At a glance

• Learn how to work with actors, both professional and non-professional
• Gain the confidence necessary for directing actors in rehearsal and on set
• Taught by a film director with over 100 commercials and shorts and 4 feature films

Directing and the DP | Directing Actors | Directing Action

These sessions are part of the Advanced Film Directors Certificate, book all 5 sessions HERE

Directing actors is one of the essentials in a film director’s toolkit.

In a two evening quick-fire sessions you will learn tired and tested ways to illicit great performances quickly and effectively.

What you will learn

To equip you with the skills and techniques to elicit great performances. To teach you professional preparation techniques for great performances. To give you confidence to talk to your actors with knowledge and insight.

Who should attend

Filmmakers seeking a better understanding of working with actors on a film set.

Session One:

Discover the techniques professional directors use to unlock the potential of casting and finding actors using a variety of casting techniques

• Street casting:
 How to cast members of the public right off the street.
• Working with a casting director
• Employing someone who can unlocks the doors of talent
• Table reads and how to conduct them
• How to create a dynamic and creative first reading of your screenplay
• Rehearsals and how they work

Session Two:

Learn how to gain the confidence of your actors on the set and draw out performances they didn’t even know they were able to deliver.

• How to work the performances and take the script to the next level.
• Working with actors on set
• How to talk and communicate with your most important element in film making
• Quick tips for better performance
• A bunch of quick and easy methods for pushing your creative talent to yet greater heights.
• Practical exercise – evaluating / preparing a scene for actors and performance.
• Thorough guide to preparation of scenes and scripts – so you are armed with ideas and thoughts that will elevate all your performances.

These sessions are part of the Advanced Film Directors Certificate, book all 5 sessions HERE

About the tutor

Simon Hunter has directed over fifty tv commercials and three feature films. His directing debut was the horror movie LIGHTHOUSE in the year 2000 and he went on to direct the visual effects-laden sci-fi movie THE MUTANT CHRONICLES in 2008.

Simon’s first feature, Lighthouse, was released theatrically in 2002. Simon subsequently became a much sort after commercials director before returning to features with Edward R Pressman’s Mutant Chronicles in the Summer of 2006.

Simon flew to Qatar in 2014 to direct 20 episodes of a Scifi adventure series set in the desert. The filming takes place in Qatar, Jordan and India.

In 2017 Simon directed his passion project, EDIE which tells the tale of an older lady who climbs a mountain in Scotland at the age of eighty-three. The film has had an enthusiastic and successful theatrical release in the UK and has sold to multiple territories.

Simon lives in the German capital, Berlin. Since 1999 he has regularly lectured for Raindance and other leading film organisations.

Read Breaking in as a Film Director by Simon Hunter