Studying Acting 2000-word extended essay. INTRODUCTION This essay will focus on Marlon Brando’s monumental impact and influence on the landscape of the acting industry and will explain why Marlon Brando is rightly considered to be a pioneer of the acting industry. Regarding the acting industry, certain names remain relevant across generations who left a profound and distinct mark on the craft. Marlon Brando stands out as a leading pioneer and is widely considered "one of the greatest and most influential actors of all time" whose impact can be seen in the industry throughout history, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire actors to this day. The main arguments for this essay will include a deep dive into what differentiated Marlon Brando …show more content…
Marlon Brando was vocal on racism and inequality, using his fame as a platform to raise awareness and begin conversations about these issues. To do this, he marched at demonstrations and gave thousands of dollars to civil rights groups such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and to a scholarship fund for children of slain Mississippi. Following the despicable 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Marlon Brando made one of the strongest commitments to elevating King’s work, announcing he was bowing out of the lead role of a major film to focus himself on the civil rights movement, His willingness to leverage his celebrity for the benefit of social good then inspired many actors to become more politically engaged and use their own platforms to effect positive change. One of his most memorable contributions came in 1973 when he famously made the decision to decline the Academy Awards for Best Actor for his role in ‘The Godfather’ as a peaceful protest against Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans and the mistreatment of indigenous people in the film industry. Instead of accepting the award, Marlon Brando sent Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather to the Oscars to deliver a speech that highlighted the mistreatment caused by the film industry, pleading for better representation and respect. Looking back …show more content…
Even through his impact on politics, Marlon Brando encouraged change by surpassing the expectations attached to what is expected of an actor, he went above and beyond to utilise his platform to speak out against injustices, offered support to marginalised groups and devoted his time and money towards in the hopes of a fairer society. Marlon Brando left a substantial and impressive legacy that continues to inspire actors to use Stanislavski methodology and simultaneously encourages actors to innovate and avoid shying away from trying new and different approaches, reminding actors it is okay to break conventions and experiment, which inevitably aids the progression of the ever-evolving industry. To finalise, the negative connotations towards method acting in modern times perhaps indicate a need for change related to the health and safety of method acting and I believe within society and the acting industry we will always look back to Marlon Brando as a representation of change, adjusting and refining where appropriate, outlining Marlon Brando as a pioneer in all
Just as actors are famous in America today, they were also famous in America’s 1880s. Back then movies and online videos did not exist, instead dramas and stage play occupied the American’s leisure time; well to do Americans that is. Everyone who knew anything about theater knew John Wilkes Booth. Born to actor parents, the stage’s spotlight became natural for John who debuted on stage at a young age. Now, in his thirties, people see a handsome, eloquent celebrity capable of delivering any line. Unfortunately, they don’t notice his didactic confederate sympathy or bubbling rage.
Over a three week period in October 2002 a series of random sniper attacks paralyzed the Washington D.C. area. The shootings happened in in various establishments such as super markets, gas stations, restaurants and near schools turning normal tranquil areas into chaotic murder fields. There were no age group, gender or ethnicity that was safe, Victims were randomly selected and everyone was targeted. After the murderous spree, ten people were declared dead and several others wounded. The perpetrators were finally apprehended while they were sleeping at a resting spot and later identified as forty-one-year-old John Allen Muhammad and his seventeen-year-old Jamaican-American protégé, Lee Boyd Malvo.
A new edition to the course lineup, this week's film classic, Sunset Boulevard. This film will focus on the culture and environment of the Hollywood studio system that produces the kind of motion pictures that the whole world recognizes as "Hollywood movies." There have been many movies from the silent era to the present that either glamorize or vilify the culture of Hollywood, typically focusing on the celebrities (both in front of and behind the camera) who populate the "dream factories" of Hollywood. But we cannot completely understand the culture of Hollywood unless we recognize that motion pictures are big business as well as entertainment, and that Hollywood necessarily includes both creative and commercial
Clurman, Harold. “Actors-The Image of Their Era.” The Tulane Drama Review 4.3 (1960): 38-44. JSTOR.
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
...y. These factors, coupled with the incorporation of the heart-melting cheekbones of ‘Marlon Brando’ at his prime are more likely to have screamed ‘power’ in the eyes of a 1950’s audience, let alone the viewer of today. Also, the fact that ‘On the Waterfront’ mirrors Elia Kazan’s real-life decision to testify to the HUAC magnifies its validity to human nature and overall potency.
Not all films which adhere to the classical Hollywood paradigm eschew issues. The film Singin’ in the Rain follows Don Lockwood, a popular silent film actor, as he attempts to maintain his star status during the advent of “talkies”. Lockwood’s journey manifests fame’s capricious temperament, the studio’s commercial interest, and the influence of outside variables on a film. Singin’ in the Rain uses Lockwood’s struggle with celebrity to expose the importance of public image and self esteem.
The Classical Hollywood style, according to David Bordwell remains “bound by rules that set stringent limits on individual innovation; that telling a story is the basic formal concern.” Every element of the film works in the service of the narrative, which should be ideally comprehensible and unambiguous to the audience. The typical Hollywood film revolves around a protagonist, whose struggle to achieve a specific goal or resolve a conflict becomes the foundation for the story. André Bazin, in his “On the politique des auteurs,” argues that this particular system of filmmaking, despite all its limitations and constrictions, represented a productive force creating commercial art. From the Hollywood film derived transnational and transcultural works of art that evoked spectatorial identification with its characters and emotional investment into its narrative. The Philadelphia Story, directed by George Cukor in 1940, is one of the many works of mass-produced art evolving out of the studio system. The film revolves around Tracy Lord who, on the eve of her second wedding, must confront the return of her ex-husband, two newspaper reporters entering into her home, and her own hubris. The opening sequence of The Philadelphia Story represents a microcosm of the dynamic between the two protagonists Tracy Lord and C.K. Dexter Haven, played by Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Through the use of costume and music, the opening sequence operates as a means to aesthetically reveal narrative themes and character traits, while simultaneously setting up the disturbance that must be resolved.
One solution is to approach an actor at the beginning of their training, and see where knowledge of "commedia dell'arte" and its performance can expand a performer's range. The contemporary young actor's most familiar performance role model is that of televisi...
When we think of leaders, the first thing that usually comes to mind is a person who holds significant power such as the president. While this may be true, the truth is, you do not need to be in a position of power to assume a leadership role. Everyone has the ability to become a leader. As leaders, everyone has the power to not only influence others, but inspire and motivate them as well. The purpose of this paper is to explore several leadership behaviors, specifically emotional intelligence, and how they can be applied in both my personal and professional lives. Within this paper, I will be discussing my personal definition of leadership and what leadership means to me, a self-evaluation of myself using MBTI and other leadership theories, and finally concluding with my exploration of emotional intelligence and its relation to effective leadership.
Many people believe Marlon Brando was the greatest actor of the 20th century. His life was filled with wonderful, interesting, but also encountered troubling times. Marlon Brando was a rebellious boy who later grew up to be known as the “world’s greatest actor.”
It is human nature to tell stories and to appreciate and participate in theatre traditions in every society. Every culture expresses theatre and may have their own traditions that have helped pave the way for how they are today. The involvement of African-Americans has increased tremendously in theatre since the nineteenth century and continues to increase as time goes on. African-Americans have overcome many obstacles with getting their rights and the participation and involvement of Theatre was something also worth fighting for. American history has played an important role with the participation of African-Americans in theatre. Slavery occurrence in America made it difficult for blacks in America to be taken seriously and to take on the characters of more serious roles. With many obstacles in the way African-Americans fought for their rights and also for the freedom that they deserved in America. As the participation of African-Americans involvement within the theatre increase so do the movements in which help make this possible. It is the determination of these leaders, groups, and Theaters that helped increase the participation and created the success that African-Americans received throughout history in American Theatre.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
Applied Theatre work includes Theatre-in-Education, Community and Team-building, Conflict Resolution, and Political theatre, to name just a few of its uses. However, Christopher Balme states that “Grotowski define acting as a communicative process with spectators and not just as a production problem of the actor” (Balme, 2008: 25). Applied Theatre practices may adopt the following “theatrical transactions that involve participants in different participative relationships” such as Theatre for a community, Theatre with a community and Theatre by a community Prentki & Preston (2009: 10). Whereas, applied theatre one of its most major powers is that it gives voice to the voiceless and it is a theatre for, by, and with the people. However, Applied Theatre practitioners are devising educational and entertaining performances bringing personal stories to life and build
This enduring query is what keeps audiences coming back for more, in an attempt to decipher which construction of a star is “real”. Is this the character he played in his most recent film? Is it the version of him that graced the latest tabloid cover? Is it a hidden self that we do not know about? Each of these varied and fluctuating presentations of stars that we are forced to analyze create different meanings and effects that frame the audience’s opinions about a star and ignite cultural conversations.