The Art of Directing Actors
The Art of Directing Actors Ernest Goodman
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Ernest Goodma n
Published by Goodman Directing & Acting Studio 1253 N Vine St Unit 14 Los Angeles, CA 90038
[email protected] http://www.ernestgoodmanstudio.com Cover Design: Ernest Goodman Book Layout: Ernest Goodman Editor: Maria Bogdanoff Drawings: Danil Ermolovich Printed in Flintridge Bookstore B ookstore http://www.flintridgebooks.com/ http://www.flintridgebooks.com/ Manuactured in the United States o America © 2014 Ernest Goodman All rights reserved. No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm or by any means without a permission rom the author, except or the inclusion o brie in a review. Te scanning, uploading, and distribution o this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission o the publisher is illegal. Please purchase any book or authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy o the copyrighted materials. Your support o the author’s rights is appreciated. Disclaimer: Te inormation presented in this book is or education purposes only. Te author is not giving legal, business or financial advice. Te publisher is not liable or use the inormatio inormation n by readers. Readers should seek advice o lawyer, lawyer, accountant, or other proessionals on their budget issues. Te book is register registered ed in the United States States Copyright Office. ISBN 978-0-692-02746-2-52900 I you wish to study or consult with Ernest Goodman, Goo dman, or to arrange a workshop, please check out our web site, or email or urther inormation: Web site: www.ernestgoodmanstudio.com Email:
[email protected]
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The Art of Directing Actors
Table T able of Contents Contents INTRODUCTION
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What is this book about? What Should we study directing or is talent enough? The Art of Directing Directing Actors Actors
1. TYPES OF ACTING
7 9 10
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Three Types of Acting Acting
13
2. THE GREAT TEACHERS TEACHE RS
15
3. WHERE DO THE EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS CO COME ME FROM? 18 4. RESULT-ORIENTED DIRECTING
20
5. TWENTY EXAMPLES OF RESULT-ORIENTED AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS
22
6.FIXING RESULT-ORIENTED DIRECTING PROB PROBLEMS LEMS Inside Out Directing the scene by result approach Directing the scene by proper tools
35 36 36
7. MAIN SKILLS REQUIRED TO BE A DIRECT DIRECTOR OR
38
Intuition, Empa Empathy thy and Body Language
38
8. ADAPT ADAPTA ATION OF A SCRIPT AND DIRECTI DIRECTING NG
41
9. DIRECTING ACTORS FOR FILM AND THEATER
44
10. TOOLS OF A DIRECTOR
47
Two goals of a director Three requirements requirements for the best best directions directions The list of the the Seventeen Tools Tools
49 50 51
11. Tool # 1 SUPER OBJECTIVE, SCENE OBJECTIVE
54
Examples of the SUPER OBJECTIVES Examples of the SCENE OBJECTIVES COMMON MISTAKES EXAMPLE OF WRONG OBJECTIVE
57 60 60 61
12. Tool # 2 CHARACTERIZATION, BUILDING A CHARACTER
63 3
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Examples COMMON MISTAKES A Character Checklist Another opinion about creating a character
13. Tool # 3 ACTION VERBS or ACTIONS How action verbs work fixing Result Simple list of ACTION VERBS About Adjectives and Adverbs About chemistry
14. Tool # 4 FACTS or GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES Three types of Given Circumstances Actor’s choices
15. Tool # 5 IMAGES
65 67 68 69
71 73 75 76 77
78 80 81
83
The Practical Application of the IMAGES—The IMAGES—The Importance Importance of Being Earnest
86
16. Tool # 6 CONCENTRATION OF ATTENT TTENTION ION
93
17. Tool #7 ADJUSTMENTS
96
18. Tool # 8 EVENTS
100
Woody Allen and Andrew Tarkovsky Ta rkovsky in in creating creating events Making events by classic directing techniques
19. Tool # 9 PHYSICAL TASKS, THE METHOD
102 103
104
OF PHYSICAL ACTIONS 20. Tool # 10 ATMOSPHERE Example of how at atmosphere mosphere works in connection with other tools
21. Tool # 11 PSYCHOLOGICAL GESTUR GESTURE E How to use the PSYCHOLOGICAL GESTURE?
108 112
113 114
22. Tool # 12 FEELING FOR TRUTH
116
23. Tool # 13 FEELING FOR STYLE
118
24. Tool # 14 SENSORY MEMORY
121
25. Tool # 15 OBSTACLES
123
examples
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26. Too Tool l # 16 SUBSTITUTION
126
Example of how Substit Substitution ution works in connection with other tools 127
27. Tool # 17 INNER MONOLOGUE The Practical Application of the Inner Monologue—The Importance of Being Earnest
28. CASTING
129 130
138
TRAINING OF THE ACTORS DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTE CHARACTER R AND CATEGORIES AUDITION CHECKLIS CHECKLIST T RESOURCES FOR CASTING REJECTION IN THE AUDITION ROOM CALLBACK
29. REHEARSAL
142 143 144 146 147 148 148
149
INTRODUCTIONS AND TABLE READINGS Discuss OBJECTIVE OBJECTIVES S with your actors IMPROVIZATION
30. MISE-EN-SCENE AND BLOCKING Mise-en-scène Blocking Tiny pause pause before before the dialogue dialogue Blocking first method
153 153 154
155 155 156 158 158
31. MAKE ‘EM LAUGH
159
32. MAIN FUNCTION OF A DIRECTO DIRECTOR R
161
The Kuleshov Effect Eisenstein’s Eisens tein’s theory of editing (montage) The two types of directo directors rs
33. PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF DIRECTOR’S TOOLS FOR FOR THE BEAR Elimination of any emotional content Relationship betwee between n director and screenwr screenwriter iter Three-tier structure structure of film film or play play An Overview of The Bear Tool # 1 SUPER OBJECTIVE,SCENE OBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE
161 162 163
166
167 168 169 170 172 Tool # 2 CHARACTERIZA CHARACTERIZATION, TION, BUILDING A CHARACTER 176 Tool # 3 ACTION VERBS or ACTIONS ACTIONS 184 5
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THE BEAR, script with OBJECTIVES and ACTIONS 185 Tool # 4 FACTS or or GIVEN CIRCUMST CIRCUMSTANCES ANCES 218 Tool # 5 IMAGES 220 Tool # 15 OBSTACLES OBSTACLES 225 Tool # 16 SUBSTITUTION SUBSTITUTION 233
34. SOME OTHER PROBLEMS DIRECTOR DIRECTOR CAN ENCOUNTER
236
Miscast Over directing Agreements between acto actors rs about emotiona emotional l responses
237 238
Appendix I Action Verbs Thesaurus
240
Appendix II Classif Classification ication of Action Verbs
299
Appendix III Reco Recommended mmended Reading
309
Acknowledgments
312
Epilogue
313
About the author
314
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The Art of Directing Actors
INTRODUCTION
Welco elcome me to Te Art o Directing Actors. Tis book may be one o the best your investments in your directing career. Why? Because it will teach directing actors so much. I know how much I’ve learned while gathering the inormation or it. Te Art o Directing Actors may look like other books you’ve seen but there are some very important differences, ones that are helpul and will make it easier or you while directing. Tis is a handbook that has all the tools you’ll need to effectively direct actors and to create memorable perormances. By detailing out modern and classical methods or directing actors, you’ll have a complete and versatile toolbox to draw on or use in any film or theater production ( 17 tools). Te Art o Directing Actors points out the most common mistakes made by film and theater directors and actors, and offers ways to do better. In addition, a ull list and classification o action verbs with a thesaurus, plus examples o a ull script breakdown (Te Bear by by Anton Chekhov) with objectives, actions, and other tools are included. Finally, there are exercises in a useul ormat so you may apply your understanding o the several methods o directing actors. What is this book about?
Film directing is a relativ relatively ely young art orm, emerging almost 100 years ago. Teater art, on the other hand, has existed or thousands o years. Tis book is about the art o directing actors, whether it is or film or or theater t heater.. Te inner lie o the actor actor,, acting techniques, certain ruless o human behavior, rule behavior, common mistakes o the director, dire ctor, and various methods o directing are discussed. As working director director,, I believe, as well as many other teachers, directing actors can be taught as a craf. Te art o directing actors does not need to be mystified. All 17 methods o directing actors are relatively easy to understand and they can be learned over a reasonable amount o time. 7
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Film school courses will ofen ocus more on the technical aspects o directing, offering study in cinematography, editing, producing, etc. O course a good goo d director must be amiliar with these arts, ar ts, but they are not his or her main unction. u nction. Only a ew U.S. film schools offer students a course dedicated to the specific methods o directing actors. Given that this topic is multilayered, clearly one class would be insuficient to successully realize this rich subject. With a hundred years o history, the art o directing actors is based on a clear and logical structure, as well as on the science o psychophysiology psychophysiology.. Many theatrical and film scholars have dedicated their lives to developing specific techniques or directing o actors. Both acting and directing are complex, cumulative art orms; they must be taught and studied layer by layer.. Tis subject is best studied in conjunction with the techniques o layer acting and this book is a synthesis o the concepts o many teachers and proessionals. In order to be a director you must have special training and intuition. intui tion. Sometimes when teaching these methods, students will comment that certain techniques are illogical or against intuition. Tis is normal reaction. Intuition is very important and necessary or a director, but blindly ollowing it usually leads to aulty results. o understand and know this multiaceted art orm, it must be studied layer by layer; eventually leading to creating an exacting ramework in which intuition can work best. People ofen conus conusee intuition with inner emotions and some teachers believe that intuition can’t be taught as skill. But according to Allan Pease, an Australian body language expert and co-author o fiteen bestsellers, intuition is the ability to read people’s body language, a skill that can be taught. Body language is a reflection o our inner lie, thoughts, emotions and eelings. Like intuition, Pease believes that t hat reading body language enables you to determine whether the actor’s perormance was truthul or not. But more importantly, the director should remain open and receptive to human emotions and eelings. It can be called intuition when we are watching a perormance and as a gut reaction say, “I don’t believe it!” On On the basis o your intuition, not your thinking, you determine whether or not the perormance was truthul.
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Most people can acquire the ability to read other people’ people’ss thoughts based on reading their body language, and this is a particularly crucial skill or a director director.. Te Art o Directing Actors presents presents directing as a practical practica l psychology: the art o managing human human behavior. behavior. Should we study directing or is talent enough?
“Te artist is nothing without the gif, but the gif is nothing without work.” ~ Emile Zola I’m ofen asked ”Isn’t talent enough, do we have to study directI’m ing and acting?” Or some will pronounce “alent is the most important element, many actors and directors have no training at all!” So, let’ let’ss talk about tale talent. nt. Is having just talent enough to be a good director or actor? Imagine someone who has the gif o being a musician and was also born with a good ear. He didn’t study any music theory and he doesn’t practice playing any musical instruments. In spite o being gifed, he most likely won’t succeed as a musician because in order to be truly good, even a well-gifed person needs to spend years practicing and refining their talent. t alent. Let’s Let’s use another illustration: picture two people who are equally strong and ast swimmers with well-developed muscles. One has spent years training and developing a swimming technique and the other hasn’t. Now ask any Olympian swimmer who they think will be better and they’ll unabashedly tell you that the one with the best technique will swim aster and longer, have more elegance and grace, and expend the least amount o energy. Alternatively, the person who doesn’t know how to swim with technique perhaps will swim, but his natural talent and other characteristics will not automatically give him an advantage. Tis concept is applicable to all proessions; training, practice and experience lead to the best result. Like the musician, the actor practicing his “ instrument ” (his body, his mind, his soul) benefits rom practice. Like the swimmer, without training, even a natural born artist can’t can’t achieve true excellence. (1910-1994)—a prominent Russian theater diPeter Yershov (1910-1994)—a rector, wrote in his book “Directing as a Practical Psychology” :
“Te principle o least action” is well known rom the theoreti9
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cal physics o the mid 18th century. It states that nature always finds the way where the amount o energy required or any physical action is the smallest possible”. Tis physical principle applies to the human behavior: i the same result can be achieved in various ways, an individual will use the pass that he believes will require the least expenditure o energy, and subsequently spends no more efforts than, he thinks, necessary to achieve the result. But unskilled person wastes a lot o energy to do a basic job. A dro drowning wning man who can cannot not swim will make too man manyy movemen movements ts in order to save his lie. Such loss o energy is reflected reflec ted by the extreme importance o saving his lie...Experience, lie...Exper ience, training, and and practice lead to the best outcome. Te higher the level o proessional qualifications a person has, the less wasteul his work will be. Tus, the costs o efforts are determined by not only the significance o human goals, but also by the lie experience exper ience and traini training. ng.” ” Tis very princip principle le o least action appl applies ies to the world o acting and directing where proficient and knowledgeable proessionals do their work easy and quickly, and expend the least amount o energy to get a tremendous perormance. It is not simple or the actors who do not have adequate oundation and practice to do even the basics: hitting marks, remembering lines, repeating gestures and movements or coverage, and finding their key light. Te work o actors and directors is extremely difficult, i you lose ocus or one minute and the career consequences can be atal. Te workload is overwhelming. You may find yoursel working seven days d ays a week at 12-14 hours a day day,, ofen or weeks. oo slow and you are lef in the dust. Mortality rates are very high in a film industry. You can easily die working hard. I am joking about mortality...no worries. Any way, under such conditions unprepared person will not even have a good chance to use his gif i he has one. So, is talent enough? Constantin Stanislavsk Stanislavski’i’ss amous quote is “a good actor is 10 percent talent, and 90 percent hard work.” I don’t believe that the gif alone a lone is enough. I’ve I’ve seen man manyy students who started out with only a little natural talent, but afer years o hard work, study and training, achieved a great deal.
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The Art of Directing Actors The Art of Directing Directing Actors Actors
Meaningul and successul directing is not an arbitrary maMeaningul nipulation o the actor’s behavior. A director can’t effectively extract a specific result rom an actor in the orm o an emotion such as cry, be sad, etc. by simply commanding it. Te art o directing is expressed in the distillation o ideas, and making the proper choices to best express those ideas. Te art o acting and the art o directing are related to each other as in the two sides o one coin. Average directing is a craf; good directing is a skill; but great directing is the Art. In the world o artistry, it is the director’s vision and creativity that transorms the ordinary into a master piece. Directing actors as well as directing by itsel requires a possession o inven inventive tive and imaginative skills. Shot selection, camera movements, blocking and mise-en-scène as well as instructing instru cting actors are not just mechanical skills, they are creative choices. Learning methods or directing actors is not difficult by itsel. Te main difficulty lies in the application o the methods. By continuous practice and experience over time, good directing will ollow in an easy, elegant and graceul way. Being graceul is a supreme goal o an artist, and a director is an artist and the reason this book is called Te Art o Directing Actors. And while it’ it’ss absolutely okay to read book in random order, I suggest you start rom the beginning so you have a better knowledge o the sublime art o directing actors.
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CHAPTER 1
TYPES OF ACTING “Only a performance warmed by the real living of the actor on the stage can affect the audience emotionally.” ~ C. Stanislavski Acting is not aking or pretending. As a director, it is important to understand how actors work. Tere are different schools and methods o acting as well as directing around the world. Almost all o them are based on the ideas and the method developed by Constantin Stanislavski (1863-1938), a great Russian actor, director, and teacher. Te Stanislavski Stanisla vski Method is unique and versatile, and it is ully based on the science o human psychophysiology. His method emerged in the beginning o the 20 th century and spread throughout the world in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Some historians and scholars believed that he adopted the main principle principle o his method rom French philosophers. Now, Stanislavski centers are ound worldwide. In the USA, U SA, they are located in New York York and Los Angeles. Other methods such as Stella Adler, Michael Chekhov and Sanord Meisner were originally developed rom the Stanislavs Stanislavski ki system. Many teachers tell that directing actors, as well as acting itMany sel, cannot be taught in nutshell but is learned over a long time, layer by layer. I believe that the elementary learning o directing begins by studying acting; starting with the principles o creating the character. By understanding and studying how actors work rom an inner perspective, a director can give the best b est directions to elicit the best perorper ormance. But what is a direction? Directions are the instructions to the actor which includes basic explanatio explanations, ns, descriptions, and specific orders. Sometimes it is quite lengthy and sometimes only a ew very importan importantt words. Learning how to give instructions is important in developing the art o directing and the basis o this book.
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The Art of Directing Actors Three Types of Acting
Current acting is taught in a variety o ways as each teacher interprets the Stanislavski method slightly different. But it is o impor impor-tance to note that the core o each method always originates with the Stanislavski Stanisla vski method. Te Stanislavs Stanislavski ki method is recognized with three types o acting: (1) Te Art o Living (2) Te Art o Perormance (3) Te Art as a Craf
Although thes thesee terms are well known in Europe, it’ it’ss not commonly labeled as such in the U.S. It’s my belie that approaching acting with these expression expressionss is a very important starting point p oint or actors and directors. In the beginning o the twentieth century there was crisis in the theater o Russia, people had stopped going. During this time, Stanislavski was a prominent actor and director o the Moscow Art Teater.. In acing this crisis, ater cr isis, he began to work on developing developing specific techniques o acting. In over 40 years o research rese arch and practice, he developed a method that was used by his students and Russian theater became world renown. Stanislavski believed that in the theater that there are two main Stanislavski streams: the art o living and and the art o perorman per ormance ce. Acting mastered by proessional actors that mixed the streams o the art o living and the art o perormance are called the art as a craf . Beginning with the physical actions that are generated by the given circumstances or events, a primary oundation or the development o the character is begun. However, Stanislavski taught that in order to master the o the art o living “ “ is not just to depict lie as in its external maniestation, but mainly mainly to create the scene depicting depic ting the inner lie o the character in the play, adapting the character’s alien lie to the actor’s own human eelings, giving all the organic elements o the actor’s own soul.” Tereore to develop the character urther, the actor must 13
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be ully alive in the role, experiencing similar and natural eelings on the stage, every time and at every repeat. By making the connection between actions and eelings, the actor in his role is then united and becomes a logical, consistently perceived character, and emotionally thought as the real person by the audience. In contrast, when actors use the art o perormance, it is a more ormal, mechanical action where the actor just imitates emotions. It does not require living in the space between b etween the actions act ions and the eelings o the character. When the art o perormance is mastered properly, it can be impressive and expressive in orm. But more notably, there can be no spontaneity and improvisation, and it ofen leaves the audience indifferentt and unaffected. indifferen O course, a clear division o theatrical art or these types is posp ossible only in theory. In actual practice, the actor can mix the elements o these two acting types. Te Stanislavski Method exerted a strong influence on the development o modern schools o acting act ing and directing throughout the world by defining these two acting types. Te changes in the film and theater worlds were enormous. In the silent film era, there was mostly Result-Oriented directing, that continued even into the early period o the Hollywood 1930’s and 1940’s movies. It’s easy to notice the differences in acting i you compare American movies shot during the 1930’s and 1940’s (beore the Stanislavski Method came to US), and movies shot in the 1950’s and 1960’s when actors were trained according Stanislavski, Stanislavski, and his method became b ecame the grammar g rammar or acting and directing throughout the world. Presently, one notices that actors in most V shows and standup comedies are mainly using the art o perormance. Te theater beore Stanislavski consisted o numb clichés that represented certain emotions, and directors asked or each scene-specific emotion during a play. oday, we can identiy badly mastered stage plays and low-level acting movies; they are boring, mostly because there is no art o living. As an exercise, watch old movies, bad movies, be atten attentive tive and try to distinguish the art o living and the art o perormance. One o the most important skills or a director is the ability to recognize whether the behavior is natural and believable or not. 14
The Art of Directing Actors
CHAPTER 2
THE GREAT GREAT TEACHERS It serves a director to know history and the techniques o acting. In the U.S., most methods are based on the art o living . Within this are two types o concepts, “inside” and “outside” approaches. Te inside approach approach generates rom the idea that the source o acting draws rom the actor’s actor’s past emotional e motional or sensory experiences. Te outside approach is based on the notion that the source o acting comes rom within the human imagination. imagination. But there is no hard line defining these two concepts, rather it is a generalization generalization o approaches to acting. Constantin Stanislavski Stanislavski (1863-1938) was a Russian actor and theater director. He director. He pioneered acting based on the art o living and encouraged that actors use their imagination in their craf which defines this method as an “outside” approach.
In the early decades o the 20th century in the U.S., most o the actors were prepared through the British school o acting. Tis included sets o specific exercises that involved mimicking in ront o a mirror. Most films o this period reflect visibly poor acting and unnatural emotions. Stanislavski changed this, revolutionizing the acting and directing worlds. Stanislavsky’s method o acting supported actors in breaking rom the exact lines and actions o the script but it also demanded that they pay closer attention to the important unsaid messages within the writing. Eventually, Stanislavski’s method substituted the British school everywhere, most notably by WWII. Tere were no more ake reactions, no more clichés in the theater and film. Only real passions and eelings eelings were the norm afer his method has been b een disseminated throughout the world. o urther illustrate the “outside approach” let’s take an actor who has a role as a policeman. Although he’s never been a policeman, he finds ways to play it; rom the imagination, imagination, by making observations, obser vations, doing research, and using clues (unsaid messages) rom within the script. 15
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(1891–1955) was a Russian-American Russian-American actor, actor, Michael Chekhov (1891–1955) director, author, and theatre practitioner. He was a nephew o the great Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov and Stanislavski reerred to him as his most brilliant student. He starred in films directed by A. Hitchcock and was nominated or an Academy award or his role in the film (1945). His acting technique has been used by actors such Spellbound (1945). as Clint Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, and Robert Stack. Although born in Russia, he moved to England, and then to USA. In New York, York, he ounded an acting studio and became the director o his own theater. Michael Chekhov invented invented his own method metho d o acting based bas ed on the imagination (an outside approach) and was strongly influenced by the German philosopher, Rudolph Steiner. Steiner, authored many books on child education/development education/development (and was a ounder o Te Waldor school/education system.) Chekhov’s system.) Chekhov’s method: “Psychological geslater. ture” and “ Atmos Atmosphere phere” will be discussed later. Lee Strasberg (1901–1982) was an American actor, director and acting teacher. In 1969, Strasberg ounded the Lee Strasberg Teatre and Film Institute in New York City and in Hollywood, teaching the work he pioneered. Tis popular school (or method) o Lee Strasberg, is based primarily on emotional memory, an “ inside” approach. Actors Actors exercise recalling rom their personal memory emotional events that happened to them in their lives.
actress and an acStella Adler (1901–1992) was an American actress and claimed acting teacher, who ounded the Stella Adler Studio o Acting in New York City (1949) and the Stella Adler Academy o Acting in Los Angeles (1985) with long-time protégé Joanne Linville. Her grandson om Oppenheim now runs the school in New York, which produced alumni including Marlon Brando, and Robert De Niro. Adler met with Stanislavski when he was touring the U.S. with his amous theater. She took classes and began to learn rom him, eventually writing and publishing the first book in the USA about the Stanislavsky method. Stella Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg began their journey together as directors o Te Group Teaters. But Adler’s viewpoint prompted her to start her own school o acting based broadly on the imagination and sensory memory. Strasberg opened his own acting school based only on the 16
The Art of Directing Actors
sensory memory. As a result, they split and never communicated till the end o their days. Sanord Meisner (1905–1997), also known as “Sandy”, was an American actor and acting teacher who developed a orm o acting based on the Stanislavski method which was termed ter med the “Meisner technique”. Te goal o an actor “ to live truthully under imaginary circumStanislavski. He ounded a school o acting stances” he borrowed rom Stanislavski. which is still active and wrote many books about acting.
In the field o the directing actors, the studio o Judith Weston is located in the Los Angeles. She is known worldwide and has trained more than many directors. Her two books, ”Directing Actors” and “Te Film Director’s Intuition” are required reading or classes in directing actors at many film schools in the USA.
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CHAPTER 3
WHERE DO THE EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS CO COME ME FRO F ROM? M? Stanislavski “You “Y ou cannot hold the eeling”. ~ Constantin Stanislavski Te main assumption in directing is the idea that human emotions and feelings only appear spontaneously, and therefore cannot be called up by the director from the actor.
Stanislavski would tell this story when teaching to emphasis on Stanislavski this point: “Te wie is waiting or her husband to come home afer work at the actory. actory. She has cooked a nice dinner or him. him. Abruptly Abruptly,, she gets a phone call telling her that her husband was killed in an accident at the actory acto ry.. And And what what do you you think think was was the first thou thought ght o o the poor poor woman? woman? She thinks… “what will I do with dinner now?” Stanislavski used this to demonstrate how thoughts and emotions can be spontaneously illogical. Did we always cry when we should? Really, sometimes in lie we laugh or behave very differently when crying would be more logical. So what is a natural and real behavior is what also works in the theater or film. And because it is natural, it affects the t he audience as such. Mistakenly, Mistakenly, many new directors will ask or a particular expression rom the actor or actress. Unnatural Unnatural and imitated emotions ofen leave the audience indifferent and cold. In ordinary lie, we don’t think about our reactions and eelings, they usually appear afer our thoughts. Tere are certain people who train (like religious monks,) who can control their stream o thoughts or short periods o time. Or they can be in “mental silence” which means a mental state without any thoughts, but the average person cannot do it. Pleas e underst Please understand and that I’ I’m m not saying that people can can’t ’t control their thoughts at all. Indeed we control them to some degree, but usually we are just reducing the external expressions which are our eelings. But our eelings still are visible, even when we reduce them the 18
The Art of Directing Actors
emotions are evident in some way, through some clue in the body. So, by controlling and creating new internal thoughts and ollowing objectives under imaginary circumstances, actors can subsequently create very realistic perormances. Tis is the art o acting. We typical typically ly don don’t ’t hold or stop the stream o thoughts in our head. We are always thinking, and thoughts are what shape the inner world o humans. Tis inner world is in unity with the physical body. It is through this unity that the behavior o an actor is as natural as it is in real lie. Tis is where the truthul expressions, eelings and emotions are born. However, i an actor over-thinks about his emotions, or ruminates about about how he looks, he loses the t he necessary connection (chemistry) with other actor. Ultimately we will have ake emotions on the screen or stage. Tereore Tereore,, true tr ue emotions and eelings are spontaneous, and sometimes illogical. o make a point about how this process works, let’ let’ss do this little scenario as an example. Remember your last wonderul vacation. Tink about it it and you you can begin to eel it it again in your your head. And as you think more deeply about it, eventually, you can also eel it in your body. So it is through intentionally recreating situations, thoughts and images or limited limited period o time that t hat a method or constructing a successul perormance comes orth. Actors will draw on these methods over and over again to create truthul perormances.
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CHAPTER 4
RESULT-ORIENTED DIRECTING
RESUL-ORIENED DIRECING is an old method of directing in which directors demanded that actors play play a particular par ticular result such as a specific emotion, emotion, feeling, or expression.
Tis is a common mistake o a director direc tor.. More than 100 years ago in the theater beore Stanislavski, acting existed as a dead d ead cliché or each emotion and eelings, and was based only on external expressions. Tis type o acting is still in use us e in some old ethnic orms o theater like Italian “Del Arte” and Japanese “Kabuki”. oday, the quality o acting and directing has moved to a much higher level. Te principle o showing emotions is substituted now by the standard o living truthully under imaginary circumstances. It’s very visible in the old theater and film worlds that which was the product o the Result-Oriented era, beore the Stanislavsky Result-Oriented Directing era, method had been b een embraced and disseminated throughout the world. Nowadays, it’s a ault o the director to ask or a specific result or an actor to play out. However, it can be different in the modern orm to have the actor play out a similar old style. Tere are no rules 20
The Art of Directing Actors
that cannot be broken as creativity itsel allows the breaking and mixing o almost anything. Let’s Let’s take a look at the example o the Result Direction. Assume, the director tells to the actor:
“I want you to be mad in in beginning o the scene, and as you open ope n the door to the kitchen you will see your girlriend, you become look hap py ...On ...On the line ‘I like you...’ you should smile and go to her to give a warm hug ”. ”. For ordinary people and aspiring directors it is intuiti intuitively vely ob vious and may may sound logical to direct actor based on such expressions. expressions. But proessional actors would not even understand what the director wants at all. It It is very ver y difficult to reproduce a stream o emotions truthully thinking about every gesture and reaction requested rom the director. Instructions like: “be mad”, “look happy”, “smile” , and “give a warm hug” are not playable rom the actor’s viewpoint. Afer receiving direction like this many actors would say that, the director d irector should play the part himsel. Actors do not like it when a director requests a specific Result . Robert De Niro, and many other amous actors have spoken about this problem probl em in their interviews. interv iews. Eric Morris, in his book Being and Doing: a Workbook or Actors reerred to this issue many times. Morris writes about dealing with Result direction as hard even or a master crafsman (proessional (pro essional actor), and or less experienced e xperienced actors it is almost impossible not to all into the trap o playing out o acting concepts. Can you imagine how serious this problem is? Many o my riends who are actors complain about result-oriented result-oriented directors. I have been asked many times, “What can you do when you encounter a re into sult-oriented director?” My advice to actors is to interpret the result into the craf terms. Craf terms ter ms are acting tools. Te concept o result and general directions are difficult to understand without experience o acting or directing. However, you can get it i you read the next chapter “wenty Examples o Result-Oriented and General Directions”.
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CHAPTER 5
TWENTY EXAMPLES OF RESULT-ORIENTED AND GENERAL DIRECTIONS Here, I give you twenty examples o Result-Oriented and Gen to do when you eral Directions, examples rom real lie and what not to direct. Tese mistakes do happen on proessional film sets and theater stages, and even well-experienced directors can sometimes make these errors. Actors as well as directors would be best served to know these examples too. Beore you turn to the next chapters chapters,, take a momen momentt to read through the ollowing twenty scenarios. Te inormation provided here is important in order to understand basic principles o directing actors. Even though presented explanations are relatively short, you will understand why they do not work afer reading the whole book. Te concept o Result-Oriented and General Directing is difficult to get without careul studying these examples. From an educational point o view, learning o techniques o directing actors starting rom these common errors is more advantageous and beneficial. 1. Can you say it louder, quieter?
It is okay i the director director asks this, but but it should be asked asked o o all actors on the film set or theater stage rather than ocusing on just one. Why?...because requesting only one specific actor to “act louder” (or quieter) is not a direction at all, because you are demanding a Result rom the actor. Instead o giving this direction to the actors use the objectives, action verbs, images and adjustments or other director’s techniques. For instance, i you want rom the actor a more intense perormance, try different objectives or another action verb rather than asking him to say it louder (See chapter chapter 13 “ool # 3. Action Verbs or Actions”, on page 71). Usually it takes a significant amount amount o time or an actor to cre22
The Art of Directing Actors
ate a character. Sometimes it can take three months, sometimes even more. When the character has been created and the actor is perorming, he/she is concentrating on him/hersel and at that time, loses contact with the partner. Listening is a most important skill o an actor. Stanislavski called it “ communion” between between actors. It is also known as chemistry . It is very important to have that chemistry connecting actors in order to make the scene truthul, and to stir eelings and emotions. Keeping actors connected is crucial or the director and any direction that risks destroying this communion risks ruining the movie as well. One o the characteristics that t hat distinguish a good movie rom a bad one is the strong connections and engagement o actors with each other. Again, it is absolutely okay when the director asks all actors to make it louder/quieter. But this is not considered to be proper as a direction. 2. Cry, yell, shout!
elling an actor to cry , yell, etc. are too general to to be playable. Calling or a specific emotion is the utterly perect example o asking or a Result by directors. In most situations, situations, it is very difficult, d ifficult, even impossible, to get believable acting this way. Although common among amateur directors, this is not a playable direction. Stanislavski, Chekhov, Meisner, Strasberg, etc. as well as other prominent and successul modern day directors agree on this. Tere can be thousands o reasons to cry, such as be you lost your wallet, or your child, or your job. Te back-story o the character can vary significantly; and each time it will be a different eeling, and with different emotions. Tere is an important rule to know: an audience should cry afer watching watching a peror p erormance, mance, your actors shouldn’t. shouldn’t. Did you get it? Te viewer may be impressed and attached to the perormance even without exposing over-the-top over-the-top emotions rom the actors (they should not overact). 3. A director reads the lines out loud and then wants the actor to say say the lines with wit h the infleci nflec tion and intona intonation tion the director director gave gave it, it, asking the actor actor to to repeat repeat it…
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In this scenario the director is expressing total disrespect or the actor, his preparation, skill, and training. Aside rom asking or a Result rom rom the t he actor, actor, the director is ignoring the creative contribution contribution and components o the actor’s proession. Tis is so called “line reading” , avoid it and use an action verb or other methods instead. Te look and sound o the actor’s actor’s expression must be unpredictable and sovereign. Reactions, subtle impulses and responses are spontaneous and they don’t come rom the head, they come rom the heart. Leave Le ave all emotions and eelings to the actor ac tor.. Harold Clurman, in his book On Directing , describes this type o scenario. He had a private conversation with Stanislavski on the same subject and subsequently concludes that demonstration can be used, but not or this purpose. Proper use o demonstration or line reading is not or copying by the actor, but rather that the director wants to communicate municate to the actor in order to find find the intention intention o the speech. For instance, the demonstration can be used as the way o finding out the proper objectives or the actor.
Instead o giving an intonation to the actors use the o bjectives, action verbs and adjustments as your tool. 4. A director asks an actor to repeat or copy the performance performance of another another actor. actor.
ruthul reactions reactions are only what we want rom actors. Tis type o direction will never give you that. Real emotions are spontaneous and cannot be copied and generated on demand. You can ask this rom an actor i you are working, or have worked with him/her previously, and then ask or a repeat o something that was done in another scene or in another film by him. But again, don’t ask the actor to play a specific expression. expression. Te only exception is when an imitation o other actor’s actor’s perormance is the part o your plot. It allows you to give this type o direction to your actor. For instance, in Due Date Ethan remblay (Zach Galifianakis) successully copied opening monologue rom Te Godfather , parodying Don Corleone (Marlon (Marlon Brando), because it was a part o the story. In the film Ethan shows his acting skills to his new riends by 24
The Art of Directing Actors
reading lines o Don Corleone’s monologue. Ofen, aspiring directors, afer reading a script, watch a mini movie virtually projected inside their heads. Tey see the aces o their heroes, usually played by an A-list o Hollywood actors, they call it “creative vision”. Tese directors hear, in their heads, the lines usually read with the right intonation and specific acial expressions. Tis is not a good thing. Why is this approach so bad? Tis type o vision is limited and flat. It denies and eliminates all creative efforts o actors. Such “creative does not work because it is made by artistic choices based on vision” does what directors know about another movie rather than on what actors can deliver to you as independent artists. art ists. We need to understand that actors are real people, and they cannot truly duplicate other actor’s perormance. I they try to repeat and copy emotions and reactions, it takes the truth out o your movie. Te actors will wil l appear to have phony phony emotions, thereby leaving the audience cold. Emotions, impulses, eelings, reactions and responses are spontaneous and they don’t come rom the head, they come rom the heart. Leave all emotions and eelings to the actor. Let him be in the moment and create all necessar nec essaryy conditions. It’s It’s better to help h elp him to be a real person that gets you a truth in the scene. I you want your actor to be natural, or aggressive, etc., give him different objectives, images, action verbs or use other methods (tools), and you will ultimately get what you want. want. All techniques will be b e explored in this book. 5. Can you do it funny, unusual or quirky?
Asking or a certain effect, such as “I want to make this scene unny unny,” “I want you to be more rightening, rightening, dangerous, dangerous, horrible, and/or and/or rom the actor. ridiculous, etc…” are all asking or one thing: a Result rom Why is this wrong, you may ask? First, because bec ause when an actor ac tor considers your directions, he first begins by thinking about your request. He then begins to realize himsel in the scene, that is, he begins to think about how he looks. Tis thinking about how he looks induces a sel-consciousness which causes problems not only or beginning actors, but or experienced ones as well. Sel-consciousn S el-consciousness ess can lead to acting that is not truthul or believable and thereby destroys what the director is 25