Hello everyone,

I'm directing a film and have now confirmed my actors. We will do quite a few rehearsals before shooting time so they are ready to go when it comes to shooting.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go through the rehearsals. Are there any suggestions of things that are very helpful to do during rehearsals? Or simply what to do exactly? What are the best tips for getting the most out of the rehearsals?

Any suggestions/ideas/Advice would be very appreciated

Thanks

Alejandra xox :)

The rehearsals are the time to get the script to fit the actors you've chosen, don't get married to the words on the page if the actor playing the part has a suggestion, try it...rehearsals don't cost as much as production time, so use it to fine tune the story to fit your folks.

Well stated knightly. You are absolutely right. I also think that rehearsals are a great time to sit back and let the actors find the character and let them interpret the words and actions on the page as to how they will become the character.

I've written a couple of articles about rehearsal on my site, so rather than repeat myself...here are the links:

http://www.1000dollarfilm.com/2007/04/23/from-script-to-screen-i/

http://www.1000dollarfilm.com/2007/05/24/connection-conflict-and-clues/

They don't tell the whole story... so, for instance, the basic process is this:

Read Throughs... where the actors get familiar with the lines and get to ask questions about their character (there is an Al Pacino film "Looking For Richard" which shows this process really, really well as he works with a cast on Richard The Third)

Blocking... where you figure out the movement within the space (I usually mark out a plan of the location with tape on the floor of the rehearsal room... [watch Lar Von Trier's "Dogville"... entire film is shot the way I rehearse])

Then once you've blocked the scene... get the actors off books and work on the performances.

Hope all this helps

Thank you guys!:)

Alejandra xox