As a Filmmaker and Actor myself I am amazed at how many directors who do not take
that extra time to encourage their talent to go a bit further to challenge their
skills and then reach a medium that is satisfying to the story, actor and the
production as a whole.
Fortunately, I have worked with some amazing directors not only with years of
experience but just getting their name out in this market and I have discovered when
the communication that is held between the talent and director remains open the
better off the quality of the production tends to be.
For example: If the director and talent are headstrong about what the characters
motivation is and each having their own opinion on the matter it tends to show up in
the performance which is not the result you usually aim for but the viewers will
pick it out.
On the other hand if the actor and director has an honest and open communication as
I recently discovered works best for me, then you can be comfortable with suggesting
things and find that the talents and the director both really have great ideas and
if you try it both ways that simply gives you more to work with during post and we
all know what happens when you get to the editing room and find out that we all wish
we had tried the other options WHILE the scene was setup but now the entire scene
has to be scrapped and lost forever on the editing room floor.
Open communication includes but is not limited to the talents health, safety
concerns, schedule, transportation, personal life and the many other factors that
come to play during the hire of talent.
Check out Christopher Bell's new short. ?url? http://www.independentfilmmakerblog.com/?/url?
Keep your project productive with open communication!
?Brent Allen Caputo
I think you're absolutely right that it's important to have open communication between actor and director but I have to say I completely disagree with you about shooting it both ways (the director's way and then the actor's way) to give you more options in the edit.
By all means, try things out and experiment in script readings and rehearsals, but when it comes to shooting and you're on-set, if the director is doing their job right, there shouldn't be enough time to "shoot it both ways" - to me those decisions should already have been made.
Also, as soon as you shoot a scene both ways following a suggestion from an actor, then probably every other actor will want to shoot every other scene both ways and then you end up with an unfocused film which is a nightmare to edit. But that's just my opinion.
What does anyone else think?
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Alto Films Film-making Workshops - Brighton -Visit: http://www.altofilms.com/workshops.html
I love working with actors, and I think that a director and actor have to be in agreement about the interpretation of a character before the camera rolls. This involves more than a little trust, on both the director's and actor's part, but without the mutual understanding that a collaborative relationship requires, you always run the risk of committing a performance to film that is disingenuous or uninteresting.
That being said, I've met a number of successful directors who prefer a very hands-off approach. Todd Haynes, for instance (he directed I'm Not There and Velvet Goldmine, both with some big-name talent), said that he considers his most important character input to come during the casting process. He'll work with his actors a bit in rehearsal, but he said that when they're on the set, he gives them hardly any direction. There was a Mexican director I heard speak a couple years ago who had cast his entire feature with non-actors, and it was astonishing to me how natural and unaffected their performances were. Turns out that after he cast his actors, he went back and re-wrote the script specifically for them, so in a sense they were being themselves, rather than being forced to adopt a false persona.
So although I love rolling up my sleeves and directing actors on the set too much to give it up, I make it my goal to never tell an actor what to do (apart from the technical stuff, like blocking out action), and instead limit my direction to asking them questions and trying to help gain some common ground in understanding their character.
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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
and my reel at http://portfolio.exgfilms.com
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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com
and my reel at http://portfolio.exgfilms.com
