“I’m shooting a feature film and have had three days on set so far. I’m finding the technical demands and the choreography of the action takes me out of the moment. With my theatre background and training, I’m fulfilling what’s being asked of me but not sure I’m giving it my all as I’m distracted by, and my energy is taken up with, the many technicalities. What’s your advice?”
— Lee, Australia.
Hey Lee,
This is extremely common, particularly for someone like you coming from predominantly a theatre background.
The way I break this down is by looking at the three elements within ourselves that can be activated and accessed.
First there’s the manager: grounded, objective, focused, clear, solution-based to get the job done. Calm and capable.
Then there’s yourself — the person you go to bed with and wake up with. That part of yourself has very little input onset. Yes, in between takes and when being social with the cast and crew, of course. But when it’s time to work, it’s time to work.
The third part within us is our artist: passionate, subjective, instinctive, untamed, driven, dynamic and sensorily alive.
What you’re describing on set for yourself is that your manager has taken the wheel. Which is terrific. He is taking on the challenges, adapting when necessary, and ticking all the boxes as required. Job DONE.
But now your artist doesn’t feel a required part of the action, because the manager is driving it.
What to be aware of is that your artist needs to be activated and alive on set, for the artist drives the character and brings authenticity and spirit into every scene.
So, be aware of what I call, ‘the switch’ — when a new part of yourself gets into the driver’s seat and you switch roles. Your manager has understood what’s required — rehearsed the choreography — and has a handle on the technical elements.
Now you need to switch back to your artist and let the character drive the scene. To do this begin your inner monologue from the character’s perspective. Short, through-line phrases that capture the scene you’re about to shoot: “He has no idea who he’s dealing with”, “Don’t blow this — it’s your last chance”, “This is not going to happen — not on my watch”, “Everything I’ve done in my life has built to this moment — this means everything.”
Whatever short, powerful phrase which you can repeat internally or whispered onset, that plugs you into the mainframe and drivers of your character, this will switch you from manager (or from person (potentially overwhelmed)) and land your artist back into your body and back into the driver’s seat. So when ACTION is called you are 100% in the moment and ready to leap into what’s ahead. Just knowing a ‘switch’ is required means you’ll be aware of it and you’ll find what you need to settle back into the skin of your character and into their world.
Film is so vastly different to theatre, as we all know. So to ensure our artist has their place on set when required takes awareness and a conscious process to allow our manager to step back, and our artist to step into the breach.
DC