Hi,
I am directing a self-financed no-budget feature film. This is my first film. We are six weeks out from our scheduled shooting dates, and I think that I'm heading for a disaster. There are lots of obstacles right now with the overall production, but my biggest problem is the acting situation.
The script is my own. I can't prove to anyone reading this post that it's good, but I can tell you that I have faith in it. It is, however, something of an "arthouse" script and it has a certain literary quality that might not be for everyone. It has several "soliloquies" of sorts that are a little anti-cinematic. My main heroes at the moment are people like Rohmer, who was all for a "talking cinema," and Fassbinder, who of course came from the theater and made films that were both very theatrical and very cinematic. The visuals were supposed to be more about subtleties of gesture, elegant blocking, subtext of expression, etc.
When I cast the film, I tried to do it the right way, but I realize now that I've made many mistakes both in the casting process and even in the very conception of the film. I decided to take a "Bressonian" approach, which is also what Rohmer did, and to try to cast actors who were like the characters they would be playing. I wanted to cast for their real personalities because I think that comes through on screen. In itself, I think that was a good idea.
The film is held up almost entirely by the two leads; a guy and a girl. The guy is "central" and the story is from his POV, as he is in every scene. He is a slightly "unlikable" protagonist in a Chekhov sort of way. The character means well but is a little bit of a jerk. The girl is the especially interesting character, however, and the emotional core of the story. She is weird, creative, and sad.
Well I picked my actors. Almost no one who had any professional experience, or clear talent, applied for the male lead. I was surprised at how few I had to choose from. One talented actor stood out. He also had a little bit of an edge about him, like he was halfway between being a nice guy and a jerk. This seemed to me to be perfect for the role, so I cast him. I considered myself lucky at the time as I had no other great options, but I am inexperienced in knowing where to find people.
There were many more applicants for the female lead. This is where I made my biggest mistake, I think. There was one girl who was very, very interesting. She had a certain alien quality about her, which was appropriate to the story. She was also very hard to read, even just in talking to her in real life-- she was sort of inscrutable. That was perfect for the character too, as people have a hard time figuring her out. I don't know that she was "sad" however. She did the sides that I had given her, and part of it really impressed me. It was a little chilling, even. But I realize now that I also engaged in some wishful thinking because of her personal qualities. She had her little "soliloquy" but didn't really sustain herself through the whole thing. She didn't quite follow the emotional logic or "story" of the monologue, which was written with a certain narrative rise and fall. She was just weird and interesting and it worked in parts. Other actresses who came in played the emotion more, I guess you could say, truthfully... they understood what was actually going on, and played it. But it always seemed to me that they were "playing" it, and that she "was" the character. The problem, I think, is that she "was" the character without always living as the character in the moment. I didn't direct her enough during the audition, to see how she would react to direction and play the scene differently. She was the first one to come in, and I was nervous. I also didn't have a callback, as I'd originally planned, and I don't think I was vigilant enough in vetting training or ability. Thinking back to her reel, which came entirely from an acting class, I realize that I was focusing on the good too much while downplaying the red flags.
Anyway, that was over a month ago. The biggest part of my plan for directing, or one of the most important, was in finding the actors early enough to give them time to learn the lines and then rehearse together. But due to various circumstances, we finally had our first table read only yesterday. That I also see was a mistake-- we should have done this much earlier in the process to allow me to gauge how everyone worked together, and with the script, when I still had more flexibility.
The male lead has been a problem, in trying to schedule rehearsals. We have already missed several target dates because he wasn't communicating with me in my attempts at scheduling, and because he had several conflicts one after another (even though he had told me that he had open availability not long before). He insists that after the next week or so he will be working around my rehearsals, but he had also said some things about "not knowing week to week" that made me doubt that I can rely on him. I don't know how much I can trust him. But what really made me flip out was that he admitted to me, without seeming to think it mattered, that he has barely read the script at all in the time he's had it, and doesn't know any of his lines! He claims he "didn't want to learn it the wrong way, and have to change it later" but surely he could have become familiar with the words and story without becoming set on playing a certain way! That was the whole point of my scheduling the production the way I have, to give the actors time to learn the script and to rehearse. I expected at least some fluency coming into rehearsals. I see now that this was another mistake, that I didn't make this expectation clear from the beginning, but I was naive enough to think it was obvious. The role is very demanding. The character is in every scene. It is also, as I've said, a bit wordy. There is no way to do it without knowing it. I don't know if he'll have enough time to memorize it, and even if he does, I don't know how much harder it will make rehearsals. He is not a bad actor, though.
But the biggest problem is my actress. From what she's said she seemingly has studied the script some. I didn't see any notes or anything on it, but she has thought about it some from her comments. However, from the table read, it is as though she hasn't memorized anything. She was very "read-y" and not too fluent with it. I don't know, though, if I'm judging this right, or how fair it is to judge a table read like a regular rehearsal. But she did have to lock onto the script the whole time.
What was worse, though, was how alien she played it. It was as though she wasn't listening to herself, sometimes. She was tone-deaf. It wasn't always human-sounding the way people actually talk. Parts were good, even great, but this was inconsistent and seemingly accidental. She was best at the simplest back and forth moments between her and the other actor. The more involved a given section was, the less she seemed to make sense out of it. She has a rather monotone delivery, actually. Her emotions don't change very much over the course of a speech, or a scene, or the entire story. She plays everything similarly. She speeds through, sometimes, running sentences together unnaturally. I can always tell her to slow down, but what concerns me is how illogical the inflection is. When she got to her big monologue, which is the centerpiece of the whole movie, I could barely understand her. She recited it swiftly and dispassionately without any emotion whatsoever, until it was explicitly mentioned in the script that the character was crying (which I shouldn't have even necessarily had to write in). The whole thing was butchered.
I don't necessarily think that my "Bressonian" instincts were wrong in themselves, and I actually think she could do very well in a simpler and snappier role. But this seems to be a terrible mismatch as far as style and professional ability. I just didn't write a Bressonian script, I wrote a more actorly one. It doesn't fit. It is far too much to cut it down and simplify it now, the whole thing would unravel. So I completely fucked up my casting! Keep in mind, we haven't had any real rehearsals yet...and maybe she is capable of learning this, but I don't know that yet. And I really don't know if she'll have enough time. We have six weeks until shooting. Maybe twenty-some rehearsals, total, but she'll be out of town for some of them. I don't feel like we have anywhere near enough time to do justice to this. I love actors and the idea of working with them, but I also have very little practical experience of it, and I don't know how qualified I am yet in taking on this task in this span.
So, I don't know what to do. We haven't signed any contracts yet, and I haven't spent exorbitantly yet. But if I were to attempt a major retool, we couldn't really push back any farther because the story relies on the weather (I am stupid) and so I would have to postpone until next spring. I have never done this before and I'm afraid that stopping now will mean that I will never be able to finish a film. But can I invest tens of thousands of saved dollars on a disaster? I may only get one shot at this. I don't know how bad it could be, or how good it has to be to keep going (or to be able to respect myself as an artist). I am afraid of my own inexperience and I wish I had designed a much simpler film, both in terms of how demanding it is of its actors and all the logistical crap with locations, etc. How do I stop though? Am I just in the panicking phase? Am I overreacting? Am I royally screwed? I can learn from this experience but only if it doesn't kill me.
Any advice?
I am directing a self-financed no-budget feature film. This is my first film. We are six weeks out from our scheduled shooting dates, and I think that I'm heading for a disaster. There are lots of obstacles right now with the overall production, but my biggest problem is the acting situation.
The script is my own. I can't prove to anyone reading this post that it's good, but I can tell you that I have faith in it. It is, however, something of an "arthouse" script and it has a certain literary quality that might not be for everyone. It has several "soliloquies" of sorts that are a little anti-cinematic. My main heroes at the moment are people like Rohmer, who was all for a "talking cinema," and Fassbinder, who of course came from the theater and made films that were both very theatrical and very cinematic. The visuals were supposed to be more about subtleties of gesture, elegant blocking, subtext of expression, etc.
When I cast the film, I tried to do it the right way, but I realize now that I've made many mistakes both in the casting process and even in the very conception of the film. I decided to take a "Bressonian" approach, which is also what Rohmer did, and to try to cast actors who were like the characters they would be playing. I wanted to cast for their real personalities because I think that comes through on screen. In itself, I think that was a good idea.
The film is held up almost entirely by the two leads; a guy and a girl. The guy is "central" and the story is from his POV, as he is in every scene. He is a slightly "unlikable" protagonist in a Chekhov sort of way. The character means well but is a little bit of a jerk. The girl is the especially interesting character, however, and the emotional core of the story. She is weird, creative, and sad.
Well I picked my actors. Almost no one who had any professional experience, or clear talent, applied for the male lead. I was surprised at how few I had to choose from. One talented actor stood out. He also had a little bit of an edge about him, like he was halfway between being a nice guy and a jerk. This seemed to me to be perfect for the role, so I cast him. I considered myself lucky at the time as I had no other great options, but I am inexperienced in knowing where to find people.
There were many more applicants for the female lead. This is where I made my biggest mistake, I think. There was one girl who was very, very interesting. She had a certain alien quality about her, which was appropriate to the story. She was also very hard to read, even just in talking to her in real life-- she was sort of inscrutable. That was perfect for the character too, as people have a hard time figuring her out. I don't know that she was "sad" however. She did the sides that I had given her, and part of it really impressed me. It was a little chilling, even. But I realize now that I also engaged in some wishful thinking because of her personal qualities. She had her little "soliloquy" but didn't really sustain herself through the whole thing. She didn't quite follow the emotional logic or "story" of the monologue, which was written with a certain narrative rise and fall. She was just weird and interesting and it worked in parts. Other actresses who came in played the emotion more, I guess you could say, truthfully... they understood what was actually going on, and played it. But it always seemed to me that they were "playing" it, and that she "was" the character. The problem, I think, is that she "was" the character without always living as the character in the moment. I didn't direct her enough during the audition, to see how she would react to direction and play the scene differently. She was the first one to come in, and I was nervous. I also didn't have a callback, as I'd originally planned, and I don't think I was vigilant enough in vetting training or ability. Thinking back to her reel, which came entirely from an acting class, I realize that I was focusing on the good too much while downplaying the red flags.
Anyway, that was over a month ago. The biggest part of my plan for directing, or one of the most important, was in finding the actors early enough to give them time to learn the lines and then rehearse together. But due to various circumstances, we finally had our first table read only yesterday. That I also see was a mistake-- we should have done this much earlier in the process to allow me to gauge how everyone worked together, and with the script, when I still had more flexibility.
The male lead has been a problem, in trying to schedule rehearsals. We have already missed several target dates because he wasn't communicating with me in my attempts at scheduling, and because he had several conflicts one after another (even though he had told me that he had open availability not long before). He insists that after the next week or so he will be working around my rehearsals, but he had also said some things about "not knowing week to week" that made me doubt that I can rely on him. I don't know how much I can trust him. But what really made me flip out was that he admitted to me, without seeming to think it mattered, that he has barely read the script at all in the time he's had it, and doesn't know any of his lines! He claims he "didn't want to learn it the wrong way, and have to change it later" but surely he could have become familiar with the words and story without becoming set on playing a certain way! That was the whole point of my scheduling the production the way I have, to give the actors time to learn the script and to rehearse. I expected at least some fluency coming into rehearsals. I see now that this was another mistake, that I didn't make this expectation clear from the beginning, but I was naive enough to think it was obvious. The role is very demanding. The character is in every scene. It is also, as I've said, a bit wordy. There is no way to do it without knowing it. I don't know if he'll have enough time to memorize it, and even if he does, I don't know how much harder it will make rehearsals. He is not a bad actor, though.
But the biggest problem is my actress. From what she's said she seemingly has studied the script some. I didn't see any notes or anything on it, but she has thought about it some from her comments. However, from the table read, it is as though she hasn't memorized anything. She was very "read-y" and not too fluent with it. I don't know, though, if I'm judging this right, or how fair it is to judge a table read like a regular rehearsal. But she did have to lock onto the script the whole time.
What was worse, though, was how alien she played it. It was as though she wasn't listening to herself, sometimes. She was tone-deaf. It wasn't always human-sounding the way people actually talk. Parts were good, even great, but this was inconsistent and seemingly accidental. She was best at the simplest back and forth moments between her and the other actor. The more involved a given section was, the less she seemed to make sense out of it. She has a rather monotone delivery, actually. Her emotions don't change very much over the course of a speech, or a scene, or the entire story. She plays everything similarly. She speeds through, sometimes, running sentences together unnaturally. I can always tell her to slow down, but what concerns me is how illogical the inflection is. When she got to her big monologue, which is the centerpiece of the whole movie, I could barely understand her. She recited it swiftly and dispassionately without any emotion whatsoever, until it was explicitly mentioned in the script that the character was crying (which I shouldn't have even necessarily had to write in). The whole thing was butchered.
I don't necessarily think that my "Bressonian" instincts were wrong in themselves, and I actually think she could do very well in a simpler and snappier role. But this seems to be a terrible mismatch as far as style and professional ability. I just didn't write a Bressonian script, I wrote a more actorly one. It doesn't fit. It is far too much to cut it down and simplify it now, the whole thing would unravel. So I completely fucked up my casting! Keep in mind, we haven't had any real rehearsals yet...and maybe she is capable of learning this, but I don't know that yet. And I really don't know if she'll have enough time. We have six weeks until shooting. Maybe twenty-some rehearsals, total, but she'll be out of town for some of them. I don't feel like we have anywhere near enough time to do justice to this. I love actors and the idea of working with them, but I also have very little practical experience of it, and I don't know how qualified I am yet in taking on this task in this span.
So, I don't know what to do. We haven't signed any contracts yet, and I haven't spent exorbitantly yet. But if I were to attempt a major retool, we couldn't really push back any farther because the story relies on the weather (I am stupid) and so I would have to postpone until next spring. I have never done this before and I'm afraid that stopping now will mean that I will never be able to finish a film. But can I invest tens of thousands of saved dollars on a disaster? I may only get one shot at this. I don't know how bad it could be, or how good it has to be to keep going (or to be able to respect myself as an artist). I am afraid of my own inexperience and I wish I had designed a much simpler film, both in terms of how demanding it is of its actors and all the logistical crap with locations, etc. How do I stop though? Am I just in the panicking phase? Am I overreacting? Am I royally screwed? I can learn from this experience but only if it doesn't kill me.
Any advice?