Ela Thier's Directing Actors workshop is based on fifteen years
of experience within a peer counseling organization in which she has learned how to help and be helped by people of all ages
and backgrounds, in the healing process of accessing and releasing emotions. In the context of directing actors, this process
is not only healing, but also leads to profound, layered, and authentic performances. The use of these peer counseling tools
on film sets has proven highly successful in creating warm and trusting collaborations between director and actors, and evoking
powerful performances.
10am-12:30pm EMOTIONAL CONNECTION: AN ACTING CLASS FOR DIRECTORS
When an actor's emotional connection to a story is honest and deeply-felt, they
no longer appear as actors but as real-life people. In working with each individual actor, a director must find the key that
unravels the actor until they abandon acting and immerse in a real-life experience. The audience, in turn, forgets they are
watching a performance, and joins the actor in a meaningful and emotional experience. In this respect, by finding the key
to an actor's heart, the director reaches the heart of every audience member.
This process begins with the director's
own personal connection to the story. In this portion of the workshop participants will take turns functioning as directors
and as actors , and will be guided through exercises that create trust and emotional openness. Even the toughest characters
appear more complex and true-to-life when under the tough exterior a hint of vulnerability slips out.
Bring tissues
and come prepared for a moving emotional experience. Your audience demands that you give nothing less.
1:30pm-5pm THE FOUR PILLARS OF DIRECTING ACTORS
"Lee Brock and Seth Barrish taught me why less is really
more." - Anne Hathaway on her learning experience at the Barrow Group.
We will employ talks, clips, and improvizations, to review and demonstrate four basic techniques to drawing out
authentic performances. These four techniques, lead to performances that are rich with subtex and internal, unspoken conflict.
Emphasis will be placed on techniques that are specific to working with actors on film sets (as opposed to the stage), and
which fully exploit the unique benefits of this medium.
SUNDAY
10am until we're done
COACHED DIRECTING SESSIONS
(Day ends no later than
6pm. Lunch break around noon'ish)
Each director
will have roughly 30-60 minutes to practice the techniques discussed by working through a scene with professional actors.
Directors will also benefit from observing the coached directing sessions of their peers.
Directors will be encouraged
to experiment and discover their personal directorial style, and build confidence in their own, unique approach to working
with actors.
