Re: Tears - Fake or Real
your best results will come from real tears, and a solid actor. In my first film, we could never get to this point. The actors were new and i was inexperienced. I then worked with the same actor on another film where i worked as crew. He was well prepared and he adn the director worked on the character for months. The emotional crux of the film came and although he was not asked to, tears started flowing down his cheeks. We had essentially finished filming, but luckily i was still rolling and grabbed a close up. i was really proud of him.
On the new film i am directing i am using lots of non/first time actors. The girl playing my lead has a lot of first hand divorce experience she is drawing from. We worked one on one for a few months improving scenes together and working on characterization. Every time she was going through something emotional at home, or having a bad day, she would do the scene where she needed to cry and it would happen. I still wasn't sure if we would be able to do it with the cameras rolling because that is a TON of pressure for someone when they are starting out. Because of scheduling problems we had to jump to that scene the second day of shooting with her. It was not ideal, but her months of practice really helped.
She brough an onion with her and kept it in her backpack. Before the scene she would rub her fingers on it and then rub her eyes. It looked ok, but more importantly, it gave her a crutch so she would not be as nervous/pressured. We did about 5 takes of the first half of the scene and then worked on the more emotional part.
I pulled the other actor (the one i spoke about above) aside and gave him some new topics to talk about to better engage her. He did and instead of acting they were suddenly talking to each other and she started balling. I was so proud of both of them. My biggest mistake was not reshooting the first half with real tears. NOw that we did this with improv and they are more comfortable we may reshoot the scene and push it even further - making it more raw and having her lose control completely.
The biggest thing is - don't rely on tricks. Work with your actor to make an emotional bond with that character. And don't focus on the tears, per se. If it isn't happening, just make sure it is an honest performance.
good luck!
tom
your best results will come from real tears, and a solid actor. In my first film, we could never get to this point. The actors were new and i was inexperienced. I then worked with the same actor on another film where i worked as crew. He was well prepared and he adn the director worked on the character for months. The emotional crux of the film came and although he was not asked to, tears started flowing down his cheeks. We had essentially finished filming, but luckily i was still rolling and grabbed a close up. i was really proud of him.
On the new film i am directing i am using lots of non/first time actors. The girl playing my lead has a lot of first hand divorce experience she is drawing from. We worked one on one for a few months improving scenes together and working on characterization. Every time she was going through something emotional at home, or having a bad day, she would do the scene where she needed to cry and it would happen. I still wasn't sure if we would be able to do it with the cameras rolling because that is a TON of pressure for someone when they are starting out. Because of scheduling problems we had to jump to that scene the second day of shooting with her. It was not ideal, but her months of practice really helped.
She brough an onion with her and kept it in her backpack. Before the scene she would rub her fingers on it and then rub her eyes. It looked ok, but more importantly, it gave her a crutch so she would not be as nervous/pressured. We did about 5 takes of the first half of the scene and then worked on the more emotional part.
I pulled the other actor (the one i spoke about above) aside and gave him some new topics to talk about to better engage her. He did and instead of acting they were suddenly talking to each other and she started balling. I was so proud of both of them. My biggest mistake was not reshooting the first half with real tears. NOw that we did this with improv and they are more comfortable we may reshoot the scene and push it even further - making it more raw and having her lose control completely.
The biggest thing is - don't rely on tricks. Work with your actor to make an emotional bond with that character. And don't focus on the tears, per se. If it isn't happening, just make sure it is an honest performance.
good luck!
tom
Re: Tears - Fake or Real
[quote author=stationhouse link=board=Directing;num=1093154054;start=15#21 date=12/13/04 at 15:38:36] The biggest thing is - don't rely on tricks. Work with your actor to make an emotional bond with that character. And don't focus on the tears, per se. If it isn't happening, just make sure it is an honest performance.[/quote]
[quote author=stationhouse link=board=Directing;num=1093154054;start=15#21 date=12/13/04 at 15:38:36] The biggest thing is - don't rely on tricks. Work with your actor to make an emotional bond with that character. And don't focus on the tears, per se. If it isn't happening, just make sure it is an honest performance.[/quote]
Bermudaforce
Well-known member
Re: Tears - Fake or Real
hey if worst comes to wrost. Before the actor is getting ready to cry. Just cut to black and have titles "He or She is crying." Just like what it says in the script. Saves you lots of time and money. If that's too cheezy then I don't know what to tell you. Trying playing music in the background during the scene. Like sad piano or something. You can ADR later.
hey if worst comes to wrost. Before the actor is getting ready to cry. Just cut to black and have titles "He or She is crying." Just like what it says in the script. Saves you lots of time and money. If that's too cheezy then I don't know what to tell you. Trying playing music in the background during the scene. Like sad piano or something. You can ADR later.
Larry Rutledge
Fest Master
Re: Tears - Fake or Real
I appreciate all the various comments I have received. I did a couple tests with eye drops and that seems to work well for what I am after. If you put a few drops in each eye, then they have the appearance of the eyes "welling up with tears" and then one or two drops roll out and slide down the cheek - it was beautful. Just have to light it correctly and zoom in, so it stands out.
Thanks again for all the comments, ideas, thoughts, tips, etc, etc.
I appreciate all the various comments I have received. I did a couple tests with eye drops and that seems to work well for what I am after. If you put a few drops in each eye, then they have the appearance of the eyes "welling up with tears" and then one or two drops roll out and slide down the cheek - it was beautful. Just have to light it correctly and zoom in, so it stands out.
Thanks again for all the comments, ideas, thoughts, tips, etc, etc.