My practice requires me to work with professional actors and models as well as working with non professionals, sometimes on the same project or in the same scene. I learned a long time ago that each person may require different types of direction. The trick is to have a few directing tools in your toolbox and to execute them as needed.
Rarely is directing taught in photography classes so a few years ago I sought out a class at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, “Directing Actors” taught by Mary Rawson, an accomplished actor and director, to learn how to direct more effectively. Here are a few of the things I learned that I apply routinely.
1. Know the material. It might be a script or some other intention about what the talent is doing and why. This is sometimes referred to as their motivation.
2. Communicate what they need to know for the performance you need from them for their character and that scene. They do not need to know or understand every other character’s intention, just their own.
3. If the direction requires them to perform, use action verbs to direct them. The idea is to get the action you desire by giving them only the information they need to transport them through the performance.
4. Sometimes to get an authentic reaction you may need to place the subject in an authentic situation. I do not ask them to act or emote – I control the environment and allow them to react.
5. Observe your subjects, even briefly, to learn how they carry themselves physically and how they interact with others. I will often give them a simple unrelated task to see how they listen and move.
6. Ask questions. I often do this to help them relax as we get to know each other. It’s also effective while making the pictures, especially those that require some thought or a pause for the subject to think as this makes the subject appear engaged in the frame.
These techniques work especially well with trained actors- who themselves use a variety of tools to get inside the characters they must play no matter how simple the role. With non professional actors or models who are not trained in acting, I will ask if they have any experience with sports or dancing, any experience I can use to get the performance I need from them for the scene.
I think every photographer working with people will benefit from taking an acting or directing class. One of the best exercises in either class is to be directed by someone else – especially a novice – to learn what it feels like on the other side of the lens; to learn what information is necessary from the photographer and what is not.