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>Let's take Reeves' performance in the Matrix as a theoretical >example to explain the 95/5 theory; his actual performance >isn't an issue because I'm trying to attack this from a >director/producer's viewpoint. Meaning, someone who realizes >he might have to mask the shortcomings of a mediocre actor.
Let me just interrupt and say that while I don't think I consider Reeves a keen enough actor to be held responsible for his successes or failures, and I'd pass of that credit or criticism to any of a number of other people, it's not like he Keanu himself doesn't enter the equation. Some of that credit or criticism must go to him--of course, he's not just a robot, kinda--but it's definitely not primary and very minimal either way. (And that's not me just covering myself.)
>The Wachowski's wanted a male lead with a somewhat effeminate, >somewhat racially ambiguous appearence for their lead; someone >with the characteristics they've applied to all the other >characters in their script. Already, based on his looks >alone, Reeves fits into the Matrix script that is partially >built around the lead characters appearence. Because Reeves >meshes so well with the other visual elements of the film, he >doesn't seem out of place. And because bad acting always >seems out of place, being visually appropriate for the film >counteracts any bad acting that might occur.
I've never looked at it like that, but I guess he did have the right physical character to camouflage himself to some degree.
>Let's say, hypothetically, that the Wachowski's originally >wrote Neo's character with long monologues about >extetientialism and postmodernism to demonstrate his knowledge >of books and author's such as Simulacra and Simulation by >Baudrillard (a book we see him reading in the film). At the >table reading with Reeves, it becomes achingly appearent he >won't be able to carry these monologues convincingly and he >will seem out of place in the film. So, the script is >modified and Neo know plays more of a student's role to >Morpheus's teacher. Better yet, lets say they shoot the >script verbatim but don't recognize Reeves' poor delivery >until they're in the editing room. They make the same >decision to play Neo as the student to Morpheus's teacher, but >now they have to do it by editing out lines, by deciding what >is the best that should be left in. Where before the edit, >Reeves proved himself to be a terrible actor, after the edit, >Reeves seems like a subdued actor who understands that his >character is humbled to Morpheus's knowledge. Basically, in >the former he seems out of place and in the latter he is not >disruptive to the flow of the film. In this hypothetical, >casting and editing elevated Reeves from a poor actor to a >competent one; from an actor who takes the audience out of the >fantasy to an actor who seems well placed and appropriate to >the audience. > >Mech
More or less, yes. Good read on the importance of casting.
This example of the influence of editing just popped into my head:
Let's say you take a good actor even, not Reeves, and film a scene where this actor is answering a phone call from the police and is meant to be reacting to news of the death of his wife and two newborn infants in a fire. Director yells action, actors acts appropriately, director yells cut and print, they wrap. Now this a little extreme but it's just a hypothetical--let's say that in the editing booth the director decides this story of a dead wife and two children isn't working. Not having the budget to reshoot, the director instead dubs in his own voice on the incoming telephone call that we see on screen. Instead of being tragic news from the police, now the phone call is from the nearby pizza place, where they're reporting that they don't have enough mushrooms to complete the order. If you change that context through editing, the director's responsibility and manipulation, to where now we see the actor displaying this heartaching loss about a medium mushroom, the whole idea of the actor here changes and would certainly be called an irrational performance.
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