Alfred Street (University of Auckland Store)
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Movie Acting : The Film Reader
Paperback Edition: 1
This text explores one of the most central but often overlooked aspects of cinema: film acting. Combining classic and recent essays, it examines key issues such as: what constitutes film acting?; how is film acting different from stage acting?; how has film acting changed over
time?; what signifies realism in film acting?; how is acting different in different genres?; and what is the role of the character actor? In addition to theoretical essays, contributors provide detailed analyses of specific actors such as Lillian Gish, Marlon Brando and Sidney Poitier. Styles of acting discussed include silent film pantomime, 1930's comedic acting, "The Method" and acting in avant-garde films.Articles are grouped into thematic sections, each with an introduction by the editor. These include: ontology of the film actor - on the nature of film acting; the creation of the film actor - on the early history and construction of film acting as a profession and an aesthetic; style and technique - case studies of acting styles in specific films and genres; character and type - on types, typecasting and character actors Siegfried Kracauer, Stanley Cavell, John O'Thompson, Charles Musser, Roberta Pearson, Ben Brewster, Lea Jacobs, Cynthia Baron, James Naremore, Henry Jenkins, Virginia Wright Wexman, Andrew Higson and more.
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Contents:
Part One: Ontology of the Film Actor, Chapter 1 'Remarks on the Actor', Chapter 2 'Audience, Actor, and Star' and 'Types: Cycles as Genres', Chapter 3 'Screen Acting and the Communication Test', Part Two: The Creation of the Film Actor, Chapter 4 'The Changing Status of the Actor', Chapter 5 'The Histrionic and Verisimilar Codes in the Biograph Films', Chapter 6 'Pictorial Styles and Film Acting', Chapter 7 'Crafting Film Performances: Acting in the Hollywood Studio Era', Part Three: Style and Technique, Chapter 8 'Lillian Gish in True Heart Susie (1919), Chapter 9 'A High Class Job of Carpentry: Toward a Typography of Early Sound Comedy', Chapter 10 'Masculinity in Crisis: Method Acting in Hollywood', Chapter 11 'Film Acting and Independent Cinema', Part Four: Character and Type, Chapter 12 'Typcasting', Chapter 13 'The 1950s: Black Stars', Chapter 14 'In Praise of Character Actors', Chapter 15 'The Lives of Supporting Players', Chapter 16 'Supporting Character: The Queer Career of Agnes Moorehead'