Directing our actors

In our media main task we needed to ensure that all went as our storyboard intended and we could invoke the response we desired from our piece. In order for this to happen, it was necessary that the actors in our main task piece behaved as we wished them to, i.e we directed them and they responded appropriately. In this document we're going to examine just how to direct and how we can apply this to our main task production..

Directing Advice
Using several websites and advice from past As students we collated the following information about giving direction to actors.
Communication- The best way to communicate with actors is to be concise - tell them what you want them to do, and how you want them to do it.

 Creating meaning in the scene- Before any filming or time on stage go through your script with your actors, go over their lines and directions. Ask them what they think the character is feeling and thinking and how can they show that. It is always good to ask your actor if your blocking and ideas for the scene is what they feel works and as if you make an actor do something which they feel is unnatural or not normal, this forcedness and rigidity will show in their performance. If they feel your direction doesn't fit ask them what they would change and see if this can be incorporated. If however there's no way around a certain movement or part of dialogue, work with your actor to get them deeper into the role as you see it. Creating Realism- Actors will best respond to verbs and active verbs at that. Give the actor a means to achieve their goal eg seduce, plead, lie. This gives the actor the opportunity to really think about what they're doing and contemplate the verisimilitude of their performance. This is in contrast to an instruction such as be sexy, cry as you say your lines, or now be patronising, which often creates a shallow performance as the actors are just doing as they are told and as such begin to work on auto-pilot. Giving Feedback- When directing it is important to remember that actors are often very sensitive about their performances and as such any criticisms should be carefully phrased. Always ensure that any feedback is positive, even when you are not getting what you need. Saying something like No,no no, be more angry, he's about to rob you is not as helpful as something like Great, this time let him see that you are NOT happy about being robbed, in fact if you feel angry go ahead let him have it!

Getting Actors into role- Actors will give their best

performances, if they understand their character, or if they are "in role". But how do you get your actors to understand this? A fun way to do this is a technique called "hot seating" where you place your actor on a chair, as their character, and ask them questions about themselves, such as "Where were you born?" "What was your

childhood like?" . This forces your actor to think about their character, weaving together the things that they know, i.e things in the script, and creating things for themselves such as what their character favourite food is, which they can draw upon when performing and allows them to understand where their lines are coming from.

Directing movement- Movement reveals a lot about a

character, how they move, how quickly and with what posture, can reveal a plethora of things about them such as: their status, their intentions, their personality and many more things. As such, the way an actor moves and performs the stage directions in the script is hugely important in a piece. Part of directing movement is about your actor being in mentally in role (see above). However, getting your actor physically in role is just as important as them being mentally in role, eg. An actor with the posture of a slob will not play a convincing dictator or monarch. A good way to do to this is after getting mentally in role get the actor to shake everything on their body and release all tension. Then get your actor to think about what part of their body would lead their character eg. A inquisitive person might be led by their nose or a confident person by their chest. Follow this with notes on posture, and what little idiosyncrasies you believe their character would hold. Furthermore show your actor how you envisage the movement perform it yourself, as this will demonstrate clearly what you desire as a director. necessary that the viewer believe what an actor is saying, but how can you as a director go about this? Begin by going through the script with your actor/s ensure that they understand every word of their lines as if this foundation is lacking how can any further improvements be made? After this get your actor to perform their lines in different ways, such as: whispering, shouting, putting emphasis on different words etc. This will encourage the actor to think about the meaning in their lines and how they can convey it. Another thing that people found helpful was giving each of their actor's lines an intention or a goal to accomplish such as persuasion or seduction, in this way an actor will consider the intention behind their lines rather than just regurgitate blocks of pre-learnt text.

Directing Dialogue- To create a convincing performance it is

How we can use the above research

Creating

meaning in the opening - as our opening is some what complex it is necessary that we create meaning in everything that happens. We will use the advice we found on this to do so ensuring that Sarah and all of our other actors know exactly what they're doing and our Mis en Scene conveys the message that we want it to. Creating Realism- we will use this research to direct our actors in a more astute manner, such as telling Luja's mum to be pleased yet anxious about Luja's first day at school.

Giving Feedback- Using this knowledge we will remember not to become frustrated with our actors, even if they do not perform as we so wish. In this way we will also know how to better instruct our actors to do what we want on the next take.
Getting Actors into role- We intend to use the

techniques that we have learnt to encourage our actors to better understand their character and create a better performance through the actors deeper understanding of the character's motives.
Directing Movement- We intend to use the techniques

that we have learnt to encourage our actors to better understand their characters motions and blocking and

create a better performance through the actors deeper understanding of the character's motives.
Directing Dialogue- We hope to go through our script

using the techniques that we have learnt so our main task can be at the best possible level we as directors can make it.