英语
Chapter 2 Character and Performance
-Introduction
公务员报名入口官网Characterization(⾓⾊塑造)and performance are two of the esntial aspects of any cinematic work：Without characters there can be no narrative--since narrative depends on characters taking action — and without performance characters cannot be prented to the audience．Characterization in films is sometimes novelistic(⼩说的，与⼩说有关的)，in the n that novels typically ek to convey depth and intricacy(复杂)of characters．However，characters on the bi2 screen may also be designed to fulfill certain“functions”in the narrative，or even to correspond to certain mythological“archetypes”．Characters will grow and develop through the cour of the film，but becau their growth cannot be described it must be shown through action．Cinematic performance has its own specific qualities，and film actors must be able to adapt themlves to the different per formative demands necessitated by the great variety of shots that can be employed．Hollywood performance has also developed in two radically different directions —towards both Method acting (⽅法表演) and the “star”performance (明星表演)⼀both of which are now a fundamental part of film history and of films as they are made today．Character Functions and Cast Design
Characters in films can be divided into three basic“functions”(or categories)：main characters，condary characters，and minor characters．Each of the functions has a certain role to play.
The main character is the most important character in a film, and the character of greatest interest．Usually the main character is also the ??pr otagonist", the character who actions trigger the chain of caus and effects that drive the plot forward. Occasionally，however，the protagonist is not the main character．Take Citizen Kane (《公民凯恩》) as an example．The main character-- the most important character--is Kane himlf．Kane is，however，dead，and so cannot function as a protagonist and drive the action forward．In this ca，the protagonist is the journalist who is investigating Kane and unearthing(挖掘)his dark crets．
The motivation and goal of the protagonist is what provides the impetus for the story，and when that goal is concluded the story ends．The protagonist is thus the character that the audience will focus on through the cour of the narrative．The audience will，accordingly，be encouraged to e the action from the perspective of the protagonist，and the chief ―point of view”will be that of this character．The audience will be most likely to identify emotionally with(认同)this character：to share his dreams，to sympathize with his problems，to pity his predicament(困境)，to share his elation(得意)when the action is successfully concluded，or to feel his pain when his goal is frustrated．The pr
otagonist will be involved throughout the whole cour of the narrative．and thus will be on screen most 0f the time．
Secondary characters are tho who interact with the protagonist and have significant impact on the development of the narrative. They can often be divided into three main functions the opposition character，the mirror character，and the romance character.
The opposition character (also known as the“antagonist(反⾯主⾓)”) is the character
Who oppos the intentions of the protagonist；antagonists stand in the way of protagonists and create obstacles for them．Antagonists are usually individual figures，but they often also
reprent and embody the whole system against which the protagonist is fighting．Occasionally，there maybe no single human antagonist but only ―forces of antagonism‖: a ferocious (凶残的) animal (Jaws (《⼤⽩鲨》))，a natural disaster (The Day After Tomorrow (《后天》))，a corrupt institution (All the President’s Men (《总统班底》))，lf-defeating racial prejudice (American History X (《野蛮良民》))，or a hopeless socio-economic system (The Full Monty (《光猪六壮⼠》))。The final climax of the film is normally a direct confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonist/forces of antagonism.
The protagonist is not always the hero/heroine, and the antagonist is not always the villain．The terms protagonist and antagonist refer specifically to the initiator (发起⼈) and oppor of the action respectively，and it is possible for the initiator of the action to be a villain (and，converly，for the oppor of the action to be a hero)．When protagonists are villains，they are referred to as“antiheroes(⾮英雄主⾓)”．Norman Bates in Psycho (“精神病患者》) is an antihero：Although a murderous psychopath(⼼理变态者)，he is nevertheless still the initiator of the main action of the film．
The mirror character (also known as the ― support‖) is the character most clearly aligned with (与……结盟) and supportive of, the protagonist．Mirror characters offer support to the protagonist through the difficulties of encounters，often becau they share with him certain beliefs and attitudes．They have the important dramatic function of engaging in regular dialogue with the protagonist，helping him to formulate (规划，设计) his goals and at the same time helping the audience to better understand the protagonist‘s character and situation．
The romance character (or ?'love interest‖ ) is the character with whom the protagonist is -- or becomes--romantically involved．The romance character may be the prize to be gained when the main plot is resolved(as is usually the ca in the romance genre)；or the relationship between the p
rotagonist and the romance character may function as the main subject of the subplot(次要情节) (as is usually the ca in other genres such as science fiction or the gangster film)．Either way，the romance character will alternately support the protagonist and oppo him，help him out and at the same time create difficulties for him．In this n the romance character can be viewed as a
Spectators come to engage and identify with characters in a three—stage process of recognition，alignment(结盟，合作)，and allegiance(忠诚)．Recognition is the translation of the fictional construct into a fully believable character．And occurs when we recognize the character as a type we might encounter either in life or in fiction．Alignment with a character occurs when the events of the story are prented from the point of view of the character．The final
stage，allegiance，Occurs when the spectator makes a judgment about whether or not the character is attractive and appealing．
Vogler’s Seven Character Archetypes
One alternative to the four—function model of cast design that Array can profitably be ud to analyze film characters is the model
formulated by Christopher V ogler．V ogler⼀formerly story
analyst at Disney and now Director of Development(发展部主管)at
Fox 2000(⼆⼗世纪福克斯电影公司)⼀studied the work of Joph
Campbell on the mythological basis of storytelling，and adapted
Campbell‘s thinking to cast new light on characterization in
cinema．His book，The Writer’s Journey：Mythic Structure for
Storytellers and Screenwriters(《作者的历程：讲故事者和编剧的
神话结构》)，has been called“the current industry bible”．
V ogler argues that there are ven basic character functions：
hero，mentor(导师)，threshold guardian(关卡守卫者)，herald(信
使)，shapeshifter (变化者)，shadow(影⼦)，and trickster(骗⼦，
魔术师)．The character functions are really best thought of as
character archetypes：That is，they are mythological types to which
humans respond on a deep instinctive level becau they reprent
the basic unchanging features of human experience．However，when
they appear in films they are also，very definitely，functions rather
man static character types since an individual character can，at different points in the film, play the
role of more than one of the archetypes．V ogler himlf suggested that they should be thought of
as masks that are worn by different characters through the cour of the action.
The character archetypes are key elements of a story pattern that gives (in Vogler‘s words)
“accurate models of the workings of the human mind，true maps of the psyche (⼼智，灵魂，精神). They do so becau，at the deepest level，they reflect different aspects of the human mind. The Hero is the ―ego‖，the lf-aware and lf-eking part of the psyche；the Shadow is the ―dark
side‖；and the Trickster reprents curious，probing，unorthodox(⾮正统的) tendencies，etc．
The table below gives an outline of the ven character archetypes described by Vogler and
声乐技巧
The Concept of “the Actor’s Two Bodies”
In his book，Hollywood Cinema(《好莱坞电影》)，the theorist Richard Maltby has suggested that，from the perspective of the audience，the film actor has“two bodies”．He argues that, becau the real actor and the character being acted must occupy the same physical body，“the audience experiences the prence of the performer as well as -- in the same body as -- the prence of the character．‖ When Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (《出租车司机》)，the audience accepts that it is really Robert De Niro acting a role，but at the same time ―suspension of disbelief‖in the illusion of cinema and imagines that the actor has disappeared and that Travis Bickle has taken his place．
Corresponding to the “two bodies‖ of the actor and Array the character are two fundamentally different acting styles．The performance style that emphasizes the reality of
the actor has been called the“prentational style (表现风
格)”becau the actor prents himlf to the audience as
himlf．Performances of this kind are relatively
―autonomous‖：That is，they stand out from the underlying
logic of character and narrative. Converly, the style that
downplays the reality of the actor has been called the
―reprentational style (再现风格)‖ becau the actor does
not prent himlf but instead reprents the character he
is playing．Performances of this kind are“integrated‖：That
is，they tend to submerge the identity of the actor in that of
the character．
Some performers (e．g．Marilyn Monroe) will lean
more towards the prentational style while others will lean
more towards a reprentational style(e．g．Dustin
Hoffman)，There is also probably a slight tendency for
Hollywood to employ the former technique，and for
European films to employ the latter．However，many actors口蘑的做法
will combine the two styles，even within a single film --
sometimes drawing attention to themlves as actors so
that the character becomes condary，and sometimes
immersing themlves so fully in their roles that the actor
is forgotten and the character is all that matters．Hollywood
often encourages the play between the two styles of acting
学习强国平台becau it is responding to two different kinds of cinematic
pleasure：the pleasure of immersing onelf in the fictional
world of the film and the pleasure of eing one‘s favorite
actor ―playing himlf'‖．
炖鱼头In their extreme forms，the reprentational and
prentational styles are manifested in two cinematic
phenomena：Method acting and the star system．
Method Acting
Method acting developed in the 1930s in New York‘s
牛油果辅食
Group Theatre and Actors Studio，where Lee Strasberg
began to implement and teach his own understanding of
the ideas of Russian director Constantin Stanislavski．The
Method (as it became known) became more influential
through the middle of the century，and its chief
adherents(追随者) ⼀actors such as Marion Brandon and Al Pacino won considerable acclaim
performances．By the 1970s，the u of the Method in films such as The Godfather(which
featured (由…主演) both Brandon and Pacino) confirmed its entry into mainstream of Hollywood
cinema.
The Method differed from the earlier styles of Hollywood acting in successful performance as more t
han a t of learned acting techniques ．Instead ，Method acting sought to employ the personality of the actor as a kind of psychical (灵魂的，精神的 )resource in the construction and performance of the fictional role ．Central to the theory of Method acting was the concept of ―affective memory ‖. Affective memory is constituted by tho deep memories -- fears ，desires ，anxieties --that can be drawn upon by the actor in order to better identify with the character ．Once ―tuned in ‖ to his own affective memory ，the actor can draw on it to actually experience (rather than merely reprent) the mental
and emotional state of the character in question ．When the actor has employed his own emotions to fully identify with the character ，he will naturally be able to behave and act in a way that is psych010gically convincing to the audience ．Adherents of the Method developed other techniques in order to better identify. – on every 1evel -- with their role ．For example ，Method actors will spend time with people who lifestyles are similar to tho of the characters they wish to play -- living with gangsters ，soldiers and drug addicts if necessary -- and they will attempt to stay in their roles even when not shooting ．The Method actor may even lo or gain weight as appropriate in order to better “live ”the bodily experience of the character ．Once full identification with the character has been achieved ，dialogue and behavior can be improvid (现场发挥，临时准备)，bringing an unexpected richness and psychological complexity to the role ．
In practice ，Method acting tends to produce certain kinds of performance ．In terms of dialogue and delivery ，the Method actor will frequently employ “phatic ”(交流感情的) communication -- stuttering(⼝吃)，mumbling(嘟囔)，pausing ，hesitating -- and may speak over the lines of other actors or speak in unfinished ntences ．In terms of gesture ，the Method actor will employ a range of minute movements and expressions to better convey the character ’S full range of idiosyncrasies(特性)⼀or whatever utterance ，gesture ，expression ，or movement emerges most naturally from the ―affective memory‖ of the actor who has fully identified with his character ．
The Star System
At the opposite pole of performance from Method acting is the star system ．Star ‘s performances tend to employ a more
―prentational ‖ style, allowing the persona of the actor or actress to stand out from that of the character ．
Hollywood‘s star system has attracted a lot of criticism on account of its subordination of aesthetic to economic imperatives ．It is certainly true that the star is a valuable economic ast ：as Ned Tanen (Ned Tanen ：内德·塔嫩，美国制⽚⼈) has obrved ，“A star has two things that an actor do
esn ‘t have ：charisma(魅⼒)and the ability to ll tickets ．”“Stars embody particular expectations and guarantee the audience particular kinds of pleasure ；they are ―industrial Commodities‖ that
attract financial backing and (often) guarantee financial rewards.‖ However ，it is equally true that the star phenomenon adds to audience pleasure ，and that the u of stars is one of the key techniques of filmmaking in Hollywood ．
形容新的成语What ，then ，is a “star ”? Many theorists argue that stars are a kind of text ，in the n that their real flesh —and —blood existence is condary to the various textual forms in which they appear before the public(i ．e ．promotion ，publicity
，and criticism ，as well as the films themlves)．”In this way stars are literally created by the Hollywood studios ，who executives are fully aware of the economic benefits that can be derived from them ．
Richard Dyer ‘s Stars (《明星》)，the most influential book on the topic ，lists the four main elements in the production of a star ：promotion ，publicity ，films ，and criticism ／commentary ．Promotion refers to the work done by studios to put forward a definite image for the star -- a process that could involve changing names ，arranging interviews ，constructing artificial life histories ，and
even managing personal relationships ．Publicity is the
non —deliberate emergence of personal information about the star into the public sphere ．Publicity can sometimes appear to be negative and potentially damaging to the star ‘s prospects (as ，for example ，rumors about the possible homoxuality (同性恋) of figures such as Tom Crui)．However ，from the perspective of the studios ，the dictum that “there ‘s no such thing as bad publicity ”usually applies ：Whether or not Tom Crui is actually homoxual ，the rumors still rved to keep him and his film star wife (Nicole Kidman) squarely in the public eye just when Eyes Wide Shut (《眼界》)，a film in which they played husband and wife ，was relead ．Criticism and commentary about stars (including this book) further rve to perpetuate the prence of the stars in the imagination of the public.
Why are audiences attracted to stars? Usually the male star has been viewed as a kind of ego ideal, a kind of ―better lf ‖, who compensates on an imaginary 1evel for
a “lack ”of some spectacle that interrupts the narrative to give the spectator erotic (性爱的，⾊情的) pleasure ．”Journalist Charles Fleming tells the following story about the casting(挑选演员) decisions for the female 1ead in Flash dance (《闪舞》)，“Unable to make up his own mind, a frustrated Michael Eisner [president and chief operating officer of Paramount Pictures] gathered a group of Teamsters and other studio employees for a viewing of the actress ’screen tests ．He asked the laborers, ―Which one of tho girls do you most want …. They most wanted [Jennifer] Beals ‖. Beals ，accordingly
，got the jo
b ．
With regard to the films themlves, Hollywood producers employ two basic techniques when making decisions about casting stars ：
·Typecasting(定型) To typecast is to repeatedly assign certain kinds of roles to a performer ．In practice ，typecasting is combined with the development of “star vehicles ”(i ．e ．films and roles th
at are designed specifically to be performed by a certain star)．The typecasting of stars and the development of star vehicles means personality ，attitudes ，dialogue ，style ，and mannerisms of the character ，as well as assumptions about the kind of narrative the character is likely to be involved in ．The mere prence of, say ，Hugh Grant in a film will communicate a great deal of information to the potential audience —i ．e ．that the film will be a romantic comedy about a good —natured but slightly confud and easily embarrasd Englishman with a dry ，ironic n形容友谊长久的句子
of humor．Typecasting is effective (and thus economically profitable) becau it brings to the audience a ―known product‖that has plead them before，and so is likely to do so again．It can also be artistically effective becau important information about character and narrative is communicated even before the opening credits roll．
·Offcasting (转型) Offcasting is the opposite of typecasting．It refers to the assignment of a role to a star which is quite different to—and even the opposite of—their usual“typecast”role．There is a definite relationship between typecasting and offcasting：Offcasting is only possible becau a star has previously been typecast；and offcasting is sometimes necessary precily becau the star has been repeatedly typecast and the audience is in danger of losing interest in the star．Array Typecasting and offcasting：The Career of Harrison Ford
The career of Harrison Ford shows something of the delicate
balance between typecasting and offcasting．In his early roles as Hans
Solo (Star Wars) and Rick Deckard (Blade Runner) he was a“rough
diamond”character，a rogue(⽆赖)with a heart of gold．In the middle
period of his career (Witness (《⽬击者》)，Working Girl (《打⼯⼥郎》)，
Regarding Henry (“关于亨利》)，Patriot Games (《爱国者游戏》))，
the characters he played were men of integrity -- respectable
professionals and honest family men．On the point of becoming typecast，he starred alongside Michelle Pfeiffer in What Lies Beneath(《谎⾔背后》)．The audience，familiar with Ford‘s career，expected another ―Harrison Ford plays responsible family man‖performance，but instead it emerged that this character had been hiding some very dark crets from his wife The ending of the film is powerful and shocking not just becau of the narrative“twist in the tale”, but becau Ford has been offcast in a role that is diametrically (完全地) opposite to the one he usually plays．
