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Thread: Do you think acting is really art? | This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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artu
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posted February 04, 2015 07:22 PM |
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Poll Question: Do you think acting is really art?
Would you consider an actor, an artist in the serious sense of the word?
Would you consider it rather a craft or is it really creative work?
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DagothGares
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posted February 04, 2015 07:26 PM |
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Norio Wakamoto and Crispin Freeman are artists. If you disagree I will fight you in the streets.
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Tsar-Ivor
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posted February 04, 2015 07:37 PM |
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They were considered freeloaders back in the 16th century. However, I belive that acting is an art, as per my definition of the term ofc.
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Salamandre
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posted February 04, 2015 07:44 PM |
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Is movie making an art or no? This is what you first need to answer, then all what follows has a sense.
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JollyJoker
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posted February 04, 2015 07:48 PM |
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Acting is really old, and certainly not limited to the silver screen.
Of COURSE it's an art.
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artu
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posted February 04, 2015 07:50 PM |
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Edited by artu at 19:54, 04 Feb 2015.
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@Tsar
Yes, even in the beginning of the 20th Century, show business in general was
considered a low-class business, something you dont say out loud if you want to impress a person. In his biopic, you can listen to young Charlie Chaplin declaring how things will change and they'll be sitting on the best tables in a restaurant soon or something similar. (Of course, he was much more than an actor.) Cinema technology and one person reaching out to millions is the main reason behind the recent buzz. Same with pop stars, recording industry changed everything.
@Sal
Of course, I consider cinema an art, I consider it an art that has the power to absorb other art forms (to a degree) such as visual arts, music and literature. It's awesome.
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Salamandre
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posted February 04, 2015 07:59 PM |
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it wasn't really a question to be answered, I know someone with such exquisite taste as yourself couldn't consider movies less than art.
So then, how actors can be not artists, when their field experience is expressing art?*
*except Taken 3, for god's sake!
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artu
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posted February 04, 2015 08:21 PM |
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Well, you can still attribute the creative part to the director, writers etc and consider the actors craftmen like the guy in charge of the lights. In general, I consider actors who bring depth and interpretation to their characters artists. But is Arnold Schwarzenegger an artist? Of course, with the same logic, you can ask is Britney Spears an artist but the thing with acting is, people who carry it to an artistic level are such a small portion, it sometimes feel like they are the exception and not the other way around.
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Kimarous
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posted February 04, 2015 08:29 PM |
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I see acting as a talent, rather than an art. Some people are inherently better while others are not, or might have an advantage that others can't replicate. Am I less "artistic" than the Nostalgia Critic simply because he has a much more expressive face than I, which greatly helps his ability to act?
Are there ways to refine and master one's ability to act? Certainly, and there is artistry in that. However, the ability to act at all is influenced by one's inherent talent, and some are more blessed than others.
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DagothGares
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posted February 04, 2015 08:38 PM |
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Quote: Am I less "artistic" than the Nostalgia Critic simply because he has a much more expressive face than I, which greatly helps his ability to act?
Doug Walker is not a good actor.
Acting has a lot to do with body language and use of voice. Doug walker only has one voice and likes to pull silly faces.
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Sleeping_Sun
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posted February 04, 2015 08:54 PM |
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Well, to me acting is both craft and creative work. You either have a talent for acting or you are thought how to act. Either way, you can express emotions and ideas with acting, but you can also make other people feel some emotion... Acting is simply conveying a message with the capabilities of your body (but we have to include make up, clothes, etc.), thus it is the same as other forms of art which also convey something in order to get a response from the audience.
Of course, there are good actors who can act, and there are bad actors who cannot act, but they are constantly put into new roles - since they are appealing to masses because of their good looks, pretty face, etc.
However, some roles are generic - nothing praiseworthy, and some are impactful and thus memorable. It depends from the role, are you supposed to be a good guy, bad, annoying character, charismatic... All these roles have a different degree of difficulty depending on a person. Not every person can depict every character right. Some people are good as weird and odd characters, some are good action heroes, others are good as villains, etc. They have to adapt the script and director's vision into the character, so again they have to be creative because of that but also because they must create their own vision or version of this character.
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JollyJoker
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posted February 04, 2015 09:53 PM |
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artu said: But is Arnold Schwarzenegger an artist?
Uh oh, artu. You should see that this is leading nowhere, because the answer to that question is meaningless. Actually the right question is, is AS an ACTOR? And even if the answer to that was YES and the answer to the first would be no, it still woudn't prove anything.
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artu
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posted February 04, 2015 10:02 PM |
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Edited by artu at 22:02, 04 Feb 2015.
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That would be a very fair objection if he was some exception. But as I said, lately I sometimes fall under the impression that actors who are actually artists seem to be the exception and not the other way around. Like carpentery for example, there can be a minority of carpenters as creative as sculptors but wouldnt you hesitate to call carpentry art? It's not necessarily a black or white issue.
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Galaad
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posted February 04, 2015 10:17 PM |
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artu said: I sometimes fall under the impression that actors who are actually artists seem to be the exception and not the other way around.
That is because cinema acting is very different than theater acting. In cinema, you miss it, you can do it again. In theater, you have to live it every representation, and sometimes performing every day for a month or more. There are lot of bad cinema, and a lot of bad theater, but when you are capable of being fully captivated as I am occasionally by seeing theater pieces in a language I don't even understand, I don't know what is the reason if not the quality of actors. I definitely voted yes to your poll.
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artu
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posted February 04, 2015 10:25 PM |
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Well, since I'm not much of an outsider, I've been to the theatre 20 - 30 times in my life, if not less. But I certainly dont exclude theatre acting from the poll, Diderot's book on the subject was an amazing read btw, I recommend it to all of you.
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Galaad
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posted February 04, 2015 10:26 PM |
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Edited by Galaad at 22:28, 04 Feb 2015.
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I recommend Actor and the Target, from Declan Donellan.
But even if you are more into cinema, just look at acting performance in some of Bergman or Tarkovski films to quote only two huge icons.
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Salamandre
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posted February 04, 2015 10:30 PM |
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its hard today to put along theater and movies. I believe 99% of the today movie actors would be incapable to play theater, if not only for weak memory reasons, this is a thing which needs long time training.
On the other side, theater actors are not so passionated about movies (Laurence Olivier and O. Wells having been the exceptions) because movies pay well but are in no way a challenge for an artist, every outtake is artificial and not connected to the whole structure. Artists are complex architects of their art, you don't build a pyramid adding one brick today, a second one tomorrow.
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JollyJoker
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posted February 04, 2015 10:33 PM |
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Well, these jobs involve both being creative and applying a craft. It's something like figure skating. Some can figure-skate and some are artists.
Same with actors; some are crafters and some are artists, but the question remains, whether you would call the crafter an "ACTOR" at all.
Now, a completely different problem is the influence of the director: they may demand a certain interpretation or attitude or gesture, and the actor just does what they are told.
To tell the truth, I think Arnold S. played the Terminator exceptionally well, especially as the emotionless brute. You can't say, he wasn*t acting THEN. If he was, he'd be an amazing actor for simply managing it to getting elected in politics.
And now compare that with the two main terminator actors of the TV show (SCC), sUMMER gLAU AND Garret Dillahunt. It would seem that playing a Terminator isn't that easy.
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Galaad
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posted February 04, 2015 10:36 PM |
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Edited by Galaad at 22:37, 04 Feb 2015.
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JollyJoker said: Now, a completely different problem is the influence of the director: they may demand a certain interpretation or attitude or gesture, and the actor just does what they are told.
This is true. But I believe an actor who is really faithful to his art will not work with a director who disagrees on a conceptual level. Unless he's a sellout, but then follows the poor performance.
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Salamandre
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posted February 04, 2015 10:37 PM |
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Arnold is a bad example, this guy is exceptionally gifted in many areas, if you really need to interrogate on such movie actors, take Dulph Lungren. Even Steven Seagall is making art in some of his movies, those choreographies can look really awkward, see john Wick for example.
But Dulph Lungren is really the winner of bad acting combined to being famous.
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