Blog entries

Previous |

Next |

All

The mark of a great actor?
Thursday, Jan 29, 2009 9:18PM / Standard Entry / Members only
6 comments

I was watching a television program and they mentioned micro-expressions. Since watching that program, I've come to realise that micro-expressions could very well be one of the significant distinguishing qualities of a great actor, especially a screen actor where everything is up close and personal. Micro-expressions are extremely small expressions, perhaps lasting one fifth of a second or even less. Consciously, we don't notice them. Unconsciously, we do and we're very much affected by them.

Most actors can reproduce expressions, some better than others, but even the best expressions may not trigger an emotional response in the viewing audience. I remember one of our teachers at Lee Strasberg commenting how tears from actors in general didn't do anything for him. Without the underlying pain, crying was simply an indicator without compelling emotion.

Actors who can reproduce the emotions of their character's situation will unconsciously reproduce the micro-expressions that come with those emotions. Those micro-expressions will then be unconsciously broadcast to the audience, making their acting captivating to watch and enabling the audience to empathise with and feel for the character.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of emotional expression coming out of Hollywood's blockbusters today. Emotion seems to have taken a back seat to action (and the associated money-making franchises), and the English seem to be producing more emotionally sensitive movies and television programs than Hollywood. If Hollywood is not careful, a big chunk of the movie industry might just find a new home in England.

Anyway, today's point is that micro-expressions could very well be the mark of a great actor.

Entry comments (6)

Please login or sign up for FREE in order to add a comment.
D.Y. Sao
posted on Tuesday, Feb 3, 2009 8:15AM [Report]

i totally concur my friend

i hope u can take a look at this scene i did and tell me honesly what you think :D

http://www.alivenotdead.com/d.y._sao/OBAMA+IN+DA+HOUSE-profile-474261.html#xspace-itemform

thanks Gregory
dY
Albert Leung
posted on Saturday, Jan 31, 2009 12:15PM [Report]

Hi Greg, how does the actor be sure that their emotion is communicated and trigger the intended emotional response to the audience?

One time I went to an audition and the casting director instructed me to perform some what subtle but worrying feeling, I felt it during my performance but it did not convey to the casting director. Any advise?
shorty
posted on Friday, Jan 30, 2009 7:48PM [Report]

I think Kenneth Ma from TVB is great with expressions. Whether that's micro-expressions or not, however, I wouldn't know. But I always notice subtle changes in his expressions which convey the emotion really well.
rottendoubt
posted on Friday, Jan 30, 2009 5:49PM [Report]

very interesting. would love to see some examples of good mico-expressions..
Marie Jost
posted on Friday, Jan 30, 2009 9:02AM [Report]

Interesting idea. I'm not sure if this explains why I like certain actors who seem to be very "opaque". While you're watching them in a movie, you're not sure how they are communicating so much emotion with no visible emoting. The emotion seems buried very deep inside, so deep that sometimes I can't really name what the emotion is. But, by the end of the film, the accumulation of this buried emotion lends a tremendous, but muted power, to the film. (I'm talking actors in films by directors like Hou Hsiao-Hsien or somebody like Ozu.) Maybe it is the split-second expressions, so fleeting that we are not conscious of them, but so telling, nonetheless.
peachey
posted on Thursday, Jan 29, 2009 11:06PM [Report]

I learned a new term for the thing I've always looked for in actors. I agree that it's the face's nuances that are more effective than the "macro" expressions.

My blog More entries >

Now 5 domains in 1

Thursday, Apr 23, 2009 9:50PM (3 comments)
Good intentions. Disastrous results.

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2009 12:00PM (7 comments)
Leaving for 四川北川

Sunday, Feb 1, 2009 7:00AM (6 comments)
Finally; my first showreel

Tuesday, Jan 20, 2009 10:28PM (6 comments)
More entries >

Gregory Rivers

Stats

Very simply…...
More

Very simply…

1965. Born in Gympie, a small gold-mining town in Queensland, Australia.

1987. Arrived in Hong Kong. A month later, I was a guest singer at Alan Tam’s concert (one of Hong Kong’s superstars). I then taught English to make ends meet until the end of the year.

1988. Serendipitously began acting at TVB (Hong Kong’s premier TV station). I have been acting on a full-time contract basis with TVB ever since. Filming in Cantonese, I was involved in more than 200 different television series, some of them quite memorable.

1997. “Magic is the Moonlight”: My ﬁrst stage production; a supporting role. We performed 31 shows at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

2002. “Teresa Teng Forever”: My second stage production; a supporting role, this time involving singing. Again, we performed 24 shows at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

2004. Having hit a brick wall in my attempts to improve my acting abilities, I attended the Lee Strasberg Institute in L.A. for 3 months. The study helped me immensely.

2005. “Perfume”; My third stage production. My ﬁrst role as a co-lead. We performed 8 shows at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

2006. Wanting to improve my singing and also in preparation for “They’re Playing Our Song”, I studied daily with Peisha McPhee in L.A. for four weeks. The improvement was incredible.

2007. “They’re Playing Our Song”; My fourth stage production. My ﬁrst lead. Just one actor and one actress, we performed the 2-hour musical play 10 times at the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

2008. I declined to renew my contract with TVB. After 20 years of serving them faithfully, it was time for me to move on and look for new adventures, and new avenues of continued improvement in my vocation.

Music and acting are my future.
More
Occupation: Actor , Singer
Gender: Male
Total visits: 26,111