Why?
There are films that do everything right: powerful story, great characters, exciting events, cinematography, sound, setting, the works… and yet… yet… something is missing because I don’t feel it. I’m not moved. Why?
Thank you, Mr. Clurman
For over forty years I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the world of the director. I love the fact that there is always so much to learn and that every day there are new discoveries, new techniques revealed and new books and DVDs detailing the work of other directors. And I hate the fact that there is so much to learn, that I can never catch up, I can never learn it all, never read it all, never try it all. There is a part of me that wants it all to end, that wants to say, “Now I’m done. There is no more learning to do.”
Why Do You Hate Scene Study Classes?
An email exchange with writer/actor Tamara Branch where I get to sound off about Scene Study classes.
Mark, I have a quick question. I remember you said you hated scene study classes. I forgot why. Why? Just wondering. I know there was a good reason.
Which Truth Do I Write?
Before each TRAVIS TECHNIQUE workshop, directors are tasked with writing a 3-minute autobiographical story, based on an event in their life.
This is a letter from New Zealand director, Charlie Haskell, who is writing about a motorcycle trip he took with two of his friends 28 years ago.
The Casting Conundrum
Beginning a new relationship can be both exciting and challenging. In the world of filmmaking, directors initiate many relationships, the most vital and crucial being the ones you have with actors.
Director/actor relationships are like none other in life. Their goal is to create believable characters that exist in a fictional world.
The Actor’s Journey
Actors are amazing. They willingly thrust themselves into the persona and life experiences of another character. We, directors, are constantly challenging them, provoking them, and hopefully inspiring them to fully embody the emotional states of these characters.
Yet, what many directors overlook, or are not aware of, is that there is an evolutionary change in every actor as they move through the key phases of filmmaking: Auditions, Rehearsal and Production.