Acting

I brought up acting today, and I found out many people do not know the differences between acting in theatre, and acting in films.
(At first, I was surprised, but then remembered not everyone has the same interests as i do, and may really not know.)

So I would like to make some interesting points, similarities and differences between the two.
(just to clarify: I do not know EVERYTHING on the matter, I'm just stating these things as things I notice. All matter of opinion.)

Theatre acting- you stand on a stage and do your scene, live in front of an audience. Your voice must carry enough to reach the back row, and be heard clearly. This would include music, if the play has any. Your make up (if any) is done to bring out features from a distance- sometimes the same actor plays multiple parts in a play. The actions and emotions also need to be expressed big enough to, again, be noticed from the back row, as well as the first. If you have a sad scene, and you cry real tears on cue, it doesn't really help. The person in the back row won't be able to see them and say "wow! What a talented actor!" Maybe someone in the first row, but they most likely wont see it unless it is messing up the stage make up.  I am in no way saying its so easy, you can remember a few lines, wave your arms a bit and yell at your fellow actors like Gilbert Godfrey, and you will be a sensation.
Not at all. These actors and actresses remember full scripts of all characters of theirs (and sometimes the entire script in general) With Visual and audio ques, too. Once the play starts, there's no "When your ready" its now, or never. Costume changes between scenes and scene switches in most plays... And if you forget a line?! Oh, its embarrassing! Even with hours and hours of rehearsals, they are human, and they have an occasional brain fart. Laughing when an actor says "line" is never appreciated. It only makes them even more nervous.

I'm not saying Theatre actors is easier than film, or vice verse.

With film, You are on scene with camera crew, lights, and possibly several other people looking at you, expecting you to, make them believe you are who your acting to be. If your character is a Greek God, the director better get chills down his spine with your face, and line delivery.
Its mostly in the eyes. If you can make a believer out of the director and crew, you have the audience (in sense) Make up is used differently, and sometimes in unnoticeable to the eye. Music is not an issue in most cases, because it can be added in later for dramatic effect or any thing else the scene may require. Being able to cry on cue will be a good thing in film, because the camera can be in your face, and getting those real tears streaming down your cheek. The audience feels closer to you when the camera has such a close shot. Audio, you can whisper, and the microphone will pick it up. (In some cases, it will pick up a cell phone vibrating on set. If it ruins a shot, it could mean trouble.) You can do the same scene as many times as it takes until you get it right. If you forget a line, it isn't a big deal, just try it again, and it will be edited with the best takes to make the best production as possible.

When people ask me who's my favorite actor, I tell them Tom Hanks. Before you ask yourself "Why Tom Hanks?" Look at his films he has done, look at the man's range of talent.
In "Big" I really believed he was a kid who grew up over night. Saving Private Ryan, total opposite. Money Pit, Terminal, Cast Away, Toy Story- I believed EVERY role he played. He truly is an amazing actor who deserves much more credit than he gets. Two other men I respect as talented actors; one you know from Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston. The range- POLAR OPPOSITE. From dorky little Hal, to "I AM the danger" Walter White. I laughed with Hal, I feared Walter. Loved them both. From what I have seen on his imdb, hes got a great work ethic. And it shows.
The other Actor i respect is Brian Krause. A-Freaking-Mazing. (He plays Leo in the Charmed Series) He has a playful sense to him, and when its time to cry- Oh sh*t, do I feel the need to do it. (Spoiler) When he cries over Piper's death- :'( I saw his face, and i break into tears with him. (Even though Prue steals the moment from him and sends him away again... ugh. I don't like Her at all. Snobby actress. :P)
And according to HIS imdb, he stays busy. VERY busy. His work ethic it a little bit higher than Cranston's, and I respect him for it. These guys are all extremely talented.

Some people seem to have only a few characters they do with different names... like Pauly Shore. He really only played himself, with a different name. I enjoy his films, but at some points it seems as though the scripts were written with him in mind to play the part.
Another person with a similar trait (I'm gonna get hate for this one, always do) Adam Sandler. His movies are funny, but its like watching 3 versions of him than the one. so, hes like 3 Pauly Shores in one person. :/ . (Hate Initiated)
Adam's characters seems to be the same ones who boosted his career upward. He has 3 characters as i said before, Billy Madison- the child-like voice, immaturity ya, ya, ya. Happy Gilmore- Screaming and other loud things he does, and Himself. Adam. That's just him talking, mostly what you see in Big Daddy, until its screaming time, then its Happy Gilmore.
I still respect Adam Sandler. He works hard and has some good material and occasional excellent dialogue delivery. I still like most of his movies and comedy. Just not an everyday-type of thing for me is all.
A lot of actors have, what I refer to as, an "Acting Tick"- Its something the actor does, when they are acting that may not be noticed by anyone except an overly observant few. These ticks can occur after the take, some actors look directly at the camera as the director says "cut". The best way to explain ticks is to give some examples of ones I have seen.
1. "Look of Approval"
This happens sometimes with an actor I have worked with in the past, (to clarify, I considered myself to be this person's personal director, because they respond to my direction better than the directors') After cut, They would look directly at me as if to say "Did I do good?" Some times they would even ask me, and I had to wait from direction from the director so I could translate it into "Human" (The director on this project was a bit of an arrogant prick and his idea of directing was "do it better".)
2."Repetitive-Over-Alibiing"
This one can get bad, especially when editing, and having to re-record audio segments for some reason (ADR) This happens frequently with newer actors, using other words along with the scripted dialogue to sound more natural, but starts sounding drawn out, and very repetitive. Kind of like when a ditsy high school girl would say "like" for every other word? Like that, but less repetitive. "stalling words" like uhh, um, like... get repeated more often when they are UN scripted. In one case, the actor kept saying "Straight up", which was only scripted once, in the beginning in the block of dialogue, but they added it two more times, and in some takes, just said "Straight." For an audio issue, I had to re-record his line according to the cut used to fit and look right, and it took longer than needed because the line was diluted in the cut. (you may wonder why i didn't use a different take, the reason was continuity-wise, it was the best one.) Even with the audio matching it still needed to be re-cut to match perfectly, which just needed a quick reaction shot of the dialogue, and it worked out all right.
Another example would be with a different actor, saying "You know" or "You think" in front of the dialogue, which to me, just gets bothersome to a point.
3."Rapid Blinking"
I saw it in a movie, or a show, when the actress noticed the newscaster blinking a lot, she knew it was a lie. I haven't seen this one on anyone else but myself. My eyes must get dry or something when I'm acting, because i blink like I'm fanning the crew down on set with my eyelashes. No kidding.
4. "Reused Faces"
I do this one too. My lip makes a weird move depending on the emotion trying to express. Concerned it curls up like Elvis if he bit his other lip. One actor's eyes would widen, look to the side, and their mouth would be closed tight. Almost like a "I hope no one heard that fart." face. These faces happen so often, its like the whole "Pauly Shore" thing already.

No one is perfect, and I know for damn sure I'm not perfect, but when I do any acting, I try to put myself as that character, and it is happening to me. Not character, me. See things from his POV, with his personality, and do it. If I make an ass of myself, at least it was recorded, and can be added to a blooper reel later.
Sometimes, the mood just doesn't feel right, and I cannot get into that mindset i need to be.
In one case, I needed to be scared, tired, single father English professor. Another actor/crew member was asking me questions about another project (a comedy series) which distracted me from the one being filmed.

I think I'll stick to what I know for now, and tread in the dangerous waters when the opportunity comes up. Writing, script doctoring, 3D modeling, and special effects.
That's my comfort zone.