What are the distinctions between stage acting and film acting? Is one superior to the other in the sense of the word 'art'? I think that must be an unequivocal 'no' as no medium is superior to any other. Rather, they are merely different. But how do the differences between stage and screen manifest in the acting, and how does that affect the performance? Well the most profound difference is the idea of perfection.
In a film the director (for the most part) has the opportunity to completely capture his vision. He is allotted retake after retake and can sift through all the variant facial features to find just the right one that most perfectly hits at his vision. But that is not reality. Our lives would be completely different if we could redo everything to perfection, it would certainly make the days last eons longer. Theater, on the other hand, doesn't have the luxury of do-overs. Does that make theater more realistic? It forces the actors to truly become their characters and live their actions. But no, what they are doing is no more realistic than the screen actors because of the limitation of the stage. They have to raise their voices so the people in the back can hear and they have to exaggerate their motions so everyone can see exactly. And unlike the screen actors who have the entire world to use as their set, the stage actors have only that, the stage. They have to fraud the uni
verse in the space of roughly 20 feet.
Which is harder? In my opinion (that only of an audience member), staged acting must be harder because there are no pauses. If you stumble you keep going, you have no safety net that the screen actor has. Does that mean it requires more talent? I'm not sure. There are some actors who only do films to finance their stage career which doesn't pay nearly as well. Do you think those people, the Phillip Seymour Hoffmans and the Alan Rickmans, bring something of the stage to the screen and vice versa? I'm sure they do, but what exactly I have no idea.
Which brings me to my final thought. Is there a realm between stage acting and screen acting where the only word that matters is 'actor'? How does the word art relate to acting? I invite pandactors and fellow audience members to respond. Where is the artistry behind acting and how does that manifest itself differently on the screen and on the stage? Which do you prefer and why?
