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Why Does Acting Feel So Different Now?

Thomas Flight

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In this video I dive into the complicated history of how American Film Acting evolved from classical Hollywood theatricality into contemporary naturalism and why nobody can agree on what "Method Acting" actually is.

Editing By ‪@BenFromCanada‬
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// Sources:
See Full Bibliography and References Here: https://open.substack.com/pub/thomasf...
Brestoff, Richard. The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods. Smith & Kraus, 1995.
Butler, Issac. The Method : How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act. New York, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022.
Uta Hagen. Respect for Acting. 1973. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
Kissel, H., & Adler, S. (2000). Stella Adler - The Art of Acting. Hal Leonard Corporation
Benedetti, Jean. Stanislavski : An Introduction. London, Methuen Drama, 1982.
Konstantin Stanislavsky, and Jean Benedetti. An Actor’s Work : A Student’s Diary. London ; New York, Routledge, 2010.

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#ThomasFlight #VideoEssay #acting

0:00 Why Does Acting Feel So Different Now?
06:04 Part 1: 'I Don't Follow The Method'
12:34 Part 2: The True Birth of The Method
20:08 Part 3 The System (Or How Modern Acting Was Born)
33:24 Part 4: Why Nobody Understands Method Acting
37:53 Part 4b: The Invention of "Going Method"
44:32 Part 5: "There Is No System"

Correction:
19:40 Stella Adler was not one of Strasberg's students- They were in the same theatre group before they had a falling out.

20 Comments

@ThomasFlight Creator 2 years ago Pinned

Check out some additional notes, a full bibliography, and further reading for this video: https://thomasflight.substack.com/p/why-does-acting-feel-so-different

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@StudioHannah 2 years ago

They're acting STYLES, which I think is really cool. I love old and new films, I love foreign films with different acting conventions... as long as the acting matches the style of the film and is part of telling a good story, I AM IN.

@tyghe_bright 2 years ago

I think part of the reason that the new approach to acting has become the standard is the shift from stage to film. Theatrical acting often looks overwrought with the closeness of a camera. Presentational acting can get lost on a stage, but is perfect for the a camera.

@Reject101Personal 2 years ago (edited)

This is why Nicholas Cage seems so out of place. He uses an older, theatrical style of acting, which a lot of non US countries still use, and it really stands out/clashes with the rest of Hollywoods acting.

@brianm1981 1 year ago

I like Anthony Hopkins’s “method”. He just says “they give me lines to memorize, I show up and I say them.” Exactly.

@OrangeFreeman 1 year ago

One of the factors that contributed to this shift and wasn't talked nearly enough about - is the audio. The mics in the old movies required high volume and articulated pronunciation, that you would often see in the theaters. These days, modern mics can pick up the slightest sounds and now allow for more subtle acting, resulting even in mumbling and whispering. It can be both perceived as lazy acting or more nuanced - but it's a new tool in the arsenal.

@liteflightify 2 years ago

I mean, Gloria Swanson’s acting in Sunset Blvd was theatrical even for 1950. Her performance was more reflective of the silent era and early talkies. That’s one of the main points of her performance.

@mrgoofy7365 2 years ago

You should do a video on actors who pretty much just play themselves, like Ryan Reynolds, and Adam Sandler. I think it would be interesting to see your take on how actors playing themselves affects their performances both negatively and positively.

@Jake_Etc 2 years ago

It just took everyone but Orson Welles a while to realize that the camera and microphone were 4 feet from their face, and they didn't have to shout to the folks in the cheap seats anymore.

@InBetweenTimelines 3 months ago

I appreciate saying dialogue clearly in classic movies. I have to turn subtitles on because modern dialogue is so often actors just mumbling words.

@SoobySays 1 year ago

18:15 happened in college to a friend of mine. The acting teacher didn’t warn her about the point of the exercise and didn’t ask her if she was comfortable. Poor thing relived trauma connected with loss of a loved one in front of the whole class. It was messed up.

@vitod7425 2 years ago

I love that John Garfield realistically “relaxing” on a couch blew people’s minds back in the day. “Damn, he really seems relaxed!” I honestly loved this video though.

@TwiggyKeely 2 years ago (edited)

As an actor...I'd say it was because back then it was just that....ACTING. I think now it's EMMULATING. A lot of the time, people want to see movies to escape their problems, not be reminded of them, so I think there's something to be said about the old style of acting and why old films have stayed relevant even when they are very "act-y" and why they can feel so comforting to people.

Tho I do love when I am watching a movie and I'm like WAIT THAT WAS GARY OLDMAN?!
(It's always Gary Oldman or Christan Bale lmfao gotta love Daniel Day Lewis too, but he does so few films that you know he's going to be in something. Gary Oldman just pops up and his acting is so impeccable that you don't even realize it's him!!! I love it)

@antimatterhorn 2 years ago

Ian McKellan's issue that caused him to break down was less about the green screen and more about the fact that there were no other actors on set with him. He was acting by himself, in a green room, with blue Xs taped to sticks that were supposed to be dwarves around him. He had nothing to respond to except Peter Jackson woodenly reading the others' lines to him.

@MelissaMedinaVO 1 year ago (edited)

This was an INCREDIBLY measured, well-cited, and well-researched video - THANK YOU! I'm a career voice actor who had multiple careers outside of acting before jumping in, and I can't tell you how many actors & teachers have told me to subscribe to one particular method as the end-all be-all, and it was SO confusing. I've been skeptical. I feel very reassured in my belief that all of the styles & none of them are the best. I use intuition & mix & match and I think whatever resonates best with us is our style. Thank you again. I'm going to share this often.

@drlee2 1 year ago

A lot of these super old films actually hold up and are just was watchable now as when they were praised when they first came out. Sunset Boulevard and The Maltese Falcon are in my top 10 films of all time, regardless of era.

@فامكولر 2 years ago

for me old films felt like magic i love watching them

@rome8180 2 years ago

One reason I find Nicolas Cage so fascinating is that he offers an alternative acting model. Sure, he can do pure "naturalistic" acting and often does in his more acclaimed roles. But that's not his primary approach. He has an acting style he calls "nouveau shamanistic." It borrows elements from German expressionism and Japanese kabuki theater. The point is not to be realistic. The point is a kind of free, improvisatory expressiveness. Whether you like or dislike his acting choices, it's clear that he's not coming from a place of laziness or "bad" acting. He's making a deliberate creative choice, and it's deeply informed by his study of the history of acting.

@rics1883 2 years ago (edited)

Cate Blanchett's recent layered performance in Tar is probably the best lived in character I have ever seen. Without relying much on camera trickeries, edits, close ups while inhabiting the character completely. A true acting legend