Directing Actors: Getting the Right Performance
with Udayan Prasad

Saturday 9th - Wednesday 13th June 2012

Application deadline: Tuesday 8th May

 

Introduction by Udayan Prasad:

“In all the years I have been directing fiction films I have rarely come across an actor who genuinely didn’t want to help me to achieve my vision. That they sometimes failed was as much to do with my failure to help them inhabit their characters as any inability or lack of talent on their part. So from where does this difficulty in communication come?

The answer, I suspect, is rather simple. Those of us who have not taken the route to film making through the performing arts tend to take a lot of time and trouble dealing with and getting to know the hardware – the camera. We do this because, in order to learn the language of the cinema, it seems self-evident we should concentrate on mastering the principal tool of that language. Then there is sound, the sets, the colours, the costumes, make-up, prosthetics - explosions! – not to mention editing. All such incredibly technical and complicated stuff.

And as for the actors, well, just what is the problem with being angry or sad, cool, happy or mad just like it says in the script? Why can’t they simply say the lines and move from one mark to the next without making a huge fuss?”

That’s what this course will try to find out.”

Read Udayan Prasad’s full introduction here.

 

Course Outline

In this intensive 5-day workshop, director Udayan Prasad (MY SON THE FANATIC, SILENT WITNESS) guides participants through the fundamental techniques for directing actors. Designed for directors with some filmmaking experience, but little understanding or training in the performing arts, the course looks at how actors are trained and the methods they use in order to work effectively with the director to bring the characters to life.

In order to understand what an actor requires from a director, participants will fulfil the roles of both actor and director during the workshop, reversing roles with their fellow participants.

This exploration of the actor/director relationship will include:

  • What is ‘acting’? Participants will take part in practical acting exercises.
  • The actor/director relationship. Trust, Collaboration, Delegation.
  • The dangers of preconceived performance. Rather than trying to choreograph every single aspect of an actor’s performance, this course will demonstrate the value of allowing actors to use their own imaginations in bringing their characters to life.
  • The actor’s toolbox. What’s in it? And how do you ensure that the actor can use these tools?
  • Actor’s Methodologies. Participants examine some of the different methodologies that actors use when preparing to inhabit their characters.
  • Giving notes to actors. The need for clarity and simplicity. How much information? When and how to give notes? Playable notes and the need for verbs.
  • The importance of the story. Everything begins and ends with the story: the imperative of seeing the world through the eyes of the character. What are the character’s objectives and needs? What are the given facts about the character in the screenplay?

The final three days of the course will be spent rehearsing with professional actors. Using individual scenes from feature films the participants will direct the rehearsal, putting into practice the techniques explored during the previous days. On the final day time will be given over to discuss the intricacies of the casting process.

By the end of the course participants will have a rich understanding of how to communicate and collaborate with actors.

 

Udayan Prasad - Tutor Profile

Born in India, Udayan Prasad came to Britain at the age of nine. After attending art school in Leeds and the National Film and Television School, he made a number of documentaries, including A CORNER OF A FOREIGN FIELD (1985), about Pakistanis in Britain and INVISIBLE INK (1987), about the literature produced by writers from the Indian sub-continent on the British in Britain. Click here to read full profile...

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Times: 9.30am-5.30pm
Capacity: Max. 9 participants
Fee: £520

How to apply

Please submit the following items (email applications preferred):

Offers will only be made once the application deadline has passed and all applications have been considered.

Once your application has been approved by the tutor we will provide you with instructions for booking your place online.

Email us:
 Carolyn Atherton:
workshops@lfs.org.uk

Telephone us:
+44 (0)20 7836 9642