Should an actor decide their own blocking in this case?

J

JimS2

Member
I was acting in a short film where we were not given much direction in terms of blocking. I usually just do what I am told, nothing more, so if a director tells me to sit in the chair, then I will just sit there and perform. Or if they tell me stand, I will just stand on there in that spot and perform.

But I felt that the other actors do a better job than me, because they walk around, sit up, sit down, and do a lot more blocking than me. The direct allows them to do this, so I wonder, should I just do my own blocking to keep up with the other actors, if the director just gives us free rein, or should I just make up my own?
 
They're acting. Acting is to do with becoming that other person. Do if the director says sit, you sit like the character sits, you get there by walking like the character walks. Blocking is a very different thing. In simplest form, it's placement, and changes to placement. Tight blocking with perhaps floor marks, or loose blocking where principal or key points are decided, but flow between them is up to the actors. The better the actor, the more the director allows them input. Poor actors need hard direction because they cannot even remember what they did in take one!
 
Oh okay. Well I can choose my own blocking then, and just do it then, if that's best, if the other actors are doing it?
 
JimS2 said:
... But I felt that the other actors do a better job than me, because they walk around, sit up, sit down, and do a lot more blocking than me. ...
Click to expand...

Moving around doesn't make them better actors. Understanding the scene does. If you have a weak director that doesn't know what s/he wants or isn't sure how the scene should be played out, then the actors may need to step in and bring the scene to life. That may mean there is some motivation to move in the scene or maybe it means staying seated.

For example - The other actors moving away from you while you remain seated could show them isolating themselves from you. You're not getting up and joining them could show your rejection of them or their ideas.

It's all about the scene, not how animated you can be. Understand the scene and then interpret it. Moving around may take away from the scene or it may make it better. We don't know. You have to decide that along with the director and other actors.
 
Blocking initially is there to establish the composition of a scene, placement and movement of actors relative to each other and camera/audience, to control focus of attention for dramatic effect. That should be controlled by the director.
Within that basic blocking, actors move in reaction to the emotional or dramatic context of the scene and their role in it. This is more a matter of refinement and timing. At best it is a collaborative effort, a complex choreographed dance involving all participants, including camera.
Some leeway for actors to move in character is essential and often multiple takes allow some experimentation that can produce better results for the scene as a whole.
But I would say if you are thinking too much about blocking, you are not in character. Motivate the character first, be in the scene, react appropriately. Natural movement will follow.
 
Blocking and staging.

One of the most underrated and under discussed aspects of filmmaking and yet its my belief that it’s one of the most important.

But no one ever walks out of a cinema saying “amazing blocking”

Blocking is a negotiation. You as an actor probably have better insights, but it comes from whatever acting school or technique you’re coming from, feeding into your performance, negotiated with a director.

Some directors are extremely visual and will have a certain staging in mind.

Actors have to try and make that staging work though the power of performance. Sometimes these are requests that can’t be done by that specific actor to feel ‘real’ or good for them... I’ve also seen a lot of great actors make awkward staging work too.

Good blocking is often “found” on the day through the blocking / directors rehearsal.

Good directors often arrive and have something in mind, and try to breadcrumb the actor to “find” that staging in their own way.

But it’s a unique negotiation between an actor, director and a Cinematogrpaher (camera operator)

JB
 
John Brawley said:
But no one ever walks out of a cinema saying “amazing blocking”
Click to expand...

This is true, but perhaps because the results of good blocking are natural and unobtrusive? (People comment most on focus-pulling when things are out-of-focus)

People commented on the blocking for Black Swan, but only because it was impressive that the cameraman wasn't run over by the dancers :)
 
Oh okay. So if I director gives actors free rein on blocking then I should just do it then along with the other actors, to avoid being upstaged in a sense?
 
Oh it's just I am use to not choosing my blocking unless the director says so. Just not use to having free rein I guess.
 
I think you’re overthinking it.

Every director is different. But they should come to a scene prepared and give you some ideas about what they see happening before you ever run the scene in the space you’re shooting in.

Some scenes have very specific beats you have to hit. If someone comes to the door half way through the scene and you have to have a conversation through the open door then you have a pretty good idea of where you need to stand at that point in time.

If the director doens’t give you any specificity and then the SCRIPT doens’t tell you where you need to be, those are now your parameters. You can also try things out based on what the other actors are doing, depending on if your character is driving the scene or not.....

This seems a little 101....

JB
 
John Brawley said:
I think you’re overthinking it.

Every director is different. But they should come to a scene prepared and give you some ideas about what they see happening before you ever run the scene in the space you’re shooting in.

Some scenes have very specific beats you have to hit. If someone comes to the door half way through the scene and you have to have a conversation through the open door then you have a pretty good idea of where you need to stand at that point in time.

If the director doens’t give you any specificity and then the SCRIPT doens’t tell you where you need to be, those are now your parameters. You can also try things out based on what the other actors are doing, depending on if your character is driving the scene or not.....

This seems a little 101....

JB
Click to expand...
I was helping a friend on a passion project the other weekend, and they were so slammed for schedule that they stopped doing rehersals, but then they wasted even more time fixing things in the takes and occasionally painting themselves into the corner with continuity. Not to mention lighting, boom op, and 1st AC were hung out to dry on every setup. I've rarely seen any project that skips doing a blocking rehearsal save anytime in the end.
 
John Brawley said:
I think you’re overthinking it.

Every director is different. But they should come to a scene prepared and give you some ideas about what they see happening before you ever run the scene in the space you’re shooting in.

Some scenes have very specific beats you have to hit. If someone comes to the door half way through the scene and you have to have a conversation through the open door then you have a pretty good idea of where you need to stand at that point in time.

If the director doens’t give you any specificity and then the SCRIPT doens’t tell you where you need to be, those are now your parameters. You can also try things out based on what the other actors are doing, depending on if your character is driving the scene or not.....

This seems a little 101....

JB
Click to expand...

Oh okay thanks. Well the experience I've had so far is that if their is no discussion of blocking beforehand, then it leads to clashing. One actor can go here, but the other chooses to go there, not knowing where the other is going to go, and it ends up looking sloppy, or accidental. So that is the experience I've had, is how to avoid it looking clashing or accidental, if there is no discussion beforehand...
 
James0b57 said:
I was helping a friend on a passion project the other weekend, and they were so slammed for schedule that they stopped doing rehersals, but then they wasted even more time fixing things in the takes and occasionally painting themselves into the corner with continuity. Not to mention lighting, boom op, and 1st AC were hung out to dry on every setup. I've rarely seen any project that skips doing a blocking rehearsal save anytime in the end.
Click to expand...

I’ve had ADs and Directors try and skip blocking / rehearsals on big shows to save time.

I like to say it’s quicker to build the setup once instead of building a setup and then un-building it when it’s wrong and having to build another setup.

Better to invest the time and to always do it with the actors involved and then you can work our how to cover it fast.

It’s never faster to just start shooting.

JB
 
John Brawley said:
I’ve had ADs and Directors try and skip blocking / rehearsals on big shows to save time.

I like to say it’s quicker to build the setup once instead of building a setup and then un-building it when it’s wrong and having to build another setup.

Better to invest the time and to always do it with the actors involved and then you can work our how to cover it fast.

It’s never faster to just start shooting.

JB
Click to expand...
Massive agreement.
 
Spielberg said left to their own devices, actors will usually just stand in the middle of the room and yell their dialogue at each other. Blocking is the most essential part of directing. In the original studio system, it's really all the director was responsible for. If your director isn't blocking then I don't know what they're doing. I always board / shot list ahead of time and have it blocked in my head, and try to see my locations as early as possible if I need to adjust. Sometimes the blocking won't feel natural, usually because it isn't motivated, and an actor will have a better idea. But a director should always have a plan.
 
Agreed. I believe this comes from the stage, where blocking is one of the director's main responsibilities. There is it is a studied, refined craft --- partly because after all you don't have camera movement, only people movement.
 
Yeah, so maybe the directing should be doing more in blocking, but if they are not, then should I as an actor do my own, in order to keep up with the other actors' blocking?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top