Fake It Baby
I was stalking an actor one day
As you do
Doing a deep dive into their early career, work, etc
Chasing interviews where they discuss their craft in depth
A quote popped up
I have sat with these words for a few years now
Mulling them over
When I first read them
They really jared with me
But they presented an idea which has continued to raise it’s head
The following is Michael Douglas discussing what he believes to be the greatest myth around screen acting
“When I was younger
Someone told me
If I wasn’t 100% truthful in front of the lens
The camera would pick it up.
Yeah… That really fucked me up for a while”
I love this quote
Why?
Let’s get curious
Like many actors
I spent a lot of time building a negative association with the idea of fakeness
Everything that was sold to me from day one
Was around the idea of always being real, truthful, honest etc etc
That being fake was a “bad thing”
But let’s look at the real world
Firstly
Humans are designed to survive
We build public personas to help us get through our lives
Because sometimes
Giving ourselves permission to feel what we are actually feeling
To be 100% honest, real, authentic etc
Can feel bloody vulnerable, scary or even dangerous
And rightly so
For the vast majority of our Homo Sapien existence
Rejection from the group resulted in a higher chance of death
(Side note: This is why it’s completely normal to really care what others think. Hundreds of thousands of years of survival doing its job!)
Thus
Faking it goes hand in hand with living and being a human
Secondly
Hang in with me here
Let’s say I have a day on set for a show
I have one scene
The scene lasts two minutes
It’s a simple conversation between two people
Let’s say there are two takes on the wide shot
Two takes on my mid, two on theirs
Two takes on my closeup, and two on theirs
Approximately 10 takes for this 2 minute scene
Now
Let’s sayyyyyyy
Wide Take 1 - I give Fake work between 0:46 - 0:54 & 1:25 - 1:30
Wide Take 2 - I give Fake work between 0:13 - 0:26
My Mid Take 1 - I give Fake work between 0:00 - 0:05, 0:36-0:38, 1:46 - 1:52
My Mid Take 2 - I give Fake work between 0:52 - 0:56
My Close Up Take 1 - I give Fake work between 1:40 - 1:46
My Close Up Take 2 - I give Fake work between 0:22 - 0:35
Their Mid Take 1 - I give Fake work between 0:45 - 1:23 & 1:45 - 1:47
Etc etc
See what’s happening?
Yup
We start to see it from the editors point of view
Over time
We will give enough options
To enable the editor to build something
And the further we get in our careers
The more our skillset grows and we become more consistent
And the gaps of fake work in between the real stuff
Get smaller
But even then
A fake look in a particular direction
With some sweet editing
And Bob's your uncle!
Not feeling confident but the character is supposed to be?
Forget about it
The lens is on your face right now
And confidence is reavealed the further we move away from the centre of the body
The camera isn't capturing your feet or hands
So get on with it :)
Trust the editor
Remember
Screen is an editor’s medium
This is where they step in and build magic
And what they build is vastly out of my control
I can’t tell you how many moments I stressed over after stepping off set
Losing sleep because
“I wasn’t completely in it in that moment!!!!”
Only to watch the scene years later and realise that if I had slowed down, zoomed out and looked at what the scene was actually about
And what the function of my character in the story actually was
I wouldn’t have been surprised to see that while I was saying that particular line
The editor was zooming deeply into the other actor's eyes
And playing sad music to illustrate the character’s realisation that they’re going def
What!?
You mean it’s not all about me!?
Remember
We are all on the same team
Everyone is wanting to build a great story
I remember stepping off set on my last day on The Nightingale
Jennifer Kent said to me
“I take bloody good care of my actor’s in the editing room”
I remember Mel Gibson at the wrap party for Hacksaw Ridge saying to everyone
“I have no idea what we’ve just made, but it’s got a bloody good heart, so I know we will be able to build something wonderful in the edit”
Ugh
The screen family
Warms my heart
What’s my point?
Ease off beating yourself up about faking it
It’s okay to fake it baby
Now
Let’s get practical
What can we actually do about this moving forward?
Let’s say we are half way through a take
And we notice
“Oh, I’m not being 100% real right now!”
First things first
We noticed it
Brilliant!
Awareness equals choice
Now we get to choose what to do next
Here’s two possible options
One
Start beating the heck out of yourself
“I’m being fake. That is bad. I’m a bad actor. I suck. Why can’t I be better and get it right?”
Two
Notice it
Take a breath
Keep going with the scene
Mmm
Hope this helps
X