please share the secrets of rhythm and character acting 🥹

okay so basically, when I talk about rhythm I'm referring to the length of the shots you use and the timing of the actions within them.

even when there's no music to speak of, those things still create a beat of their own. it can be quick and frenetic like a crazy drum solo, slow and soft like a lo-fi bass track (I'm not a musician cut me some slack if that's nothing, you see what I'm saying). it can ramp up and down, etc.

when making music videos, there's a temptation to hit as many beats as possible by cutting to a new shot on each word of a sentence or each beat of a phrase. hitting beats is satisfying for the monkey brain, especially when the song has a certain level of urgency and you feel like just holding on one shot won't match that feeling.

BUT consider the way dancers choreograph: they don't always hit an entirely new pose for each beat. they act out the lyrics, they use their expressions to match the emotions being expressed. they'll isolate different parts of their body to call out a piece of the song you never noticed before, repeat a full-body movement for emphasis--etc. etc. etc. look I'm also not a dancer I've just watched a bunch of those steezy videos on youtube, grain of salt. but to tie the metaphor back into boarding:

there are also a lot of ways to hit beats within a shot: camera movements, impacts, lighting changes, expression changes, isolated body movements...and you can also make the transition to another shot more kinetic/fluid by cutting in the middle of movements and finishing that movement in the next composition.

there isn't anything wrong with quick bam-bam-bam cuts to multiple unrelated subjects--there's a vibe to that, just as there's a vibe to hitting a totally new dance pose for three beats in a row. but it's not the only way to keep the energy up, and it's not well suited to conveying complex information. it's better for easy-to-parse snapshots that convey the vibes of a moment, or intentionally showing confusion/chaos.

this also applies to character acting; it's very hard to escape the urge to hit a new, big character pose for each beat of the dialogue--especially if it's intensely emotional. but that can lead to over-posing (something I have never done even once in my life, ever), which can give the performance a kind of High School Play energy.

I hate filming ref, but I've also found you don't actually have to film it. if it comes to it, just acting it out for yourself can help you suss out what movements feel weird and unnatural, and find poses better than the usual "I'm Holding Out My Hands Palm-Up" and "I'm Holding Out One Hand With The Other On My Hip". (THINGS I HAVE NEVER DONE EVEN ONCE--*)

the other good thing for this is giving the character/s some Business to be about--something they're doing while they talk, or a prop to fiddle with.

anyway, basically, it's all about getting creative with how you hit beats and how long or short your shots are. there's no one right way to go about any of it, just tools and mindsets that can help you make the things you want to make.