Jason Adams
Section Moderator
I am not an actor, but I want to hear from you. What do you want and need from a director...I don't mean money. On the set, what do you love to hear and what do hate. Any real world examples?
What do you want from a director?
- Thread starter Jason Adams
- Start date
For his name to start with an R and his last name with an L
Other than that, I personally want the guy to have clearly done more work on the script than me, if I don't believe that it is easy to doubt them. Also for them to believe in me... hopefully they had the final say on the casting, moreover they hopefully feel they found what they wanted! And lastly, for them to be professional AND passionate.
There are more points to be made, but that sort of stuff is the most important to me as an actor.
Other than that, I personally want the guy to have clearly done more work on the script than me, if I don't believe that it is easy to doubt them. Also for them to believe in me... hopefully they had the final say on the casting, moreover they hopefully feel they found what they wanted! And lastly, for them to be professional AND passionate.
There are more points to be made, but that sort of stuff is the most important to me as an actor.
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teresadecher
Active member
Feedback! I love feedback and working with a director to get a sense of what they want out of the scene and how I can give it to them. My favorite is when I can first show them how I see it and what I've worked up, and then get their ideas and changes on the scene.
Actors love honest communication. If you don't like something, be honest, because the worst is when we can tell that you're not completely happy but you don't say anything. We like to give you what you want so if you want to see it another way, just tell us! We don't mind criticism (or compliments for that matter!)
Actors love honest communication. If you don't like something, be honest, because the worst is when we can tell that you're not completely happy but you don't say anything. We like to give you what you want so if you want to see it another way, just tell us! We don't mind criticism (or compliments for that matter!)
Shawn Philip Nelson
Veteran
Adriana Lima, thats what I want in a director.
Oh, and what Teresa says, its what I try to be like. I've acted in a few shorts in the last two years and lack of feedback at times was just killer bad.
Oh, and what Teresa says, its what I try to be like. I've acted in a few shorts in the last two years and lack of feedback at times was just killer bad.
tasialabastro
Member
I enjoy working with directors who are passionate. And I mean, to the point they call you at the buttcrack of dawn because they are dying to share some development in the story/script.
As for feedback, I enjoy it. I do, however, feel that a director has so much on his plate that he/she will stop you and give you feedback IF he/she isn't getting what she wants from you out of the scene.
In addition, I really enjoy working with directors who allow you a few takes to just take it in whatever direction you want while remaining true to the emotion and scene.
Finally, a director who makes good on the Martini shot. :beer:
As for feedback, I enjoy it. I do, however, feel that a director has so much on his plate that he/she will stop you and give you feedback IF he/she isn't getting what she wants from you out of the scene.
In addition, I really enjoy working with directors who allow you a few takes to just take it in whatever direction you want while remaining true to the emotion and scene.
Finally, a director who makes good on the Martini shot. :beer:
ConspiracyPenguin
Nosey Penguin
I want to know the truth and I want respect. I should be treated as an equal not someone to be bossed around, that lowers my happy level and I don't perform up to par.
Tom Marshall
Actor!!!!!!
tasialabastro
Member
Are you not able to view it?
I was able to view it, there's another one also with Dustin Hoffman in the car. Intense stuff. If you can't see it, trying doing a search with Lily Tomlin and Huckabees, that's how I found it the first time.
Tom Marshall
Actor!!!!!!
I just checked and it works for me...
Michael Anthony Horrigan
More Cowbell Pictures
I really need to get better at this. I don't communicate enough with my actors but I am getting better. Definitely a learning process.
Mike
I googled it and found it... AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!! DUUUUUUDE... that is so funny... well... he lost it, and it is a major fuk up on his part, but Tomlin was being such a... welll... he said it, not me. hahaha.... wow... what a diva...
THAT is wrong... see, never do that, EVER... there should always be the chance to keep certain conversations private, and usually the ones when you tell your director "but I want to act for myself and not for your project" or when we tell you "you are doing what you want and not what I hired you do do" should ALWAYS be private...
THAT is wrong... see, never do that, EVER... there should always be the chance to keep certain conversations private, and usually the ones when you tell your director "but I want to act for myself and not for your project" or when we tell you "you are doing what you want and not what I hired you do do" should ALWAYS be private...
Tom Marshall
Actor!!!!!!
Yeah, they were both out of line... Tomlin was really pushing the guy's buttons though... 
ConspiracyPenguin
Nosey Penguin
HO-LEE SH*T! I agree that she pushed his buttons but (from what I saw) he had no right in hell to overreact like that. My God!
Yes...that is exactly what us actors DON'T want.
Ted Spencer
Veteran
I'll preface this by saying that most of the roles I've been cast in in my few years as an actor have been with independent, zero, micro or low-budget features, shorts and student films, and most have been unpaid.
With that disclaimer, here's a few things I wish more of the directors I've worked so far with would do:
1: Know your story. This could go hand in hand with "have a good script", but even in the absence of that too many directors don't appear to know what a given scene is there for, and how it fits into the larger story. Story is the fundamental building block of the project, and IMO the director must know it like his own face. A murky story directed by someone who can't make it clear for the actors it is a recipe for a lousy film.
2. Know your characters. As in #1, the director should understand what makes every single character tick, why they do what they do, and how to help steer actors into that world. A script, and the scenes and lines within it, can be interpreted in wildly different ways. The director must know what the right, or at least a coherent way, is. This is not to deny the freedom of actors to surprise directors with their own original take on things, but rather to insure that those interpretations aren't out of keeping with the larger meaning of the line/scene/movie.
3. Direct us, dammit! Way, way too many of the scenes I've done seem to meet the satisfaction of the director when a technical consideration has been met (focus, camera move, lighting cue, etc.), and the acting takes seem for all the world to be regarded as interchangeable. They're not. Directors, pull your darn heads out of the LCD and watch the *performances*. Camerawork alone does not ensure an interesting movie...
4. Understand more about acting. Take an acting class. Or three. You'll likely find out that: A: acting is quite difficult for most people, probably including yourself. B: there is a big difference between the ability of some students in a given class and others, and that C: This Has Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Their Appearance. Which leads us, while slightly off topic, to:
5: Cast on acting ability first, appearance second. Never, ever, under any circumstances cast from headshots and resumes alone.
My $.02
With that disclaimer, here's a few things I wish more of the directors I've worked so far with would do:
1: Know your story. This could go hand in hand with "have a good script", but even in the absence of that too many directors don't appear to know what a given scene is there for, and how it fits into the larger story. Story is the fundamental building block of the project, and IMO the director must know it like his own face. A murky story directed by someone who can't make it clear for the actors it is a recipe for a lousy film.
2. Know your characters. As in #1, the director should understand what makes every single character tick, why they do what they do, and how to help steer actors into that world. A script, and the scenes and lines within it, can be interpreted in wildly different ways. The director must know what the right, or at least a coherent way, is. This is not to deny the freedom of actors to surprise directors with their own original take on things, but rather to insure that those interpretations aren't out of keeping with the larger meaning of the line/scene/movie.
3. Direct us, dammit! Way, way too many of the scenes I've done seem to meet the satisfaction of the director when a technical consideration has been met (focus, camera move, lighting cue, etc.), and the acting takes seem for all the world to be regarded as interchangeable. They're not. Directors, pull your darn heads out of the LCD and watch the *performances*. Camerawork alone does not ensure an interesting movie...
4. Understand more about acting. Take an acting class. Or three. You'll likely find out that: A: acting is quite difficult for most people, probably including yourself. B: there is a big difference between the ability of some students in a given class and others, and that C: This Has Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Their Appearance. Which leads us, while slightly off topic, to:
5: Cast on acting ability first, appearance second. Never, ever, under any circumstances cast from headshots and resumes alone.
My $.02
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dougspice
Veteran
Excellent, Ted. I think there's no quicker way to lose the enthusiastic support of cast and crew than to stand there with a blank look on your face when someone asks you a question about the story. If you can't have passion for it, why should they? It matters a hell of a lot more than your dolly move, for sure.
Well said Ted. I agree with the rest of your post but I find these are perennial, regardless of budget. If you don't understand ONE scene, ONE line... then you NEED to talk to the writer or get down to re-writes yourself.
It only takes one senseless moment to kill the momentum and drop a movie from excellent to good, or from good to barely worth watching, right?