Posts tagged Acting

“I was directing before I knew it was called that.” -Guillermo Del Toro

Rebecca Noles:

       ”I’ve been directing & producing since I was 10 years old and putting on Christmas pageants in the living room for my parents. I’ve learned a few things along the way and am offering them as advice to anyone interested or pursuing either field. I do, however, reserve the right to change this advice at any time in future blogs.

Directing

Directing is about need: What the script needs, what the crew needs, what the audience needs.

As a director, your only job is to acknowledge all the different needs within each department and guide them toward a finished product. Sometimes all the Director of Photography needs is to feel like he has permission to try something new. There are times an actor needs the director to take his/her eyes off the monitor and simply have a conversation with them. Sometimes an editor just needs you to get out of their way.

Acknowledge the need and work to fulfill it.

Producing 

Being a producer at a small production company can be categorized into three main jobs:

1. Make sure people have what they need to do their jobs to the best of their ability.
2. Make sure everyone knows where & when to show up.
3. Make sure the cast & crew members eat, sleep, are groomed, and stay caffeinated.

Being a producer is about serving the people who make the project happen.”

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Writing for Gradient Productions has been both edifying and challenging.

Tasked daily with drafting something worth reading, in various forms, you gain a set of skills unlike those found in a classroom.

Take campaign writing: In order to get your point across the content must be simple, informative, yet creative. For a graphic flyer, you must take into account what the Visual elements are saying, and choose to either let them speak for themselves, or build upon what’s being implied. And considering you have roughly 5 seconds of an average persons’ attention, it must be short.

In the case of Narration writing, cut the unnecessary. “Audiolize” in your head the narrator’s voice and choose words appropriate to their style of speaking.

I pull inspiration from a variety of sources; Apple for the way they speak volumes for a product/campaign in 1-6 words. Certain creative minds forVanity Fair & National Geographic. Anthony Bourdain and his superior writing “voice”.

I was an actor under the tutelage of an established screenwriter/director, and of the many lessons I learned from him, one that resonated for me as an actor/writer was that, “If you aren’t going to feature something, cut it.”

“Life. Camera. Action.”

In honor of the 2012 Academy Awards, we managed to collectively watch every film nominated for Best Picture.

“I think it was a year of movies where most of the components were really good, but there was one that didn’t live up to the rest, so you’re just left not satisfied.” ~Alisha Noles, Production Designer

These mini reviews explore the aspects that we know best, be it the acting, directing, design, or music.

Check out our most recent posts below and prepare for February 26th!