Acting in Film

finished shooting. You've probably done another picture by then. Then, suddenly, you're back in your old character. You see this completely strange person on the screen with funny hair and a moustache, and you think, "God, how did I sound at that time?" I just listen to a bit of it and impersonate myself.

    01978 Warner Bros Inc.
    THE SWARM
    Directed by Irwin Allen. AIP/Warner Brothers, 1978.

    Dubbing is the ultimate control over voice in films, even to the extent sometimes of matchng one actor's voice to another actor's face. One legendary purpose of this phenomenon was to give the producer's mistress a better voice. Sometimes what is called "a scratch track" is recorded on location. It's not of a high technical standard but serves merely as rough guide. You're called back after shooting to dub in your whole part in the controlled environment of a studio. In these circumstances you can sometimes improve on your original delivery a bit. But, generally, post-synching is quite tough. You may have to try several times before you can accurately synchronize sound and image, and it can be difficult to recapture your entire performance. It's harder still if you are dubbing someone else's performance and hardest of all if you didn't like what you did in the first place.
    But most directors prefer to record on the set because those extraneous sounds, the ambience, and spontaneous performances have a power of suggestion that you just can't equal by dubbing. Most microphones are much more sensitive than the human ear, and there is a mass of small noises that enrich a sound track that has been made on the set.

    Richard Widmark once gave me a piece of advice about large noises in film. Ile said:
    "Watch the special effects when you're working, especially in Westerns."
    I said, "Why is that, Dick?"
    "What?" he said. "Can you talk into my other ear?"
    So I said, "Why is that, Dick?" into his other ear.
    He says, "You know all those scenes in pictures where you see the cowboy and he ducks back, and the explosive goes off in the rocks? You talk to any one of us. We're all deaf in one ear."
    I lenry Fonda, who was also there, joined in then and asked, "What did he say?"
    So I said, "You made a lot of Westerns, too, didn't you, I-lank?"
    "Yeah, I did," he said.
    All those fellows really were deaf in one ear. It was the price they paid for being in Westerns.
Lighting and the Inky-Dink
    Most stars have a grip on the technical side of filmmaking because it's in their best interests to know. Making films is a technical process first; any mystery involved comes in with wishful thinking. You need to know what kind of lighting is most flattering to you and most appropriate for each scene; and you must cooperate fully with the lighting technician.

    Some stars are very particular about what they want from lighting. One day I was doing the off-camera part for Hank Fonda during his close-ups. I was standing there and we're about to do the scene, and Fonda says, "Where's the inky-dink? Where's the tiny light?" The lighting guy says, "Oh, I forgot, Mr. Fonda. Sorry." And he goes and brings it in. You always wondered about the wonderful way Hank looked in close-ups? He had a gleam in his eyes and a slightly watery, sad look. Well, it was thanks to the inky-dink. Instead of looking at my face, he put this tiny light where my face was and stared straight into that light while I talked behind it.
Movement
    Obviously the way you move will be affected by the character you are playing; but natural movement comes from your "center," from the same place as a natural voice. When you walk from your center, you will project a solid perspective of yourself. Walk with that certainty and ease, and your path becomes a center of gravity. Your force pulls all eyes to you. Slouch or poke your head forward, or pull your shoulders back uncomfortably, and that power seeps away. Only a relaxed, centered walk creates a sense of strength. A centered walk can be very menacing, too. Even if you don't get film work on the basis of this advice, follow it and you'll never get mugged, either. Mind you, if you look like I do you'll never get mugged anyway because people generally think I just have been mugged.

    One important piece of technical advice about movement: don't rush it. Give the camera operator a chance. James Cagney gave me this tip about running: "When the director tells you to run from over there right toward the camera and past it, run like hell when you're far