Acting Tools in Stand and Deliver - Movie Review Example

Number Acting Tools in “Stand and Deliver” For 24 years, “Stand and Deliver” has continued to be revisited as oneof the most successful inspirational films of all time. Based on true-to-life events, the carefully executed scenes and well motivated actors have won the movie a number of awards and nominations in various film academies, namely: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Independent Spirit Awards. Edward James Olmos, who played the lead role of teacher Jaime Escalante, was highly commended for his all-natural portrayal. Apparently, Olmos is not only an actor, but a real-life humanitarian himself. He supports different causes and advocacies all over his hometown state, Los Angeles. But now we wonder, what was the key to Olmos’ success in representing the life of Jaime Escalante aside from relating it to his charitable practices? Do actors really make use of certain tools and techniques to manage the challenging roles assigned to them? As a matter of fact, they do. “An actors tools are unusual among artists. Whereas a painters tools are his watercolors, brushes, and paper, and a pianists tool is her instrument, an actor has no tools but him or herself.  An actor uses voice, body, and mind/spirit to create a character.” Actors are said to be “interpretive artists”, because their duty is to deduce and take to mean whatever is written in the playwright’s work (Geneseo.edu, 2012). We take a look at all the possible acting approaches that Olmos may have used and took inspiration from, to come up with such an attack. There are two common techniques that are present in today’s context of film and theater namely, “Presentational” and “Representational” acting techniques. Presentational Acting is the technique that acknowledges the real-time presence of an audience. This tool is used by an actor when he makes use of different gestures, looks and language to recognize the spectators, therefore establishing a somewhat closer relationship with them. On the other hand, Representational Acting puts the audience out of the picture. This is when the actor completely ignores whoever is in front of him and builds what they call a “fourth wall” that maintains his distance. This helps the actor remain completely in character and be fully absorbed in the scene (Livejournal, 2007). Since “Stand and Deliver” is purely film, meaning all scenes are pre-recorded before the target audience can even watch, the “Representational Acting” technique is covered. Meanwhile, Uta Hagen, a German-American actress who published a book based on Stanislavski’s acting propositions in his book “An Actor Prepares”, explained “Presentational Acting” as a technique in which the actor totally immerse himself to the character’s emotions so much so that he would no longer identify himself as a separate entity from the character when he goes on stage. To construe this immersion, Hagen identifies “Substitution” as the key to be used -- a method that has been used by Stanislavski himself, and the famous Lee Strasberg. “Substitution involves using memories and experiences from the actor’s own life in order to identify with the experiences of the character” (Loveacting.com, 2008). Uta Hagen also identified in “Respect for Acting” the significance of the actor’s identity. The idea presents that if an actor feels he is a lot different from the character he will portray, he will resort to “indicating what the character would do”. In this case, the actor must try to go over his emotions and search for the ones that correspond to the character – putting themselves into the shoe of their character. “Read biographies and histories and put yourself in them. Don’t just look at paintings, put yourself in them.” (Phil Gyford’s Website, 2006) In Edward James Olmos’ case, it can be deduced that his real-life experiences as a humanitarian and leader of generous causes has helped him identify himself in the persona of the mathematics teacher. Because he is so determined to change the lives of the people around him through the many advocacies he has supported, he easily saw himself so similar to Jaime Escalante who had the corresponding drive. The former changing lives through charitable works and the latter changing lives through teaching: just the perfect match the director was looking for. The similarities of who these two people care for made everything in the movie natural and familiar. Such qualities in return earned the audience a more comfortable watching environment. There are other basic tools in acting that were used in the film as well as the deep-seated techniques discussed above. Such tools help the actors undergo a step-by-step process in discovering the character they are portraying. Olmos has made it clear to his audience that he has taken steps to come up with such an attack. He actually seemed to have followed the basics. First, it was evident that he began with the analysis of the play and its context. It was as if he researched thoroughly on Jaime Escalante’s past life and relationships, and may have even seen the latter personally just to observe his actions. After all, you can only mimic a person so well when you have seen him do his thing right in front of you. This is not how it just ends for the actor. Apparently, Olmos was able to use his imagination freely but carefully. He envisioned how the teacher would react to certain scenes on a regular occurrence, resulting to a natural vibe. This is actually the hardest part of it all. As an actor, you are entitled to give your own interpretation of the persona using all elements there are – your body, voice and creative juices. But there are certain boundaries. An actor can only go so far. A careful analysis of the role is significant for any actor, considering that he may have a totally different way of thinking or reacting from that of the character. The truth is that the audience is harsh and they will always expect that the actor be one with the character assigned to him no matter how they distinct they are in reality. All factors must be considered, from the biggest actions to the smallest mannerisms and from the biggest language differences to the smallest murmurs. The actor must indeed feel free to select the gestures he will play with to make the scene appear more truthful. Given a definite situation as authorized by the director, the actors take up a particular emotion and start to embody it through different movements and physical contact. This will also highly depend on the time and place setting, and the other characters involved in the scene. Anyway, the screenwriter makes sure that the actors don’t mess up with each other in any scene. (Geneseo Course Materials, 2012) The way a person thinks and how he acts upon his thoughts are both significant in portraying a role. Edward James Olmos was able to tap on these elements closely. He knew how to handle Jaime Escalante because he studied how the latter thinks. He knew his inner side. Another basic tool that an actor must know how to work on, is his own and his character’s emotional well-being. In the case of “Stand and Deliver”, Edward James Olmos’ emotional past life may have driven him into connecting well with Jaime Escalante’s emotional state when he was still teaching the kids in East Los Angeles. Escalante showed so much sensitivity to the situation of his students who did not value education enough to waste the opportunity given to them. Meanwhile, Olmos’ can be traced back to his childhood when he was taken into custody by his mother when his parents’ got divorced. The situation in which Olmos was caught up when he was younger can already be connected to the juvenile delinquency of Escalante’s students. A perfect understanding of how these events relate to one another can manage to be a sturdy foundation for the actor’s preparation. It is also possible that Olmos just simply saw Escalante as a source of inspiration even for himself. He may have admired the teacher’s views on education and how he managed to inculcate the same views to his students so effectively that they were completely convinced to study. In real life, Jaime Escalante was truly a great person. We all know that what he all did was to show his students the true value of education and life. He did not just explain the concepts of his lessons matter-of-factly, but he elaborated it on a note where the students could realize that, “Hey. This is something I wanted to learn!” True enough, he was not just am ordinary instructor, but a very special motivator. He has moved his students to act on themselves and show the world how important the role of the youth is. All these and more of his qualities have gained Escalante so much respect, not only from his class and co-citizens, but from Edward James Olmos himself. All these acting tools and techniques discussed sum up to one idea – Edward James Olmos has made it to Jaime Escalantes’ heart. He was not only able to study the character very well, but he almost got into his shoe and become that popular teacher who changed the life of the youth in Los Angeles. Olmos is now a lot far from his past experiences in acting. Works Cited Blood, Melanie. “Actor – Goals.” Geneseo Course Materials. n.d. Web. 11 September. 2012. Erickson, Hal. “Stand and Deliver (1988).” All Movie by Rovi. n.d. Web. 11 September. 2012. Geib, Richard. “Does Good Drama Make For Lazy Thinking?.” Los Angeles Herald. 6 July. 2004. Web. 11 September. 2012. Marlowe, Jenny. “Uta Hagen.” Loveacting.com. 30 October. 2008. Web. 11 September. 2012. “Presentational & Representational Acting.” Live Journal. 9 October. 2007. Web. 11 September. 2012. “’Respect for Acting’ by Uta Hagen.” Phil Gyford’s Website. 5 August. 2006. Web. 11 September. 2012. Read More