Technique Frees an Actor

Bogarde’s knowledge of the technical side of the camera and of acting for that lens was a great help to him in acquiring more control and power as an actor. Early in his career, the cameraman Bob Thomson commented on the actor’s lack of technical knowledge in film acting. Instead of getting angry, Bogarde was savvy enough to recognize how important the technical side was and set out to learn it. In an interview, he explained how crucial the knowledge was: ‘He told me how many frames went through the camera per second, per minute, per hour. It affects my acting in every possible detail. For instance, now I know I cannot move in a certain way because it’s too fast for the camera or too slow for the camera. How I lift a glass, how I move my head - it all depends on the lens. A 9 distorts you, a 50 is reasonable, a 75 is something else. I know them all now, but I didn’t know any of them then. I was doing wonderfully descriptive things with my hands and feet when the camera was cutting at my chin and hairline. I think you’ve got to be a technician. That’s what the man on the camera told me. I mean it’s no good going through a picture just looking pretty. You can do that for a while - with your tight pants and your riding boots and your good profile and all that, but something is going to go somewhere. Your face is going to slip and they’re going to get bored with you...’ (Wiedenman, 54)