The difference between film and theatre
Nov. 1st, 2023
The contrasting aspects of these two similar fields
Selena - RCP Newspaper
Drama students watching a film trailer
Film and live theatre are similar in the sense that the actors have a set, costumes, and that they need to act. But these two fields are more separate from each other than they may seem. The basis of acting for the two do not necessarily mean they equate to one another, because of the very different processes that go into each one.
Filming movies or television shows gives the director much more creative liberty with the vision of the project, with post-production, more elaborate costuming or special effects makeup, and getting more than one take to produce the exact delivery of the line wanted. The editing available to their teams are essential in making the final product of the series or film, and create the majority of the context and tension in scenes.
In live theatre, there is only one chance per performance to hit the nail on the head with all of these aspects.
The set needs to have a routine to change fluently throughout the show smoothly, and if the actor forgets to deliver a line, there has to be a quick supplement as to not let the audience become aware of the mistake.
The actors need to show themselves to the audience at all times and create a convincing world around them in the space provided, unlike with the extensive locations and sets that are able to be used in film. Projection is also needed, as to make the audience in every seat be able to hear the actual show going on, which requires practice and pacing the actors' voices to not exhaust their power vocally.
This makes giving a convincing performance on a regular basis a bit more challenging, and requires the actors to be comfortable in their own voices and physicality on stage.
The productions in live theatre are most often 2-act plays which, if played on a Broadway stage, occur 8 times a week, needing to get to know the story very well to perform it multiple times, unlike how in film, once the product is out, there is no need to act it out again.
These differences make up how individual these two fields are, and that they both have their benefits. Storytelling is a universal gift and the fact that these two are different give audiences more variety in what kind of representation of life that they'd want to see.
Drama students rehearsing