Director John Badham explains how to build a calm, focused set where actors can do their best work, from protecting rehearsal time to handling the crew.
What we shoot today will be on film forever. In our minds this will be the only chance we have to shoot these scenes. There are re-shoots if you’ve got the money, but no director approaches a scene thinking it can be re-shot if it doesn’t come out right. (Except if you are Woody Allen who does it all the time.) Get it right and get it good…. not the first time, but the only time. This is stressful to us because each shot is a custom job.
Upon arriving on set, let me advise you that carb-loading at the catering truck is the wrong way to spend your time. Make the rounds and talk to the cast who work that day, every one of them, stars and day-players alike.
You’re not there to have deep discussions about the movie; you’re there to warm up your team and to reassure them. The actors are nervous and your presence says you will be there for them all day. If they have a big scene that day, check for a glazed panic or thousand-yard stare in their eyes. Loosen them up now or they’ll carry this monkey around all day. What you’re doing during your dawn visit is creating the comfortable environment that actors so desperately need.
The day players need settling more than anyone. Calm them down early in the day. It’s not that they don’t know what they’re doing; it’s that they’re working with all new people, they haven’t worked in two months, they’re overweight, or all of the above. You have to be their support, their guide and their friend. It’s not unusual to have to spend more time with a day player and shoot more takes than the star. In a television series, the regular actors know their characters inside and out and will behave somewhat normally. It’s the guest cast that has to learn to feel comfortable.
When the actors come on set, send the crew out for more caffeine and croissants. When it’s quiet, warm the cast up. Just read through the scene and don’t let them act.
Once you are rehearsing or doing a take, remember that every actor needs feedback, even if it is not always positive. As long as your comments are constructive, your actor will go overboard to get to the best performance.
I’ll never forget the time when I was working with the great Peter Gallagher on The Last Debate. Peter looked up at me after a day’s rehearsal and said gently, “So how are we doing? Are we even in the ballpark?” It was my error. I should have given him comments before he ever had to ask, so that he could concentrate on creating a dynamic performance rather than my opinion. Some actors may be offended at the idea of “acting for other people’s approval.” They may set their goal as achieving a high artistic plane of expression. However, even if this is true, the purpose of acting in the first place is communicating a story of some kind to an audience. If an actor says an audience has to take them as they are, they must live with the possibility of having no audience at all.
Another key tip to remember on the day is to always have conversations about anything to do with the actor personally, in private. Sometimes even the most seemingly harmless comments can humiliate an actor. Humiliation always breeds resentment and bad blood that can almost never be healed. If I’ve lost my temper in front of the crew or cast I have always regretted it. It has either cost me a job, a friendship or loss of respect from cast and crew.
Where’s My Close-up? John Travolta was not the
only discovery of Saturday Night Fever; the film started the careers of many young actors brand new to the Screen Actors Guild. One day I was in the middle of staging a scene when Paul Pape, who played Double J, asked me, “Where’s my close-up?” This stopped the rehearsal cold. As a new actor, he didn’t understand that I would get his close-up eventually. I took him off to one side and said, “You’re lucky I’m a low-key person. No director appreciates being told how to do his job. All you have to do is ask nicely ‘Is there going to be a closeup?’ Even a cucumber knows the scene won’t work without a close-up of you.” Paul apologized. We went back to work. I thought that was the end of it.
Where’s My Close-Up? The Sequel. Six
weeks later, I staged a scene where the gang was visiting Gus, played by Bruce Ornstein, whose character had been beaten up by a rival gang. We are lining up the shot and I hear that dreaded, “Hey, where’s my close-up?” again from Paul Pape. Sarcasm seized me by the brain and I blurted: “Gee, Paul, you’re right. I guess we don’t need you after all. You can go home. I’ll just give your lines to the other guys.”
The whole set stopped cold to see what would happen. Paul, who was hot-tempered, looked like he was ready to hurt someone… me. He wrestled with this for a few seconds and then decided being in the scene was cooler than hitting me. “Sorry,” he said. I started the rehearsal again and shot it the way I always intended – with a close-up of him of course.
The tunnel vision tension of a tight shooting schedule can blind one to bulldoze over anything that gets in the way. That still doesn’t excuse my sarcasm, which was humiliating to him. All I had to do was take him aside and say something like, “We spoke about this before. Obviously, the scene won’t work without a close-up of you. When you learn how scenes are shot, you’ll know not to ask questions in front of the crew. You’re a good actor, and you’re doing a very good job in this movie. If you want to become a professional, come to me privately and ask those questions.”
Where’s My Close-up? The Postscript.
Nearly 25 years later, Paul and I talked about this incident. He has a successful career as both actor and voice-over performer. Remembering the incident as clearly as I did, he admitted he was hurt at the time by my sarcasm. Filled with the passion of a hot-blooded young actor he had to restrain himself.
Banish sarcasm on your set. The consequences are not worth the pleasure of the moment. The minute the actor thinks he is being made fun of he’ll hate you for it.
On your day of shooting, remember you are not the only one with good ideas. Many times as a beginning director, actors would sidle up to me with suggestions. Being insecure, I reflexively would say, “No, that won’t work”. Only after they walked away dispirited, would I realize they had a good idea.
I’d then have to tell the crew, “Bennett had a good idea, why don’t we…etc”. The film profited and importantly, in the future, people were more likely to share their ideas with me. You always have the option to reject an idea, but make sure that person feels like they should keep coming back to you with their insights.
“Let’s try it. Sounds great,” seems to be Scorsese’s response to almost any actor’s suggestions. The actor realizes his ideas are welcome. If the director isn’t open to others’ ideas then he is stuck with what he brings to the party by himself. Unless you are Scorsese or Spielberg, you can probably use some help. One of many reasons for these directors’ successes is their ability to be wide open to other people’s ideas all day, every day.
If you sense hesitation or concern from an actor about a scene, don’t wait, go directly to them and talk about it. Never kid yourself that they are in their trailer working on it. If they need help understanding an objective, mastering a tricky bit of dialogue, or handling a devilish prop, now is the time. When the crew is ready, the cast should be ready too.
And one last tip, don’t count on sleeping the night before the first day of shooting. Steven Spielberg said he feels anxious every shooting day, not just the first day. I never go to shoot without anxiety about the day’s work. Director Arthur Penn was so nervous on the first day of shooting his first film, The Left-Handed Gun, that he let the star, Paul Newman walk half a mile out of town until the assistant director politely suggested that Penn call, “Cut.”
John Badham (WarGames, Dracula, Las Vegas) is a noted film and television director and producer. Badham is Professor of Media Arts at The Dodge School of Film and Media, Chapman University in Orange, CA. His book, “I’ll Be In My Trailer: The Creative Wars Between Director & Actors” (written with Craig Modderno), was released by Michael Wiese Productions in July, 2006.
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