What is one of the most important things a beginning director can learn from the experience of making their first feature film? Trust the actors.
Directing is a difficult job. It’s not about wanting what you want. That’s a wish. It’s about knowing how to get what you want and then executing that function.
When it comes to directing actors, I really feel that less is more. If you know exactly what you want, you’ll be able to explain that to your actors clearly and concisely.
This is where preparation comes in. You’ve got to study the script and know it inside and out.
If you know the emotion of a scene and what the motivation of each character is, you will know what the outcome should be.
If you know what the outcome should be and how you’re going to get there, you will know what to say to the actors.
I’m going to share with you what it was like to direct The Devil’s Instrument and everything that I learned from the experience.
Character Development
Character development plays a big role in directing because it influences the actor’s decisions.
Character development really begins at the initial table reading. This is a complete read-through of the script that occurs during the first cast meeting.
This initial table reading is extremely important for a couple of different reasons. One: it is the first time the actors are going through the story in its entirety, and two: it’s the first time the actors will see a fully-developed picture of their character in their mind’s eye.
They will also begin to file away bits and pieces of backstory as well as start to make important decisions about their characters, either consciously or unconsciously.
As a director, it is important not to get in the way of this process. Don’t break the chain-of-thought or inject your own two-cents into the mix.
It is very tempting to break after each scene during the reading, and say, “Did you notice the motivation there? The character was really angry. They really wanted to have their way, but they ended up feeling remorseful.”
There is a time and place for such discussions, but it is not during the initial table reading. Just let the story play out, hold all questions until the end, and let the subconscious mind work its magic.
After the initial table reading, I will give the actors a key piece of information about each of their characters that they can build upon, and then I send them off to memorize their lines and complete their character.
The key piece of information I give each of the actors could be a strong motivating factor for the character, a key piece of backstory that has shaped the character, or maybe a key trait to focus on that makes the character who he or she is. It really just depends on the story and the character.
The initial table reading will take place a week or two before the start of production, and I will not disturb the actors during this time.
Trusting the actors is of fundamental importance when it comes to directing. If you trust the actors, they will also trust you.
You know you can trust the actors at this point because during the casting process, you only chose actors that you knew you could trust.
And how do you choose actors that you know you can trust?
By choosing only those actors who make good creative choices and can take direction.
Rehearsals
I will bring everyone together a day or two before the start of production for rehearsals.
Rehearsals are where everyone gets to see the real character from each of the actors for the first time.
Once the characters are fully developed, they can begin to interact with each other.
They will learn how to play off of each other and how to utilize each other’s strengths in order to deliver memorable performances.
This does take time, however. It is a feeling out process, and you don’t want to be filming during this time because the results can be somewhat unpredictable.
This is what rehearsals are for.
We also finalize wardrobe during rehearsals. Wardrobe is very important for character development, as well, because what a person wears and how they wear it says a lot about them.
This can influence the choices the actors make in regards to their character.
When a superhero puts on their costume, it changes the way they think, act, and feel. So is the case with each of your actors.
It is important to settle on a wardrobe that fits the character and changes the way the actor thinks, acts, and feels.
Rehearsal is very important and the more time you have the better.
I usually only have a day or two of rehearsals, at the most, because that’s all the time I can afford on the set of a low-budget independent film, but I’m more than happy to have that time and we certainly make the most of it.
Action
On the set of The Devil’s Instrument, I would send the actors off to rehearse while I set everything up for the next scene.
After they returned, I would talk about motivation.
A character’s motivation in a scene is crucial. Every action they take and every word they speak is going to be motivated by something.
If you know the script inside and out, you will be able to get to the heart of each character’s motivation at each and every moment.
So, before each scene, I would reiterate the motivation of each of the characters, because it is this motivation that is going to influence the actor’s creative decisions for how they are going to act in the scene.
I never told the actors how to act. This is where trusting your actors comes in.
They spent a lot of time developing their characters and figuring out how their characters would respond in any given situation.
So, rather than tell the actors how to act or how to play the scene, I simply reminded them of their character’s motivation and let them decide how their characters would respond.
If something wasn’t working, or if I just wanted to see the scene playout differently, I would give some direction to the actors and give some hint to an emotion that I wanted them to convey.
For example, I might say, “Your anger is just going to continue to build throughout this scene.”
Or, “This is going to bring forth that particular memory from your character’s childhood and it’s going to be bittersweet.”
This really made me realize that direction comes down to a matter of motivation.
I wanted the actors to stay in the moment once they got there, even if someone flubbed a line or just started laughing.
So, a lot of our takes were really long. That’s the beauty of shooting digitally. We just stayed there until we got what we needed.
Having that extra time for rehearsal also allowed us to shoot faster with less takes. And we were really moving. We had to. We shot seventy-eight script pages in five days.
Once the actors got used to each other’s characters and knew how they were going to respond to any given situation, we really got into a flow and that moved us consistently all the way to the finish line.
The most direction I gave on the set of The Devil’s Instrument came during the coverage and reaction shots.
These shots didn’t have any dialogue and, at the time, I didn’t know which shots I would be using or not, so I gave a lot of direction and we tried a lot of different things.
For example, I remember saying, “Try to murder him with your eyes.”
“Start by looking down, unsure of yourself, and then, look up with purpose.”
“Look at her with complete and utter disgust and then look down in defeat.”
That’s one of the great things about film – the subtly involved. A look. A tiny action. Every little thing an actor does is noticed, and it’s the little things that often have the biggest impact.
The only advice I know to give is: don’t forget about the little things, give the actors an adequate amount of time to develop their characters, and the more time you spend in rehearsal, the less direction you’ll have to give on set.
Some of the other things involved with directing a feature film include: staying on schedule and budget, and getting all of the shots that you will need to be able to complete the project. I’m going to write more about shot selection in a later post, which is why I chose to focus on working with the actors here.
Just remember to keep things moving, don’t spend any more money on anything, and once you get the shots that you need, move on.
All in all, the main things that I learned about directing from The Devil’s Instrument is that less really is more, motivation is everything, and sometimes the best thing you can do is just get out of the way.
