Photoplayer Hater

Actor training is mostly theatre training. Most community colleges, universities and private acting classes base their teachings on live performance. It is rare the class that is set up purely for on-camera acting. This certainly keeps costs down for all involved but it can be a little misleading for the actor that wants to perform on-screen. Theatre and screen acting have much in common but there are a few things theatre training stresses that is downplayed or altogether unimportant when acting for the camera.

Project Your Voice

Most theaters do not have amplified sound and are based heavily on dialogue. If you do not make it clear what you are saying you will have no help from technology or the story. Most movies could be played with no sound and people would get the point whereas theatre is mostly about verbal exchange. Luckily for screen actors the productions they would likely be involved in will not be so dependent upon dialogue and will always have a microphone close to the mouth to record dialogue.

Playing To The Back Row

There are no closeups in the theatre. The difference between the front row the last row is much more severe for a stage play than a film. In theatre actions need to be distinct and recognizable from long distances, in movies the camera does that work for you. With screen acting you are able to more closely approximate behavior as it is in real life and maintain a more uniform audience experience.

Not Upstaging

On stage you need to constantly keep in mind whether your back is to the audience and whether you are blocking the audience's view of a fellow actor. In film and TV blocking and camera positioning are both fluid and can accommodate each other. On screen an edit can be made to move from a poor angle of your back to a more expressive shot whereas in theatre you need to make sure such a situation never arises in the first place.

Enunciate

In the theatre not only must you be loud, you must also be accurate. It does nothing to help the comprehension or enjoyment of a stage play if you mumble your way through your lines. When acting in screen productions dialogue most often is accompanied by a closeup, it is said by many that screen audiences lip read more than listen. So when acting for the camera you can get away with a certain amount of mumbling and still not lose the audience.

Consistency

In the theatre where you do it over and over live for an audience there is no room for actors that can be brilliant sometimes but usually are incompetent. In film and TV this is not the case. As long as you can do it once and they get it on-camera then you are a good screen actor.

Timing

The actor has a lot of power and responsibility in the theatre. They have complete control over the pauses between words, tempo of speech, and actions they perform. In film and TV timing is created or altered in editing, requiring the actor to have no timing skills at all to the point that someone who is not funny in real life might even be made to seem funny by the manipulation of footage.

Not Being Boring

Some acting coaches believe the ultimate goal of a theatre acting is to not be boring. It is true that in theatre you do not have much beyond the actors to connect with the audience. If the actors do not keep their attention there is scant else to take up the slack. Screen actors have it much easier as a movie or TV program can move the camera, cut to an number of shots, incorporate music or sound effects, or any number of other tricks to keep an audience engaged.

With all the acting discipline a screen actor need not have it is easy to see how so many poor actors are successful in film and TV. By no means do I feel an actor should not learn and master these concepts, but it is important to understand they are most often not necessary in screen acting. Success in screen acting will not always come from craft. An understanding of this can help you make it through those times when bad actors get good parts that you deserve.