Oldje Scenes Database (2024)

FAQs

Do actors still use cue cards? ›

Cue cards today

Since its invention, cue cards have now become ubiquitous within TV and film, but no show utilizes or celebrates cue cards more than Saturday Night Live.

They approach the script in a way that makes sense to them

Think of each adjustment as a new section in your train of thought. Having a train of thought that makes sense to you rather than thinking about dozens of individual lines to memorize is more manageable and makes memorization much easier.

Marlon Brando Read Cue Cards While Filming 'The Godfather'

Instead, Brando opted to have cue cards placed in his line of sight on the set of The Godfather. Adapting to the geography of the set, he would find new ways to seamlessly read off his cue cards, which included placing them behind a lamp.

Actors may be asked to practice kissing scenes during rehearsal to resolve any issues, or they may be asked to hold off so the kiss feels organic. Usually, a director will request that the scene be rehearsed (or not) and discuss that choice with the actors until a decision or compromise is reached.

Sometimes, actors can get signed to a project and have months or weeks to memorize their lines. Sometimes it may only be a few days, hours or minutes (if someone is casted last minute, or revisions are happening on set).

The goal is not to rehearse the scene in all its details. Instead, the basic process of the storyline is clarified so that the actors know their positions in space, know where to speak which text, and play through the scene in one go. For this reason, it is not necessary that the set is completely set up.

All angry fighting scenes can be boiled down to this statement: "I'm right. You're wrong." Repeat it like a mantra, and elaborate from there. The problem always lies in your opponent. You are fighting to change something in them.

Just remember: The important thing is to imagine your most primal need today, then imagine what would happen if you weren't there to fulfill that need, then let your natural instincts propel you forward. The need to overcome, to survive, for a very tangible reason, is what will make the fear real.

How do sitcom actors memorize their lines? ›

Some actors memorize lines by reading the script hundreds of times, others start off monotone and then add the emotion in later, others use cue cards, and so on. Additionally, actors have different background things they do to help them memorize better, such as exercising while learning lines.

After more than 40 seasons, the show still stays true to its old school method of line-reading: cue cards. Yes, they use hand-written lines that take quite a bit of time and effort to prepare.

I typically make copies of the scenes that I'll shoot in the order in which they will be shot — it is infrequent to shoot in chronological order — and underline my lines with a yellow marker. That ends up becoming a kind of “handout” rolled up and tucked into the pocket of the costume I am wearing on the set.