Has anyone tried to use Mike Leigh's way of filmmaking?

[JJ Alexander]

He holds long improv rehearsal sessions over many months. The actors only are told what there characters would know at any given point in the story. They are contracted to not talk to each other outside of rehersals about the project. He has a very vague story idea at the begining that gets fleshed out in the improvs. By the time he goes to shoot there is a full script and only rarely does he go to improv during shooting.

'Naked' and 'Vera Drake' are two amazing examples (among others) of the finished products. I think a number of his actors have been nominated as well as screenplays and his directing.

His actors rave about this process and seem to love the purity of the rehersals.

Anybody ever try working this way or similar to it?

[rsbush]

I've recently begun a workshop where we're exploring this technique. One hurdle is getting everyone up to speed on dramatic improvisation. Actors trained in the Meisner Technique are ready to roll. And as an actor you probably know that some very talented actors have no idea how to improvise and are just terrified at the prospect. It's also quite a challenge to find actors who will commit to a long investigative process without getting paid.

I haven't gotten to the point of crafting a solid full script from the process, just a few scenes, so I don't know how it will work out for us in the end. But it sure is a lot of fun and a great workout.

[JJ Alexander]

Where are you located? I'm in Manhattan. I ask because I was in the original class that Sandford Meisner's book and documentary are based on and usually people who are aware as you are about Meisner are in NYC or LA.

Both of your points are right on the money about trained, talented actors who don't know the first thing about improv. I have found its almost always a fear of the unexpected and unknown but once they allow themselves to go into the improv and exist and respond in the moment (and live to talk about it) the benifits to there acting is huge. Better listening to there fellow actors and really living in the moment and adding some new tools to there acting tool box. All things you see in spades in Leigh' films.

I'm actually toying with the idea of combining Dogma 95 and Mike Leigh's method. Your second point is my big concern. How do you get actors to commit to long rehersals without any pay? Are they mostly friends?

[JJ Alexander]

rsbush,

I forgot to ask, did you video all rehersals and create/write the final scenes from that?

[rsbush]

I'm in Jersey outside of Philadelphia. Lived in L.A for 10 years or so. Trained with Sidney Kay (in Philly years ago) who was one of the first generation of Meisner students to become teachers at the Nieghborhood Playhouse. With Clifford David and Peter Flood in L.A..

The problem of getting people to commit is why I'm doing this as a workshop. All I promise is that people will get a lot of time in front of a camera. Unfortunately, it's been my experience that actors are really only committed to something if they are getting paid or are doing the paying. When there's no cash at stake things get kind of loose. There's no money changing hands with this workshop but everyone has worked with at least one other person in the group in the past.

[JJ Alexander]

Thanks for the info!

[rsbush]

I forgot to ask, did you video all rehersals and create/write the final scenes from that?

Yeah, we shoot everything. No lights, on board sound. I don't write from the improvs verbatim usually, I use them for content and direction, and the occasional great lines that I'd never think of.

I'm sure you know from experience that about only 1 in 10 improvs really work. But almost all give you some bit of useful information.

[Zak Forsman]

i made a film called Blue in Green using this technique. weeks of rehearsals, no written dialogue, just scene objectives for each character. got an excellent write-up in the los angeles times, la weekly, etc. alas, was never able to sell or distribute it and have moved on. i continue to work with this technique.

a teaser and trailer can be found at www.blue-in-green.com

[rsbush]

Very freakin' impressive!

[Zak Forsman]

thank you for the kind words. for me, i can't be trusted to write dialogue -- which is to say, that when i write, i can't help but try to infuse "meaning" into the words. and trying to "say" something is never a good thing. but i can avoid my shortcomings, by letting the actors define the characters. this keeps their voices consistent, making my job to simply work and revise opposing character objectives, and of course to "edit" the performances while shooting.

Judith Weston has written two books for directors from the perspective of an actor -- Directing Actors and The Film Director's Intuition. the information is invaluable for a director who wants to understand how an actor has been trained and how to speak their language.

this is a technique i have become very comfortable with. and i'm sure it will continue to evolve with each film i make. we have two features that will begin shooting this fall using a pair of F900's. White Knuckles, is about an unhappy older married couple, of whom the wife begins poisening her husband to hasten his death. the second, currently untitled, is about a young woman coming out of a string of failed relationships and going to live briefly with the man her deceased mother had been dating when she (the young woman )was in her early teens.