Perfect Art of Acting

I am not a theater major, but I would like to think I know something about acting. Acting is the art of expression and convincing an audience of the reality of the scene. The expression, the voice, and the body language must all be perfectly aligned in order to be as truthful to the emotion as possible. Personally I believe that acting is truly impressive when one or two of the three components is removed from the scene. There are two instances from movies that I feel perfectly encapsulate these ideas. One being Scarlett Johansson in Her and Jennifer Lawrence’s last scene in Catching Fire.

I truly believe that Scarlett Johansson portrayal of Samantha in Her deserves an Academy Awards. In radio (or podcasts), one only has the voice to portray emotions, so one’s mind is forced to find the emotion within the voices. Her, on the other hand, is a film, so we become accustomed to using the face to convey these emotions. Johansson does not have this option, only her voice is ever heard. She must have truly mastered voice acting, because one can sense every emotion of Samantha’s with perfect clarity without any safety nets of body language or facial expression. Despair, anger, and joy are easy to convey, but she is able to be incredibly nuanced in her role. We know when she is nervous, slightly sad, disappointed, or off-put. I would suggest everyone go see this movie, if only for Johansson’s performance.

I think it is safe to assume that most of my readers are familiar with Catching Fire. I think it was a great movie, one of the best “popcorn films” to ever be made. Part of this movie’s success is Jennifer Lawrence’s acting. Ifyou want to see her amazing ability, then watch the final scene of the movie. Without speaking or moving, we can see the full range of emotions that experiences after (SPOILERS AHEAD) learning that her home district was destroyed by the Capitol. She moves from depressed to confused to angry and, finally, to determination. This was one of the best scenes of acting that I have ever experienced. I applaud both Lawrence for her ability, and the director for choosing to shoot it this way and trusting Lawrence enough to allow it.

If you are studying acting and need help in either of these departments, then I suggest you look towards these two actresses. Watch Her and study it. Any voice acting lessons you are taking are probably telling you how to act like she did in this movie. As for expression, definitely look towards Lawrence, not only in Catching Fire, but her other movies as well. Every time I watch these movie, I am still amazed by these two performances.