Evening journal., 1916-02-25
ACTING WITHOUT WORDS--PANTOMIME ART


All photoplay acting is panto-
mime Not in the sense that the
director or professional refers to
pantomime but as the man in the
audience sees it. Pantomime to the
professional. meaning the player, is
"mugging' a part. or "acting" IT,.
Paniomime TO the man in the audi
ence is conveying thought and emo
tion by means Of body movements,
without conversation.
Directors assert that this classic
form Of expression was limited to
the folk lore tales that could be in
terproted but such characters as
Harlequin, Pantaloon and Columbine
in dumb show performance. But in
spite OF what directors say, motion
picture acting is pantomimc
Be natural That is the first de-
mand Of the director Convey intel
lieence TO your audience by what you
do in a natural manner on the screen.
Don't exaggerate. This requires a
complete mastery OF the art Of panto-
mime.
ing the fool with ridiculous gesture is
not pantomimo. Pantomimo is the art
OF initiating physical expression with
naturalness and ease.
shall never FORGET the shock
received when I watched my FIRST pic
ture in which ] did tho natural things.
I was astonishcd ! had played on the
legitimate stage and believed ! was
comparatively graceful. Horrors -
my awkwardness IN that film was ap-
nalling Right then began my train
ing in pan'omimc. 10 has continued
over since have been star four
years. yet learn something new in
every picture.
Moving picture acting I'M an on
,ircly new mode OF expression. It Is
talk without words. There is no hu-
man emotion that cannot he depicted
on the screen. In getting these over"
the whole body is brought into play
There is no portion Of the human form
that does not have its work to do.
Unity OF tho body as a whole is just
as essential TO successful pantomime
expression as is the support OF
cast to the star i'm a successful play.
In expressing emotions with the
body. the torso plays the most inn
portant part Hate. fear, passion, are
shown TO great advantage with the
torso. I'm fact the torso is used for
portrayng every emotion The hand,
the head. the eyc-no portion OF the
body can assume a given position un-
iii the torso has taken a position to
support this attitude The hands and
arms in an attitude OF hate without
tho harmonizing support Of the torso
would be laughable. or course. in as
suming these postures. the action OF
head. hand foot and torso all seem
TO be simultaneous.
The difficult thing in pantomime is
TO assume any attitude sufficiently ex-
aggerated 10 make the audience hear
II and yet make the position appear
natural Assume a posture register
ing dignity, for instance. q "Sir how
dare youl" attitude and make the
lines OF the pose please the eye and
set convey TO the ear OF the audience
The sound Of the lady's rebuke. That Is
paniomimc.
Dignity and pride. as we'll as tri-
nmph are primarily expressed by the
torso. The erect position unfailingly
gives such impressions. BY drawing
the body up to its fun height. elation
is brought out The opposite. shown
by letting the BODY sag, voices defeat
The finer shades Of expression are
brought out by the arms. hands and
eyes. But the bald. bold points are
made by the trained player with the
body proper.
Nn the next article Miss Saunders
discusses face and head. explaining
the relation they bear TO the body and
their Importance in the art of panto-
mimc) I'D.