Chris Burgess; his take on film and screen acting

By Dilshan BOANGE

A conversation with a practitioner from any industry can give valuable insights into the workings that lay behind the final output or product, which aren't obvious and generally not open to the layman's eyes and ears.

A conversation with a practitioner, that way, can reveal a great volume of information through its two way interactivity, which a book at times, may not afford just as effectively.

Chris Burgess

A conversation with a practitioner from the Hollywood league of filmmaking is what I wish to make the basis of this article.

A man with a filmmaking vision

Chris Burgess is a man with a vision to achieve here in our paradise isle of Sri Lanka as a filmmaker. Having been an Assistant Director (AD) in some seriously big time film productions -Gladiator, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Batman Begins Chris now has his sights and ambitions set on becoming a film director to reach that topmost rung in the 'directive' ladder which one may propound is arguably one of the spinal aspects of the film industry.

He believes Sri Lanka has vast potential in numerous respects when it comes to the subject of filmmaking, and it's not just about the scenic locations that we can provide the western eye that is meant in this context. It's also to do with the types of stories that lay interspersed with our people, amongst our smiles and laughs, the sombreness and grittiness, the tears of joys and sorrows and everything else that brings out the depth of the human spirit and how it can reach out to speak to another through the medium of the moving image -film.

The start

Having started his career in filmmaking as a production office runner on The Mummy Chris recalled how he would have 16 hour work shifts and found the mere thought of waking up the next morning to go through the exhausting routine over again, dreadful! Yet it is obviously the commitment and his personal love for the art of film making that has brought him to where he is today. Before getting the call to work on the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix project Chris had been the script reader for singer turned actor Donny Walberg, formerly of the hugely popular New Kids On The Block. The move meant that even though he would be out of the UK film industry for a while he was now working in what he called the 'Mecca of the film industry - Los Angeles, USA.

Acting as the 'reality' of a film

Hearing about acting from actors gives a perspective of how the artist projects his conceptions of his art and himself as a performing artist, but the viewpoint of a filmmaker whose contributions is off camera can give a notion of how the people involved in giving direction to the performance view the talents of the faces that turn to 'screen idols'. The one thing that Chris believes cannot be got away with in a film is 'bad acting'. "What is most crucial is acting. You can get away with a lot, but not bad acting. That is the 'reality' of the film." he expressed adding his notion as to what bad acting results in -"you can't take the viewer to the other side of the screen."

And making the viewer believe in the actor as not a performer but a real live character is what counts.

This is a very intrusting perspective of thought from a filmmaker who said that he had never once walked out of a film no matter how bad the film was.

Film as a mirror of ourselves

Chris is of the view that people don't go to the movies just for the story that unfolds before their eyes. His outlook on film is that it is 'a mirror' for people to find themselves amongst the host of characters; therefore essentially people go to the movies in the hope of seeing themselves. An interesting notion if one thinks of how the viewer and performer bonds work and how that phenomena work in the latter to project the former's success. With ideas brewing in his head for a film project here in our golden isle Chris is on the look out to explore the arrays of talent Sri Lanka has to offer in terms of both on screen and off screen.

Some big names and favourites

Paul Newman, Richard Burton, Steve McQueen and Sean Connery are some of the names he mentioned as the immortals of the silver screen whom he admires the most and went on to say two of the most talented actors of the present day in his opinion are Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March, Doubt, The Talented Mr. Ripley) and Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds, X-Men : First Class, Hunger) who is incidentally was sadly overlooked for an Oscar nomination this year.

Chris explained what he feels is Hoffman's wonder as an actor -"He makes acting look as if though it's easy, adding little nuances in gestures and physical behaviour that makes his character look very credible." Firmly of the belief that a good actor must make his audience forget that they are watching a character in a film, he said Hoffman's little subtleties in gesture translate his inner being as a 'visual persona'.

Thus, contributing greatly to the character's value as feeling 'real' in the perceptions of the viewer.

The really talented actors don't make acting look as if its acting is what Chris said expressing that for an actor to effectively hold the attention of an audience in a single tight close shot that may span than more than a few seconds, requires a noteworthy deal of talent and skill.

Having taught filmmaking at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) Chris has had the opportunity of working with a host of upcoming talent from RADA, and got students involved in student film projects, which is part of the course work. "Actors nowadays are a great assortment of talent that challenges the directors and it takes courage on both sides.

Actors as well as directors to try new things to make the characters become real." said Chris who is interested to see what acting talents perform on the boards here in Sri Lankan theatre.

Current project

Currently working on a short film project about two Sri Lankan female boxers -Nilmini Jayasinghe and Anusha Kodituwakku, employees at MAS Holdings, Chris is convinced that his production Becoming a Champion will be able to contribute positively in profiling and promoting these two courageous athletes as they go forth to compete for a spot in the upcoming Olympics.

With several ideas for possible film projects to do in Sri Lanka and the intentions of promoting our country as a film location/destination with his colleagues in UK, Chris hopes to tap untapped talents and stories that would befit storytelling through the art of the moving image -film.