DIRECTING AND ACTING SIMULTANEOUSLY
Good morning all of you fearless writers, producers, directors and actors! I hope you have great things happen for you today.
One of the best questions I get asked during the Q&A at festivals is, “How did you direct and act at the same time?”
This is a very interesting question because it addresses the very core of the creative process. Whether you are writing or acting, those magic moments of pure inspiration are what elevate a good performance or script into a brilliant piece of work.
All of you actors know what it’s like to be in the moment. Those performances when you’re so far into it that you don’t remember everything you did afterwards. The moments when you and your scene partner are so connected that magic happens.
For writers it happens when you’re not just seeing the movie in your head while you’re writing but you’re feeling what the characters are feeling and it just pours out of you.
Those moments do not happen if you are judging and analyzing your work simultaneously. The minute the analytical side of your brain starts working it cuts off inspiration. You are no longer feeling the emotion of the scene, you’re thinking about what is logical to write or thinking about the craft of acting instead of being in the moment.
Almost all of my scenes in “The One-Nighter” were with Timothy Bottoms who is a brilliant, intuitive actor. Kudos to him. He made everything easy.
The key to being able to direct and act in your own movie is separating the two processes. Every director has her own method but this is how I did it. I prepared all the blocking before the day of the shoot then I’d rehearse the blocking by myself on the set. Next, I’d have Tim run the scene with me with the blocking to make sure it felt organic. I’d ask the DP to watch the run through and confer with him regarding adjustments. We’d run it one more time.
Now this is the most important part. I’d take off the director’s hat and put on the actor’s hat. I’d take a moment to get grounded and focused and into character then I’d ask the DP to call action. We’d run the scene until I called cut. We’d do this until we got those magic moments. I’d do one more take for safety then WATCH THE PLAYBACK ON THE MONITOR before moving on.
I hope this is helpful to you. Have a wonderful day.
ASK ME ANYTHING —- CHARACTER DRIVEN COMEDY
Good morning all of you wonderful, creative, courageous, indie filmmakers. All of us have something in common. We’re doing what we love. Confucius said, “Chose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” We’re lucky to have found our passion. Some people go through life working a job they hate. Our lives are filled with outrageous highs and tremendous lows — but that’s what makes it so exciting.
By the way, I’ve been so intent on getting information out, I have forgotten to tell you that the trailer (above) on “FUNNY OR DIE” is for my film. I’m the lady on the dryer with Tim Bottoms J. I also wrote, produced and directed.
We have a 95% “funny” rating. Please do me a favor. If you like the trailer, please give it a “funny”, retweet and favorite it to your friends and fans who love comedy. I would appreciate it so very much.
Back to info for you, please indulge me for a paragraph while I establish why I think the following advice may be of value to you.
I’ve written, produced, directed and starred in two films in five years. “Someone to Love” is a short which went to Cannes and won 11 laurels in additional Academy-qualifying and international festivals. “The One-Nighter”, a 90-minute feature is a sexy, funny, love story about how six lives change when two strangers wake up in bed together. So far, it has won “Best Romantic Comedy” in the International Film Quarterly festival and laurels in eight additional festivals. It’s had multiple offers of distribution which I’m currently considering while I do my due diligence regarding optimizing profits.
I think my films are enjoying success because they’re character driven stories. They’re not “high concept” romcoms, so many of which just boil down to a stupid premise. When I sat down to write “The One-Nighter”, I decided to forget all the rules regarding the traditional antagonist/protagonist conflict. The conflicts come from what each character needs, e.g. Annie desperately wants to marry and have a family but she falls in love with Chad who is getting divorced and already has two kids. The conflict comes from life itself allowing the audience to love both characters because they’re good-hearted people.
I hope this is of value to you and I hope all of you have a wonderful, productive day.
Cheers,
Jill
DIRECTING ACTORS
Actors work the best when they’re relaxed, confident and feel appreciated. Nothing kills an actor’s performance quicker than humiliation. Worst of all is humiliating an actor in front of the cast and crew. Thank God, no one has done that to me but I’ve seen other actors totally crumple right on the set. One actress was an Academy Award winner who was reduced to tears, which shut down production until she could pull herself together and go on. Actors are sensitive souls and they need to be treated as such.
Validate the person’s work after each take (even if he sucks) and then give him the direction he needs to be able to give you what you want. For instance, if an actor is totally over the top say something like, “Good. Keep that intention but really bring it down because we’re so tight on you.” You’ll get what you want quickly without making the actor feel like crap.
Another thing is always let the actors run through the scene using their preparation before giving directions. If you’re working with a good actor he’s done his homework and has as handle on both the character and the scene and has rehearsed to get it nailed. You don’t want to cheat yourself out of being able to use the actor’s creativity by giving him direction that might be totally opposite of what he’s brought in. Additionally, he’ll feel as if all of his preparation was just flushed down the toilet. After the first run through give notes to all the actors at once. This way you can quickly mold the scene into what you want.
If you’re working with a megalomaniac star who’s walked in having not even read the scene through, you’ve got to handle it surreptitiously. Talk to the make-up person and the script supervisor confidentially and simultaneously. Tell the make-up person that you’d like him to keep the star in the chair as long as possible and ask the script supervisor to casually walk in and offer to run through the lines with the actor. Hopefully you’ll get the star prepared while you handle other things on the set and you’ll save everyone a lot of time and energy.
I hope you find this useful. My very best Jill Jaress
EVER WAKE UP WITH SOMEONE YOU’VE NEVER MET? IT’S AWKWARD.
(Source: funnyordie.com)
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE IT A FUNNY!!!!!
(Source: funnyordie.com)
ASK ME ANYTHING
Happy Holidays to all! I hope your weekend is filled with love and joy!
Before I start the blog I need to ask a favor. It will take 1 SECOND of your time. The trailer for my film “The One-Nighter” has a 95% “Funny” rating on “Funny or Die” but it’s not on the front page! To get it on the front page I need a massive number of Funny VOTES. The link above does not connect to “Funny or Die” to vote. The link below does. Please give me a “Funny” that will count by CLICKING here:
http://bit.ly/ZEotto
THANKS!
Now on to the blog.
I am a working member of SAG - AFTRA and AEA, as well as an American member of British Equity. Our unions help protect us from unbearable working conditions and unscrupulous individuals. It also makes sure we get paid! Support our unions. There - I’ve got that off my chest.
Moving on, here is a tip for handling rejection, overworked and exhausted casting directors as well as the occasional jerk who treats unknown actors like crap – until we become stars – then they’re kissing our butts.
First of all, please understand that casting directors work very hard and have a tremendous amount of pressure put on them to get the perfect actors for the roles and to get them cast on time for the shoot. Things happen that are out of their control - like being handed a breakdown for a role that shoots the next day. So don’t take it personally if a Casting Director is short tempered with you or takes a phone call when you’re reading. This is just part of the business.
However, someday you may run into someone who is actually mean. I’ll tell you the worst thing that has ever been said to me, and how I handled it.
I had just come back from London where I had worked with Pierce Brosnan on the fringe and then scored a starring role on The West End. I was proud of the fact that I had even gotten those roles – and managed to get some good reviews to boot.
I came back to the states on my twenty-ninth birthday and was sent out for a series. I walked in the door and before I had taken two steps into the room the casting director looked up at me and sneered, “What did he send you out here for? We need someone young and beautiful.”
I took a moment to crawl out from under the bus and replied very calmly, very politely, “Well, I got all dressed up to come meet you and I drove all the way across town and I really worked on my sides. Don’t you at least want to hear me read?”
What could he say! I was so damn nice about it he grunted, "Go on,“ then he looked back at his desk and continued writing down some notes – probably about the last poor schmuck who had come in the read for him.
I took two steps into the room and delivered the first line. (This was a fight scene.) He gave me his line like he was reading a telephone book – without looking up. I delivered my next line and walked a couple steps closer. He looked up at me and actually gave me his line.
I moved a few steps closer to him, never taking my eyes off his. He gave me a decent delivery and I knew I had him. By the end of the scene I was sitting on the edge of his side of the desk looking down at him. I took a very slight beat - leaned my face just a little closer to him - delivered the last line of the scene ever so quietly and watched his eyes dilate.
I didn’t get the series but the next week he hired me for a Guest Starring role.
So, the upshot of the blog today is:
Never lose your cool. Your objective is to do a terrific reading, hopefully get the job and make that casting director admire your work and like you as a person
So he’ll become a fan and cast you over and over.
PS If you’re on twitter please retweet. @JillJaress
Click FUNNY to put us on the front page!!!
(Source: funnyordie.com)
