Filmmaker Dan Roemer has recently returned to his native Mansfield after 15 years in Los Angeles, and he’s looking for local talent.
Starting later this month he’ll be leading an eight-week course at the Mansfield Art Center called “Acting For Film.”
Although chiefly aimed at those with some background on the stage who want to branch out into film, the course – billed as a “mixed-skill collaborative” – is also open to aspiring actors with little or no experience.
I met with Dan a few days ago to chat about the course and find out what makes film acting such a unique discipline. I told him I’d seen a TV special Michael Caine had made in the 1980’s to help young film actors, and wondered if he was familiar with it.
Dan nodded and smiled. “Yeah. You know there’s a line in it he uses that I really like: ‘Theater is an operation with a scalpel, but movie acting is an operation with a laser.’ There’s a lot of truth to that.
“He also said film acting is more about reacting and listening, and that’s right. As an actor, it’s like you have to make friends with the camera, and its operator.”
Subtlety is the key, Dan explained.
“Do you know the story with Jack Lemmon and the director George Cukor? Each take Cukor would say ‘less, Jack, less,’ and Jack would pull it back a bit. But still the director would say ‘less, less, give me less.’ Finally Jack says ‘look if I do any less I’m not gonna be doing anything!’ and Cukor says ‘NOW you’re onto something!’”
As well as requiring a different acting style, film work presents a host of technical considerations that don’t apply to stage work.
“You’re dealing with multiple takes at different angles,” Dan explained, “wide, then close-up, then super close-up – it almost becomes mechanical. Sometimes you’ll be acting with a camera passing right across your face.
“And you might be acting to no-one – just a green X on the wall. Because the leading actor’s gone home and you have to carry on without him.”
“And there’s continuity to worry about too, right?” I asked. “Like which hand a mug’s being held in, or the length of a cigarette between takes.”
“Well, that’s physical continuity,” explained Dan, “and that is important, but more important is continuity of performance. How emotional were they on a previous take? Were they crying? How much?”
I told Dan I’d been surprised to learn that most movie productions put aside little or no time for rehearsal.
“That’s right. With theater you have weeks to prepare with the director and writer. Whereas in preparation for a film shoot, you basically direct yourself. It can be tweaked on set, with multiple takes, but that’s really it. Even with major movies, there are only a handful of directors who get the luxury of significant rehearsal time.”
Dan first went out to Los Angeles to study film at USC, and after graduating stayed out west to build a career in acting, directing and editing. As well as his own short features, he’s worked behind the scenes on national ad campaigns, documentaries, and TV shows such as ‘Entertainment Tonight’ and ’Access Hollywood.’
I asked what brought him back to Ohio. He explained that the ease with which digital footage can be moved around online made it easier to work remotely.
“My boss moved back to Tennessee, and I was basically getting emailed stuff to edit so I figured I could move back to Ohio to be close to my family.”
So for someone eager to start out in the business, is it still as important as it once was to head west?
“California and New York are still the hubs, but it’s becoming less and less the case that you have to move to L.A. There are a ton of theater actors in Mansfield, but it’s not even on the radar for them that they could do film acting.
“What they don’t realize is 99 percent of auditions are done online now. You can be anywhere with wifi and you’re in the running. You can record your audition and upload it through their website.”
For his upcoming class, Dan is hoping that a good mix of students register.
“Not just actors,” he told me, ”but directors – there’s a director in town interested in signing up. To direct, it’s essential to know how to work with an actor. And hopefully, we’ll also get some people who are there just for a fun and rewarding experience.”
How easy is it to work with a mixed-ability group?
“You know, sometimes working with people with no experience is easier. One of the best teachers I had at USC told me ‘I spend half of the semester trying to unteach bad acting learned in high school. Then after that we can get to work.’”
Throughout the course, each student will be able to take home a copy of footage recorded during class time for them to review at home.
“It’ll be a bit like looking at themselves in the mirror,” Dan said. “Because even the best actors in the world really don’t know what their performance is like.”
At the end of the course, Dan plans to edit the footage for each student into a video demo ready for casting directors.
“I feel like there’s a gap in Mansfield for something like this,” he told me. “When I lived here before it seemed like I was the only filmmaker in town. I was lonely. Now when I hear people talking about making movies I want to go up and engage with them, because we need to cultivate that talent.
“There’s so much to talk about,” Dan said, “and it works both ways, because you can’t help but learn when you teach. Maybe that’s why I’m doing it.”
‘Acting For Film’ runs for eight weeks at the Mansfield Art Center, beginning Thursday, Jan. 19. The course costs $100 for art center members, $115 for non-members.
For a course summary and registration details, go to http://mansfieldartcenter.org/acting-for-film-8-weeks/
