subtle analyses of directors such as Robert Altman, Akira Kurosawa, Sally Potter, and Orson Welles. The book bridges the disparate fields of cinema studies and theater studies as it persuasively demonstrates how theater theory can illuminate the screen actor's craft.

Reframing Screen Performance brings the study of film acting into the twenty-first century and is an essential text for actors, directors, cinema studies scholars, and cinephiles eager to know more about the building blocks of memorable screen performance.

About the Author:
Cynthia Baron is Associate Professor of Film Studies at Bowling Green State University and coeditor of More than a Method: Trends and Traditions in Contemporary Film Performance

About the Author:
Sharon Marie Carnicke is Professor of Theatre and Slavic Studies and Associate Dean of Theatreat the University of Southern California and author of Stanislavsky in Focus: An Acting Master for the 21st Century

Part I: Cinema's Varied Use Of Gestures And Expressions. Crafting, Not Capturing Natural Behavior On Film -- Giving Performance Elements Their Due -- Thinking Systematically About Acting. Part Ii: Performance Elements, Cinematic Conventions, And Cultural Traditions. Ostensive Signs And Performance Montage -- Case Study: Chaplin In City Lights -- Acting Choices And Changing Cinematic Conventions -- Case Studies: Adaptations Of Romeo And Juliet And Hamlet -- Acting Styles And Cultural-aesthetic Traditions -- Case Studies: Seven Samurai And The Magnificent Seven. Part Iii: Terms And Concepts From The Craft Of Acting -- Delsarte And The Dynamics Of Human Expression -- Case Study: Smoke -- Laban: Temporal And Spatial Dimensions Of Movement -- Case Study: Training Day -- Stanislavsky: Players' Actions As A Window Into Characters' Interactions -- Case Study: The Grifters. Cynthia Baron And Sharon Marie Carnicke. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 277-290) And Index.