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INSECURITY is the evil heart of a bad performance.

You need the actor to feel SAFE and COMFORTABLE in the creativeprocess. They need to be relaxed.

Ask the actors to do something, not be something.

The presence of a camera should never change people, it only changesthe aspect or degree of a persons response.

The main job is to prepare the ground for inspiration. You cant decideto be inspired. If you try it, it only creates tension, taking you farther

and farther away.

The DIRECTOR is the viewer and the ACTOR is the viewed.

Let the actors help out with blocking. It solves all kinds of problems.

Actor and Director must respect each others creative territory.

Adjusts your beliefs about a character if the actor sees something

different.

WHAT DO ACTORS WANT FROM DIRECTORS?

- Not to give up until you get the performance- To make sure its the best take before moving on

- Must have confidence that you understand the script- Need clear, brief, playable direction- They want to be pushed to grow and learn

DONT TELL ACTORS TWO DIRECTIONS THEY CANT

PLAY TWO THINGS AT ONCE.

LISTEN to the actors and hear what they have to say.

Actors need insight, in language that is experiential, not descriptive.

Adjectives are generalizations. USE VERBS Actions speak louder thanwords.

Verbs describe what someone is doing. They describe experiences

rather a conclusion about experience.

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USE THESE PHRASESTo believe

To fearTo accuse

To confront

To convinceTo beg

To complainTo punish

To tease

To soothe

VERBS are also important to the basic understanding of acharacter

Acting should be a performance of the simple physical actionsthat tell the story.

Movies are made out of very simple ideas A good actor will

perform each small piece as completely and as efficiently aspossible.

All good work requires self-revelation. The talent of acting is onein which the actors thoughts and feelings are instantly

communicated to the audience. The instrument the actor is usingis himself.

DONT REPRODUCE LIFE CREATE IT

CONFIDENCE is an important element in an actor's performance

LEARN FROM ACTORS SEE:

-What stimulates them?-What triggers their emotion?

-What annoys them?-Hows their concentration?

-Do they have a technique?-What method of acting do they use?

An actor's personality always comes out in their performance.

Tell them to go as far as they feel. Never be negative.

MOVMENT OF THE ACTOR You can always tell if an actor is truly in

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character by looking at his or her feet.

Actors need to have a GOOD EAR

Sometimes they need to just speak and try not to hit the furniture.

They need to trust the script, and you have to guide them if they want

to stray from it. Unless they have an absolutely brilliant idea thatserves the story BETTER than the original script, they should stick with

the words as written. It's tempting for actors to add or subtract words.

That's seldom a good idea.

Most actors need to know the technology that is around them.-Where is the camera?

How are they being framed - close up, mid-shot, long shot?

NEVER JUDGE A CHARACTER

Acting is not pretending, is not faking something. Its honesty. Adirectors job is to recognize that and facillitate it.

For an artist there are two worlds the social realm, where we liveand work day to day and the creative realm.

To enter the creative realm one must be free of the social realm,

uncensored in the moment, away from concerns with result, following

impulses, obeying only the deepest and most private truths.

An actor cant lose trust in the process. As an actor, you need to:1) Stay in the moment

2) Feel your feelings

3) Dont move or speak unless you feel like it4) Forgive yourself for your mistakes

5) Connect to the deepest and freshest meaning of the script6) Turning themselves on and capturing their imagination

7) Connect with emotional honesty and get to the places they need togo

The best moments usually come from mistakes!

The scene is the event the words are the clues

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Eye contact is very helpful to listening

WHAT DOES A DIRECTOR WANT IN AN ACTOR?

MEMORY (Personal Experience)

- Each individual is essentially unknown to all others- Actors allowing their memory to occur physically 5 senses rather

than intellectually

OBSERVATION

RESEARCH

- Know the character- Know their history and back story- Know their habits and mannerisms, physical and spoken

IMAGINATION

IMMEDIATE EXPERIENCE

- Energy and confidence to pull off a performance and scene

SENSORY LIFE

- What they observe through their senses

CONCENTRATION- Performances are usually more successful when actors play against

whatever feeling they have

PROFESSIONALISM

- Camera technique- hitting marks

- not blinking

- ability to repeat successful performances and built on successes- able to alter what's not working

SCRIPT ANALYSIS

- Finding the subworld of behavior and feeling in the script- Understanding the whole arc of the story to know how to play the

scene

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As a DIRECTOR you must stop JUDGING and begin to engage

Actors should remember that characters are real people. They dontalways tell the truth. They dont always know the truth.

Certain questions an actor should ask about every character?1) What is this person smart about?

2) What does this character find funny?3) Where is his pain?

4) How does he play?

5) In what way is he an artist?6) What does he most fear?

7) What profession has he chosen or does he aspire to?8) What does he look up to?

9) Whom does he look up to?

10) What is the biggest thing that has ever happened to him?11) How does this character differ at the end of the story from the

beginning?

WHAT IS THE CHARACTER NOT SAYING?

FOUR AREAS OF IMPORTANCE IN CASTING1) Actor's ability

2) Whether he/she is right for the part3) Whether you can work well together

4) Casting the relationship as well as the roles

AREAS OF A REHEARSAL PLAN

1) Ideas of what the film is about, what it means to you personally2) Spines and transformations of all the characters

3) For each particular scene, its facts, its images, the

question is raises4) What the scene is about, its emotional event and how the scene fits

in the arc of the script5) Candidates for each character's objective

6) The beats of the scenes, how you might work each beat7) The scene's physical life and its domestic event8) Research you have done and research you have left to do

9) Your plan of attack10) Blocking diagram

No matter how small the role is, the actor should read the entire script

several times. They need to be aware of the function the author

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intends for the character in terms of overall storyline.

REMEMBER: The actor is playing someone with a HISTORY, not aFUTURE

FILM ACTING IS BROKEN DOWN INTO FOUR CATEGORIES1) Extras

2) Non-professional performers3) Trained Professionals

4) Stars

Know the skills and potentials of the actors you're working with, and

frame your suggestions according to their level of experience. What isa film director? Someone with the ability to help all actors grow. A

good film director is someone who knows the power they have on set

and uses it to guide a film to the best possible completion.

THINGS THAT MATTHEW TOFFOLO LOVES

AN ACTOR TO DO

Matthew Toffolo loves actors to:1) Arrive on set with their business planned and rehearsed and

knowing their lines

2) Add extra ideas and business to the shoot, understanding what is

possible and not3) Do the same business on the same syllable of a speech in everytake

4) Automatically ease themselves into the right position so that they

fill the screen. Their two-shot is maintained or they come to a perfectthree-shot

5) Understand the craft of screen acting and make additions andsuggestions within the framework or what is possibly both technically

and in the time availableWhat is a Film Director?, What is a Film Director?, What is a Film

Director?, What is a Film Director?, What is a Film Director?

AND... MAKE THE CHARACTER THEIR OWN

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