Do you have all of your cast meet each other before the shoot?

iamWZA

iamWZA

Active member
The actors for my forthcoming short film are quite busy, and it looks as though they won't get a chance to meet each other before we start shooting.
Is it common for this to happen?
 
I like to have a table read with everyone and as much of the rest of the team as possible there. One short I had a principal flying in from LA and couldn't get the read together. There were no ill effects.
 
Actually, my plan is to start shooting on a Saturday, but we're all meeting at the house we're staying in for the shoot on Friday night, so I guess then there will time for everyone to get to know each other and have a table read.
 
In the film world actors try to meet "with a read". In the TV world they meet on set on the day.
If everyone is sharing accomodation, I'd get'em to do a read thru on the night.
 
I'm reminded that Sidney Lumet would get the cast to rehearse for 2 weeks before a shoot and they'd run it like a play, off book, from end to end with big names like Paul Newman in The Verdict... and he made some darn good movies. I acted in the run of a play last month and I loved rehearsal.
 
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I've done projects both ways, and personally I prefer when everyone knows each other beforehand. I think there's a level of comfort it provides, which allows for the time on set to be just about doing the work.
 
I'm in zero budget land. I kinda took what I could get. I did a table read with as many actors as I could get. The rest showed up on location and we did the best we could.

I did find that because of the lack of rehearsal that shooting close ups first afforded me time to coach them on delivery, then when the master shots were made they could act freely, the CloseUps became a kind of rehearsal.

When I have a budget I will try and do some kind of improv table read because I love how the actors take the script and breathing life into it. I want more of that next time.
 
For a low budget short film, usually my actors don't meet beforehand. If it's extremely dialog driven, a table read is helpful, even to smooth out rough patches in the script. I wouldn't worry about it though.
 
Having everyone meet each other is not always best. Obviously, you kind of feel this sort of thing out, but it's certainly a valid directing technique to isolate cast members if their characters are at odds with each other, for example.

YMMV, of course.
 
I do like to have table reads and such before a shoot. But if there is no other option, have an hour before shooting while setting up, have the actors meet and talk. -Anthony
 
We have about 200 actors/extras, one of which is based in Hollywood and becoming well known in our genre. She often teaches acting seminars, so for the weekend she came to town to shoot, we had her teach a free 3 hour seminar for the actors on how to act in a silent film. 100 showed up, the actors met and bonded, and I think their performances will be better as a result. And the extras, though unpaid, felt they were getting something out of it.
 
Actors are professionals, just like the crew. It's nice for them to meet, but not in any way essential. If the Director is going to be hot on delivery, then the read through is a bit pointless if it's going to change on set anyway. It's the same in the theatre world where rehearsals are where they meet for the first time - their rehearsals are quite different from a set - sometimes their rehearsals are like the first take of a film. They often do a read through first, but after a few days, scripts are gone.
 
In my experience, doing a table read and meeting beforehands, is really beneficial, although nothing disastrous would have happened (I don't think) if we hadn't been able to meet. As for directors, everyone's different. Some directors like yeah, Sidney Lumet and Mike Leigh (I think I read?) do extensive rehearsals, whereas other directors don't like to rehearse (e.g. Peter Bogdanovich didn't want Cloris Leachman to rehearse the ending scene of "The Last Picture Show"). Some directors don't want scenes to be too rehearsed. It all depends on a lot of factors.
 
I've done it both ways and I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary for them to meet beforehand. If it makes you feel better, try to get most of them together for a read. If it's not possible, then don't worry about it. A lot of actors are super outgoing and get to know each other within a few minutes when you get them on set together. Of course, there's also directors who don't let their actors meet at all before a shoot so it'll be tense during the scene. I've never done it, I don't know how well that technique works, maybe you can give that a shot if any of your characters fit that need.
 
I'm a believer in rehearsing, especially if you want to shoot quickly, because you will need fewer takes. Also, the scenes that we rehearse are the ones that end up being the best performances.
 
If you can possibly do it the way Lumet did...even if it's just a handful of rehearsals...it will be immensely helpful, especially if 1) Your characters have a arc through the piece and 2) you plan to shoot out of sequence. Without going through the whole piece from start to finish, it can be hard for the actors to know where they are supposed to be emotionally at any given point.

Hope that helps.
 
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