So You Want to Act On Screen? by Michael Bray

Author:Michael Bray [Bray, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788502641
Publisher: Nick Hern Books

Director

The most important person on a film set is the director. The director has already worked with the writers to bring the script to life, and they have worked with the producers on the overall production values of the film. The same is true in television. They will have agreed principal casting, as well as the film’s shooting schedule.

Please remember that, while the director is up at the top of this pyramid, there is also an inverted pyramid above them – made up of producers, executive producers, sales companies and distributors – who will all bring pressure to bear on the director about what they see coming from the film set. Actors are rarely sacked; directors, sadly, are, and mostly for not being able to get ‘a performance’ from the actors. Please remember that the director has chosen you and cast you in this role, so help them to make it work. There will also be many other voices on set whispering about how badly a director is at their job – but never get involved in gossip. It is so easy on a film set to lose contact with the director, so make sure you keep working creatively with them, as an artist, to create a believable and compelling character.

A director may have been attached to the project for months, sometimes even years. They will have worked with all the various heads of departments on how the film will look and how it is to be shot, within the financial constraints set by the producers. The director carries a vision of the film in his or her head. However – and this is important for the actor to know – while they may be fantastic film-makers, they might not be good with actors. I know this seems strange but many directors come from the technical side of film-making, where their knowledge of actors and acting is gained just by watching them do it. They sometimes have little grasp of the actual process of acting.

On a television series all of the above will still be true, but with the added complication that the series will be directed by a whole group of different directors. So you might have one director for episodes one and two, followed by another for episodes three and four. In this case the directors are even more dependent on the actors to monitor and produce consistent performances across the episodes they’re in. In many cases, the actor will get no acting notes at all, just help with blocking and emotional temperature. You have been employed to bring the character to life. The director’s job is to tell the story with the help of your character. Here are some tips about how to work with directors.

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