You’ve just finished take one and now you are giving directing notes to your actors. They listen intently. They smile and nod their heads. They say “Okay.” So you role the camera again for take two and… they didn’t incorporate your notes into their performance!!!
Now don’t worry, you’re not the only director this has happened to – it’s happened to all of us at one time or another. And in my 45 years of film set experience, I’ve noticed that it is very rarely the fault of the actors. It’s usually the director’s fault!!!
Why?
Actors begin by trusting the director – and it’s the director’s trust to lose. If an actor feels they cannot trust the director to know a good performance from a bad performance, the actor will begin to monitor his own performance.
And when an actor begins to watch himself, he begins to direct himself – and when he does this, he starts to become Director Proof. (Please remember: the majority of actors don’t do this out of arrogance or maliciousness, they do this because they are protecting their craft!)
So how DO you get actors to trust you?
The importance of the actor/director relationship is a crucial factor in filmmaking. Actors want a director who can listen to them because they are focused on one thing – the role they are playing. And to find a character they are playing (and make it believable) actors must surrender completely to feelings and impulses.
The director’s relationship with the actors and the characters are “relationships of emotional intimacy.” The director needs to feel everything that happens to the characters. And the best way to communicate feelings to actors (and to the audience) is to have respect for the feelings of actors and their characters.
Good directors understand an actor’s vulnerability and they create a safe place for them on the set to perform. This is what actors want (and need) – to work with a director who understands them and their vulnerability. This “understanding” is what builds trust.
>>Directing the Film Actor Survey<<
I’ve worked in the film and TV industry for over 45 years (primarily as a TV Director and feature film First Assistant Director.) https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0551106
I’m also the author of the book Making the Magic Happen: The Art and Craft of Film Directing. https://mwp.com/product/making-magic-happen-craft-directing/
Between 2008-2015, I was a part-time directing instructor at the Vancouver Film School and since 2015, I have been the full-time directing instructor at the Shanghai Vancouver Film School.
I have also taught many film directing workshops around the world. (My last live event workshop was “Directing the Film Actor 3-Day Masterclass” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December, 2019.) https://actioncutprint.com/filmmaking-workshops/directing-the-film-actor-3-day-masterclass-kuala-lumpur-malaysia-december-3-4-5-2019/
However, with the Covid19 pandemic crisis circling the globe (and with no end in sight for the foreseeable future) all my live event workshops have been postponed. And because my long term goal has always been to coach filmmakers worldwide, I’ve decided to create an intensive online coaching program called “Directing the Film Actor.”
But before I can develop this online program, I need to know the most important questions filmmakers around the world have when it comes to the number one job of a director on set: directing actors!
So I would like to ask for your help by answering the following question:
“What are your Top 3 questions/problems when it comes to directing actors?
I thank you in advance for taking the time to answer this most important film directing question. (Your answers can be as long or as short as you want.)
Remember: The importance of the director/actor relationship is a crucial element in the filmmaking process. If the actor and director do not connect creatively or personally, differences of opinion will be difficult to resolve, personalities could clash, and performances will suffer.
However, when an actor and director trust each other and can work creatively together to get layered and believable performances, it can create magic on the screen.
NOTE: Please reply with your answers to this email: peterdmarshall123@gmail.com
Thank you,
Peter