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Check out this article in the print edition of StudentFilmmakers Magazine, Nov., 2006. Click here to get a copy and to subscribe >>
5. Rehearse. It seems painfully obvious that you should rehearse with your actors before you ever get to set, but on the tight schedules of student film, this is often one of the first things to go. If you take the necessary time to do rehearsals, you’ll save yourself time on set and get better performances to boot. And don’t think of rehearsals solely as time to learn blocking and lines – instead, use your rehearsal time to try out different things and see what works. The more you and the actors know about the characters before the camera rolls, the better the chances you’ll get a great performance on set. Different directors work differently, but as a starting point here’s a strategy I particularly like. I start by letting the actors run a scene based on their own first impressions, without giving them any directions. Then I give them a few thoughts and we run it again. Then we throw out the script entirely and do an improvised version of the scene, just trying to hit the key emotional beats. After these three runs, we sit down and talk about what we liked or didn’t in each of these versions, and that helps me better guide the scene in the future. 6. Get a good crew. A film set is a hectic place with a lot of things pulling on you. Remember that once on set, your single most important role as a director is to work with the actors. Having a good crew thus helps not only the look and sound of the film, but also the acting, because it lets you focus your attentions on that job instead of worrying about all the other things going on. Put simply, if you yourself are running the camera, and fixing lights, and checking continuity, and worrying about staying on schedule, you don’t have much time or energy left to focus on the actors, and the performances will suffer. “Okay,” you’re saying, “I’ve done all my work ahead of time: I have a great script and talented actors, and we had some great discussions and ideas come out of rehearsals. But now I’m on set and can’t seem to get the performances I want. What now?” Different strategies work better for different people and different situations, and something that would usually be a bad idea might be exactly what’s needed for a unique situation. But here are some general guidelines for on-set directing: • Be open to surprises. Good actors will give you things you hadn’t necessarily imagined, but that serve the movie. If you’re unhappy with a performance, think about whether it’s because the performance really doesn’t work, or merely because it’s not exactly the way you originally envisioned it. And if you’re the writer of the script as well, don’t get too attached to everything being said word for word. Very few scripts are so brilliant that not a single word should be changed – this is not to say you should let the actors improvise everything if it compromises your overall vision, but if it feels more natural to an actor to say, “How’s it going?” instead of, “Hey, what’s up?” then by all means let him do it. • Remember that your actors are PEOPLE. Different people respond differently to different types of stimuli. Some actors want a firm hand guiding them, while others like to have the freedom to try something different (even if it might not work). Know your actors and what works well with them, and if one strategy doesn’t seem to be working with a particular actor, try approaching your interaction with him/her differently. • When in a rut, try ANYTHING different.Sometimes your cast will get stuck in a vein that’s just not working, but won’t be able to get out of it with small tweaks. In these situations, go ahead and try something bizarre just to change the dynamics on set. Have them improvise a scene, or try strange accents for a take, or reverse their roles, or try to get through a take as quickly as possible, or whatever. These ideas probably won’t result in changes you want to keep, but they will help everyone come back to the scene with a fresh perspective. • DON’T give line readings. When you tell actors exactly how you want a line said, you’re taking away their freedom to be creative, and you’re forcing them into speaking rhythms that may not be natural for them. Instead, if a particular line is bothering you, try to pinpoint why it’s doing so and what the best way to fix it is. Is it that the emotion is coming out wrong? Is it emphasizing the wrong thing for that point in the scene? Is it just that it’s not the way you imagined it? Once you know the why, if it’s something that’s really a problem you can work with the actor to address the issue without stifling their own creative process. • DO give clear, brief, playable directions.Most of the time, “result”-oriented direction (i.e., “give it more energy” or “make it sadder”) is not a good way to achieve realistic performances, since the actors are trying to replicate a particular thing you said rather than behaving as their characters normally would. Instead, give their characters specific goals to accomplish (use action verbs), which allow the actors to stay in character while following your directions. For instance, rather than telling an actress, “you should be mad because he won’t help you,” tell her to “demand that he helps you.” In the latter version, instead of trying to “play” angry, her anger will come naturally out of the other character’s refusal to acquiesce to her demands. Think of the real world: we’re rarely trying to have specific emotions; instead, those emotions spring naturally from our actions and our interactions with others. • DON’T over-direct. It’s your actors’ jobs to give the performances, not yours. Your job is simply to know if the performances work or not, and to help them change when necessary. If you’re too specific about every little bit of the scene, you’re taking away your actors’ freedom to do their jobs. (On the flip side, don’t under-direct either – if your directions are too general, and don’t give the actors anything concretely playable, you’re not helping them.) • DON’T tell the actors their emotions. This ties to a couple of the above points, but is worth restating since it’s a common mistake many novice directors make. The worst possible case here is to combine over-directing with describing emotions, as can often be seen with inexperienced filmmakers who feel it necessary to describe every single emotional element of a complex scene. Put yourself in the actor’s shoes; if a director tells you, “you’re sad about her leaving, but happy to have the room to yourself, and scared you can’t make it on your own, and...” imagine how hard it is to actually play that! Stick to the facts of the scene (including anything you all have agreed upon during rehearsals about the characters and/or plot), and let the emotions build from there. • Remember that the ACTORS are the ones who end up onscreen. Actors have one of the hardest jobs on set – their jobs require them to move in and out of characters at a moment’s notice, and often to conjure up strong emotions for take after take after take. It’s psychologically taxing work, especially since they always know in the backs of their minds that that THEY are the ones who will eventually be up onscreen for the audience to see (and possibly ridicule), not you. Their job is much easier if you’ve built a good rapport and sense of trust with them. Make sure they know they can talk to you about any problems they are having with their characters, and that they can make suggestions, but also that you have a clear vision in your head and will ultimately not let a bad performance end up onscreen. Most importantly, if you’re not happy with a performance don’t belittle or attack your actors; instead, offer positive reinforcement and suggestions, and work with them to develop the performance to a point where you can both be happy with it.
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