I have no intention of coaching any actors. I don’t even want to be involved in directing. I want to write the screenplay and I want to play Magnolia and i want, in the end, to have a film that can strike the audience to the heart with its truth and loveliness.
In our short history as independent screenwriters slash independent producers, my partner and used to write character sketches after the script was finalized. We would make them available, rather than give them, to the director and the actors.
Some directors, the ones I label “Visual Directors” were not a bit interested in the sketches. To them it was all about camera angles, great framing, and good shot variation. Other directors, the “Emotional Directors,” would read the sketches, maybe using them for casting assistance or help working with the actors on set. Some Emotional Directors just read the sketches to give themselves more information; then they chose to formulate their own notions of the characters’ back-stories.
Some actors choose not to read the sketches, too. I was surprised by that. As an actor myself, I always write my own back story when I’m cast; I’ve never been given one by a director or writer. Seems to me I’d be glad to get a character sketch so I knew what was in the director’s head. But, maybe not. Maybe to own the character, the actor needs to create her own back-story.
Looking back at the times we have written these sketches, I think that perhaps we felt compelled to create character sketches because the script itself was not excellent enough to give the actor that information. Looking forward at the feature-length I’m writing, I doubt I’ll write character sketches post-script. My new writing partner likes to answer a series of questions about each character during the writing, but does not share any of this with anyone but her co-writers.
The director should know how each actor works, how to get the best out of each actor and when there’s nothing more to be gotten. Yesterday i learned how a director can screw up an actor.
Our director did take after take with most actors (6 to 12 takes for most scenes); yet with one actor who didn’t get a good performance after 3 takes, the director gave up and went to the next scene.
I believe the director let his personal feelings get in the way of a good film. In this particular case to which i am referring –perhaps an anomaly, perhaps not– the director had barely been speaking to the actor for several weeks and it was clear to me he didn’t like the actor.
The actor gave great performances in several other scenes, even in the first or second take; so it wasn’t a case of the actor being a bad choice or being unable to work.
On the other hand, the director did multiple takes with actors who never gave a good performance and didn’t ever get better. He did have some patience to try–with all the other actors. But in the case of this one actor, the director didn’t want to give anything of himself to work with that actor, so he didn’t direct.
I was on set and saw him not give direction to that actor. Later i worked on the edit, so i saw in which scenes the director allowed the actor to find the performance and in in which scenes the director allowed a bad performance to stand as the circled take.
By-the-book directors yell, “Action,” even if there isn’t much action in the scene, even if it’s a contemplative scene, or a love scene, or a quiet conversation, or just an ECU of a reaction.
The more sensitive directors, respectful of the actor’s instrument, say, “When you’re ready.”
On the set of “Chase Me”
Actress Mindea . She’s a fabulous actor with a sensitive instrument. She generally plays a gloomy or depressed character, or even a bitch; but today she’s playing a sarcastic, happy-go-lucky person. She has gorgeous green eyes and long, wavy dark brown hair.
Actress Sith. A versatile actor who has played many manic, cheery, brave-front type of chicks and not a few murderesses. Today she’s also playing a happy-go-lucky person. She has deep brown eyes and long, wavy dark brown hair.
Mindea is about 5′ 9″ and over 250 pounds.
Sith is about 5′ 2″. She couldn’t weigh 100 pounds if she swallowed a watermelon whole.
I’m directing this indie short.
Mindea comes up to me and says,
“You know how sometimes you sit in a movie theater and they have cast the same bland, all-American, pretty-boy faces with no distinguishing features in several key roles…and you know how you sometimes sit there for the first 20 minutes of a movie, when they are doing short scenes introducing each character…and you don’t get enough time to learn each face…so, you know how you sometimes spend the whole first act getting confused by who is who…and you can’t tell the actors apart ’cause they all look the same…and you lose the story because you’re trying to figure out who everyone is?”
“Yes?”
Mindea is bawling by now, mascara running down her cheeks into her mouth.
“Well, how are they going to tell me and Sith apart?”
Very gently,
“Sweetheart, you two are very different sizes.”
Oops.
Mindea stops.
Not insulted.
Surprised.
As if she had never thought of this before. She walks over to the catering truck; using its shiny side as a mirror, stands and examines herself for a long time. She looks over to the diminutive Sith and back at her own reflection.
I hold my breath.
She returns to me.
“Oh, okay.”
On the set of “Brown”
“Neighbor Ben” is frantically looking around. He is a U5 in this indie feature.
The 1st AD asks if he can help. The PM asks if she can help. Makeup asks if he can help.
Ben declines.
“I need to see Kritter (the Director.)”
Ben says to Kritter:
“I can’t play this role. You didn’t tell me Neighbor Ben eats a hamburger. I am morally opposed to eating meat. Can I play a different role? Please, please, I really want to be in your film, but I cannot eat a burger.”
Kritter asks Props to find a veggie burger.
“No, no,” wails “Ben.”
By this time he is sobbing and clutching his chest and gasping. Snot is running down into his mustache.
“I can’t even pretend to eat it. Can you please change the dialogue so it says I am eating a veggie sandwich?”
Michelle is..
an actor, performance artist, screenwriter, indie filmmaker. Her books are available at right on the front page of Reel Grok.
SHE wants YOU to cast HER in lead roles where sexy middle-aged women have hot affairs with younger men.
Senryu 38:
Many times I’ve said //
“I love your work.” I was false //
I loved his body //
Michelle can currently be seen performing in … well, is currently writing … a multi-media live / filmed performance with elements of insanity. In my work, my goal is to present fictional narrative entertainment that inspires people to change the world.
click to see a list of movies with cats
Senryu 92:
I wrote a screenplay//
My brilliant, unique story //
Tits and car crashes //
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