Free Essay

Acting Demand in Making a Movie

In:

Submitted By kinyanga
Words 1762
Pages 8
Name:
Instructor:
Course: Acting Demands in the Making of a Movie

Film production is an art that tries to reveal the realities of a given society at present, in the past or the anticipated future occurrences in a society or the whole universe. Besides entertainment, movies are made with the object of perpetuating a given theme. Actors’ choices and circumstances are the major tools for enhancing a given theme in a film (Gong, 27). Moreover, films are produced with an insightful and educative view to bringing to light past occurrences in a given situation or a society with different themes embedded. To build these themes in a film of a given genre, the actors are faced with numerous and varying demands that requires them to feature in multiple scenarios and faces numerous circumstances. This paper seeks to analyze the acting demands faced by the main actors in the movies: Spartacus and The Year of Living Dangerously. Spartacus is an epic film produced in 1960 by Edward Lewis with Stanley Kubrick as the director. The film was inspired by the heroic struggles of Spartacus a slave leader who led a widespread rebellion against the Romans in the quest for freedom for the slaves (Olivier, 1960). The film was based on Howard Fast’s novel of the same name incorporating events of the third servile war and the life story of Spartacus. The film went on to win four Academy Awards and has been ranked among the most successful film of the 20th century. However, the success of the movie came from the successful fulfillment of the acting demands of Kirk Douglas (Olivier, 1960). Spartacus went against the normal order of the time by waging a rebellion of slaves against the Roman authorities and slaughtering thousands of them. Douglas aimed to create a strong character that was ready to die for what he believed in. From the onset, Spartacus knew very well that his intention to rebel against the Roman authority as a slave will ultimately result in his death and the death of his allies (Olivier, 1960). However, driven by a strong conviction that freedom was not a right only for the Romans but belonged to all mankind, he went ahead to stage a two-year slave rebellion against the Roman authorities. According to Lumet (1997), the process of making a movie is a well-crafted operation whereby the technology used in the movie production is geared toward making the film real and in line with the theme perpetuated. Lumbet claims that the ideas and the theme of the movies are created and reinforced by varying shot lengths, lighting, and camera angle to bring about the desired effect in the film (Lumet, 76). In Spartacus, Kirk Douglas went through alternating scenes where he was subjected to different shot lengths and camera angles to bring out the intensity of the situation at hand. According to Michael Caine (2010), acting in movies should reflect real life situation. He claimed that if two actors are rehearsing and a third party comes and notices their conversation is not real, then they are not acting (Caine, 43). All through the film, Kirk Douglass played real by adopting appropriate facial expressions and gestures to mimic the realities of slave lives in the Roman Empire. The great conviction Douglas had on the issue of freedom for all motivated his training as a gladiator in Batiatus School of gladiators enabling him to perform well in arena battles. The theme of slavery and oppression features predominantly in the film Spartacus. Lumet (1997) argued that; every movie has a storyline and a theme that it aims to leave in the minds of the viewers. However, remaining true to the theme propagated by the film is an expertise that the actors need to master. Consistency of action and behavior of the actor is critical in movies making to foster continuity of theme and avoidance of contradiction of the message passed across (Caine, 23). Movie acting involves mimicking actions that took place in the past in the effort of reconstructing reality so as to bring a better understanding of the current generation of the life in the past. Spartacus mimics the life of non-Romans in Italy and the entire Roman Empire. Slavery was a normal business practice where the rich and Roman nobilities bought slaves to use them as sex objects and for entertainment and amusement (Olivier, 1960). The gladiators were used to entertain Roman populations during significant events where they fought to death. Their blood was the source of amusements as they were not regarded as human by the Roman citizens. The female slaves were raped mercilessly and had no say in their future or choice on what to do. To project the theme of slavery, Douglas is captured and sent to the House of Batiatus to train and enrich Batiatus through success in the arena wars. His wife is further captured and sold. A contrast is drawn between the lives of the free Romans and the slaves where the Romans were treated with dignity and had rights, privileges, and freedom and the slaves’ lives belonged to their masters. To bring this theme well and ensure a lasting effect on the mind of the viewer, Douglas as the main actors has to comply with increased demand for playing real which makes him to adopt the use of color effects to mimic blood in the arena wars (Olivier, 1960). Douglas manages to effectively bring out the role of relationship and unity in the society especially in the fight against oppression. United by the virtue of being slaves, Spartacus, and other slave rebels managed to terrorize Rome for two years. In his last moment on the cross, Spartacus is shown his son who will live as a free Roman as his wife escapes to freedom. Characters are the major tools of propagating themes in a film (Lumet, 76). However, some films have the story building the characters as seen in the film: The Year of Living Dangerously. The Year of Living Dangerously is an action/ adventure film produced in 1982 with Peter Weir as the director. The film was inspired by Christopher Koch’s novel with the theme of love and friendship shaping the film. Mel Gibson stars as Guy Hamilton and the film revolves around a love affair that Hamilton developed with an employee of the British embassy in Jakarta Indonesia amid political chaos as the resistance groups tried to overthrow the government of President Sukarno (Gibson, 1982). In making a movie, Sidney claims that, the art of making a movie is synonymous with building a mosaic and the actors are the main important tools to the perfection of this mosaic (Lumet, 76). Like in the Spartacus film, The Year of Living Dangerously heavily relies in the accomplishments of acting demands by the main actors to build a story line. Like the theme of slavery and oppression in the Spartacus film, this film was motivated by two major themes: love and friendship. Hamilton arrives in Jakarta in his first assignment as a journalist to cover the proceeds of the political turmoil in the country. However, contrary to his expectation, he is faced with a lot of challenges as finds himself in a foreign land with no links to facilitate his work as his predecessor left Indonesia without orienting him. Gibson strives to create the theme of love that is the cornerstone of the film where he falls in love with Jill, an employee of the British embassy (Gibson, 1982). Although Gibson did not labor to create a fierce character like Douglas did in the Spartacus film, he invested in the creation of relationship where the three main actors enjoyed a close union that transpired into a love affair between Hamilton and Jill. Bill Kwan, who was an Australian photographer of Chinese origin, developed a liking for Hamilton and offered to help him out by arranging meetings and interviews with the country political officials to enable Hamilton obtain news. Moreover, Kwan introduced Hamilton to Jill in the effort of according him more access and source of information to facilitate his news reporting job. Another similarity between the film The Day of Living Dangerously and Spartacus is to be found in the conviction of the main characters towards their course. Like Douglas, who was fully convinced to pursue freedom for the slaves at the expense of his life, Gibson was determined to build his reporting career, a conviction that brought to an end his relationship with Jill and Kwan and almost made him killed by the Indonesian authorities (Gibson, 1982). Conspicuous differences exist between the two films in regards to the acting demands exhibited and fulfilled by the main actors in the two films. Unlike in the Spartacus film where the main characters drove the story line of the film, The Year of Living Dangerously film relied on the story line to develop the contributions and relevance of the characters (Gibson, 1982). The camera shots and the color schemes adopted by the two movies differed significantly as the two movies propagated different themes. Equally, language and picture use differed significantly. Spartacus applied a wide use of adult content that is not suitable for all audience viewing while the film The Year of Living Dangerously used content that is appropriate for the general audience. The mood and the theme propagated by the two films is another point of deviation between the two movies. In the film: Spartacus a melancholy mood fills the atmosphere of the film as the slaves are constantly abused and mistreated by the Roman masters. The slaves are exhibited as full of mixed feeling ranging from hatred and depression as they are alienated from their families and treated as objects. The hatred and depressing feeling resulted in the devoted countrywide rebellion of slaves that lasted for two years and resulted in massive loss of lives on both sides. On the other hand, an atmosphere of mistrust surrounds the film The Days of Living Dangerously. As attempts at overthrowing President Sukarno heighten, the government sent spies to all corners of the country as mistrust heightens.

Works Cited
Caine, Michael. Acting in Film: An Actor's Take on Movie Making. Milwaukee: Applause Theatre Book Publishers, 1997.
Gong, Mark Young and James. "The business of Making Movies." Strategic Finance (2008): 26-32.
Lumet, Sidney. Making Movies. New Yolk: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010.
Spartacus. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Perf. Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. 1960.
The Year of Living Dangerously. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson. 1982.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Film

...story, filmmaking, acting and comedic timing. It is my assertion that acting was the most powerful element of this film and crucial for the emotional arc required from the lead actor Tom Cruise. STORYTELLING The story of Rain Man is presented in a way that keeps the viewer in the dark as the story develops; delivering surprises and plot twists along the way. Writers Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass provide an excellent framework for the actors to really shine in their portrayal of the two main characters: self centered, smooth street-smart Charlie Babbit and his institutionalized autistic savant older brother, Raymond Babbitt. We are introduced to Charlie at the start of the film and quickly understand that he is a successful import automobile broker and willing/able to do whatever is necessary to deliver his product- this even includes paying off EPA officials, if necessary. Charlie is unrelenting in his quest to accomplish his goal. When he finds out that his long estranged father has passed away, he is expecting to inherent a portion of his late father’s $3 million dollar estate; only to uncover that he has an autistic brother who has received all of the inheritance money from their late father, the irony is almost too much for Charlie. This is pure genius from a storytelling perspective as it helps to humanize Charlie. As important as the storytelling is, this film would never have reached it’s level of achievement without the powerful and stirring acting by Tom Cruise...

Words: 1470 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Film Critic

...story, filmmaking, acting and comedic timing. It is my assertion that acting was the most powerful element of this film and crucial for the emotional arc required from the lead actor Tom Cruise. STORYTELLING The story of Rain Man is presented in a way that keeps the viewer in the dark as the story develops; delivering surprises and plot twists along the way. Writers Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass provide an excellent framework for the actors to really shine in their portrayal of the two main characters: self centered, smooth street-smart Charlie Babbit and his institutionalized autistic savant older brother, Raymond Babbitt. We are introduced to Charlie at the start of the film and quickly understand that he is a successful import automobile broker and willing/able to do whatever is necessary to deliver his product- this even includes paying off EPA officials, if necessary. Charlie is unrelenting in his quest to accomplish his goal. When he finds out that his long estranged father has passed away, he is expecting to inherent a portion of his late father’s $3 million dollar estate; only to uncover that he has an autistic brother who has received all of the inheritance money from their late father, the irony is almost too much for Charlie. This is pure genius from a storytelling perspective as it helps to humanize Charlie. As important as the storytelling is, this film would never have reached it’s level of achievement without the powerful and stirring acting by Tom Cruise...

Words: 1470 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Movie Critique

...story, filmmaking, acting and comedic timing. It is my assertion that acting was the most powerful element of this film and crucial for the emotional arc required from the lead actor Tom Cruise. STORYTELLING The story of Rain Man is presented in a way that keeps the viewer in the dark as the story develops; delivering surprises and plot twists along the way. Writers Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass provide an excellent framework for the actors to really shine in their portrayal of the two main characters: self centered, smooth street-smart Charlie Babbit and his institutionalized autistic savant older brother, Raymond Babbitt. We are introduced to Charlie at the start of the film and quickly understand that he is a successful import automobile broker and willing/able to do whatever is necessary to deliver his product- this even includes paying off EPA officials, if necessary. Charlie is unrelenting in his quest to accomplish his goal. When he finds out that his long estranged father has passed away, he is expecting to inherent a portion of his late father’s $3 million dollar estate; only to uncover that he has an autistic brother who has received all of the inheritance money from their late father, the irony is almost too much for Charlie. This is pure genius from a storytelling perspective as it helps to humanize Charlie. As important as the storytelling is, this film would never have reached it’s level of achievement without the powerful and stirring acting by Tom Cruise...

Words: 1470 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Satire In The Simpsons

...Burns brings together the people in a story through a cartoon show that makes everyone work together for a common goal of making humanity remember its past. In the third act of Mr. Burns, the climactic end come to the troupe turning the story of “Cape Feare” into their own narrative and a dark tale of the past. The show features a musical in which they replicate all scenes with a twist of Sideshow Bob being replaced with Mr. Burns. This ending concludes a dramatized line from Bart talking about humanity's past and everything in its past coming to extinction. In the end, they break free from their comfort and realize open heartedly that there is no need to remember the past in which they’ve already lived. They do not have to stay awake in the fears of their apocalyptic life; they let go of the past by creating a whole new parody to the Simpsons Cape Feare...

Words: 1070 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Movie Review

...1. Movie Review The movie Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, taught me more about South Africa. It made me think that the world is so big and I just know a tiny dot of it. The movie consists of situations wherein they experience social problem, social movement and social change. They overcome these situations after a long period of time through tough situations and countless meetings of the British Government and Nelson Mandela. 2. What social problems have you observe in the movie? Explain why it exists. The social problem that existed in the movie was the discrimination being received by the South African citizens in their own country. They were treated as slaves. This is what triggered them to revolt and fight for their rights. This social problem started small from opinions in neighborhood to group organizations. They wanted to overthrow the government and fight for their rights. 3. Define the meaning of social movement and social change by citing scenes in the movie. Social movement is a collectivity acting with some continuity to promote ore resist a change in society or group of which it is part. (Turner and Killian) It may also refer to those activities in which people unite in an organized, long-term effort to change their society or in which they resist and express dissatisfaction with the existing order through outright and prolonged actions. (Hollnsteiner) 4. Define the stages of a social movement by citing scenes in the movie. The stages of...

Words: 1716 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Film Critique

...The Silence of The Lambs: Film Critique Midari Marrero ENG 225 Intro to Film Instructor: Julie Pal-Agrawal June 25, 2012 It is uncommon in our day to find horror movies that can compare to the critically acclaimed film of Jonathan Demme's 1991 The Silence of the Lambs, starring Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the infamous and psychotic cannibal psychiatrist. This movie, along with Alfred Hitchock's Psycho (1960), is one of limited horror/suspense films recognized by movie critics as one of the greatest American films ever made. Critics had much to say about the “commercialization” of one of the most horrifyingly amazing characters in the history of American theatre, but even more interesting is the change that is specified through the character's approval in mainstream culture. Hannibal Lecter is a different type of monstrous cannibal than those formerly seen in horror films, as shown through his criminal activities, and has been acknowledged by its viewers as an “anti-hero” as opposed to the adversary or antagonist of the movie. The story line behind this movie captured the audience to want to watch this disgusting anti-human film, which included cannibalism. Everyone that was involved in the creation of this film from the film director, cinematographer, art editors, sound directors, the costumes the staging everyone had to be in that same dark place in order to make this a captivating need to watch film. In the following pages I would like to describe scenes...

Words: 1884 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Savant Syndrome In Rain Man

...stereotypes which give wrongful, yet negative judgement toward minorities. For example, the movie Rain Man that directed by Barry Levinson, has changed the society’s view about a savant syndrome. The film was a brilliant success and won four awards in the Oscar in 1989 including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor in the leading role for Hoffman. Besides the morality of one’s behaviors that people perceive by watching the film, the movie’s emphasis is to give people a better knowledge of the disorder due to the lack of information of the unpopular...

Words: 881 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Horror Movie

...Trend of Horror Movie in Malaysia. Abstract This research is about the trend of horror movie in Malaysian cinema industry. This study will show why movie that were produced in Malaysia diverting to horror comedy genre. This study also will show that why demand of horror comedy genre increased. The objective to know whether this movie genre are giving impact on Malaysian social economy and to know to what extent of the trend of horror film. The research will be done by using survey techniques and will be given to 100 participants among the student population in UiTM Shah Alam. This study will show that horror comedy genre demand are more than horror genre. 1.Introduction In my opinion, horror film is a genre that aims to create a sense of fear, panic, alarm, and dread for the audience. These films are often unsettling and rely on scaring the audience through a portrayal of their worst fears and nightmares. Horror films usually center on the arrival of an evil force, person, or event. Horror film may become as an adventures to some people. This is because the film may play with the viewer emotions. According to Danielle Braff on his article about Movies may cause special effects on the body, he stated that the people who are fascinated by horror movies tend to be the same people who love to sky-dive, go rock climbing and try extreme skiing adventures. The horror genre allows them the opportunity to experience events and people who...

Words: 4908 - Pages: 20

Free Essay

Gladiator Eng 225

...you are asked to be king and leader of your country? Would you refuse your king, and turn your back on your country, for the sake of two? Ridley Scott, director of Universal Pictures “Gladiator,” brought to life, writer David Franzoni’s epic tale of Maximus, an inspiring and powerful Roman General. After twelve years of fighting, Maximus longs for nothing more than the warm embrace of his family. Unfortunately, the king, Marcus Aurelius asked that he should be crowned king of Rome instead of his corrupt son Commodus. Maximus is caught in a power struggle, which leave him and his family condemned to death. This critical analysis of the motion picture “Gladiator,” will analyze the key elements of film, which embody the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style and directing, societal impact, genre, film criticism and analysis. The story of Maximus, once the most powerful, and respected, general, in Rome, reduced to a slave who fights for an opportunity to exact his vengeance for the brutal death of his family is written with three basic elements. It has character, desire, and conflict. The narrative structure of the film is organized in six stages. These stages are developed by the turning points in the plot. The stages are the initial setup, new situation, progress, complications and higher stakes, final push, and aftermath. In opening scene of “Gladiator,” the initial setup reveals the day and life of Maximus; it identifies him as powerful and likable...

Words: 3046 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Inglorious Basterds

...Stalingrad, Fury, and Inglorious Basterds. Not only that, even this year another WWII-themed movie starring Brad Pitt entitled ‘The Walk’ will also be released. It’s intriguing to know why such ‘war’ genre is still popular and have high demand even after decades since...

Words: 1455 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

World War Ii

...the people who were living during that time. Several movies were developed to bring forth the events, emotions, and experience the soldiers endured during World War II. One movie in particular is “Saving Private Ryan”. This movie captures one particular emotional part of the war. In World War II, it was found that three soldiers who had been killed were brothers. The mother received three death notices on the same day. The army then discovered that there were actually four brothers. Due to this known fact, a mission was deployed to find Private James Ryan and send him home. (Plot, 2005) During the making of, “Saving Private Ryan”, the Director, Steve Spielberg, felt the only way he could make this film realistic and believable to the audience was to transform the acting crew into a credible military unit. Therefore, the filmmakers enlisted the aid of former U.S. Marine Corps Captain Dale Dye. (Saving, 2005) Spielberg felt that in order for the actors to fully understand and portray the actions of a true soldier, they must experience the rigors that combat people faced all over the world. Spielberg took them to the field; made them eat rations; made them crawl and sleep in the mud, the cold, and the dirt. He took them through boot camp. He treated them as if they were actually living the movie by calling them by their characters name. The actors had ten days of training including weapons drills, close combat, individual maneuvers and tactics, and World War II-era military...

Words: 1247 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Blockbuster Case

...strategic planning? How important is Netflix to Blockbuster’s future strategic plans? Before answering this question ,I would like to highlight that It s clear after reading the case that blockbuster main problem was making strategic plan without considering its scorecard as they never anticipated change or tried to early explore strategic alternatives and they never examined consumer or competitive responses. In a nutshell they were always reactive and not proactive and they never considered that new entrants always seek market space that leaders ignore. To answer this question, I will try to answer the three major strategic marketing questions “Where to compete?”, “How to compete?” and “When to compete?” and apply my answers to Analyze Blockbuster case Where to Compete: * Blockbuster’s targeted the whole market of home movie viewers in the US. Afterwards, they started to target international markets. Blockbuster service their customers through rental stores and they kept using the same business model. However, they failed to understand the change in consumer behavior as people became more busy and don’t have time to visit their stores. * Netflix targeted same market but with different approach as they offered mailing system of movie rentals that go directly to customers and that was very convenient solution and they started capturing big market share from Blockbuster.. Accordingly, Blockbuster’s started online subscription and home delivery as a...

Words: 1906 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Shakespeare

...Romeo and Juliet Paper Imagine this; a Shakespeare movie, set in a modern day, run-down city. The city seems to have absolutely no shortage of gangs and mobs that are running the streets. Hotrod cars along with pistols and assault rifles make their presence ever so evident. With a wrong slip of the tongue, gun fire erupts in the streets of Verona. This was the context for one of my favorite movies, Romeo + Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann back in 1996. William Shakespeare has written poetry and play-scripts that will continue to inspire people for centuries to come. Whether it be on a stage in your local high school or in the Broadway/Hollywood spot light on the big screen. William Shakespeare is known as possibly the greatest writer of the English language and deservingly so. Unfortunately Shakespeare’s plays have been subject to change and scrutiny throughout the years. When the play was first being performed the representations were different than they are today as males played both parts of Romeo & Juliet. The plays representation was changed when women were finally allowed on stage after some changes to the culture and society. Even Hollywood filmmakers have done a remake of Romeo & Juliet in which the movie isn’t even set in old English times but rather in modern day. William Shakespeare’s play Romeo & Juliet has remained the same as its message transcends time, yet its representation has changed as English society has changed. The play Romeo & Juliet...

Words: 2428 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

The 400 Blows by François Truffaut

...3/8/12 The 400 Blows by François Truffaut The movie 400 Blows, a film that was created over 50 years ago is as modern and extraordinary as any film presently released today. It was made during the French New Wave timeframe which was a completely different style compared to many other films during that period of time and honestly was similar to most of the “Hollywood” movies that I am used to in this country. This new wave of films fundamentally surrounded itself by creating a feel of real life and personality on the screen that would captivate its viewers, and the movie 400 Blows did everything and more than I expected. This movie exclusively left out a realizable plot, but there is one thing that it did not do. It kept the life that Francois Truffaut was telling as real and as close to authentic as he possibly could. It was shot in first person singular which allows the viewer to imagine exactly what is going on inside the head of the protagonist, in this case Antoine Doinel. We as viewers, are able to follow the childhood of young Antoine as he constantly gets into trouble and ultimately how he deals with living with an uncaring and very difficult family in Paris during his adolescent years. It’s very easy to become captivated with the dialogue and acting within this picture because at certain points you feel the characters emotions and daily struggles as if they were your own. During the time of watching this movie I immediately felt like I was sitting in the classroom...

Words: 1765 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Kansas City Desegregation And Buck's Acting White

...Changing laws to promote equality works, however if peoples’ hearts lack transformation along with the laws, then “laws” will merely be another roadblock for privileged groups to continue their dominance. Support for this include failed examples of top down social change in education, such as the Central Little Rock, Kansas City Desegregation and Buck’s Acting White a successful bottom up social change example with the East Los Angles walkouts. The Little Rock desegregation efforts in the 1950s provided an example of how poorly top down means of social change work to enhance equality. For starters, the United States Supreme Court found in 1954 ruled that the separate but equal doctrine established after the Plessy V Ferguson case denies minority groups the equal protection established by the fourteenth amendment, an example of top down change (Court Source). However, the Little Rock nine desegregation...

Words: 1511 - Pages: 7