{"id":14548,"date":"2020-01-28T01:53:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T01:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmconnection.com\/blog\/?p=7415"},"modified":"2020-01-28T01:53:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T01:53:26","slug":"directing-actors-basics-every-director-should-know-how-to-work-with-actors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/filmconnection.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/28\/directing-actors-basics-every-director-should-know-how-to-work-with-actors\/","title":{"rendered":"Directing Actors:\u00a0 The Basics Every Director Should Know on How to Work with Actors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Film Cpnnection grad Ofu Okekpa on right with actors Richard Pralgo and Libby Blanton on the set of Klippers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cActors should be treated like cattle.\u201d\u00a0 Alfred Hitchcock.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDirecting is 90% casting.\u201d\u00a0 Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, John Ford, Elia Kazan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The two preceding quotes represent the two extremes on how directors should work with actors.\u00a0 When all is said and done, the director succeeds when actors deliver monumental performances in memorable productions.\u00a0 On-set, the director is the top dog and how he\/she chooses to \u201cmotivate their actors\u201d to perform to their limits is a matter of personality and style.<\/p>\n

On his films, Alfred Hitchcock<\/strong> was the boss.\u00a0 In \u201cI Confess\u201d he needed the star, Montgomery Clift, to look up at a building whilst crossing a street to setup a transition from the scene.\u00a0 When Clift, a method actor, responded that he wasn\u2019t sure if his character would look up while he was crossing the street, Hitchcock blew a fuse\u2014he didn\u2019t care two hoots about the character\u2019s motivation, he just needed the character to look up at the building.\u00a0 Whether Clift decided his character would be motivated into looking up, or whether fear of being fired motivated him is unknown, but Clift looked up while he crossed the street.<\/p>\n

Hitchcock was not enamored by the school of method acting, he favored his own version of motivation\u2014if he wanted the actor to be angry in a scene, he made sure he provoked the actor into a state of anger before he called \u201cAction!\u201d<\/p>\n

At the other extreme is Robert Altman<\/strong>.\u00a0 He preferred working with a large cast and encouraged them to improvise and \u201cgo for it\u201d without fear of failing.\u00a0 Actor Tim Robbins, who worked with Altman on \u201cThe Player\u201d<\/em> and \u201cShort Cuts\u201d<\/em> said of Altman, \u201cHe created a unique and wonderful world on his sets, . . . where the mischievous dad unleashed the “children actors” to play. \u00a0Where your imagination was encouraged, nurtured, laughed at, embraced and Altman-ized. A sweet anarchy that many of us hadn’t felt since the schoolyard, unleashed by Bob’s wild heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Altman described his process as, \u201cWhen I cast a film, most of my creative work is done. I have to be there to turn the switch on and give them encouragement as a father figure, but they do all the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an actor, you would be honored to work in a Hitchcock film, but you would work for free to be included in an Altman film.\u00a0 However, it must be noted that the movie business was a lot different when Hitchcock was working than it was during Altman\u2019s era.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how do some of today\u2019s contemporary directors deal with actors.<\/p>\n

Clint Eastwood<\/strong> is known for being very efficient.\u00a0 Rare is the scene that requires more than two takes\u2014he often films the run through (and ends up using it in the film) because too often he\u2019s seen \u201cactors come out really good at the start and then all of a sudden, they start killing it with improvements.\u201d \u00a0He believes creating a comfortable and calm environment on set goes a long way towards getting the best performance out of his actors.\u00a0 One of the reasons he is efficient on the set is that it tells everyone we are accomplishing things each and every day which helps maintain the \u201cset attitude\u201d he strives for.<\/p>\n

As to how he deals with actors, Clint says \u201cSometimes I rehearse with the actors,\u00a0sometimes I don\u2019t. Most actors have a pretty\u00a0good idea coming to it, because it\u2019s what\u00a0attracted them to the role.\u00a0 Sometimes there are actors who can drift in\u00a0and jump in and out more easily. As a director,\u00a0you have one relationship with them. Others need to stay in character and you have another\u00a0relationship with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oliver Stone<\/strong> has a more dictatorial approach.\u00a0 For \u201cPlatoon\u201d<\/em> he put the cast through a 14-day boot camp to prepare them for their roles.\u00a0 For the entire period, the cast was deprived of sleep and ate only MREs while learning basic military skills.\u00a0 No hotels, no showers just enforced method acting.\u00a0 Stone explained his rationale. \u201c”Actors have a great imagination. They were able to take those two weeks and turn them into months.”<\/p>\n

For the film \u201cTalk Radio\u201d<\/em> Stone\u2019s behavior drove the cast and crew to get drunk each night to blow off steam.\u00a0 As Alec Baldwin said of the experience, \u201cStone opened my eyes to the Machiavellian filmmaker who would throw his own mother down a flight of stairs if it would help him get his project financed, get the shot he wanted, or simply get his way.\u201d\u00a0 Johnny Depp was so pissed at Stone during the filming of \u201cBrothers in Arms\u201d<\/em> that he wanted to piss on him from his balcony while Stone ate dinner in the courtyard below.\u00a0 The AD stopped Depp from giving Stone the golden shower. Reflecting, many years later, both Depp and Baldwin say that they may not agree with Stone\u2019s approach my they recognize its value.<\/p>\n

Spike Lee<\/strong> explains directing with a sports metaphor.\u00a0 \u201cAs a director you\u2019ve got to know\u2014same thing as a coach does in sports\u2014you\u2019ve got to know what people\u2019s limitations are.\u201d\u00a0 Spike is a big proponent of getting the right cast and then letting them do their thing.\u00a0 As actress DeWanda Wise put it, \u201cHe shapes and molds and sculpts but it\u2019s not acting school.\u00a0 He\u2019s not there to pull a performance out of you.\u00a0 He expects the actor to come prepared with choices and interpretations of their character.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Lynch<\/strong> casts solely on headshots and what feelings the photos evoke in him.\u00a0 He never auditions.\u00a0 On set his notes to the actors are often visual metaphors.\u00a0 When directing Laura Elena Harring in Mulholland Drive<\/em>, his note told her to \u201cwalk like a broken doll\u201d for a scene in which her character was wounded and tormented.<\/p>\n

Quentin Tarantino<\/strong> is much less cryptic when preparing an actor for their part.\u00a0 In addition to writing larger than life characters into his screenplays\u2014any actor\u2019s dream\u2014he provides the actors with detailed backstories to help them develop their character.\u00a0 And if an actor ever has a question about the character, or their motivation, Quentin will give them the answer.\u00a0 A classic example of this happened during filming for \u201cThe Hateful Eight\u201d<\/em> when Channing Tatum asked him \u201cWhat color was my suit when I died in another life?\u201d\u00a0 A day later Quentin handed Channing a five-page report on what color the suit was and why it was that color.\u00a0 In return, Quentin requires his actors to stick to the script and true to their character.<\/p>\n

As you can see, every director has their own take when it comes to dealing with actors. There is no right or wrong answer to the general question of how a director works with actors.\u00a0 Different directors have different personalities, especially when it comes to interacting with people, and it shows in how they relate to their cast.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

*Inset image is of Film Connection for Film Production & Editing graduate Ofu Obekpa and cast members of Klippers<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cActors should be treated like cattle.\u201d\u00a0 Alfred Hitchcock. \u201cDirecting is 90% casting.\u201d\u00a0 Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, John Ford, Elia Kazan. The two preceding quotes represent the two extremes on how directors should work with actors.\u00a0 When all is said and done, the director succeeds when actors deliver monumental performances in memorable productions.\u00a0 On-set, the director […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":7433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-101","category-research-201"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmconnection.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}