Actors

[SaneMan]

So I guess you know a bit about filming, well I have this really bad problem. Im making this Vampire film right, and one of my two main characters I have come to find out, cannot act for **** . I have filmed the begining of the film and Im very impressed but his first scene was really poor. I cant give any direction to him because I cant act either. So any one with any ideas of how to make this guy act good would be very helpful. And I already have considered getting rid of all his lines and just having him say "yeah" all the time.
Thanks.

[Micaso]

Depending on how badly he acts, the 'yeah' idea may be dangerous. One time I played this guy who's girlfriend could be potentially being kidnapped at that moment and I asked my 'friend' if he had told them where she lived. 'Yeah' was the answer...you'd be surprised how badly someone can screw up a simple 'yeah'...

[Yammeryammeryammer]

You don't really need to know how to act, if you are the director. You just need to be able to tell what you're looking for, from what you aren't looking for, and for your actor to appreciate the direction you give. But being able to act a little does help... At any rate. You could just downplay his lines a bit (not to the extent that it would be distracting by having anything he says 'Ya'), but more like he is kinda of a person to bouce stuff off, and doesn't have any huge speels. I had a similar experience last summer with a guy who couldn't act, and held up production by annoying the other actors, and me to great extent. He didn't have a whole lot of dialogue to begin with, but he was necessary to the story. So what I ended up doing was taking my time with the essential stuff until we were happy with it, then downplaying his parts in other scenes. Eventually, he kind of got his act together, and his later scenes were much better. Hope that helped...

[ac_01]

"Faster, more intense!" [img]smile.gif[/img]

Seriously though, i think all you have to do is get him to dig deep. Tell him what you're looking for so he can find his motivation and try and become his character.... other than that downplay his lines or give the lines to our other main chracter.

[SaneMan]

Thanks for the help.

[Generic Skinhead]

Replace him. And make sure to audition people in future, try not to just pick your mates or whoevers around at the time. I assume he at least looks the part?