008 - That TV Acting is a Feat of Multitasking

Today I learned from some of the actors on the Reginald The Vampire TV show that when you are acting for TV, maintaining continuity is a nightmare, especially when props are involved. They have to do the exact same actions in the exact same ways every single time as the scene is shot and re-shot for different angles. Even without props, body language needs to be exactly the same, and body language isn't normally something you think about consciously. When actors cross or uncross their arms, that creates all sorts of additional variables that they then have to duplicate exactly in all subsequent shots going forward. TV acting isn’t entirely a right-brain activity. It requires a lot of left-brain, too.

The creative lesson I took from this Noticing is that crafting a piece of art often requires a balance between intuition and precision. While acting is a deeply emotional and expressive art form, maintaining continuity reminds adds a technical element as well. The meticulous repetition of actions for different shots requires a whole lot of detailed attention. This can be extrapolated to any creative endeavor: While the overall theme, emotion, or message of any art form is crucial, it's often the finer details and consistent repetitions that make or break the final product. Great art often demands both spontaneous creativity and methodical precision.

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