Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 12:10 pm
Mark and Paul,
Let me try to translate a column written by our Dutch writer (and poet) Remco Campert in last wednesday's morning paper 'De Volkskrant'.
Bear with me, it seems off-topic, but I don't think it is. It's called:
JUST WALKING
The other day I had to walk for the movies. I just had to walk the streets. No special actions were expected of me during the walk. No happy sign of recognition on my face while discovering an approaching friend. Not the hurtfull expression on my face of a writer, who's pondering his work. No slippery actions caused by the skin of a banana.
Just walking, straight ahead. The task seemed easy enough, the execution of it turned out to be more complicated than I thought.
Just walking: how in fact do you do that?
Now that I knew a camera was pointed at me I started to think about it, which I would never do under normal circumstances. In that case I'd just walk around and think about other things.
Just walking suddenly became a problem.
When the filmmaker shouts: "Action!", which foot do you start with? I decided on my left foot, but out of sheer nervousness, it became the right one. Once the machinery of my body was in motion, I kept wondering whether I was walking normally enough. Was I maybe walking too much in a specific direction? I was supposed to walk like somebody who does his daily stroll, but was I capable of expressing just that?
My respect for actors grew instantly. They've learned of course during their education how to walk 'normally', while being followed by a camera. I would also like to achieve something grand like that. Like a true amateur I was taking my steps forward, while trying to put on an ordinary expression on my face. Suddenly I had no idea what the ordinary expression on my face looked like.
Maybe, while trying to look normal, I was in fact having a extraordinary expression on my face.
The rest of the distance the camera was pointed at my feet. And they had no problem with that, because they were safely hidden behind the leather of my shoes, that gratefully took the opportunity to change their supporting role into being the main character.
Remco Campert
(with apologies to Remco for this unauthorized translation)
Anyway, this is how most people (even actors sometimes) feel in front of a camera. There are exceptions. Sure.
But not many..
Erik
Let me try to translate a column written by our Dutch writer (and poet) Remco Campert in last wednesday's morning paper 'De Volkskrant'.
Bear with me, it seems off-topic, but I don't think it is. It's called:
JUST WALKING
The other day I had to walk for the movies. I just had to walk the streets. No special actions were expected of me during the walk. No happy sign of recognition on my face while discovering an approaching friend. Not the hurtfull expression on my face of a writer, who's pondering his work. No slippery actions caused by the skin of a banana.
Just walking, straight ahead. The task seemed easy enough, the execution of it turned out to be more complicated than I thought.
Just walking: how in fact do you do that?
Now that I knew a camera was pointed at me I started to think about it, which I would never do under normal circumstances. In that case I'd just walk around and think about other things.
Just walking suddenly became a problem.
When the filmmaker shouts: "Action!", which foot do you start with? I decided on my left foot, but out of sheer nervousness, it became the right one. Once the machinery of my body was in motion, I kept wondering whether I was walking normally enough. Was I maybe walking too much in a specific direction? I was supposed to walk like somebody who does his daily stroll, but was I capable of expressing just that?
My respect for actors grew instantly. They've learned of course during their education how to walk 'normally', while being followed by a camera. I would also like to achieve something grand like that. Like a true amateur I was taking my steps forward, while trying to put on an ordinary expression on my face. Suddenly I had no idea what the ordinary expression on my face looked like.
Maybe, while trying to look normal, I was in fact having a extraordinary expression on my face.
The rest of the distance the camera was pointed at my feet. And they had no problem with that, because they were safely hidden behind the leather of my shoes, that gratefully took the opportunity to change their supporting role into being the main character.
Remco Campert
(with apologies to Remco for this unauthorized translation)
Anyway, this is how most people (even actors sometimes) feel in front of a camera. There are exceptions. Sure.
But not many..
Erik