When actors ask, “What’s my frame,” or “What’s my framing,” it’s because they want to know how much room they have to move in the frame. But no matter the size of the frame, the answer is always, “Why would you want to move?”You’re not going to move any more in the wide shot than you are in the medium shot—they won’t cut together.
On the other hand, when pros ask, “What’s my frame,” or “What’s my framing,” they’re not asking for how much room they have to move in the frame, but rather to see where they’re supposed to stand in the frame. They understand that the primary responsibility of the film actor is to pull the audience into the frame and hold it hostage there. The more the actor moves, the less that happens and the more the film camera loses interest.
That being said, if you have to move in the film frame, there are rules. If you’re an actor who is weary of rules, think of them less as rules and more as the aesthetic principles of your art form. Without understanding the aesthetics principles of the film camera, the actor cannot be a film artist.
Rule #1: Always back and forth, never side to side.
If you have to move in the frame, move back and forth...not side to side. The latter is what makes an actor look less experienced as it’s very hard to edit. The former type of movement syncs up with the film frames which come out of the camera and toward the actor as if on a conveyor belt. The actor’s job is to thread his or her moments through those frames. This is how an actor develops a working relationship with the film camera.
READ: Adjusting Your Acting Technique for Camera vs. Stage
Rule #2: Naturalism doesn’t work on camera.
Naturalism in the film frame comes across as messy and hard to edit, and it takes the tension out of the scene and out of the frame. Tension in the frame is what commands the attention of the film camera and the job of the actor is to harness energy, focus it, and command it. Releasing energy and tension results in the camera losing interest. On camera, if you want to come across naturally, you need to play the scene cinematically.
Rule #3: Move in the frame as the character would, not as an actor who thinks it feels good.
The film camera was originally designed as a medium for silent films, meant to follow the character through stories and effectively convey what was happening without dialogue. It needed to seek out a relationship with the character and convey it to the viewer. Today, dialogue and sound are obviously major parts of any film, but actors still need to move in the frame as the character or they risk losing the connection to the camera.
For those who think it is the director’s job to make the actor work in the film frame, ask yourself this: If you were a director who needed to hire a cinematographer, would you give the job to someone who you needed to teach how to light a shot or move a camera? We don’t cast actors we have to make work in the film frame. We cast actors who already know so we can have fun building a performance and telling a story with them as fellow film artists.
John Swanbeck is a renowned director and teacher of actors. He directed “The Big Kahuna,” starring Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito, authored “How To Steal The Scene & End Up Playing The Lead” available on Amazon & iTunes, and runs The Actor’s Arsenal where actors become film artists. His YouTube channel is Get Cinematic with John Swanbeck. For more on John visit BlueSwanFilms.
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