For todays ‘Writing for Television’ task, we finalised our scripts and began to rehearse in preparation for next week’s filming task. In turn, we all shared our scripts with others in our class as the writer took on the role of Director and the others acting out the characters in the script. After acting out our scripts several times, the director would stop the actors and give notes, with the actors also giving feedback on the scripts themselves. When directing actors who were performing my own script, I wanted to make sure that the physical element of the acting was prominent. My script relies heavily on exaggerated body movements and gestures in moving the action forward, therefore, this was essential in being able to portray the comedy element in my piece. During the first run through, the actors did a simple read-through, with very little action or movement. When discussing with the actors afterwards, I made sure to explain to them the reasoning and importance behind why further action was needed. During the second run through, it became more apparent that the actors were using more movements and using the space to enhance their performance, however, the comedy element was still lacking. In order to improve this, I encouraged them to think about how they might be portraying comedy when performing and whether they themselves would find it funny.
I found this task particularly useful as it allowed me to understand the qualities needed to be a successful director, and I feel that this knowledge will help me next week when working with actors.
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