Directing fear

O

orange

Active member
Hello
I am to direct a scene that gives my quite of a challenge of directing actors. It is a robbery, with people in the premise that react to a robber threatening everybody with a gun.
It is a challenge to provoke that "real" fear expression in the actors (most of them are amateurs). Anybody has a tip or a technique to share? I have directed several short films before and I am aware of techniques, especially not trying to direct the result but rather having them imagine a real robbery or connect to their own experiences, but still I find it quite a challenge.
 
Try calling your local police, explain what you're doing and ask can any detectives spare some time to provide descriptions of the reactions of robbery victims,
that might lead you to some victim support groups. Watch out you don't run foul with your 'fake' gun.

In return, you could suggest that you produce a victim support video, if they don't already have one. Good luck.

Cheers.
 
When in doubt, less is more. Whatever you do, don't let them OVER-react. A blank stare with slightly wide eyes would probably seem more authentic in certain shots than an amateur trying to play "scared".
 
jghenderson said:
When in doubt, less is more. Whatever you do, don't let them OVER-react. A blank stare with slightly wide eyes would probably seem more authentic in certain shots than an amateur trying to play "scared".
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I'm going to say that this would be your best advice. However, I recently got quite a convincing scream/shout out of an actor by nagging him for a few hours beforehand to build it up.
 
ACTING= DOING ACTIONS.

what do directors call?

ACTION!

aka...

ACTORS- NOW DO YOUR ACTIONS!

a director does not call...

LIGHTS CAMERA...FEEL!!!

not sure what the ACTION would be for "reacting to a robbery" but Im positive there is one or maybe lots of ones.

PROTECT YOURSELF, TRY NOT TO PROVOKE HIM, MAKE SURE YOU DONT GET SHOT, PRAY TO YOURSELF HE DOESNT SHOOT, STAY STILL AND SEE WHAT HE DOES.

I dunno, your smarter than me its your movie figure it out.

when the ACTors do their ACTions, the feelings/facial expressions/body language comes out as a result of it.

its not the only actiing theory but its my fave and easy to understand and super cool I love it. Endorsed by Mamet, that crazy bastard:

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Han...8-1&keywords=practical+handbook+for+the+actor#_
 
nycineaste said:
PROTECT YOURSELF, TRY NOT TO PROVOKE HIM, MAKE SURE YOU DONT GET SHOT, PRAY TO YOURSELF HE DOESNT SHOOT, STAY STILL AND SEE WHAT HE DOES.
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Yes. Give different motivations to different actors. If you say, "Feel fear," they will mimic fear instead of feel it.

Now, if you've given these motivations and the actions are creating a result of fear you are unhappy with, your job is to inspire the actors in some way to do it closer to what you're looking for. There are many options here. Storytelling is good, metaphors are good, substitutions are good. In my experience my best directions come when I'm doing what I call Method Directing, where I conjure up in myself the same emotions I hope the actors feel, then give my wordy logic-oriented direction while feeling the emotions.

For example, if I'm directing a grocery store worker to restock some oranges, and I want her to feel bored, instead of saying, "You're bored, action," I'll say, "You've been doing this for two hours and have six more hours to go. I guess just keep moving the oranges or something, I don't really care."

Or if I'm trying to inspire some sort of urgency, I'll personally try to get all wide-eyed and shaky-voiced when talking to the actor. Like, if you want a guy to win back a girl, a direction you'd read in a book might be to "impress her." In my theory of Method Directing, the director should be real serious, put his hands on the actor's shoulders, lean in, and say, "You have to do everything you can to impress her, otherwise she's gone man. She's just gone. Don't mess this up, ok?" If you do a good job, you're simultaneously communicating many ideas far more important than your words. You're telling the actor that this scene matters, that the stakes count. You're welcoming emotional honesty and full commitment to the scene. I've found that most actors are far more emotional than logical, so the actual -words- you say are far less important than how you say them.
 
FWIW, I don't think being more emotional than logical is a bad thing. In many cases, it's far better.
 
I agree with giving the characters something to do, and directing them in a way that their fear is embodied by that action. Depending on how well the audience knows the characters, a simple movement or look could speak volumes. Some people lose control of themselves when truly afraid; others shut down and become deceptively simple.

Each of your characters should have some sort of spine. Even an extra who's in just part of the shot and has no lines should be do something. Invent a character for that person. Their spine will help you make decisions about what they should do.

Also, it's important you define for yourself what "real fear" looks like. I like the idea of someone with a relevant story recalling the traumatic event, like Allan said, to give you ideas. "Real fear" will be different for everyone. Think about fight or flight - one character (hostage, I guess) may be totally submissive, begging for their lives; another may be looking for an escape; another may be reading the gunman for signs of weakness to take advantage of.

Depending on your relationships with your actors, you may be able to ask them what they fear most, and then you can create exercises around that. But that also depends on what you're shooting - if it's just a shot of someone with a gun to their head, that's different from someone being mortified of the thought of getting shot as the hold-up drags on for 20 minutes or so. Then you're looking at stages of fear in a crisis. For example, if it's just a look, and the actor isn't quite giving you what you want, you could have them sprint for a while. This would get them sweating, their heart racing, and out of breath, but you could then challenge them to not pant, and just breathe through their nose. You're manipulating an involuntary function, which is something that can't be controlled when you're afraid.

If you need a longer performance than that, say, something that lasts several minutes, you could work with each actor (the hostages, I guess) based on their fears, or give them a thought to work with - the fear of pain may work for some; the fear of loss, like if the robber were to shoot their child standing next to them, may work. Again, for background actors or for just quick shots of fear, your direction might be more coarse. But if you're going from billed cast member to cast member, I'd suggest working from the characters' spines. One character's spine may force him to assume a hero complex, so when the gun is pointed at him, he tries hard to smother his emotions and poker-face the robber - which will only read as fear if he actually has something to smother, so you would still have to talk to the actor about what really scares them.

You should feel free to discuss this scene openly with the actors. You don't have to come up with something prophetic to educe fear from them. I would bet the actors have a lot of ideas, too. If they are decent actors, they'll be able to find a genuine fear to work with between their own experiences and their interpretation of the characters.
 
Drew Ott said:
FWIW, I don't think being more emotional than logical is a bad thing. In many cases, it's far better.
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Although it can carry advantages, actors that are too emotional tend to have a problem remaining constant throughout the shoot. Emotion takes a lot of energy, and that often doesn't last the length of a shoot.
 
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