Directing Actors – The Travis Technique

12./13. Mai 2012, film.coop München

At the heart of any good film is the script. But the script is only a written story and doesn't truly come to life until interpreted and rendered by the director and the actors. And it is the work of the director and actors that brings life to the characters, to the story and allows the audience a personal experience. In this unique and demanding workshop directors are taken through a process that has two tracks.

On Saturday, we are all breaking down, analyzing, rehearsing and performing scenes from one script. We are exploring the delicate working process between actors and directors. If the working process between actors and directors is not productive, collaborative, healthy and supportive, then the work will suffer. Actors and directors have different needs, objectives, visions and vocabularies. The more they learn to communicate in an open and challenging environment, the more they will be able to access the range of their talent.

On Sunday, we will explore the multi-faceted tool of staging that is often misunderstood and misused. What most directors don't appreciate is how powerfully staging communicates the subtext to the audience and also how efficiently proper staging can stimulate an emotional truth within the actor. Also incorporated into the process is the concept and practice of staging for the camera.

Areas and skills covered

• Script Analysis (the director's POV)
• The Actor/Director Relationship
• What is the story really about?
• The director's personal connection with the story.
• The Rehearsal Process
• Character Development
• Character Arcs and Relationship Arcs
• Creating objectives and obstacles that enhance the scene
• The Emotional Graph of each character Staging
• The Audience's Journey
• Closure and resolution
• Working with Non-actors
• Directing Comedy
• Visualizing the Scene
• Improvisations and Rehearsal Exercises
• The Actor's POV vs. The Director’s POV
• The Actor/Character Split and Meld
• The Three areas of concern in Staging: Other Characters, the Environment and the Self
• The effect on the Audience and the internal effect on the character
• Hi Speed Directing
• The Circle of Action

The seminar is based on films such as American Beauty, China Town, Shakespeare in Love, Garden State etc., thus presenting different genres and tones.

Seminar in englischer Sprache

Acclaimed as „the director’s director“, Mark W. Travis is regarded by many Hollywood and International professionals to be one of the world’s leading authorities in the art and craft of film directing. His books, THE DIRECTOR’S JOURNEY and DIRECTING FEATURE FILMS have become best-sellers nationally and internationally. He consults on feature films ranging from Studio productions (MGM, Twentieth Century Fox) to Independent Features and teaches at the American Film Institute, UCLA, The Binger Institute Amsterdam, Pixar University, FAS Screen Training Ireland, HSU Kiev and Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München among others.
www.markwtravis.com