I've done scenes in films that I felt like the performance was better in certain takes, but they couldn't use them because it didn't match what the person was doing when they came around and the camera was on them.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
If you're sitting in the audience, you probably can't see the preparation and work that goes into creating a great scene or a great part, but I can assure you that a good film depends on lot of different things falling perfectly into place.
Actors' performances in films are enhanced in a million different ways, down to the choice of camera shot by the director - whether it's in slow motion or whether it's quick cut - or... the choice of music behind the close-up or the costume that you're wearing or the makeup.
The world of the stage and the performance on the stage usually does not tend to translate very well - it doesn't tend to hold very well - once cameras are on it; it's not like it's terrible or embarrassing or bad anything, but, I, as an actor, would perform a role differently for an audience than I would for just cameras.
I used to rarely go on film sets, as I felt it was very boring to see the same shot being done so many times. I felt I had nothing to do. I used to irritate the cameramen.
There are times when you're working with film people when you have to say, 'If the camera were on you, what you're doing would be perfect'.
I remember hearing someone say that good acting is more about taking off a mask than putting one on, and in movie acting, certainly that's true. With the camera so close, you can see right down into your soul, hopefully. So being able to do that in a way is terrifying, and in another way, truly liberating. And I like that about it.
I feel that doing theater does give you a good grounding to work on camera. The audience is the lens.
Film is a dramatised reality and it is the director's job to make it appear real... an audience should not be conscious of technique.
A lot of things in films are cheated with the use of camera tricks, so while it may feel unnatural to do, when you look at the result, you realise that it is right.
I'm never certain of a performance - my own or the other actors' - or the script or anything... But to me it seems there's only one place in the world the camera can be, and the decision usually comes immediately.