Performance style & calibration · Specialist
Deadpan performance
ELI5
Performance delivered with controlled seriousness or minimal overt reaction, often creating comedy through contrast.
Used in conversation
“The deadpan performance should come through in behaviour, not only in treatment language.”
Pitch context
You may encounter “Deadpan performance” in directing, casting & performance conversations or materials.
Why it matters: Translates creative intention into casting, rehearsal, performance and on-set direction.
Sources & evidence · 4
Supporting source families. This entry is an editorial synthesis rather than a quotation from one canonical glossary.
- ScreenSkills — Online Learning Glossary and Job ProfilesSupporting source family · institutional · checked 2026-08-14
- Directors Guild of America — Assistant Director and Unit Production Manager ResourcesSupporting source family · primary · checked 2026-08-14
- Directors Guild of America — DGA Creative Rights HandbookSupporting source family · primary · checked 2026-08-14
- SAG-AFTRA — Artificial Intelligence ResourcesSupporting source family · primary · checked 2026-08-14