This course focuses on the importance of the relationship between the director and the actor and the use of improvisation in rehearsal and production to create more powerful performances for film and television. Texts and films we will examine in the first half of the course will include THE IMPROVISED PLAY: THE WORK OF MIKE LEIGH by Paul Clements, DIRECTING ACTORS by
Judith Weston, THE COOL WORLD by Shirley Clarke, VERA DRAKE by Mike Leigh and PUNISHMENT PARK by Peter Watkins. The second half of the semester will include in-class exercises, open rehearsals with professional actors and individual student films that put some of the examined techniques into practice. The course will also include special workshops and Q&A’s with guest filmmakers.
Judith Weston, THE COOL WORLD by Shirley Clarke, VERA DRAKE by Mike Leigh and PUNISHMENT PARK by Peter Watkins. The second half of the semester will include in-class exercises, open rehearsals with professional actors and individual student films that put some of the examined techniques into practice. The course will also include special workshops and Q&A’s with guest filmmakers.
- Teacher: Rodney Evans