Author Topic: Books about acting  (Read 768 times)

slowpogo

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Books about acting
« on: December 08, 2016, 10:37:31 PM »
While I may not be a film director, screenwriter, cinematographer (and so on) I tentatively feel I've absorbed enough information over the years - through books, interviews, making-of docs, etc. - that I can make at least basic observations about these things and relate them to the movie overall and its aims. I at least have a basic vocabulary and working knowledge of what these things are and how choices in these areas affect things.

Acting, on the other hand, remains elusive to me, even though I've loved reading interviews with actors, watching Inside the Actors Studio, etc. for a long time. I still feel very hesitant to comment on performance, for example, in my blog. Sure, I'm familiar with Strasberg, Stanislavski and other different schools of acting. I can recognize "naturalism" vs other styles. I'm not completely without knowledge. But unlike the other areas of filmmaking, it feels much more dubious to comment on acting when I'm not an actor myself.

In that spirit...what are some books people would recommend to help understand (film) acting better? To give a vocabulary, and a basis on which to better understand the choices an actor makes and how those choices affect a film?