DIRECTORS & WRITERS SHOULD TRY ACTING
For those in the movie business, it often feels like actors are… different. They are their own group of work, and mostly they keep to themselves. The cast hangs around with the cast, and the crew hangs around with the crew (the screenwriter is kept in a poorly lit basement downstairs).
This is probably not the best way to run a set, but this is not why you should learn acting. You need to do it for yourself. Let’s break it down, for easier consumption.
Why DIRECTORS should learn acting:
The director and D.P. getting along is critical while shooting anything, right? He’s the right hand, the director’s Lancelot. The D.P. is the guy that can cover for him if he has to leave for a quick sec. Do you know what makes that partnership work? Communication.
In any relationship understanding each other is vital for the whole thing to work. The D.P and the film’s director often use similar language. They talk about close-ups, angles, light, scale, etc. In just a few words they can understand each other perfectly — and then the actors come into the picture.
A lot of first time directors feel like the hardest part of their work is dealing with the performers, this is not because actors are strange creatures. It’s often the case that they are not communicating correctly.
The acting “world” was developed for the stage, their technics and forms were crafted for live audiences. So, if a first-time director works with a first time-on-camera actor, it could get pretty bad. How can you bypass this?
Learn the vernacular. Learn acting.
A couple of afternoons in your local theater will help you get in the mind, and the language, of actors. You might also discover that there are SEVERAL and entirely different schools of acting. Some are trained in the “Classical Style” other come from the “Method school,” so knowing a bit of them will get you a long way when communicating with the talent on your set.
The most important thing is to remember that actors, unlike the camera or the dolly, are not machines. You can’t go up to them and say “be sad” and then roll. Some actors might be able to work with that, but it might work better if you give them the context for the feeling so they can interpret it.
The world of acting is complex and deep; you don’t have to become the next De Niro to shoot your film. But getting inside the mind of your on-screen talent and empathizing with them is a tool you’ll use forever on.
Wait… Who is that I see hiding behind the desk? Is that you, screenwriter? Come out here; you too need to hear this.
Why SCREENWRITERS should learn acting:
I know some of you are rolling your eyes at me, cool. But hear me out while rolling your eyes at least.
Screenwriters face a massive problem while writing screenplays. I call it “The problem of emotion.”
Conveying emotion on a script is different than in any other written medium, while you could write “Sam is sad” in a book, in a screenplay, it would be lousy writing. You have to write the picture. You have to write HOW the audience knows Sam is sad. Actions usually transmit that information.
Let’s say you have to write a scene where our character Sam is angry, you can’t, or shouldn’t, write it like this:
“Sam angrily enters the room.”
You might get away with a few of those, but eventually, your writing will seem lazy. It would be better to write something like:
“Sam enters the room and slams shut the door behind him. Everything in the room shakes.”
This sort of writing is more accessible for the director to turn into an image for the audience.
Some of you are thinking that you don’t need to learn acting to write like that. And you are probably right, but it’s not going to do you any harm either.
Exploring the scene-space as an actor will give ideas of how to communicate emotions through concrete ACTIONS. You will become more inventive with the way your characters behave in a scene because you have gone through the process.
Some of the best writers-directors out there have been on both sides of the camera after all.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
Acting classes could also help you design punchier dialog. It’s one thing to write words on a screen and another to utter them at a rolling camera.
Experiencing the process of speaking lines will help you tighten up your dialog. You will learn that some words clash with each other, and sometimes you’ll have unintended rhymes that need to be cut out.
Conclusion! Learning acting will make your craft better, for sure. Learning and expanding your comfort zone in a holistic business like filmmaking will always be a good idea.
Actors are not from Mars, and you are not from Venus. And even if they were from Mars, then learn martian. It’s easier in the long run.
Don’t want to go to a theater to learn acting? Don’t have the time to register in your local troupe?
Then learn ACTING with SAMUEL L. JACKSON from the comfort of where ever you want.
Now with Filmarket Hub’s training, you can learn the techniques of one of Hollywood’s most explosive and exciting actors.
