Professionals need their space, and they have to feel comfortable in order to look comfortable

Singers are skilled in interacting with an audience, and know how to create chemistry in a concert hall, but performing for the camera is an entirely different experience. Motty Berkowitz says that part of his role is to figure out how to help the singer project his personality on camera, and it comes more naturally to some than others.

“When I worked with Lipa, I was just blown away. The second the camera went on, he connected to it like a magnet. He needed complete silence — no one could talk while he was filming — but he didn’t need any prompting to connect to the camera, to bring the Lipa out of him onto that screen.”

In a music video, a singer is also expected to be an actor, but is that reasonable? In Shlomo Rivkin’s view, the answer is yes. He believes that everyone has some inner acting talent that can emerge. Conversely, if the director is overbearing, coaching every move and gesture the singer makes, he can put a dent into the singer’s natural confidence.

“I do a lot of different takes, and I give some advice between takes, but I try not to be a controlling kind of director. I want authentic, organic — not plastic acting. Professionals need their space, and they have to feel comfortable in order to look comfortable.”

But Joey Newcomb says that for him, the video camera casts no magic spell. “It makes no difference where you put me — on video, big audience, or siging with just a few chevreh, in a backyard, I’ll always be the same. I do my thing and I don’t really change it.”

Ari Goldwag agrees that acting in front of a live audience is not so different from acting in a video — they both involve putting on a certain show and being someone you may not really be all the time.

“Although when I sing onstage I can be engaging and sociable, my more natural tendency is to be shy and quiet. We call it ‘acting,’ but I would think of it more as different sides of our personality that we allow to come forward when the situation calls for it.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, issue 907)