A while back I talked about Laban's theories of gesture. Maybe I should give equal time to gesturist I like a lot better: Francois Delsarte. Delsarte was the 19th century theoritician who came up with the over-the-top acting style you see in some silent films, the ones where the poor old lady is thrown out of her house by the evil, black-caped landlord. The technique is so old-fashioned and so funny-looking that our entire modern theory of acting exists to refute and bury it. That's too bad because nothing better has ever been invented.
I'm not saying that we should throw out all the great performances of the last 100+ years and go back to stylized caricature. What I'm saying is that we should keep what was of value in Delsarte: strong sillouettes, an emphasis on style that seems real rather than realism, and acting with the whole body rather than the face where it's appropriate.
If you think Delsarte was only studied by campy, second-rate actors, think again. Among his advocates were dancerIsadora Duncan and fundamentalist preacher Billy Sunday (above and below). I'd like to add Lawrence Olivier but that's a guess and I haven't read it anywhere.
Billy Sunday is the best American orator I've ever heard. You can hear him here at: http://billysunday.org/audio/prohibition.wavDelsarte was a elocution theorist as well as a movement specialist. Billy Sunday didn't try to tone down Delsarte, he pumped it up and exagerrated it. He was the most popular preacher of his day. I've never seen a film of Billy but I've seen a lot of still pictures. He must have put on quite a show.
28 comments:
I love those pictures. Even from the film still there is a huge amount of movement.
It got me to thinking; is there anyone acting like this now?
Well, maybe in comedy. I'm not a big fan, but take a look at some of Jim Carrey's performances. Ace Ventura, The Mask. His movements are really over-the-top in normal, modern acting terms.
Looking at him in the light of your post, he seems to be doing tings in a more energetic and cartoony way.
I might go take another look.
I love the old acting style of silent films. I'm not too keen on the acting process, but I believe Delsarte's theories can still serve as a building block of sorts for many styles of acting, though comedy does seem to suit it best these days. But horror can also take some of those exaggerated cues from it. Drama and action can tweak it around as well. Laban has good theories, too and maybe both his and Delsarte's theories can be tweaked here and there to work together in some parts. Like I say, I know very little about either,but it seems like Delsarte deserves more appreciation than what is apparently thought of him these days.
Charlie: Jim Carrey's a great example of what I'm talking about!
For all its many defects "Ace Ventura" was a landmark film that reintroduced audiences to physical comedy. It looked like Carrey killed himself to come up with routines and schtick for Ace and that's what a comedian is supposed to do. It's not supposed to be easy.
This is totally off topic sorta, but still on the theory of acting, as applicable to animation.
The other day, I was thinking of great scenery chewers like Rod Steiger, I thought Rod would make a great George Liquor.
And 1955's The Big Knife with Jack Palance and Ida Lupino, whew! What a great use of scenery chewing for melodramatic intent!
It happens to be hilarious in its way as well, while still carrying forth the intended emotion. Overacting is an art, and is not always a bad thing.
I don't know if Steiger was necessarily of the gestural school or not.
Anonymous: What's a scenery chewer?
This is my favorite style of acting- it is the most exaggerated and fun to watch. When someone is in turmoil they throw themselves around as if they were in a tornado. One must admire the kind of motivation it takes.
Louisa: Ah, that's what scene chewing is! Thanks. I only know one insider theater term...to give somebody the "fish," in other words to steal the scene by intensely staring at the actor who's talking so the audience is looking at the starer and not the speaker.
Hey, Louisa...you probably know about that scene-stealing book called "Coarse Acting." It's a great idea for a book but there must be a better one out there. Any recommendation for a funny book about bad acting or scene stealing?
I wonder if Delsart was heavily influenced by Renaissance artists. It would be amazing if Delsart arrived at these poses de novo.
Dear Eddie
I would like to know much more about Delsarte's system of expressions. Where do I find it? I searched on Google and Wikipedia and I had no luck. Can you help me?
Charlie: Jim Carrey's a great example of what I'm talking about!
For all its many defects "Ace Ventura" was a landmark film that reintroduced audiences to physical comedy. It looked like Carrey killed himself to come up with routines and schtick for Ace and that's what a comedian is supposed to do. It's not supposed to be easy.
Jim Carrey has a very mobile face and great physicality. He can do amazing impressions of celebrities where he not only sounds like them, but looks like them without the aid of makeup! He's very good in skits and as a stand up comedian. However, in most of his movie comedies, while he does some great work here and there, for the most part he mugs at the camera! I hate mugging! It's an insincere form of broad acting where the actor has gone too far and the performance has lost all believablility. (Although Carrey was very good in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.")
For goog broad acting and physical comedy I'd pick John Cleese for a recent example. Actually physical comedy never really went away. Think of Woody Allen in "Sleeper" in the 70's. You had Dick Van Dyke and John Cleese on tv in the 60's. Jerry Lewis in the 50's, Red Skelton in the 40's, etc. I know you know the rest in the 30's and 20's. (I can't think of an example for the 80's thought.)
Eddie--
As an example of broad acting but with sincerity, I think Clampett's TORTOISE WINS BY A HARE fits the bill.
In the opening scene Bugs is the angriest he's ever been, railing against a turtle beating a rabbit. The animation is broad & energenic but it's always believable. Bugs speaks directly into camera, yet there's no mugging going on here.
During the race, Bugs (now dressed as Cecil Turtle) spots the finish line. In a bit of dialog that just drips with pure, raw honest emotion Bugs, elated and almost incredulous, says "There's the finish line, I'm gonna win! I'm gonna win!" It's the best vocal performance I've ever heard from Mel Blanc. It's funny, yet almost heartbreaking at the same time.
This is acting from the inside. It comes from real emotion first, everything else is window dressing. With live actors like Carrey, and, at times, the great Peter Sellers it comes from the outside. Funny costumes and hairstyles, strange voices and accents help them find the character. Their acting is an imitatiion of emotion, not the real thing.
(I'm generalizing, of course. Both actors have had their moments in film and have starred in classics, too.)
There's no editing of posts here, unfortunately. I've mispelled believability and good (as "goog", how embarring!) in my fist post.
I don't know if in the case of Steiger, going over the top was necessarily a bad thing. Not at all. You could consider that it may have stolen a scene, but it may have really driven the dramatic point that was necessary.
I really didn't like Carrey on Living Color, because it was ALWAYS ON mugging-- there was next to NO naturalism in those skits, and often worked against the intent. He's much better on film, with more breathing room.
Max: Look up "Francois Delsarte acting" on Google's web search. There's not much there but it's a start.
Oops, I've also mispelled embarrassing.
Say, isn't "Elmer Gantry" based on Billy Sunday? Wasn't Sunday a former football player, too?
jj,
Billy Sunday was a very good and famous baseball player.
Jason Kranzusch
There's a great book called "Delsarte's System of Oratory" which can be found online in its entirety. I highly recommend it.
Delsarte is a controversial figure in acting schools, mostly because people hear about the gestures but never learn the theory. One of his valuable contributions to stylized acting was the way he divided the body into three regions; the mental (head), the emotional (chest) and physical (arms and legs). Each region is then divided into subgroups. The forehead is intellect, the eyes and nose are emotion, the mouth is physical, etc. And sure enough, the whole body seems to follow this pattern.
It's a great system to use while observing people, and there are limitless ways you can apply it to character, especially in animation.
Chicago was the one town Billy Sunday couldn't shut down.
Jeremiah: I've thumbed through the "Oratory" book and was disappointed to find that there's not many pictures apart from drawings of feet and photos of Greek statues.
Ah, yes. Well, it's more a book about his theories on aethetics. I've never had much luck finding books that were heavy on pictures.
One book that I know of is Every Little Movement by Ted Shawn. It's written for dancers, so it only covers gestures that apply to dance. It's also very difficult to find.
Jeremiah: Thanks for the tip! I'll look for it! At the risk of boring everybody to tears I'm going to do another post on Delsarte based on the giant/dwarf poses on this post.
No problem.
I just got overexcited to see somebody speaking positively about Delsarte. I look forward to future posts about him.
Jeremiah: Do you know which book contained the pictures I posted?
They might be from Delsarte's System of Expression. I haven't look at it in a long time.
I was wrong! They're from "Pastimes at Home and School".
As perhaps the only recognized serious practitioner and teacher of Delsarte in the country, I would like to add to this. The few Delsarte teachers in the direct lineage of Delsarte and Mackaye were outraged at the "posing" and "mechanical mugging" done in the name of Delsarte. A serious study of the literature, and less study of sketched poses by lesser, if not false teachers, yields a powerful study of genuine expressive theory based on mind/body/spirit one hundred fifty years ahead of his time. Accurately speaking there is no "delsarte style." His real work was observation of truth in human behavior, and the real techniqe was intended only to be a warm up. the earliest teachers were very clear in their writings on that subject. Genevieve Stebbins, author of "the Delsarte System of Expression" wrote that a true Delsartian would no more go on stage and "do" Delsarte, than a singer would go on stage and do her scales. Mackaye himself is quoted describing the difference between expression which is honest and spontaneous and exhibition. He said there is no such thing as a "Delsarte Pose" and denegrated posed acting as "exaggerated beyond its cause." I am happy to provide the footnotes from the real teachers if desired. Victorian society and Victorian theater were melodramatic enough and stylized without Delsarte's help. Delsarte has gotten the worst bum rap of anyone in theater history. I am well aware that this flies in the face of all theater history books, but the truth is the truth. If anyone has any questions I love to answer them. I have been teaching seminars for nine years, practicing the warm-up technique for twelve.
Joe Williams
Dalcroze Institute at Juilliard
DelsarteProject.com
I believe that it would be best for actors to take from life in a natural way, generally speaking. But, I think this system still has it's own level of application and it certainly should be an area of study amongst animators. The main pit fall of such a system, however, is confusing these gestures as entirely truthful representations of reality. But when recognizes that this is a language of emoting rather than actual, naturalistic acting, than one should be able to avoid that pitfall.
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