Issue 210 – August 14, 2020 (Newton’s First Law of Motion)

Newton’s First Law of Motion

Before I discuss how to efficiently block and rehearse actors on the set, I first want to mention Sir Issac Newton’s first “Law of Motion.” (Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a physics lecture, I just want to show how a universal law of physics will help you with your blocking.)

Sir Issac Newton’s first Law of Motion states that: “An object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an external or unbalanced force and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an external or unbalanced force.”

If we “translate” this Law of Motion into filmmaking terms we get:

1. “A character who is stationary will not move until some External physical event or Internal emotion compels them (or forces them) to move.”
2. “A character who is moving will not stop until some External physical event or Internal emotion compels them (or forces them) to stop.”

In other words, the actor (as the character) must be “physically or emotionally motivated” before they will take any kind of action. (Motivation Determines Behavior!)

What is Blocking?

Blocking is essentially the “relationship of the actors to the camera.” It is the “physical and emotionally motivated movement of the actors relative to the various positions of the camera.”

It also helps to think of blocking (or staging) as the choreography of a dance or ballet where all the elements on the set (actors, extras, vehicles, crew, equipment etc.) move in perfect harmony with each other.

When you first start directing, blocking actors can be one of the most frustrating and difficult parts of your job, and if you get it wrong here you could waste valuable shooting time trying to get out of the mess you created!

But no matter how experienced you are as a director, before you create your blocking plan and shot list, you need to first complete a detailed analysis of every scene to find the scene objective and the character objectives.

Copyright (c) 2020 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved