Telling People What to Do: Directing Actors 101

Being a director of a film has a lot of glamour associated with it. Even if a director isn't the writer of a film, the director's vision is what makes it to the big screen.

On a big budget film set, the director's main focus is the actors' performances. On a smaller set, the director usually takes on more duties, one of those more often than not is also being the writer, but we'll tackle that another time.

One of the hardest parts of directing actors is getting the performance that you, as director, want, as opposed to what the actor thinks you want, or even what the actor wants.  Actors have their own vision of how a role should be played, and while finding someone with a similar vision to the director's is ideal, it isn't always what happens, especially on smaller budget films.

One way to handle a difficult actor who wants their vision rather than the director's is to let them try it. If you're using film, do it in rehearsals without the camera rolling. If shooting digitally, shoot it if you have the space.  Who knows, they might be right in tneir interpretation.

If you still don't think it's going the way it should, let them try it over and over, but find something in it you don't like.  After a few rounds of this, the actor will get frustrated and ask how you want it.  Tell them.  Once they try it your way, tell them it's perfect and move on.  The actor will be more willing to take your direction next time.

The main thing to remember when giving direction is to tell the actors what to do not what to feel.  It is far easier to portray an action on screen than a feeling or an emotion.  And with the right action, the feeling will come across.

 

For example, if the actor is supposed to sneak across a room, the direction shouldn't just be "sneak" but to "move across the room making as little noise as possible."

 

If the actor is having trouble with coming across as believable, give them something to focus on.  Put a prop in their hand to look at while delivering their lines.  It takes the pressure off them to get the line right.

 

The main thing the director needs to know when filming is the script.  Not just the dialogue and the action, but the objectives of the characters.  Their motivations.  What they are trying to accomplish in a given scene.  That should be what the director and the actor agree upon to define the actor's delivery.

 

There are a lot of books on how to direct actors to get the performance you want.  The best one I've found is Directing Actors by Judith Weston.  You can follow the link to Amazon to buy it.