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Directing. So much to say, so little
space.
You've heard the old story. If a sports team is doing well, it's
the players. If a sports team is doing poorly, then it's the
coach. Well, let me warn you. It's the same way for a
director.
Most of the message in your sketch is contained in things other than the
spoken word. Therefore, most of a sketch's message is in the hands
of the director. We communicate with our inflection, our eyes, our
eyebrows, our body language. The
director has to look at a drama from a distance. He or she
is looking for the big picture. If
the drama is a serious rendition of the story of the Crucifixion, then
it would not be a good idea to have comic pratfalls at every turn of the
script.
For example, just take these simple lines,
Actor
1 “Hello.”
Actor
2 "Hello."
Actor
1 "Missed me."
Actor
2 "No."
Simply reading them off the page is pretty straight forward, but
if I tell you to “read” it different ways, it can mean different
things. For example...read
the following lines in the following ways:
-
Straight, (without any meaning)
-
A husband an wife meeting after a few days apart.
-
Two children playing tag
-
A mother and and sarcastic child.
-
(I'm sure you can make up a few characters of your own.)
Get
the idea? You, as the
director, must know how to say every line.
Every line! Every line in the whole play! You also
must know who to say it to, where you are at while saying it, what the
other actors are doing while you are saying it, etc. Sounds
like a big job? It is!
But it’s nothing you can’t handle.
First
thing? Read the script and
decide a few things,
1.
Is it a comedy or drama
2.
What is the point to get across.
3.
What is each character like?
(happy, mad, sad, glad, sarcastic, business man, teacher, pirate,
etc.)
Ok,
now that you know those things, then you must think about:
Take that
information and read the script again,
Make notes in the margins. Perhaps the mother is frustrated
with her son for not doing the dishes?
What if the school teacher is afraid of the auto mechanic because
he is so big? Maybe the
pirate is angry at God for asking him to tithe?
You have lots of control. Don’t
get me wrong. Getting the right people for the part is very
important, and having people that can't act can really mess up a play,
but beyond that...all other things being equal, everything else falls
squarely on the director's back. If
it’s a comedy and it isn't funny, it’s your fault. If it’s a
drama and it’s not serious, who's fault is it? Yup, you guessed
it.
One year, I was asked by my church to “help” them with the
children’s Christmas Program. When
I asked, “what kind of help do you want”
I was told that my dramas for church are very good, and they want
the Christmas program to be very good too.
So..."could I hold an audition and cast the show for
them?" Then they will
take it from there. This
way they could be assured that they have the best people in the show and
it will turn out good. They
understood that casting a show is very important, but they didn’t
understand the other effects a director has on the show.
But now, you and I know different.
Right?
It's just my
opinion,
In Him,
Randy
Want a little
worksheet to help director's keep everything in one place?
Click
here
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