Customer Reviews

In Character: Actors Acting

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are the least bit intersted in actors and acting, this is an absolute "Must Have". Never before have we seen actors looking like this -- we are so used to seeing them posing and looking beautiful. In this book, Howard Schatz captures actors doing what they do best: acting -- instead of merely having their picture taken. These celebrities aren't even wearing any make-up because they had no idea what kind of character they would be playing. We see every pore and every filling of some of the finest actors in the country today. Howard Schatz is positively one of the most talented photographers around -- It is to his credit that he was able to round-up 100 of the most talented actors from stage, screeb and television for such an ambitious project. Kudos to Mr. Schatz! Out of his 16 coffee table books, this is my absolute favorite!!!

Love this book, just bought it at Barnes & Noble in Ft. Lauderdale. I know all these actors but have never seen them making faces like this. Robert Klein is so cool, and so is Edie Falco. It amazes me that photographers come up with such fantastic ideas for books. I get bored looking at family albums, so gimme more of this!!!!

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.

I first saw this book at my boyfriend's agents' office and I could not put it down. It's entirely visual and includes some of my favorite actors on the planet doing what they do best - creating characters. I thought the book was so fantastic that I purchased two of them for Christmas presents - one for my boyfriend and one for my boss. My boss is a studio executive and she had a similar response to the book that I did...that it was different than most "how to" type acting books. She loved it and found it as entertaining as I did. I'm certain that I'd be likely to buy more copies in the future. You don't have to make a huge committment to just sit back and enjoy watching your favorite actors create great characters with genuine emotion. I highly recommend this book!

Superlative photos accompanied by text. It's a great, original concept. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy photography, particularly portraiture, or acting.

Lots of faces, almost all familiar to most everybody, putting on an
expression to match the director's request. Great coffee table item.

I gave this book to friends who are in the theatre. They both have told me they enjoyed the photographs and the accompanying text. I am not a theatre buff, but I found this to be a great coffee table book with wonderful black and white images.

It's a great book to be sure, but after reading through it I was disappointed to see that not all of the photos taken are included. Apparently I'd misread this, but none of the photos/actors on this page are in the book. I was really looking forward to those ones, but I'm not saying the book wasn't worth buying! It's full of great expressions and high-quality photos, and it's very interesting to look through and to own.

This is going to be a review from the photographer's viewpoint. The conclusion is that this book deserves a close study by every high end headshot photographer.

I'm a professional headshot photographer based in Boston. When I started my career, I looked at my competitor's work and I was unimpressed. I also studied work of many top notch photogs from NYC and LA. My interest was to find out what style, expression, etc. make headshots that leave strong impressions. Sure, those people who charge 1000-2000 per session do have the style, good sense, and they also have clientele with years of acting experience. I learned so much from their work, but this book gave me much more impact on how I think about and how I capture headshots.

Of course, many of my clients are taking headshots for the first time, with modest budget, and they opt for a safe route... just a flattering face with mostly neutral expression. They don't want, and I don't think it's best to use highly expressive headshots (like those in this book) for their auditions. HOWEVER, I got inspired by this book and add some expression, rather subtly, to headshots and I think my clients like those better than rather emotionless ones.

The camera never lies. Howard Schatz has re-invented celebrity photography. The actors in this collection playfully dance through a myriad of emotions (directed by Shatz) and later wax sentimantal about their career. Any coffee table of any stature should be proud to have this book lying on it.
How many times before this book can you say you have actually seen your favorite actor's dental work? Howard puts the viewer right there. Every nuance of character is beautifully recorded and documented.
What an amazing way for future generations to look back upon and see how this generation of actors "Did it".
Kudos to Schatz...for getting that close, and once again capturing each tender moment.