The actor
must learn and perfect many skills before they will be successful in their
profession. Whether an actor works in television, motion picture productions,
or theater, these skills are necessary. They may come naturally to some of the
top actors, but most have to work hard through schooling and practice. Very few
can say they were born to do this job.
Shahzaad Ausman says the skills that actors must
master include speech rate, oral projection, voice clarity, physical and vocal
expression, vocal pitch, physical stance, and eye contact. Many performers have
worked for years to perfect a technique. Some are good at one and not another.
Others have
a natural gift for all. Whether they intend to perform in TV drama, movie or
film drama, voice acting, musicals or theater productions, knowledge of each is
necessary to meet the requirements of an acting career. These techniques will
enable an actor to portray him/herself as being confident and ready to do the job.
Rate of
speech is a skill that one can use in acting. A character actor could speak
very slowly when portraying the part of someone with physical or mental
handicaps. If portraying the part of an excited or agitated character, an actor
might speak very fast. This is an effective way of getting the emotions and
feelings of a character across to the audience.
However,
many inexperienced actors and actresses have no sense of timing and speak
either too slowly or too quickly. Vocal projection and clarity are two more
skills that can be signs of experience, or lack of, on the part of an actor or
actress. Shahzaad Ausman says Vocal
projection and clarity, especially in theater productions are necessary to
ensure that the entire audience can both hear and understand what the actor is
saying.
The
character actor must master the arts of both vocal and physical expression.
Body language is a major factor in physical expression as it is used to portray
the attitude and emotion of a character at any given time. The vocal expression
does the same thing but in a different way. It uses other things like pitch
ranges to show emotions and feelings.
Pitch is the
range of an actor's tone of voice. Pitch ranges can be from very high to very
low, depending on the emotion being portrayed. The physical stance is important
because poor posture and fidgeting indicate nervousness and a lack of
confidence. The actor must always be concerned with eye contact as well, not
only with the audience but also with the other cast members too.
