From Stage to Screen

The camera enables us to see right into a character’s soul, revealing his or her innermost thoughts and emotions. Screen acting requires a more rigorously truthful and spontaneous performance than the stage, as well as very different technical expertise. From Stage to Screen is a handbook for the professional actor packed with advice on how to make the transition and fully prepare for a TV or film role.The book is divided into three sections: the first examines the relationship between the actor and the camera and how it differs from that of a performer with a stage audience; the second addresses the technical skills the screen actor needs in order to work as part of a large collaborative team and ‘make the shot work’; and the third explores the very different experience of an actor working on a screen project, including getting the job, how to prepare properly, what to expect and how to manage the whole process, from casting through to ADR, in order to deliver the very best work.

Drama school courses are traditionally focused on the stage although most have broadened out to include screen in recent years. Unsurprisingly some actors find the transition difficult but to keep afloat they need both genres. Bill Britten['s] useful new book...takes the actor through all the technical terms and techniques needed for screen acting, discusses the relationship with the camera as audience and sets out the realities of working on a film set.

Bill Britten is a senior lecturer in Screen Acting and Directing at the Drama Centre, London. He regularly runs classes for professional actors at the Actors Centre and coaches performers from other disciplines wanting to move into acting. He also works extensively internationally as a business communications coach.