STILLNESS by Neil Schell     08-24-07 The power of an actor's ability to be still is emphasized in many places.  You can read about it in most any book on acting and hear about it from professional actors themselves in various interviews they have done.  And, of course, there is the old cliché of 'Less is more!'  But what does it really mean?  What is this quality of stillness and power and so on?   Well I believe I stumbled across a filmic answer to these questions while I was studying film editing many years ago in Los Angeles.  When I first studied it from an editor's point of view I found it very interesting.  When I later realized what it meant to an actor, I was astounded. Many years ago, in the early 1900's I believe, a Russian film editor named Padovkin did a little experiment with, what is now called, juxtaposition.  He wanted to find out how one image when placed next to another would affe! ct people's thinking.   Padovkin took some footage of an older man looking off in the distance.  It was a close-up with the man not really expressing anything other than the fact that he was truly looking at something.  You couldn't really see where he was because the shot was very close on him.  And you most certainly couldn't see what he was looking at.   He then got another piece of footage of a birthday party.  It was a festive scene shot from a further distance.  You could see people having fun and celebrating.   He took the two shots and intercut them ? first some footage of the older man, then the party, then the older man again and then the party again.  It was kind of like a mini-movie. During the early 1900's people were absolutely fascinated with moving pictures and most people had only heard about them and not seen them.  So when he called in people off the street to come and watch his mini-movie he had lots of volu! nteers.  After they were shown the footage, they were surveyed as to w hat they saw.  What they all said was they saw a movie about an older man at a birthday party who was absolutely delighted and having fun.   Then Mr. Padovkin decided to cut out the footage of the birthday party and cut in a funeral procession in its stead.  All the people in the scene were extremely sad and mournful, as to be expected.  So now he had the exact same footage of the older man cut in between the funeral procession.  Once again he invited in a whole set of new people off the street to view his new mini-movie.  And, once again, they were surveyed after they viewed it.  And what did they say?  You guessed it.  They saw an older man suffering great loss of a loved one.   Utterly amazing!   This experiment, although completely designed to inform the filmmaker, is one of the most telling for film actors.  Not only does it inform you of the power of stillness and what audiences will do with it (they add in thoughts and ideas to the c! haracters) but it also informs the actor on the importance of the close-up shot.   There is also another lesson in here too; it is the editor who truly creates your final performance.  Just by positioning a close-up of an older man who was looking at something (and who knows what he was really looking at when he was filmed) around two completely different scenarios, Padovkin was able to make the audience experience different emotions and thoughts.  I am not stealing away your thunder.  I am getting you to see the truth ? how you fit in to the film making process as an actor.   The above completely aligns with the idea that you must never be concerned about your performance.  Let that weight fall off your shoulders, for it is not yours to bear.  Your responsibility is to truly connect to the character through their dialogue and trust your instincts implicitly.  That will provide the editor and the director with the material they need to create your final performa! nce.   I have told this to hundreds of actors.  Every time I tell it, they truly get it.  So now, it is yours. Until the next newsletter… Neil PS Feel 'free' to write to me at  anytime. I will answer. PROFESSIONALS HAVE COACHES, AMATEURS DON'T