Directing on the EMP
It was a completely new experience for me on this project to attempt to direct child actors in acting out my own script. Trying to direct James,12 and Barney, 10 was made easier by the fact that they were chaperoned by their parents so they were instantly relaxed and they were able to get on really well with each other. So with their parents there if they weren’t doing exactly as I wanted them to do, the parents could persuade them to do what i wanted them to do much easier than I possibly could of done. It was very impressive how the boys understood what was happening in the story and they had a great understanding of what emotions the character they were playing was going through.
In terms of their acting styles they were very contrasting, in James(Robert), 12 years old he was very impressive in knowing his lines and he came across as extremely dedicated and hard working, the only thing i would say is that he probably needs to do work on making his delivery a bit more natural at times but for someone so young to learn the whole script in a period of 1-2 weeks, in which he has a lot of dialogue, was more than i was expecting. With Barney(Imaginary Friend) he seem to have a natural knack of acting and knew how to deliver certain lines and he showed an extreme amount of energy throughout the shoot which made it easier to direct him and easier for him to get along with james.
Watching back through the rushes I was dissapointed in myself in that at times during the shoot when we were on a particularly long piece of dialogue I didn’t show enough encouragement to the boys, i just said lets do it again when i should of been “excellent, that was brilliant” which i was at times but not often enough. I feel that I built up a good relationship with the actors but it could of been a bit better if i showed more encouragement.
Working with strangers is an experience I would of previously been extremely anxious about but this project as well as the specialist has been a big learning curb for me and I felt at easy during the shoot which enabled me to do a better a job. I have never had a job before so I have not great experience of dealing with strangers but I feel that one of my achievements on this project was dealing so well with the parents of the actors and it was so good for me to see during the shoot what a relaxed, happy and enjoyable time everyone was having which enabled everyone to get on really well. I am definitely improving on my communication skills which is slowly improving my confidence. An example of how my communication skills have improved and this may sound a bit stupid being something so small but I’ve agreed with James’ mum to make a showreel for james whilst maybe if i did this project 3 years ago at the end of the project I would of just sent them a dvd and that would be that but on this project I have kept in contact and even just to get the dvd to them I will visit them in person to watch with them because I feel all these little experiences of building relationships will bed me well for the future and make me more, relaxed, happy and confident!
