All the past weeks worth of lessons were put into use this week. It was finally our chance to talk to a real actress and see how a director should communicate with her. We all had the same one page script and it was up to us to tell her, and the other classmates that filled in as actors, what their objectives for the scene should be. It took a few attempts with different objective but it started to head in the right direction. Each of the actors were playing of each other and helping the scene come to life. Rhoda gave us helpful feedback on how she thought her character would act and the kind of directors she has had to deal with over the years, good and bad.
Some important points I took from the lesson were
- Have a positive attitude. The minute a director gets in a bad mood, the rest of the cast a crew quickly follow, turning the set into a bad environment.
- Be open to your actor's opinions. They spend a lot of time researching and getting into character which helps them understand how their character should act. They could offer up alternative ways for their character to do the scene, which could be exactly what you need. Sometimes it's not what you're after but always be respectful and politely explain why that way isn't the right way for the scene.
- After a scene talk to the actors first. It's good to let your actors know if they need to change what they're doing or just that they did a good job before you talk to the crew. If you ignore the actors they could loose confidence in themselves or in you and not give the best performance they can give.
- Don't be too specific with your direction, it can limit the actor's performance and not give them a chance to explore the character. It can also be stressful for the actor to try and do specific actions at specific times e.g After this line point to this, then scratch your head, stir your coffee three times and take a large sip.
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