Theater & Cinema
Outline based on chapters 22 & 23 of Film and Literature, 2nd edition (2012)
What makes theater & film different?
• Both authors, André Bazin (chapter 22) & Leo Braudy (chapter 23) address this issue when a play is made into a film.
KEY CONCEPT: stage & film are two different dramaturgical systems.
Where is the essential difference?
In the PHOTOGRAPHIC properties of cinema:
Cinema gives the illusion of REALISM
The cinematographic space is REALISTIC
The mise-en-scène looks as if it’s really -REALISTICALLY - happening
The actors ARE the characters - PERSONATION
THE REALISM OF CINEMA
FOLLOWS DIRECTLY
FROM ITS PHOTOGRAPHIC NATURE
In cinema
staging & acting are shaped by the
REALISM of the photographic image
André Bazin’s observations
He explores the differences between theater & film in terms of:
* presence of the actors* spatial realism of film vs. the stage* value of the mise-èn-scène – no stage* stage space vs. cinematographic space
Bazin contrasts these two different dramaturgical systems.
Leo Braudy’s observations
He contrasts the acting for the stage & the screen, noting the differences in the portrayal of characters.
Acting onstage developed a tradition of naturalness in European theater – the Stanislavski Method
This Russian method trains the actor to bring out the character from the inside.
This method is the opposite of expressionism.
Braudy describes film acting as ‘personation’.
The stage actor ‘subordinates’ himself to the character.
The film actor ‘ becomes’ the character.
The art of film allows for actors, who become the characters, to preserve the human experience
Some examples
Think of The Avengers (2012) Tom Hiddleston IS Loki – PERSONATION
But in a filmed version of Shakespeare’s historical plays –The Hollow Crown (2012) – we are aware of him playing Prince HaL – IMPERSONATION
Benedict Cumberbatch is Sherlock Holmes in the ongoing British television series Sherlock (2014).
But he remains Benedict Cumberbatch when he plays Hamlet on the London stage this season.
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