Child actors/hand flapping

[GulPlum]

Spoiler-free for a change.

skyw1ngs wrote:

> Anyway, after PS/SS I also read a review about the kids' acting. It 
> said something to the effect of "Well, y'know they're just kids and 
> they have lots of time to improve with the later movies..." 
> Personally, I thought that even in PS/SS they were all great. Sure, 
> there are a few moments I thought needed more attention, but 
> considering the fact that they are that young with not a lot of 
> experience and doing such a great job already, wow!

That's the thing about child actors in their first major roles: 
expecations of thespian ability are low (and kids are normally cast 
for their looks anyway), so other things are usually highlighted in 
their performances. 

Take the example of one of my favourite movies ever, "Stand By Me", 
which relies on four 12-14 year old actors giving believable 
performances. Whether or not those kids were more talented than the 
Trio, I don't know, but director Rob Reiner had a very different 
approach to Columbus's, which had a visible difference. Before 
shooting started, he took the boys on a camping trip for 3 weeks (for 
those who don't know that movie, the action takes place over a 
weekend camping trip), during which time they discussed their 
characters, played out scenes, did improvisation games, just got to 
know each other (the characters were best friends and had grown up 
together), etc. 

Most of the film consists of unbroken 3-4 minute and sometimes longer 
tracking shots (SBM required less frenetic editing than that for the 
HP movies). From what I've heard about the making of PS/SS and CoS, 
getting the kids to stay in character for more than a few seconds of 
screen time was a huge problem. Certainly Columbus's self-confessed 
permanent egging on of the actors to get them to do what was needed 
was completely absent from SBM (and would have been impractical), 
except for a sequence when Reiner deliberately engineered a row with 
and put the fear of God into Will Wheaton and Jerry O'Connell when 
they were meant to be terrified (whatever they did, it worked - Jerry 
O'Connell later admitted that he was so scared he actually wet 
himself). :-)

All of that digression really serves to indicate that with child 
actors, a director's approach and the amount of preparation makes a 
HUGE difference.

Back to the subject, though. I wouldn't go as far as to call 
Daniel "mediocre", nor would I call him the "weak link" in CoS - that 
regrettable honour goes, as I've said before, to Rupert. See previous 
posts for elaboration. However, Daniel (and especially Columbus) rely 
far too much on his (admittedly very expressive) eyes and smile. The 
problem arises whenever Daniel has to *say* anything.

As for the "hand flapping", I don't really see that problem in either 
movie. In fact, IMO the opposite is the case. Columbus's preferred 
medium shots are chest-upwards, but on those occasions when he has 
reason for full body shots, Daniel generally stands there with his 
hands stock rigid at his sides.

Daniel (and Columbus) should take a leaf out of Jason Isaacs' book - 
being the consummate screen actor he is, I don't find it in the 
slightest bit surprising that he asked the costume dept. to give him 
a stick - it gives him something constructive to do with his hands. 

Several years ago, I saw a screen acting masterclass conducted by 
Michael Caine. He explained that this is why in all his early parts, 
he insisted on smoking whenever he didn't have anything else to do 
with his hands. It had nothing to do with being addicted, but a lot 
to do with not having to worry about what his hands were doing.

> Firstly, I was swept away by Emma's performance. She isn't like 
> Hermione, so totally embodying the character is an impressive feat. 

Actually, from what I've heard from a friend of mine who knows the 
Watson family, Emma is very much a prim little Miss Bossyboots. :-) 
She's not academically gifted (in her interviews, she focuses on 
problems with Hermione's long words), but character-wise, they are 
very close.