Actors and body language. What do you see?

[hatfullofrain]

I saw this video and I could see what the acting coach was saying about the expressions on most of the actors faces, but I didn't see it the same way as her with some of them.

Do you agree with her? Can you read the actor's expressions?

 

[Moonhart44]

Whenever i watch movie critcs online, and they say they have no emotion in their performance, me, a person with flat affect, is like, what do you mean they look pretty expressive to me. normally i am really sensitive to peoples neurons (i mean to say in the context of mirror neurons or to say im reappy empathetic) in real life so even if i cant read their faces, i am usually feeling what they feel which helps me decide on their feeling, especially when they are manipulators or liars

 

[SDRSpark]

I didn't have too much trouble but then again, it was pretty clear that they were love scenes so I knew ahead of time what I was supposed to see (or not see).

I have to wonder how I would do without that setup.

 

[Judge]

"Love at first sight" seems like an abstract concept from the get-go. To further complicate it implying there are specific visual cues to be found seems to compound it all as one big abstraction period.

If there really is something like "love at first sight", I'd think it's something one feels far more than something one necessarily projects physically. Whether on film or in real life, despite what anyone in Hollywood may think.

On a tangent, what often amuses me is the difference between conventional acting and method acting and how either might make for an excellent or disastrous scene. Though in the end, I suppose it all boils down to whatever works for you as an actor.

 

[hatfullofrain]

I think "love at first sight" in this context just means spotting someone you fancy across the room.

My favourite clip here was from 500 Days of Summer. The actors played it well.

The least appealing one for me was from Scarface. You could tell they noticed each other, but it was very blank.

 

[Judge]

I think "love at first sight" in this context just means spotting someone you fancy across the room.

Then perhaps they need to seek more suitable adjectives to best describe that particular scenario.

Leaving "love" out of the equation. Or am I being too Aspie here? I'd be more comfortable with "aroused at first sight", but the censors and sponsors probably not so much.

Different strokes for different folks...

 

[SDRSpark]

Then perhaps they need to seek more suitable adjectives to best describe that particular scenario.

Leaving "love" out of the equation. Or am I being too Aspie here? I'd be more comfortable with "aroused at first sight", but the censors and sponsors probably not so much.

Different strokes for different folks...

LOL and you know what...the looks on at least half of those actors' faces were a lot like the looks on some of the "love at first sight" faces from the other movies....

Clearly when you remove context I couldn't tell if someone is supposed to be afraid, curious or aroused.

 

[Judge]

Clearly when you remove context I couldn't tell if someone is supposed to be afraid, curious or aroused.

Well said. No context, no clue.

Good movies require great storytelling. An art that can't rely on facial expressions alone.

Reminds me of the opening scenes of "Schindler's List", showing how Oskar Schindler works patrons of an entire restaurant to his advantage. Lots of visual cues and a minor degree of body language, but they weren't dependent upon facial expressions alone to show what was happening and why. How a complete stranger walks into a restaurant he'd never been in and in a matter of minutes becomes "the life of the party".

Brilliant storytelling under the direction of Steven Spielberg.

 

[SDRSpark]

Well said. No context, no clue.

Good movies require great storytelling. An art that can't rely on facial expressions alone.

Reminds me of the opening scenes of "Schindler's List", showing how Oskar Schindler works patrons of an entire restaurant to his advantage. Lots of visual cues and a minor degree of body language, but they weren't dependent upon facial expressions alone to show what was happening and why. How a complete stranger walks into a restaurant he'd never been in and in a matter of minutes becomes "the life of the party".

Brilliant storytelling under the direction of Steven Spielberg.

It makes me think of that ridiculous "reading the mind in the eyes" test. Which I can't help but do well on, because it's multiple choice. My first response ("I think this person is feeling x") is never one of the choices, so then I have to try to guess which it is from the available choices. I think I do well just because, like most multiple choices, I can easily eliminate at least half the answers and then it's just a coin flip if I have to pick between two equally likely responses.