Intimate Exposure: Connecting with the Camera in Screen Actor Training

Daly, Darren

Abstract

When discussing their craft, many successful screen actors highlight the close,
personal and intense relationship they have with the camera when performing. Yet,
for many student actors the camera can prove discomforting, invoke tension and
anxiety and its presence be a challenge to overcome in terms of concentration,
relaxation and focus. (Caine, 2023; Cantrell & Hogg, 2017; Lawson, 2014)
Actor training specifically for the camera is a fairly recent addition to UK
conservatoires and universities and continues to be a developing field for research
as Travor Rawlins notes(2018) . Many of the publications into acting approaches for
the medium remain focussed on established acting techniques rooted in
Stanislavskian based approaches with little attention given to the actor’s relationship
with the camera itself beyond technical elements of eyelines, angles and adapting
scale of performance for size of shot. (Churcher, 2012; Stone, 2021; Tucker, 2014)
This paper outlines a two day workshop held with screen acting students at the
University of Salford to practically explore that relationship and consider how we
might cultivate an intimate relationship with it psychologically, emotionally and
imaginatively.
INTIMACY

Citation

Daly, D. (2023, August). Intimate Exposure: Connecting with the Camera in Screen Actor Training. Paper presented at Theatre and Performance Research Association, Leeds University

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Theatre and Performance Research Association
• Conference Location: Leeds University
• Start Date: Aug 30, 2023
• End Date: Sep 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jun 11, 2024
• Publisher URL: http://tapra.org/
• Related Public URLs: https://www.str.org.uk/tapra-conference-2023/