I worked with a young actor the other day who was playing an emotional scene with me. Playing an emotional scene is one of the toughest things to do on film. One thing that makes it tough is knowing precisely how emotional you need to be on camera without going too far. Emotional scenes that are bigger than they need to be usually makes them seem fake. Experienced actors typically know how to gauge this; actors with less experience have a tough time with it. My young friend had a tough time.

He did a very good job, he was very sincere. But the tears and the level of emotion were too big for the camera. It would have played very well in a theatre with a couple of hundred people. He seemed to have an urge to show us all what he was feeling instead of just feeling it and trusting that the camera will see it. Its one of the most important lessons an actor can learn---to not focus on showing us the emotions but focus on fully being in the moment and play the truth of the moment. Then let the camera do its work.

Does your eagerness or inexperience make you push too hard? Do you have a hard time trusting that just being at your best and giving total focus to this moment and this moment alone is enough? If this is you, dont worry, theres hope.

In the case of the young actor, a conference with the director prior to shooting the scene would have solved everything. An easy way to make sure they both saw the scene and the level of emotion the same way, before the cameras start rolling. In addition, it is much easier to trust yourself and your work when youre crystal clear about whats expected of you.

The key here is very simple: communication. Communicate with your co-workers, team members and especially your customers. You may have an endless supply of talent and instinctively think that more is better. However, your best effort given within the needs of the moment that serves everyones goals is what you should be aiming for. Its as if you were a waitress in a restaurant and you had a customer that asked for some butter. Would you bring them enough butter for the table or would you bring them the whole cow? You may have a very fine cow on hand, but thats way more than necessary. Thats when giving everything you could is not your best effort----when going too far is not enough.