In Character: Actors Acting

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 264 pages
• Published by: Bulfinch April 13, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0821229079
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0821229071
• Book Dimensions: 12.3 x 9 x 1.3 inches
• Weighs: 4.2 pounds

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Photographer Schatz (Athlete) turns his lens to actors and challenges them to show off their craft. Many of the names are well known (Chevy Chase, Danny Glover, James Earl Jones, Edie Falco), but Schatz includes character actors as well, making for a balanced gathering. The actors are given a one-line description of a situation and are then photographed close up, with only their heads and hands to use. Although some reactions are broad and make for lively photographs—many people open their mouths so wide that every filling gleams—it's the subtle shifts in expression that stand out. With only their faces available to convey the response to a complex situation, some actors choose to make tiny adjustments; these smaller, more contained expressions are intriguing, as when Robert Vaughn gives only a kindly smile when asked to be "a pediatrician with a bright five-year-old cancer patient who is making up an intriguing fairy tale," or when Ellen Burstyn purses her lips slightly to become "a lady scorned." Beyond giving a glimpse of each actor's range, Schatz includes his subjects' thoughts on their profession. Although his work makes a zesty entry to the coffee table stack, Schatz's portraiture is also a vital, thrilling window into the breadth of an actor's range. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Review
"A stunning look of the actors craft and the subtle yet universal language of facial features in all their nuances." -- Monsters & Critics.com, April 23, 2006

"As fun to read as it is to look through." -- Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2006

"Consistently impressive" -- Washington Post, April 23, 2006

"Fascinating" -- Philadelphia Daily News, April 21, 2006

"Put Schatz on that very short list of photographers who can make celebrity portraiture something more than forgettable fluff." -- Fort Worth Star Telegram, April 16, 2006

"Schatz and his players deliver human vitality and performative intelligence on a grand scale." -- iphoto newsletter, April 2006

"Takes us up close and personal with 100 actors [and] achieves a level of intimacy that glamour photographs never achieve" -- Toronto Sun, April 16, 2006

Schatz captures what actors do best:act. -- Playbill, May 2006

Reader Reviews
This is a must have for artists, animators and actors. Yes, the photography is superb, so as a pure art book, it's great. But I also recommend this book as a teaching tool. I have seen many, many books on facial expression, but this one surpasses them all by miles. Not only because it uses actors instead of ordinary Joes, but Schatz puts them into character by giving them a situation to react to and a personality to react with. Other books on expression, simply state "sad" or "confused" or "angry". Schatz directs the actors by saying "your are a man who has been told he has inoperable cancer", for instance. The results speak for themselves.