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[Alter_Fridge]

I know editing and prompting and all that, but these people have hours of dialogue to learn for an event.

From a lay person's point of view, it seems tough since you have to actually do the acting as well as say the lines from memory

I'm still waiting for a documentary to come along which details the whole acting process from whoa to go, with every edit and every stop and start

To my knowledge, that's never been done before

 

[INC]

Pretty easy, if you've ever done any form of stage production in school.

Plus they don't learn it all at once, they learn scene by scene, a film isn't filmed chronologically

 

[AJUMP23]

You learn your scenes for the day. And you have time in your trailer to learn between scenes. Unless your Harrison Ford and tell Lucas no one can say this.

 

[Alter_Fridge]

Pretty easy, if you've ever done any form of stage production in school.

Plus they don't learn it all at once, they learn scene by scene, a film isn't filmed chronologically

Never took elective drama in high school, so I guess I'm pretty naive

And this is exactly why a want a documentary that documents the fuck out of making a film from absolute whoa to go.

Would probably be best served as an 8-10 piece series, but I think it could be absolutely fascinating

 

[jason10mm]

It varies by the actor. Clearly actors CAN memorize the entire script, stage actors do it all the time. But film and tv can be too fast for that (an ep of tv usually takes a week to film) or even be rewritten on set. Plus actors often film coverage with other people, or its too windy/loud so they have to record their lines later.

There is not a single process for everyone. Some actors do memorize their lines, as well as all the others in a scene. But they often forget or flub a line, requiring a reshoot. Just watch the outtakes at the end of a film to see how often this can happen.

 

[jason10mm]

Other tricks include cue cards held off camera and having an earpiece to feed lines. You see these used a lot on SNL. Telenovela/soap opera actors live this way since the pace is so fast. They gotta memorize on the spot or act while being fed their lines in real time.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Here’s a nice window into the process:

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

I know editing and prompting and all that, but these people have hours of dialogue to learn for an event.

From a lay person's point of view, it seems tough since you have to actually do the acting as well as say the lines from memory

I'm still waiting for a documentary to come along which details the whole acting process from whoa to go, with every edit and every stop and start

To my knowledge, that's never been done before

It's actually simple. I think the key is not to learn the script ... but to understand the script and the situation, that way you can improvise the dialogues and more easily remember the phrases you are going to say.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

It's actually simple. I think the key is not to learn the script ... but to understand the script and the situation, that way you can improvise the dialogues and more easily remember the phrases you are going to say.

Unless you’re working with Kubrick. He hated it when the actors tried to improvise (some exceptions of course).

 

[Fbh]

It doesn't really seem that hard, specially when you can cut and make multiple takes.
Keep in mind the average movie gets shot over several months , so I imagine the lead actor isn't often expected to show up on day 1 having fully memorized every single line of dialog, nor will they be recording hours worth of unique dialog on a single day.

 

[T8SC]

Will Smith used to learn everyone's lines in the early series of The Fresh Prince. If you watch him, you'll see his lips move as others speak.

 

[Blade2.0]

It really just depends on the person. Some people are better with words and memorizing them, some people are better with math. Really just depends on your tolerance for the material. Other things that may make it worse or better (diet, tiredness, anger at something, etc.)