What is the directors relationship to their actors?

Being a filmmaker can pull you in a lot of different directions, behind the camera, in front of the camera, and in the business office. It’s important to be a good communicator, delegator, and sometimes instigator. And unless you’re Oliver Stone, James Cameron, or Werner Herzog, it’s best to do it all without crushing (or inflaming) egos.

Table of Contents Show

What Do Actors Need from Directors?
1. Keep the Environment Safe
2. Listen to the Actors
3. Clearly Communicate Your Intentions
4. Acknowledge a Job Well Done
5. Do More with Less
6. An Achievable Vision
Want to be a Director and Have a Career in the Film Industry?

But you do need to see your vision through to fruition. By empowering the cinematographer, lighting and sound department, and the rest of the crew members to give their best efforts, they can help enhance that vision. This is never more true than when working with actors.

What Do Actors Need from Directors?

Keep the Environment Safe
Listen to the Actors
Clearly Communicate Your Intentions
Acknowledge a Job Well Done
Do More with Less
Create an Achievable Vision

Perhaps more than any other relationship on set, the chemistry between director and actor can play a huge part in how successful a film is. Do actors and directors always need to get along? Of course not: George Clooney and David O. Russell reportedly came to blows during the filming of the very successful Three Kings.

Those were two heavyweights in their respective fields, of course, and can afford the occasional dust-up. As an up-and-coming director, you’ll want to keep the fisticuffs to a minimum while still getting everything you can out of your actors. And as the leader of the production, it’s up to you to keep things running smoothly.

1. Keep the Environment Safe

As the director, you set the tone for the movie itself as well as the general feeling on the set. As they say, you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. This doesn’t mean you need to be a pushover, but it does mean you should create a safe environment for the exchange of ideas with your actors.

By fostering a collaborative give and take relationship with your actors (and other crewmembers for that matter), you empower them to be more confident in you and themselves. It’s a great way to build trust and encourage important questions. You can certainly be firm but do so with a smile – not a fist.

2. Listen to the Actors

Especially during the table read, be sure to give your leads and co-stars time to read their lines and discuss their ideas and/or interpretations with you. Be sensitive to their feelings: If you do not agree with their interpretation or the point they’re making, gently guide them back to where they need to be. And that actorly question, “What’s my motivation?” is downright valid.

As the director, you need to know what your characters want in every scene as well as the overall purpose of that scene within the arc of the story. When all is said and done, you are the director and it is your vision that’s being made. Actors are essential players in you being able to achieve that vision, so guide, inspire, communicate, and rehearse. Give them wings.

3. Clearly Communicate Your Intentions

Part of being a good director is allowing others to bring a certain level of their own personality to the screen. Allowing a Will Ferrell or Melissa McCarthy to riff during a scene can lead to comedic gold—if it adds to the overall feel of the movie. And that overall feel needs to be clearly communicated to your actors.

During table readings, make sure it’s understood what you’re looking for. Allow actors to ask questions or clarify your intentions. If you’ve created a comfortable environment, this should be an efficient way to get your point across. And be confident with the direction you’re taking—your confidence is their confidence.

4. Acknowledge a Job Well Done

Who doesn’t like the occasional “good job” every once in a while? You don’t have to hand out gold stars at the end of every scene. But letting your actors know how appreciative you are after particularly grueling scenes will let them know you’re paying attention. And don’t be stingy with the accolades: Even the gaffers and grips could use a pat on the back.

It’s a way of showing that you’re all in this together and you realize how important all of their contributions are. And be genuine, don’t force compliments if they aren’t heartfelt. If your appreciation begins to feel sarcastic or strained, real compliments begin to feel hollow and mean-spirited.

5. Do More with Less

If you’ve established your vision for a scene, and your actors understand what’s expected of them, that should be all you need for a great take. This is a creative industry, and these are actors—so let them act! If you’ve done your job as a director before the camera rolls, you’ll have little to do once you say “Action!”

Just be prepared for three or four takes if needed. You’re not going to get it right on the first try every time, and small nuanced changes from take to take can make all of the difference in the world. But you never know, your actors could surprise you. Unless they’re going off the deep end, let them work a little bit before taking the reins.

6. An Achievable Vision

There’s a reason every film, TV show, music video, and commercial has a director: Chaos would ensue without one! However, a director who doesn’t have a clear vision, or can’t communicate what they want, is downright disastrous and wastes the talents and time of all of those involved in the production. Sure, that’s heavy but it’s true.

So make sure you realize what you’re asking for and understand how to get there. Inspire your actors and empower them to get where they need to be to bring your vision to life. This will give them a sense of ownership over their roles and a true investment in the film overall.

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Our curriculum is based on what you need to know when working towards becoming a director. The Film Connection learning system has many externs move on to the silver screen and the TV screen, but they earned their shots. Will their success become your success? Well, that’s up to you. Apply today.

A subjective attempt to describe the relationship between a director and an actor during their creative work on a film or a theatre play based on my own experience.

FIRST MEETING OR HOW NOT TO LOSE FACE IN FRONT OF AN ACTOR

I’ve been an actor for over eight years. Doing what I do I have met many different directors. Some were more experienced; others were less experienced; some who were educated to become directors and others who are so-called autodidacts. Few of them were even respected in the business or had received awards, but there were also some who almost nobody had heard of yet.

The very first meeting with a director is for me a critical factor in our mutual work afterwards. This is the moment that a lot of things depend on later. It is kind of like a blind date, the meeting of two strangers after which there are only two scenarios possible: either they have another meeting, or they don’t feel like meeting each other ever again. How do you make the first scenario happen? How do you make them want to meet you again?

For me, the incredibly vital thing is to find a common element with a director, even the smallest feature which would relate to my personality. It may be a shared idea behind the creation we’re about to work on, the way we look at the world around us or a passion for the same books, the same music, etc. It could seem completely unnecessary. An actor’s task is to dutifully create a credible character. His acting abilities should be sufficient enough, especially after a few years in the business. However, finding a common idea for work will be paying dividends in a mutual inspiration, primarily when working on something and it appears that some solution does not meet the director’s expectations. Then an actor “infected” with a project’s inspiration or philosophy will come to their aid.

During my work, I recall this first meeting many times. I verify words I heard then with reality. If it appears that all problems shape up well, I feel safe and am sure that a director knows what he is doing, that he is in control of a project of which I’m only one of the elements. On the other hand if nothing good results from such analysis I become suspicious that on our first meeting a director wasn’t honest with me. For some reason he deceived me, perhaps trying to bring me on board their project. I instantly lose trust and slowly begin distancing myself from a project, instinctively putting out my flame of creation. I become a craftsman just trying to DEFEND my part decently.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t treat a director like he is a kind of demiurge who should know an answer to every question. I ‘allow’ him not to know. I impose one condition only – absolute honesty. If on our first meeting I hear „I don’t know that yet” as an answer to any of my questions, I respect it a great deal because I know how brave and honest you have to be to acknowledge you don’t know. This is the kind of person I want to work with. I don’t expect answers to all my questions right away because of creativity, although it requires logical thinking, is not a science. Well! While working together, many factors may need changing which I understand correctly and sometimes even hope to happen. However, an essential condition is consistency and work logic, compatible with the initial honesty thanks to which the trust between us can be born.

Perhaps what I write now is highly unpopular amongst actors, but there are situations when I don’t have to understand the director’s intentions. I trust them, so I do whatever they ask me to, and I don’t have to wonder or fear if their words are sensible. „When we start shooting, the most important information for an actor is on which foot he should enter the frame and not a general idea of the film”, said Michael Haneke in one of his interviews. How true! Eventually, an actor whose concentration is not disrupted by any doubts resulting from the lack of understanding between the director and me focuses only on the credibility of the character he plays. Haneke’s words are a luxury for an actor. When a choice of on which foot he enters the frame first is the only worry an actor has, it means that there is a fantastic understanding between him and a director. Doing work based on trust and honesty the director and actor can reach another level – to understand each other with no words at all!

Honesty, honesty, honesty: from the very beginning. I can repeat these words endless! Thanks to honesty the synergy can be achieved. It fundamentally affects later stages – the confidence an actor places in a director, and consequently total submission to their vision which becomes coherent thanks to it. Only then the success of the project is possible.

The article was written by Pawel Palcat & Marek Olchawski