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Writer's pictureBrian Cutler Actors Studio

The Only Three Things That I Want You to Remember

Updated: Nov 10, 2021

Brian: “If they’ve pulled a hard focus on you from the tip of the lens to your nose, which is what they do. The camera assistant will do that. It’s called a hard focus. And if you do this (leans into camera and back out) after they do a hard focus, you’re going to go in and out of focus and you’ll make the camera operator and the DP absolutely insane.”

Syndey: “Sorry. I need to work on that.”

Brian: “Well, no, it’s just something that we’re not aware of.People say, ‘Oh, well, you don’t have people get up and move around.’ I’m not worried about you being able to move or walk across the room.I’m not worried about you being able to walk across the kitchen, pour a cup of coffee, come back into the dining room and sit down.We do that kind of stuff all the time.Every day.Ad nauseum.And the example I always use is-I see guys driving eighteen-wheel trucks eating a cheeseburger and smoking a cigarette at the same time.I see women driving down the freeway doing their eye make up at seventy miles an hour.If we can do that, I’m not worried about you moving.What I’m worried about is – can you be still?Because with an eighty-five-millimeter lens you have a sixty-foot head on a big screen.And if you have a sixty-foot head and you’re doing this (leans into camera and back out) everybody in the first twenty rows is getting sick to their stomach.Stillness.Stillness.Three things to remember all the time when you work, and they’re the only three things I ever want you to think about, is, ‘there’s beauty in stillness, less is more, and active listening’.Those are the three most important things for an actor once you learn your words


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