Look again for conflict. What is the conflict in the scene? A scene might not contain raised voices and cursing; however, the conflict is still active because their immediate objectives cannot both succeed. (This is an example of why it…
One of the primary challenges for novice directors is figuring out what to do with two actors for an entire page of dialogue. Some novice directors are so afraid of a static or dull picture that they add as much…
A note like “Be more nervous” is an emotional result rather than an action. It describes what the director would like to see (i.e., the emotional result: more nervoussness), but it doesn’t clearly explain to the actor what she should…
Read the scene (and I mean read: with your eyes down the page, and then again aloud) a couple of times before trying to break a scene into beats. Your first reading should be a clean read, with no marks,…
