I took note of my last post concerning preparation and trust for this week. I've prepared in a more conventional manner. Once I knew which actors I was working with I came up with a scene. I then summarized it in an email, realizing as i was about to send it that I could and should write it in script form. I suggested that the actors look for that in the coming days. As I tend to do, I wrote it almost immediately. Then while watching my son and his friends play video games during his sleepover, I started drawing storyboards. Then I broke the script into beats. And now I'm making some crib notes.
There's something very reassuring about doing these things. And they don't take much effort because I've done it so many times. Still it was good to go through the process. I know where to put the camera. I know what I want to see. I even broke the habit of seeing it in bits. I made myself storyboard coverage. I realized a critical flaw in my perception of shooting masters. I erroneously believed that the entire scene had to be shot in a master. I realized that you can just shoot masters of the major beats and then do a little overlapping. It made so much sense finally.
There is a catch. I need to make sure that my preparation is a blueprint, not the finished product. I need to let the actors build upon the foundation and live in the house we build together. I need to do just what I tell actor-students: do the prep and then forget it.
I'll let you know how it goes.
¡viva!
Signroe Direttore
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