Character Prep
How does an actor become the character?
Ok, I don’t mean like methods of acting, I mean, how do they even know who the character is outside of what’s written in the script? How would the character actually speak the lines? And more importantly, how do I know what I’m looking for?
With a little less than two months left before we shoot (ommmmgggggggg) we are getting down to business when it comes to the preparations for each department. One of the more fun parts of the preparation is how both the cast and I are prepping the characters.
Here’s a small timeline of what we’ve done so far and what’s next:
Character Backstories
It’s not like each character just appeared for this moment in time in the story; each one has a childhood, has a story, has a reason why they are the way they are. Providing these details gives the actors something to draw on and enriches their ability to play the character, enabling them to know at any moment how they would react to a given situation.
I wrote about two pages of backstory for each character, their story leading up to the events of Big Break. For some characters, I went back to events from their childhood; for most, I stayed within the timeline of Big Break. For the visual learners, I put together a mood board for each character as well. Stills from other movies and TV series of characters and emotions that I think reflected each character - not as a way to dictate the facial expressions or physical looks of my actors - but as a way to show what that character might be feeling.
After sending the backstories and mood boards to the actors, I asked them to help me think about how we can fill in their characters’ backstories further. For example, what was their childhood like? What is their relationship with the other characters? After they’ve had some time with their own backstory, I met with each actor 1:1 again to go into detail about their character. What are some tics they might have? Do they have friends? What about hobbies? Some actors came prepared with family history and detailed personality traits and identity. While others focused only on the events of Big Break. Hey, it’s their method, so whatever works best for them!
The coolest thing? Every actor used a physical notebook to write down notes. I’m not sure why or if this is something you learn in school, but it was really fun to see them scratch down notes.
Character Playlists
Together with the actors, I’ve been building a playlist for every character. Not because we will use this music in the film, but genuinely….just for fun. I’ve asked each actor to think about what their character would be listening to in 2005. Some have come up with one or two songs, and one has actually made an extensive playlist! These songs are really for me to better understand the character (for example, when I’m writing dialogue), and for my crew when they’re making decisions. Like, if Sophia listens to Evanescence, she probably wouldn’t have shopped at Lacoste or some preppy store for her clothes. This is an important detail for Rik, our costume designer! Not to mention, for some actors, music helps them get into character. Also, it’s been so fun to revisit early 00s bangers.
Tabe Read
Next week, the actors will finally meet when we get together to do the very first live reading of the script! We will all sit around a large table and read the entire script aloud. Each actor will read their character’s lines, and I will have my producer read out the action lines (e.g., “Vivienne turns toward Bernard and places a hand on his shoulder”). What will I be doing? Listening intently and taking notes on every single little detail.
The point of a table read (so I’m told) is to finally hear the script out loud with characterization. Not only for me, the writer & director, to hear the lines I wrote aloud, but also for the actors to fully digest the story. Some crew will join to listen in, but mainly it will be just for the actors and me. I will record it so I can listen back and share it with any crew member who is curious, though! One important crew member who will be there is Rik. He will get everyone’s measurements and learn more about the story to help him build each character’s costume.
I am still getting feedback and advice from others on how best to host the session, but the plan is to spend about 2 hours going through the script a few times with different notes and trying things differently. I’m told that the script will definitely adjust after this session. Well, what’s another version of the script at this point?
Rehearsal
Scheduled for two weeks prior to the filming days, the whole cast will get together again for a full day of rehearsing. This is when I expect actors to have a good amount of their dialogue prepared. The rehearsal day will start with a session from an intimacy and stunt coordinator to help the cast (and me) get familiar with one another. No, there aren’t any sex scenes in Big Break, but hey, there is a murder scene, and that’s pretty intimate, so let’s make sure everyone is comfortable, and the murder is enjoyable! That’s a weird sentence.
Then we will move on to physical rehearsals, like getting our booties up and acting out the scenes together. It’s also a rehearsal for me to practice directing. Talk about ooky spooky.
The World of Big Break
The other little thing I’m doing to help the cast prep is to build the fictional world of Big Break as much as possible. So, not only did each character get a backstory, but so did the news network and the NGO that are featured in Big Break. As we speak(as I type), my friend Henriks is working on branding both organizations to give them a life of their own.
Branding is also essential to our production design team, helping them physically bring the world to life. Stickers, brochures, and wall decals, oh my!
I don’t know how other directors handle prepping and working with the cast, but since my imagination is robust, it only made sense for the information about the characters and their world to be robust as well. And actually, it’s been pretty freaking cool to build out this crazy little world that I imagined! If only my younger self could see me now. Making up stories and worlds that other people actually subscribe to and get inspired by? It’s wild to think that people get paid for this.
That’s all for now, chat soon.
Xoxo,
Caitie