Acting

I've had my share of acting experience, during plays when I was in high school and way back when I was in nursery. I couldn't really recall my nursery gig so I'll just narrate it the way my dad tells the story... Christmas was fast approaching and we were to reenact the Nativity and I was Joseph. I was part of the Holy Family! The next day, I was given a different role, I was 1 of the 3 kings. Ok, not bad, at least I was still playing a character with a distinct name and role. The next day, I was given a different role, I was a shepherd. Hmmm... I wasn't really sure why I was going down the cast but hey, a role is a role. And I was so young, I didn't mind. The next day, I was given my last role transfer - I PLAYED A SHEEP! How in the world could you go from Joseph, to a Magi, to a shepherd and finally, TO A SHEEP?! Only I can do that! And hey, I was the best sheep in acting history!

I love watching movies and I've seen films from different genres. I'm amazed to see actors who can shift from one role to another, most especially if the films are of different types. And they do it effectively, they portray the role so well! The following are descriptions of different film genres:

Action

Action films are usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous, often two-dimensional "good-guy" heroes battling "bad guys" - all designed for pure audience escapism.

Adventure

Adventure films are usually exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales, very similar to or often paired with the action film genre. They can include traditional swashbucklers, serialized films, and historical spectacles, searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungle" and "desert" epics, treasure hunts, disaster films, or searches for the unknown.

Comedy

Comedies are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters. This section describes various forms of comedy through cinematic history, including slapstick, screwball, spoofs and parodies, romantic comedies, black comedy (dark satirical comedy), and more.

Crime and Gangster

Crime (gangster) films are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. Criminal and gangster films are often categorized as film noir or detective-mystery films - because of underlying similarities between these cinematic forms. This category includes a description of various 'serial killer' films.

Drama

Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special effects, comedy or action. Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets.

Epic or Historical

Epics include costume dramas, historical dramas, war films, medieval romps, or 'period pictures' that often cover a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. Epics often share elements of the elaborate adventure films genre. Epics take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping musical score. Epics are often a more spectacular, lavish version of a biopic film. Some 'sword and sandal' films (Biblical epics or films occuring during antiquity) qualify as a sub-genre.

Horror

Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. They are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. The fantasy and supernatural film genres are not usually synonymous with the horror genre. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.

Musical

Musical/dance films are cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way (usually with a musical or dance performance integrated as part of the film narrative), or they are films that are centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography. Major subgenres include the musical comedy or the concert film.

Science Fiction

Sci-fi films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters (“things or creatures from space”), either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. They are sometimes an offshoot of fantasy films, or they share some similarities with action/adventure films. Science fiction often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind and easily overlaps with horror films, particularly when technology or alien life forms become malevolent.

Based on the descriptions as well as the films I've seen, the most difficult genre to act in would have to be comedy. For action, you just need lots of dynamics, stunts, explosions and the like together with the good versus evil story. For adventure, you just need an idea of exploration, which is not the job of the actor. For crime and gangster, you just need mobsters and lots of criminal activity, just act slick. For drama, the actor should just cry or show the difficulties the character they play endures. For epic, just act out what the legend or historical fact states. For horror, you need to act scared or act as killers or monsters. For musical, just sing and dance. And for sci-fi, act out being an alien or some strange act of nature. In comedy, you need to have proper timing and delivery. If the actor can't deliver well, it wouldn't be effective. And, it's really difficult to make people laugh!

Acting is a great art. I admire actors most especially those who are in theater. I really hate those actors who are all look and no talent but they get paid a lot! They are a big disgrace to this art and they give a big slap on the faces of the people who are the pioneers of this industry. I'd like to spread super glue on their faces, place a leather mat, let it dry and then pull the mat off with one quick motion! And do again and again and again!