Directing Actors - The Basics

Ingmar Bergman directing actors

In a concise and clear essay, Gregor Schmidinger breaks down the basics of directing actors on film with useful applications for directors:

• Know where your characters come from and what they want.
• Key line: " The best scenes are those where the goal of one character is the obstacle of the other."
• Silence is where the good stuff happens.
• Key line: " Tell them not to say the next line or move until they feel the urge to say it or move and if they never feel the urge to say the next line or move then you need to look into the script again and make some changes concerning the goals and obstacles."
• Anchor your actors in the moment.
• Key line: " The goal of every director should be to create a working environment where an actor can be attentive and concentrated."
• Create an environment of trust.
• Key line: "It’s your job as a director to create an environment where the words right and wrong do not exist."

Go ahead and read the whole post, it's worth reading and applying on your next rehearsal and shoot.