Tips for Working With Bad Actors?

[Gary Huff]

Crew and actors are hired to do their job well, not to be passionate. Two different things.

That being the key word. If you're paying them, then you deserve to have them act professionally. However, if they are doing it volunteer-wise, then you get what you pay for.

That's just a general observation, Wilbur, I have no idea what your financial arrangement is.

 

[Rolf Silber]

It's unrealistic to expect others to be as passionate as you are about your own project. Crew and actors are hired to do their job well, not to be passionate. Two different things.

I beg to differ: If I hire a crew for - say - a yacht race, if I hire a crew for a formula x race, If I hire musicians for a tour with a band - then I do expect them to be very, very passionate. Maybe not as much as me. But to be passionate is part of their professionalism.

I expect my boom man to be passionate enough to want to be one of the best in his business. I expect the focus puller to want to be one of the sharpest blades around. And I absolutely want actors to perform like sledge dogs - fast, strong and willing to haul the weight. Even more: I expect them to be absolutely happy about it.

People who want to "do their jobs" should work elsewhere and not in my business. But, okay, I work in Europe and in narrative film and there may be another "raison d'etre" there. And I do concede that you can not expect people to be as passionate every day or minute of a shoot. But of those who only wanted to "do their jobs" I've hardly ever re-hired one again.

 

[bwwd]

So what they do ? What irritates me when working with amateur actors is that they cant show emotion without rising up their voice, they scream too much when anger is needed, they play it black or white, so you need to tell them and show them what you really need, they overact but this is not theater play, they should be more subtle.Id say its partially your fault cause you didnt told them what exactly you want.EXACTLY.Its easy to blame actors but they cant read your mind.

 

[Wilbur Eddings]

It's unrealistic to expect others to be as passionate as you are about your own project. Crew and actors are hired to do their job well, not to be passionate. Two different things.

I no longer work with bread and butter 'professionals'. I leave them to make TV ads etc. for the corporates.
20 days or more, 12 hours on set every day, requires focus and passion for your craft!

That being the key word. If you're paying them, then you deserve to have them act professionally. However, if they are doing it volunteer-wise, then you get what you pay for.

That's just a general observation, Wilbur, I have no idea what your financial arrangement is.

I do both Gary - Paying and freebies - and I clearly communicate exactly the same expectations whether we are all volunteering or getting paid.

I saw my ass financially on a very big project and it taught me one powerful truth - NEVER sacrifice excellence on the altar of mediocrity.
If you commit to help me do something well, jump in with all your heart or go elsewhere.
I simply refuse to let excellence slide and will not work with undisciplined cast or crew or premadonnas!

But that's just me. I don't know how the big boys roll.

I beg to differ: If I hire a crew for - say - a yacht race, if I hire a crew for a formula x race, If I hire musicians for a tour with a band - then I do expect them to be very, very passionate. Maybe not as much as me. But to be passionate is part of their professionalism.

I expect my boom man to be passionate enough to want to be one of the best in his business. I expect the focus puller to want to be one of the sharpest blades around. And I absolutely want actors to perform like sledge dogs - fast, strong and willing to haul the weight. Even more: I expect them to be absolutely happy about it.

People who want to "do their jobs" should work elsewhere and not in my business. But, okay, I work in Europe and in narrative film and there may be another "raison d'etre" there. And I do concede that you can not expect people to be as passionate every day or minute of a shoot. But of those who only wanted to "do their jobs" I've hardly ever re-hired one again.

I think I love you.

So what they do ? What irritates me when working with amateur actors is that they cant show emotion without rising up their voice, they scream too much when anger is needed, they play it black or white, so you need to tell them and show them what you really need, they overact but this is not theater play, they should be more subtle.Id say its partially your fault cause you didnt told them what exactly you want.EXACTLY.Its easy to blame actors but they cant read your mind.

Get your direction right at the readings. If they cannot get it right there, they simply do not have the talent.
If actors are unwilling to attend readings and take direction at those readings, you better believe that the principle photography is gonna be a nightmare!
Piss poor planning leads to piss poor performance!

Nothing has cost me more in my failures than weak acting. A great actor who has spent time with the script and the director before arriving on set can cover a lot of blocking mistakes, bad visual direction and other incompetencies.
You could shoot a scene with Leonardo de Caprio on the crappest camera you can find and it would still be riveting!

I've learned this stuff first hand and will be testing it to the limits of my capability on a feature in October.
I have never felt so confident and relaxed going into a project as this one.
CAST.
IS.
EVERYTHING.

Don't compromise there!

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

.. they scream too much when anger is needed

Or they watched to much Richard Burton...

 

[bwwd]

Get your direction right at the readings. If they cannot get it right there...

Its not possible to go through ENTIRE movie reading everything and explaining how you want it to sound like and feel like and besides actors will forget some bits here and there and you would have to repeat this on the set.
Its not as easy as you think if you want it to be perfectly nailed.
There are different peoples and expectations and some people are more picky than others.

PRoblem is when you ask actor to not scream at moment A and he still does it at moment B in the same scene.

You could shoot a scene with Leonardo de Caprio on the crappest camera you can find and it would still be riveting!

*This is so untrue ! Just watch public enemies and even Depp couldnt saved that one.Cinematography is number 1 for me.
It hurts to watch this thing, looks like bunch of amateur actors having fun with their camcorders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8xOgO7_eT8

 

[OldCorpse]

Bravo! A ton of good advice here. Yes, there are bad actors, just as there are bad musicians. No amount of talking, explaining, begging, crying, threats or drugs is going to turn a bad actor into a good actor. So don't get involved with a bad actor. Most of the time, you'll spot a bad actor long before he's acting in your production. But what to do, when all you get are marginal actors? That's the reality for most indie no budgets. There are a few things you can do. By far the most important - 90% of it - is casting by type. You are looking for a THUG - cast a guy who looks like a thug. This will carry the audience a long distance. As for instruction, I'm going to go way, way, way, outside of what is recommended usually - I'll go and recommend "the worst thing you can do", but this is only for those directors who are capable of doing it. You know how you want a line to be read or action to be performed - now, everyone and his dog will tell you not to do this, and I say YES DO IT (if you have the ability)... act it out for them. Yep. And I take my cues from both practice and from some of the greatest directors in the world. Famous example - Ernst Lubitsch who would act out all the scenes for the actors. Another example is Fellini, who would run a constant stream of directions to the actor just off camera (the sound was recorded later). But that's just a quirk to say - use whatever works, and don't listen to any "rules". Just get the actor to do what you want him/her to do, any which way.

Now, here's the final piece of advice. You know that you have no money. You know that the odds of getting a great amateur actor are low (happens, but people win the lottery too), and you simply can't count on it. So what do you do? Write the script in such a way that it puts the least responsibility and difficulty for the actor. If your script demands the subtlety of Sir Lawrence Olivier, you're hosed. Some things are simpler for an actor to do - express anger, scream, etc. Write more action, less talking. Concentrate on action and take the weight off the actors - because your actors will most likely be weak. Watch some of the acting in an action or genre movie like horror/thriller/fight - it doesn't need as much as a drama or comedy does. Finally, once you have an actor, revise your script and write around him/her or for him/her, play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Lubitsch

 

[Wilbur Eddings]

Bravo! A ton of good advice here. Yes, there are bad actors, just as there are bad musicians. No amount of talking, explaining, begging, crying, threats or drugs is going to turn a bad actor into a good actor. So don't get involved with a bad actor. Most of the time, you'll spot a bad actor long before he's acting in your production. But what to do, when all you get are marginal actors? That's the reality for most indie no budgets. There are a few things you can do. By far the most important - 90% of it - is casting by type. You are looking for a THUG - cast a guy who looks like a thug. This will carry the audience a long distance. As for instruction, I'm going to go way, way, way, outside of what is recommended usually - I'll go and recommend "the worst thing you can do", but this is only for those directors who are capable of doing it. You know how you want a line to be read or action to be performed - now, everyone and his dog will tell you not to do this, and I say YES DO IT (if you have the ability)... act it out for them. Yep. And I take my cues from both practice and from some of the greatest directors in the world. Famous example - Ernst Lubitsch who would act out all the scenes for the actors. Another example is Fellini, who would run a constant stream of directions to the actor just off camera (the sound was recorded later). But that's just a quirk to say - use whatever works, and don't listen to any "rules". Just get the actor to do what you want him/her to do, any which way.

Now, here's the final piece of advice. You know that you have no money. You know that the odds of getting a great amateur actor are low (happens, but people win the lottery too), and you simply can't count on it. So what do you do? Write the script in such a way that it puts the least responsibility and difficulty for the actor. If your script demands the subtlety of Sir Lawrence Olivier, you're hosed. Some things are simpler for an actor to do - express anger, scream, etc. Write more action, less talking. Concentrate on action and take the weight off the actors - because your actors will most likely be weak. Watch some of the acting in an action or genre movie like horror/thriller/fight - it doesn't need as much as a drama or comedy does. Finally, once you have an actor, revise your script and write around him/her or for him/her, play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.

This is a very good post!

@Bwwd - Your crit of Public Enemies' camera work is a creative opinion.
That is the look the team were going for and the $214 mil it made at Box office shows that it pulled the audience it was aiming for.
Mr Depp could pull a crowd if there was poo on the lens and a Drunk Hip hop slash Raver was the Cinematographer!
Try the same camera movement with a weak actor and it will look like a nicely lit home video!

 

[Rolf Silber]

Id say its partially your fault cause you didnt told them what exactly you want.

Let's make it a bit more complicated..... ;-)

Sometimes it's not very efficient to tell an actor over-exactly what you want. Sounds contradictory, but: As a director you need to bring out the actors possibilities together with him/her. At times it's completely futile to tell an actor "do it this way or that way" because the actor may need a slightly different way to come to what is most efficient for the scene.

You as the director have to be open to slight changes every actor will introduce to your idea of how a scene should work. I do not mean by that, that an actor should be allowed to change a complete scene (unless you and they found out the scene really "stinks") and you should demand that at certain "joints" in the flow of a scene, points of dramatic turnaround, the actor has to be "there". But if you do not watch and listen to what he or she has to offer, if you are not open for different approaches, you reduce him/her to behave like a marionette and your movie may become a wax museum.

This is even more true if you work with amateurs or sometimes very interesting extras. You have to find ways to "tickle it out" (sorry, German expression, may not work here) rather than demand it. Oldcorps is right: Lubitsch for instance (one of my Gods of Direction) whose scenic dramaturgy, whose knowledge of how to keep the flow of a situation, whose musicality (yes, I mean what I wrote) was incredible, would work like a border collie with sheep, constantly circling the flock but never barking or biting - but showering them with praise until they were so befuddled they would do what he wanted. "It was very funny. We all laughed. Perfect. We print it. But lets just do it once again and I have this little imagination for you.....".

The other thing I say to actors over and over and over again is: Stop acting. Don't even be an actor. Don't show up in your actors costume and give me all that actors horse s**t. Forget all this. And go into the situation as open as possible. There is a wonderful word protocol I own from a seminar Lee Strassberg did hold over here in Germany nearly forty years ago and when he worked with a then youngish actress who became later one of the top stars of national TV here. They work on the scene in Romeo & Julia after she was given the potion to make her fall into a death-like sleep by the priest.

They do talk about: Do you usually drink a potion that was given to you by somebody else? Do you really trust the priest who gave it to you? What if the ingredients are wrong? What is the colour of this drink? Green? Do you like to drink green things? What if somebody walks into your chamber now and sees it? Should you lock the door? If you lock it, maybe this will arouse suspicion? Where to put the potion? Are you really sure you want to take it? And the risk? Are you decided now? From this and a little more they came to a certain emotion, a nervousness, a non decidedness they wanted to be transported. But this emotion will be of a certain, very individual "colour" which makes it believable and great. Because it's the true colour of this actor/actress. And your job is to find that colour, to set it free, to help the actor come to terms with it and then narrow it down so it moves the way you want it.

And sometimes if you get stuck there may be only one thing you can say and which seems to be even more contradictory to what I have just written: "Forget everything we discussed about the scene. You know too much. Throw it away." Yes, this is a contradiction - but we work with human beings. And they - we - are ambivalent in almost everything we do.

So, you have to work on both sides: Outside circling the flock like and giving directions and from "inside" an actors mind and try to help him develop his "colours". And you have to decide for yourself what you as a director want to be - more animal tamer or more of a gardener. Or one each other time.

 

[Rolf Silber]

Its not possible to go through ENTIRE movie reading everything and explaining how you want it to sound like and feel like and besides actors will forget some bits here and there and you would have to repeat this on the set......

Maybe, may not: I usually demand that the actors of the main parts have to be around for two days before shooting and we cover the complete script in a quick "tour de force". Sometimes even one or two weeks before the shooting happens. Not so much to explain to them what they should do - but to listen to them what they believe the part demands, how they think it should sound, listen to their ideas and rather have a discussion then and not on set.... and then I try to give them advice about where to I want this to develop, what of their impulses I find usable, what not. But, crucial at least for me: In a reading you can not have scenes acted out perfectly - it's like a sketch, a first draft. It's even dangerous to want to make it too perfect in reading.

*This is so untrue ! Just watch public enemies and even Depp couldnt saved that one.Cinematography is number 1 for me.
It hurts to watch this thing, looks like bunch of amateur actors having fun with their camcorders.

I respectfully agree and disagree with you at the same: While I think Johnny Depp - whom I adore - was the wrong cast for that part because his aggressiveness is of a completely different colour than we may want Dillinger to be like - and/or he and the director did somehow not find the way to really get there - the project dismantled not because of the cinematography. But because of the stuttering story (telling) that had no real centre of gravity in the cranky way it was told. There was a lot amiss in the script probably or it was lost while shooting. For whatever reasons it was never ever possible to connect with the main character, to understand what makes him tick - and so the story was unwinding in a Readers-Digest short version of things that have happened. With a bang-bang here and a bang-bang there.

About cinematography: As incredibly important it is, it still is a function of story telling, not story telling itself. Even rather lousy cinematography will not destroy a good script with a good director and the right cast. And excellent cinematography will save your behind only in any short form - but it can't save it once you go the full feature length. Because then, if "The Flow" of the story doesn't kick in latest in minute 20 or 30 or so ...... your completely and utterly lost. Driftwood in a maybe excellent shot but empty shell of a movie. I have been there.... ;-(

 

[OldCorpse]

tipota, I love your posts. I identify strongly with what you say. Here's my most important piece of advice I can give: be fresh. Sometimes we get so lost in rules, and technical stuff that we get bogged down and forget to do simple things, which is the ONLY thing that matters to the audience: forget everything, and just watch, just listen, just experience. Sometimes you have an idea and are trying to force the actor/DP/SFXman to execute this idea... but it's not working - so go with the flow and see how it really is for the audience, be just a witness and try to see "hey, maybe this will work for me - it will be a different effect, but not worse!".

 

[Rolf Silber]

I have come to the conclusion to try to not have a conclusion about directing ... sometimes it works.... ;-)

 

[thisisapocalypse]

I admit that I am a very high pressure director.
I get severely pissed if actors pitch late, don't know their lines or screw with my production time.

After having my ass wupped by critics and investors for weak performances from actors I 'gave a chance'; I now simply refuse to struggle with lazy, undisciplined people who are not as passionate as I am about my project.

I am busy casting my first serious narrative for the year (did two others for fun this year) and have already fired two leads before they even got to set!

The below stuff will sound harsh but it's (more or less) the speech I give new actors or crew who we audition to join the team and it shows their attitudes immediately!
Whether we do freebie passion based projects or bigger budget Indy efforts, I give the same speech.

I might be heavily judged for this but here's my minimum requirement for cast (my crew agree):

1) Salute the rank, not the person.
I'm the director, it's my head on the chopping block if this project tanks. You get to blame it on me, I have no-one to blame. The investors feel the same.
Understand my pressure and take direction like it's free chocolate!

I don't care if you think my DP has a bad attitude. Live with it, he works a thousand times harder than you and I do. Suck up to him so that he doesn't make you look fat on screen.
Same goes for my AD.

Help me make this project great or piss off and get involved in something you are passionate about.
I'm not a dictator and I do not want to become one so don't force me to make things uncomfortable on set.
I don't need to 'earn your respect', neither do I desire to 'earn' yours. We respect each other's function and do our best to create a great working environment for each other.

Thus if you cannot respect me before you even meet me, Piss off. hahaha.

2) The project comes first.
No rain nor hail nor sleet nor PMS nor death in the family nor boil on your ass outranks the project!

That includes your snobbish spouse who thinks I should pay you more.
(I meet actors with their spouses and if i do not like the spouse, the actor fails the audition.)

If your boyfriend won't let you kiss our lead, dump his ass or we'll dump yours!

(This is where I give the "I once filmed for three days with an arrow through my testicle" speech).

3) Respect the team.
Dissing any member of my cast or crew is dissing me. I am a touchy guy with a temper that should not be unleashed. Myself and half my crew playfully MMA each other at every available moment. We would be more than happy to show you an arm-bar followed by a rear naked choke.

If you have a problem with someone on the team, respectfully pull them to the side and share your offense maturely.
If it cannot be resolved there, bring it to me!
If you humiliate someone publicly, I will surely return the favor and try my utmost to bring a tear to your eye.

And Finally) Be passionate about your role! You need to know more about your character than anyone on the team (including me). Write a Bio, do research, change your diet and own the role. I work my ass off to make you look good, make my job easier and the audience will notice!

Believe it or not, this really gives us a great atmosphere on set with epic camaraderie and we all know we have each other's backs.
It's friggin awesome

When it comes to directing acting, I hardly do any of that once the casting process is over because the cast generally know their scenes and roles better than I do.
We'll do a read through in character a couple of times before the shoot and lock onto characteristics but I don't like fiddling with performances.

I prefer to direct their positions in the blocking and movement for the camera etc.

I'm a director, not an actor, if I have to tell you how to do your job we're both screwed!


DISCLAIMER:
I'm not an award winning director or anything, so take my advice with a pinch of salt.
0.02c

Good luck with that -- your overall attitude toward your projects is the problem, not the actors. Directing is not just the technical part or scene-level job, you are building a team that has to work together. "Working together," doesn't mean that the crew can have a terrible attitude and the actors just have to live with it. Everyone has a rough day now and then, that happens, but if you are walking in with an "us vs. them" perspective toward actors, you're going to have a pretty miserable time on set, and you're never going to get consistently great performances.

It's your job to make sure you cast the right people for the right roles whether they be on screen talent or crew, make sure they have what they need to do their jobs, and build a positive on-set attitude where people feel respected -- personalities may clash, but part of your job is building a team where this is minimized. And when you cast, yes you are looking for a great performance, but you must keep in mind the individual personalities in play as well, and this should factor in when you make decisions on who the cast will be -- you're going to be better off if you put people together that enjoy each other's company -- they don't have to love each other, but if they hate each other you are going to have problems. Pick the right cast + crew to work together, this matters a LOT.

You're not going to get good performances unless your actors trust you, and *everything* about the way you manage the film contributes to your actors trusting you.

Besides being more effective, film-making a lot more fun this way.

"Be passionate about your role," if you have to tell someone to do this, you already failed chief.

 

[Wilbur Eddings]

Ahh... And this is why I play hardass at the beginning of the project!

At the Micro to low Indy level we bump into a lot of cast or crew who come from the pretentious ad industry. There are no clients on the set of our movies and thus no need for the usual preening and pissing contests that come with the territory.

We like to laugh a lot while we work without petty know it all attitudes and silent tantrum atmosphere killers on set. Thus we really do our best to get people with the same spirit as us. Every Director has their way of working and this is what really works for me.

 

[teresadecher]

We like to laugh a lot while we work without petty know it all attitudes and silent tantrum atmosphere killers on set. Thus we really do our best to get people with the same spirit as us. Every Director has their way of working and this is what really works for me.

Amen to that. ^

And really, there are a lot of talented actors out there who are willing to work for nothing in exchange for footage.

But if for whatever reason you do get stuck with a bad actor, try giving them different things until you find what works. Whether it is saying something that helps them personalize the material or giving them something physical to do so that it takes the attention off themselves, every actor is different and you will see what they can relate to best as you work with them.

 

[jpbankesmercer]

Having worked/trained as a professional Actor for 10 years before becoming a Director, I think I’m in a position to throw in my views on this matter.

Starting with “Tips for Working With Bad Actors?” – I have a problem with the thread title. The term “Bad Actors” is degrading. If we applied the same to “Bad Directors” I’m sure we could all argue about - lack of experience, project suitability, force majeure and megalomania (thinking you are a great Director) so it’s not as cut and dried regarding Actors being bad or not. Performers who deliver and non-performers maybe a better terminology.

It is my experience that people are either natural Actors or people who desperately work hard at it with varying success (does the membrane to artistic successes eventually expel the latter?) This understanding from a Directors POV is the key to success when casting the role.

"90% of directing is in the casting"

Agreed, you need to know what you want and have enough experience as a Director to spot that.

They either just play themselves or play a poor imitation of the character

My understanding is that there are only two type of Actors ones who play themselves (naturalistic) and Character Actors (exaggerated normality) it’s about using Actors in the right situation, some work needs character Actors...

No camera movement, lighting, blocking, editing or sfx can cover bad acting.

Same as story is King. Bad script=bad film, poor acting=poor work.

No such thing as a bad actor.

Actors either bring it or they don’t. Personally I’ve amassed a variety of Directing acting tips & tips. I’ve spent hours before the shot talking through motivation, reacting and goals only to have non-performers bugger it up.

Yes, there are bad actors, just as there are bad musicians. No amount of talking, explaining, begging, crying, threats or drugs is going to turn a bad actor into a good actor.

OldCorpse what type of drugs did you try??

As a director you need to bring out the actors possibilities together with him/her.

Tipota knows what he is talking about - bringing out the performance. Giving the Actor so much faith in themselves and understanding the truth about the role and the Actors capabilities. If you create an understanding safe environment, pepper less experienced Actors with more experienced Actors (performances gravitate to the top), explore subtext and work together you just might have something good.

As a no budget film maker I'm constantly forced to work with "actors" who don't really understand what it is to be an actor.

Just like every role in filmmaking if you dig/search deep and hard enough you will find people with talent who need a chance. Don’t undersell yourself by working with rank amateurs if they really don’t understand what it is to be an Actor, jog on.

It's unrealistic to expect others to be as passionate as you are about your own project.

I have never had this problem, my circle of collaborators rely on passion to keep them going in this hellish industry. It’s not unrealistic it’s a must.

I admit that I am a very high pressure director.

And passionate...is there any other way, go Wilbur...

Directing is not just the technical part or scene-level job; you are building a team that has to work together. "Working together,"

One dream one goal, every opinion counted (you still get credited as the Director anyway) One of the key roles to Directing is to make everyone believe in what you are doing and to pick the right people who can deliver it.

The other thing I say to actors over and over and over again is: Stop acting.

I too always use this device, stop over thinking just be it.

At the Micro to low Indy level we bump into a lot of cast or crew who come from the pretentious ad industry

Let’s not cast the first stone, the Ad industry is just another facet of what we are all doing...Also crew who work in the commercial world have some very nice toys . My current television project was launched by working with a commercial crew. They have a ultra high work ethic that played dividends on my time scale, I even got to pastiche some of their technical Ad tricks in the pilot.

One last clear distinction for me is Theatre trained Actors and camera trained Actors. The old - less is more, internalising the performance to externalising is also something to be aware of.

I have not ‘made it’ yet as a Director but I understand that it’s not a fun-run more of a gruelling marathon that I’m determined to complete (or die trying) Over the years I’m constantly surprised, learning, failing and starting again but more importantly I’m open to the fact I don’t understand everything but I’m willing to try. It’s the same for Actors, we need them otherwise our screens would be blank. The trick is to be aware of where they are ability-wise on the running track.

Jp.

 

[Ted Spencer]

I admit that I am a very high pressure director.

(and so on, from post #19 in this thread...)

No offense intended, but as an actor, if I saw/heard this 'manifesto' (meaning the entire post) from a director before auditioning for him/her, I'd skip the audition.

Filmmaking is such a massively poly-collaborative (if there is such a word) process that for me at least, this kind of "my way or the highway" management premise would almost certainly get less than the best from me.

And regarding:

"I'm a director, not an actor, if I have to tell you how to do your job we're both screwed!"

...I"d say "Well, we're almost certainly screwed then, so thanks for your interest and best of luck with your film".

Even the best actors all but live and die on their directors' ability. All you have to do is check out the surprisingly large number of crappy performances turned in by fine actors in the hands of (presumably) poor directors. And one of the best ways to direct poorly is to...*not direct at all*. Most Oscar winning actors thank their directors profusely in their acceptance speeches, for *very* good reasons. A good director is their mirror, their conscience, their mentor in the moment. And very big moments those so often are! Abdicating that is to fail at one of the single greatest responsibilities, and one of the most rewarding ones, that a director will ever have.

I'll risk going out on a limb here to say this:

If you don't know how to guide actors into their best performances, *actively*, then you have no business calling yourself a director.

There; I said it.

But of course, as always, it's just:

My $.02

 

[Rolf Silber]

If you don't know how to guide actors into their best performances, *actively*, then you have no business calling yourself a director.

Yes. No. Maybe both. There are too many situations, when the guiding part does not work very well. This may have very personal reasons. Sometimes the coupling of a certain actor and a certain director in one project may be a marriage conceived in hell. No "method" will save either ones behind.

Sometimes you get lost because an actor will behave like a stubborn mule. And sometimes it's just the other way round - a director sticks to what he thinks is his "concept" not accepting the fact that a) this concept does not work with the actors he choose to work with - meaning something went wrong in casting - or b) that this concept did stink from the start.

If this happens the only help is this, maybe....... ;-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuleshov_Effect

 

[Ted Spencer]

Yes. No. Maybe both. There are too many situations, when the guiding part does not work very well. This may have very personal reasons. Sometimes the coupling of a certain actor and a certain director in one project may be a marriage conceived in hell. No "method" will save either ones behind.

Right, no disagreement there. No director is omnipotent, and different good actors will respond more or less well to a given good director...and vice-versa...

Sometimes you get lost because an actor will behave like a stubborn mule. And sometimes it's just the other way round - a director sticks to what he thinks is his "concept" not accepting the fact that a) this concept does not work with the actors he choose to work with - meaning something went wrong in casting - or b) that this concept did stink from the start.

Which puts us back again in the realm of questionable competence...

If this happens the only help is this, maybe....... ;-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuleshov_Effect

One of the most fascinating case studies in the cinematic experience ever conducted... : )

 

[Pietro Impagliazzo]

I'd like some tips for working with bad directors, and some tips for working with bad DPs, any lights help in that? And some tips for working with a bad colorist, a good plugin that saves the day? :cheesy: