Blocking & Beyond

Telling actors where to go and when to move is not easy. One must motivate the movement when action is needed but not necessarily called for in the script. This is where many community projects fall flat; they are unable to create an interesting picture or motivate movement that's not in the script. This takes energy and a constant review in the director's mind, a world of the director's own conception which must then be made reality.

Once the blocking is finished, or roughed out at least, the director must still be constantly looking for opportunities to add more to the story, to deepen character, and show more to the audience. Detail upon detail must be added to show the audience something that will startle them, entertain them, or make them wonder about the world they are glimpsing. To involve them, make them care, no matter how ludicrous the actors may behave.

For me, this is going to be the scariest part, perhaps. So they know their lines and where to go, so what? What is going to draw the audience in so completely that they will invest their hopes and feelings in what the actors do and say? It's a process I both crave and fear.