DIRECTING THE INDIE FILM DIRECTING ACTORS – MORE NOTES Sonia & Miriam Albert-Sobrino

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WORKING WITH ACTORS

THE INSIDE OUT PRINCIPLE

Archimedes demonstrated how to kill two birds with one stone by using an ingenious idea to relate the inside and outside of circles and spheres. An incredible Greek
philosopher showed to the people of an ancient Greece how the Inside Out Principle works. The Inside Out Principle, the Golden Ratio and the Principle of
Minimum Actions as well as many others are so universal, that they can be applied not only to physics and math, but also to human behavior.
According to the science of psychophysiology, there is a strong connection between a person’s physical body and his inner world. The slightest change in a
person’s interior universe (thoughts, feelings, emotions) creates changes in his movements and expressions. We are a species that moves and reacts constantly.
Stanislavski said that the connections between the feelings and actions of performing actors should be as united and indivisible as they are for real people.
The Inside Out principle is the idea that the inner world of the actor is the primary source for the truth in the scene. This concept is a basic assumption of the
majority of acting and directing techniques.

The best way to avoid a Result-Oriented directing problem in working with actors is by applying the INSIDE OUT principle

Let’s look at a hypothetical scene with a protagonist named Mr. Allan, comparing the language of a Result-Oriented approach with the language and tools of
Proper Direction. There are some very important differences between these two approaches. Proper direction is challenging and takes thought and energy, whereas
Result-Direction is simple, but leads to fake expressions. Assume that our character Mr. Allan is an aspiring screenwriter who lives in the beautiful city of Los Angeles.

Directing the Scene with a Result Approach

Mr. Allan SMILES when he drives down the street. He looks HAPPY when he gets good news from his agent. But when his car enters a highway with heavy traffic he
becomes UNHAPPY because he realizes he is going to be late for a meeting with his boss. When a traffic accident ahead of him causes him to stop suddenly, Allan looks
like he is SHOCKED. Then he becomes UPSET and ANGRY when his boss offers him a new position in a remote city. When Allan returns home, he looks CONFUSED
because he is thinking about the challenges of moving to other city.

What you’ve just read is a variety of Result-Oriented directions such as SMILE, HAPPY, UNHAPPY, SHOCKED, UPSET, ANGRY, and CONFUSED. None of them is
playable. Even professional actors would not understand what the director wants from these directions. For the performer, it would be very difficult to show these
reactions truthfully while thinking about every emotion the director has just requested.

Again, playing a Result is the Art of Performance, an old style of acting that is no longer used. When an actor picks up the Art of Performance as his acting method,
it is a formal, mechanical way of simulating emotions. It does not require living in the scene and creating a character. When the Art of Performance is mastered properly,
it can be impressive and expressive in form. But there can be no spontaneity and improvisation, and it often leaves the audience indifferent and unaffected.
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WORKING WITH ACTORS

Directing the Scene Using Proper Tools

Mr. Allan is a screenwriter, who pursues his dream to be a working writer in Hollywood (SUPER OBJECTIVE). He just got good news from his agent (GIVEN
CIRCUMSTANCES), but he is rushing because he is going to be late for a meeting with his boss (SCENE OBJECTIVE, SUBSTITUTION). It’s a beautiful day and the
birds are twittering (ATMOSPHERE). Suddenly he stops short on the highway because of the traffic accident in front of him (OBSTACLE). Then his boss offers him a
new position in a remote branch of the company. Allan tries to convince (ACTION VERB) his boss that he wants to remain in the town. When he gets home, he
imagines what his life will be like when he moves to the new branch (IMAGES). He packs boxes and does all necessary preparations for moving.

We’ve finally arrived at an example of Proper Direction—what every actor needs from their director: a good set of workable directions including a SUPER OBJECTIVE,
a SCENE OBJECTIVE, the GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES, a SUBSTITUTION, ATMOSPHERE, an OBSTACLE, an ACTION VERB and an IMAGE. All of them are serious tools
capable of generating The Art of Living, which is key to achieving an impressive look and sound in your scene. In this scenario, even with unprepared actors you may
achieve a great scene in terms of the scale and intensity of your actors’ performance.
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WORKING WITH ACTORS

DOS AND DON’TS OF DIRECTING ACTORS

• Make sure you are giving specific directions using action verbs—“to accuse”—rather than state-of-mind verbs such as “to resent,” “to fear,” “to like.”
• Ask the actor to do rather than to be.
• Set limited, positive goals: Say, “See if you can open the door softly this time —not, “This time don’t make such a racket with that closet.”
• Direct the actor’s attention to a particular kind of action: Say, “I’d like to see you try to figure out what he meant as you turn away.” Make the suggestion specific,
and locate it in a particular moment. Generalized suggestions that could apply anywhere aren’t helpful.
• Suggest a different subtext: such as, “Try closing the door on him with finality rather than regret.”
• Remind cast members where their character has just come from: Wind them up to each scene with a reminder: “You’ve just come from the stock exchange and
seen your father’s savings vanish.” This is vital while directing, because films are shot in small, out-of-order increments, and actors need constant orientation.
• Remind actors that nobody is present: Ask actors to ignore the crew’s presence, act as they do when alone in real life, and never to look at the camera. This helps
them avoid the temptation to play to an imagined audience.
• Never demonstrate how you’d like something played: This implies you are an actor and want a copy of yourself. But you are not an actor, and what you want is
unique to that actor. Ask the cast for their solutions.
• Never give line readings: A line reading means the director reads the dialogue with the emotional inflection they wish the actor to provide and then tells the actor
to “say it like that.” This is insulting for an actor and reveals a director’s lack of imagination.