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crying on command – How to do ?

Question:

"Bill Bershinger"

"Sorry to burst everyone’s  bubble, but in Hollywood the way they make actors cry is to have the makeup person blow thru a tube containing menthol crystals at the actors eye." The funny thing about these cute little let-me-set-the-record-straight one line posts is that they inevitably leave out one aspect of the industry or other in an attempt to "know it all" What about radio broadcast? RF

Response:

What about ANIMATION ??? HUH???? The funny thing about these cute little

let-me-set-the-record-straight one line posts is that they inevitably leave out

one aspect of the industry or other in an attempt to "know it all" What about radio broadcast?  Reg, real tears don’t MATTER when it’s RADIO.

Duhh! ;^)

Response:

The funny thing about these cute little let-me-set-the-record-straight one line posts is that they inevitably leave out one aspect of the industry or other in an attempt to "know it all" What about radio broadcast?

 Reg, real tears don’t MATTER when it’s RADIO. Duhh! ;^)

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What about ANIMATION ??? HUH????

Well, …he only asked about RADIO! …and REAL tears don’t matter for that EITHER!! DUHH!!! ;^)

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yes, but how do you make it SOUND real???

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yes, but how do you make it SOUND real???

maybe you need to reflect on why it is that you’re an actor. The whole point is to be able to attach emotions and bring a character to life. If you haven’t been able to get to that point, then crocodile tears won’t make a difference. angie of course I don’t look busy, I did it right the first time

Response:

A traumatic childhood might help, I had one and I cry all the time. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -hello, I am not an actor, but was wondering – just how actors prepare themselves to cry on command? Is there any thing special that they do? Just wondering… L. Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

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A traumatic childhood might help, I had one and I cry all the time.

A Method ACTOR!

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That doesn’t work if the tears come during the take.

Sure it does, they fix it in post.

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Strangely enough my current reading brings up the topic of crying, though from the writer’s perspective. It points out that in real life people tend to become introverted and defensive when they cry.  They will leave the room or move to a quiet corner.

This is true.  If you watch people when they cry, (though generally you’re occupied comforting them) you’ll notice that they very quickly try to muffle or hide the fact that they are crying.  It’s embarrassing the break down, and most people don’t want others to know they’re guard is down emotionally.  This is how I approach the task at hand. n.scott kozyra  .erik gloom.     .2000.

Response:

Sorry to burst everyone’s  bubble, but in Hollywood the way they make actors cry is to have the makeup person blow thru a tube containing menthol crystals at the actors eye.

No way, it’s all digital now. :) n.scott kozyra  .erik gloom.     .2000.

Response:

Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but in Hollywood the way they make actors cry is to have the makeup person blow thru a tube containing menthol crystals at the actors eye. No way, it’s all digital now. :)

Sorry guys, but you’re both wrong. How they do it, (in the case of a male actor), is to have the director whisper into the actors ear that Richard Simmons actually has a larger penis, …then he whips out a photograph to prove it just before the cameras roll.

Response:

Sorry to burst everyone’s  bubble, but in Hollywood the way they make actors cry is to have the makeup person blow thru a tube containing menthol crystals at the actors eye. Works on everybody.  No training required.

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Oh darnit, Bill….you said you would never ‘blab’ ;~]……I skin my finger in your general direction!….teaching those actors the ropes..My best, Bill… A.G.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Sorry to burst everyone’s  bubble, but in Hollywood the way they make actors cry is to have the makeup person blow thru a tube containing menthol crystals at the actors eye. Works on everybody.  No training required.

Response:

Sorry to burst everyone’s  bubble, but in Hollywood the way they make actors cry is to have the makeup person blow thru a tube containing menthol crystals at the actors eye.

Silly boy, That doesn’t work if the tears come during the take. And it definately does not help in an on camera audition. My bubble soars like "Glinda the Good". Look out for the falling house.

Response:

I think the real trick to crying, be it on stage or in front of a camera, is to keep it subtle.  Hysteria is all too often the type of crying employed, but in my experience, that type is rare in real life. Strangely enough my current reading brings up the topic of crying, though from the writer’s perspective. It points out that in real life people tend to become introverted and defensive when they cry.  They will leave the room or move to a quiet corner. The dramatist task is to take that moment of intense emotion (where, in reality the voice is usually cut off — with maybe a single thought cried out and broken by sobs) and give it a voice.  The audience wants to understand the the emotional journey of a character "on the text" and would not have the patience to sit through the crying spell to end as it would in real life. I also submit for the actor that finds it easy to cry and speaks of no technique:  You are most likely falling into a natural pattern of action that leads your character to tears.  I am sure you are not just walking in and thinking "Tears ON!’ like the human tourch of the Fantastic Four.  You do get to a point with any technique — even one that is self taught or picked up by instinct — that you don’t think about it anymore. That does not mean the technique is no longer necessary. It just means your work or natural talent is paying off. The dangers with young actors is that they tend to do this purely by instinct. As they get older and more rational, they lose the ability to naturally select imaginary images that lead to the emotions called for.  I believe that may be why some wonderful child actors can never make the transition to adult actor.  They either get stuck in a thought process that is inappropriate for an adult or they just lose it for lack of conscious technique.  (No "they grow up ugly" comments!) RF — A. I. T.

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hello, I am not an actor, but was wondering – just how actors prepare themselves to cry on command? Is there any thing special that they do? Just wondering…

That’s a complicated question, Lucy, but basically the actor has to empathize with his character emotionally.  Also, the fact of human nature is that we generally try NOT to cry and, when we do cry, we tend to stifle it if in the presence of others. I have had to cry a number of times on camera.  The most challenging part was not finding the trigger to bring tears, but to do it over and over and over again for close-up shots.   Ed Hooks

Response:

message Has awful news come?  Try giving yourself expectations of good news and let the

imagination take you there. Then try allowing the bad news to filter in —

Good point here RF. The best example I have from my personal experience is when I played Tchebutykin in Chekov’s "Three Sisters." The Samovar scene is exactly like this. I remember having to go from joviality to tears in the wink of an eye. This was one of the few times I needed to use some method techniques to do this in rehearsals. Funny thing was, as I developed the character and "became" more like him- these tears came from the text. Dashed expectations for a sentimentalist = tears. Chekov is great for these emotional 180’s. Those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to perform any oh his works might like to investigate for scene study work. Chekov stretches your chops.

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hello, I am not an actor, but was wondering – just how actors prepare themselves to cry on command? Is there any thing special that they do? Just wondering…

Some actors can just do it.  It’s like a faucet.  I can get it tears to "just happen," but their rarely prominent or obvious.  I think the real trick to crying, be it on stage or in front of a camera, is to keep it subtle.  Hysteria is all too often the type of crying employed, but in my experience, that type is rare in real life. n.scott kozyra  .erik gloom.     .2000.

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This is the big "no no" in my book.  The worst thing and actor can do is work "tears" into a performance. If I get the sense the director would like to see my character "cry", the first thing I do is put that "result" out of my mind.  I instead focus on what I need in the scene. I allow my deep desire to drive me through the moment.  If I am moved to tears "so what?" the question for me is always, to get what I want. Never is my task (as the character) to show an emotion. To put energy into displaying an emotion is like a cold shower for me. It so happens that I cry very readily when I am frustrated or even when I know the character would be frustrated, but I would never play frustration. I set myself up in the scene to be frustrated by what is happening. A trick I do find helpful is to lay a "land-mine" for myself in the scene. I look about the set or consider the other actors text and then embue it with a value.  For instance:  I was in a production of Cherry Orchard playing Petya (The perpetual student). When it was time to enter and greet Lyubov,  I took into account a samll childs rocker in the corner of the set. I allowed this chair to mark for me the spot where little Grisha (Lyubov’s little boy who drowned five years before — a boy I was hired to tutor) sat for his lessons.  Grisha was five years old when he died and Petya was probably responsible for that untimely death. The chair became a sign of my guilt over the boy’s death.  When I entered to greet Lyubov this chair was by her feet.  Petya needs to make her feel welcome knowing that she holds him responsible for her son’s death.  My goal was to avoid looking at the chair and keep my focus on her.  I could not, however, look in her direction without seeing the chair. Do you follow?  I gave myself an impossible task, based on what the character needed to accomplish in that moment. My job was to succeed in that task and to walk in believing I would succeed each performance. Each night, however, I failed and it was always devastating to me. RF — A. I. T.

Response:

"You come into the scene, already full of the emotion that will get you to the tears when the director yells "action".  I’ve never heard of a director just yelling "Okay, now CRY.  NOW."  But a good one will give you the time to prepare emotionally to reach that point." This is a good answer for film. I still leaves the question of how. What technique would be used to get to the emotional state? Otherwise you may as well pull nose hairs. Even pulling a nose hair the tears would be difficult to sustain. Or does emotional preparation mean saying "Okay — tears come?" One way is the individual taking their self through the steps of action. Even pulling a nose hair the tears would be difficult to sustain.  One might think through the moment before.  Has awful news come?  Try giving yourself expectations of good news and let the imagination take you there. Then try allowing the bad news to filter in — and fight it. If you keep the thought clear and from the character’s perspective it should not take you more than ten seconds to get to any state. Michael Chekov talks about cloaking one’s self in mood.  Not a mood of emotion but a mood that causes a particular reaction from you.  For instance if you imagine your self shrouded in gloom, eventually the body begins to respond.  It still should come from an external source.  If it does not work right away — choose a more powerful mood. This is actually something that gets easier  and more effective with practice and because it is based in phylopsychogenetics — the basic human psychological impulse it can be tapped and developed by everyone. I avoid films where "acting" is the focus (I tend to like film for its ability to present fantasy more than its realism). In film where we focus on the acting we are expected to be impressed with tricks of emotion.  And the test of a good performance has begun to be measured by the actors ability to cry.  It is very easy to "cry" if one has good technique but more often I see actors whose technique is "thinking into the lacrimal gland" (Believe it or not it can be done — notice the tight forehead before the tears fall). Now a film is judged by the number of tears shed and not the number of tears it causes its viewing audience to shed. I have shared my feelings about the film industry. Also remember that the camera is very invasive — unlike stage.  The contortions of forcing emotion become grotesque on the screen and make for horrible acting (the same can pass onstage because the audience cannot see the facial tension caused by insincere emotion). Very little becomes a lot and the camera will get what is needed.  The most reliable choice is to find something to react to and allow the thoughts, images and mood to take you. If you simply concentrate on working yourself up emotionally with no clear source for the emotion you will be screwed. — This of course   can be a good thing  ; ) RF — A. I. T.

Response:

Why pray tell would you like to know?

hello, I am not an actor, but was wondering – just how actors prepare themselves to cry on command? Is there any thing

special that they do? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Just wondering… L. Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

Response:

hello, I am not an actor, but was wondering – just how actors prepare themselves to cry on command? Is there any thing special that they do? Just wondering… L.

umm pulling nse hairs is one ive heard….actually I let the emotion take me…less is better… db

Response:

It’s called "emotional preparation".  You come into the scene, already full of the emotion that will get you to the tears when the director yells "action".  I’ve never heard of a director just yelling "Okay, now CRY.  NOW."  But a good one will give you the time to prepare emotionally to reach that point.  I’m learning how to do it, and once you tap into that emotional part of yourself, it gets much easier the more you do it. Even though the movie itself was "okay", Sandra Bullock in "Hope Floats" impressed me the most in this category.  There was a scene when she realizes how crappy her life has been, and when the director yelled "Action" and the cameras began to roll, she was ALREADY in hysterics; full-blown tears, eyes red as beets, nose running, the whole thing.  It was amazing, because she didn’t have any text in the scene to lead her up to the emotional boiling over point.  She had to be there already when the scene began, and it made ME cry; it was so believable.  Hope that answered your question. hello, I am not an actor, but was wondering – just how actors prepare themselves to cry on command? Is there any thing special that they do? Just wondering… L. Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

– Opus    (:   Member #4 of the Gage Brigade. "Our doubts are traitors and makes us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt."  –Lucio, Act 1, Scene 4, Measure, for Measure http://www.Carla.Coble.com – Acting site; not all links are viable yet. http://members.home.net/coble/OpusGraphics -Websets and Graphics http://drewcarey.acmecity.com/kate/43 -Blade Pro Presets

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hello, I am not an actor, but was wondering – just how actors prepare themselves to cry on command? Is there any thing special that they do? Just wondering… L. Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

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