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- Briana Rodriguez
- Alfred Hitchcock (1925–1976) “All actors are cattle,” Hitchcock once said. The statement would later prompt one of his stars, Carole Lombard, to set up a livestock corral on the set of “Mr. &
- William Wyler (1926–1970) There’s little debating that Wyler knew how to draw a performance out of an actor for the camera to capture. The director hit his stride in the ’40s where his films garnered the most consecutive acting nominations at the Oscars in history.
- Orson Welles (1938–1984) Welles’ directing career burned bright and fast. He made his big debut in 1941 at age 25 with an unprecedented contract with RKO Pictures and died broke and alone in 1985.
- Akira Kurosawa (1943–1998) Kurosawa’s reach goes from Tarantino to Spike Lee. Plain and simple, the Japanese director is a virtuoso of the cinematic art and a pioneer of action films.
Jan 28, 2020 · If you are planning on becoming a director, the best advice we can offer is to be yourself when you deal with actors and realize they need you as much as you need them to make your film production great.
- How to Direct Actors For Film
- Working with Actors on Set
- What Makes Good Directing in Film
6. Establish the circumstance of a scene
Rather than establishing the emotions your actor should be feeling, establish the circumstance of a scene. Renowned acting coach Sanford Meisner defines acting as “Behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” To behave truthfully, you must allow your actors to feel genuine emotions under the circumstances you create. To establish the circumstance of a scene for an actor, you must communicate three things to them: their character’s goal, the obstacle, and the stakes. With this informati...
7. Trust your actor
One of the most important components of great artistic collaboration is trust. And trust is a two-way street. This means that if you wish for your actors to trust you and your vision as a director, you must also trust them as an actor. If an actor tells you that there is a line that feels consistently awkward or unnatural, be open to what they have to say and consider a rewrite of the line. After all, they are the ones performing it and if they feel unnatural saying the line, their performanc...
8. Allow your actors to experiment
A big part of trusting your actors is trusting their desire and ability to try new things. In other words, allow you actors to experiment. Some of the most memorable performances in cinema have come from improvised scenes. One of the biggest advocates of allowing actors to improvise and experiment is Martin Scorsese. In fact, encouraging actors to experiment is a key distinction to Scorsese’s directing style. To get a better idea of how much this impacts Scorsese’s best films, check out our v...
- “You have to treat the actors as ‘special’ on set.” While this may have been the case in the days of old Hollywood, being an everyday working actor is one of the more unglamorous professions around.
- “But if you give the wrong kind of note you could ‘kill’ their performance.” Sure, some actors are super sensitive and could go into a temporary headspin with any note… or worse, could freeze up.
- “Never give an actor a line reading.” Well, yeah, in general, this isn’t really viewed as a wise thing to do. Mainly because, chances are, you’re not an actor.
- “You have to have conversations about character history and development, right?” Are you catching on yet? Actors often have wildly different processes from one another.
Nov 23, 2023 · Many great directors choose to work with the same actors for multiple movies. When these partnerships team up, high quality is almost a guarantee. Some director and actor duos are better together.
Jan 12, 2020 · I t’s no secret in Hollywood that everyone wants to direct. Writers become directors, editors become directors and even sometimes title sequence designers become directors (in the case of Maggie). So, it is no surprise that actors become directors.
Oct 1, 2023 · Directing actors isn’t as simple as telling a thespian what to do on set. It involves multiple stages and intense, intimate work with the actor. There is casting, pre-production discussion, script analysis, and rehearsal before an actor and director even walk on set.
