Directing Actors - Natural Performances for Independent Film
What you'll learn
- Students will gain a better understanding of how best to communicate and work with actors.
- Students will learn how to collaborate better with their actors to help them achieve more believable performances on film.
- Students will learn the language of actors to help guide their performance.
- Students will also learn what things to steer clear of that could hinder an actor's performance.
Requirements
- No prerequisites
Description
20 year independent film veteran, Fred Zara, teaches this course which is designed to help independent film directors gain a better understanding of how best to communicate and work with actors. Working with actors can be somewhat of a mystery for some filmmakers and it can also be intimidating to work with an experienced actor if you yourself do not have a lot of experience as a director.
If you are looking for more natural performances for your independent films to help you become a more effective storyteller, this course is for you. Some independent filmmakers simply do not have the necessary tools to help actors craft their characters and to best highlight the actor's strengths.
Topics that will be covered in this course are:
Things to do and not to do when working with actors
Communication tips when working with actors on set
Different ways you can prepare and work with your actors before you show up on set
Other tips and things to try to help actors achieve their best performance
How to use your words effectively
Strengthening the Director/Actor relationship
In this course students will learn how to collaborate better with their actors and make them more comfortable on set to help them achieve more believable performances in their films.
Who this course is for:
- Independent filmmakers who wish to have a better working relationship with their actors.
- Film directors who may struggle to communicate with actors.
- Directors that wish for more believable and natural performances from their actors.
Course content
- Preview02:14
- Preview05:34
- 06:03Don’t do that - Part 1
- 07:21Don’t do that - Part 2
- Preview03:41
- 06:46Things to do - Part 2
- 07:39Other things to try
- 03:59The Recap
- 5 questionsRefresher Quiz
Instructor
![Fred Zara](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.8 Instructor Rating
- 8 Reviews
- 43 Students
- 2 Courses
Fred Zara has been involved in the film community for 20 years. He is an award winning independent film director and writer whose work has been screened all over the world. He also spent over seven years as an educational content creator for an online technology school.
His 2009 feature length documentary, Average Community, which chronicled his early days in Trenton, NJ, won awards at festivals in Philadelphia, Orlando, and NYC. In March of 2016, Fred's narrative feature film, Read Me, premiered in New York City at the Queens World Film Festival.
In 2020, Fred will release his third feature film, The Suicide of James Rider, which is based on the real life suicide of one of his close friends back in 2001. The film premiered at the New York City Independent Film Festival in May of 2019.