“I look at the world and I see absurdity all around me. People do strange things constantly, to the point that, for the most part, we manage not to see it.”
―David Lynch
Directing Actors and crew takes patience, and practise.
In the book Film Directing Fundamentals: See Your Film Before Shooting
by Nicholas T. Proferes, (cinematographer for Wanda starring Barbera Loden) he talks about the importance of delegation -
" Many of us have trouble delegating responsibility. We want to do everything ourselves because no one can do it as well as we can. Even if that were true, we do not have enough hands, nor are there enough hours in the day to handle all of the countless tasks that must be taken care of. "
So, we must choose those who help us with great care. Then, once we have chosen we must trust them to do their jobs. The flip side of not being able to delegate responsibility is to not accept responsibility for the actions of those we have chosen. Yes, we must trust them to do their jobs. But, simultaneously, we cannot close our eyes to signs that the job is not being done satisfactorily. For most of us, it is a lot easier to hire someone than to fire them. But sometimes letting someone go is absolutely the right thing to do for the sake of the production. The director must take responsibility for the entire production - screenplay, acting, production design, camera, sound. And this responsibility extends to the managerial/logistical aspects, such as adherence to the schedule and set discipline.
Sometimes getting the actors and crew together seems like an impossible challenge, and trying to get lightning to strike twice - impossible, but dispose of a read-through at your peril.
"Read throughs: The read through serves quite a few functions, not least of which is breaking the ice. Actors are introduced to each other, not just for meeting up ‘in flesh and blood’ so to speak, but for meeting up with the other ‘characters’ they’ll be playing against in the story/plot they’re involved in. Questions often arise at this point...the meaning of a line is not clear....a relationship is muddy...an action seems wrong. All of these questions should be addressed before proceeding."
As a director, perhaps the most important question you can ask yourself is, ‘does the screenplay work or does it need rewriting?’ For the time being it is best not to correct the actors, except for asking them to speak so they can be heard. After all of their questions have been answered, you can correct a mispronounced word or any minor misunderstandings of the text, but do nothing to indicate that you are expecting a result. It is a good time now to make sure everyone understands their back-story, their circumstances, and so on. Some of this can be handled with the complete cast present - especially when dealing with historical facts, geography, climate and so on, but personal biographies and their intimacies , and especially relationships, are best worked on individually.
I remember at the recent seminar at Worcester, Jonathan Pegg said he placed great stress on having quality read-throughs. It was no use turning up on filming night expecting things to run smoothly, get it in the can and go home. He very often spotted faults in the script during a read through, and that would be the time to rectify the matter - not when cameramen and other technicians were poised ready to go. I have a sound recording of Jonathan’s talk at Worcester if anyone would like a copy. I can send the file via ‘WeTransfer’....although he’s new to the game, we can learn a lot from his deliberations.
Film Directing Fundamentals is published by Focal Press.
Picture Credit: Barbera Loden - Barbara_Loden_in_Splendor_in_the_Grass.jpg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barbara_Loden_in_Splendor_in_the_Grass.jpg
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