FLOW and EASE
Here's my final Substack for 2024. I wish you a relaxed holiday and a happy new year — wherever you are in the world!
It is summer here in New Zealand, as you can see from this yellow pōhutukawa tree on Wellington’s South Coast.
I am working on-set for a huge TV show, thinking every day about those perennial issues that confront actors: Ownership of the space. Freedom inside the role. Ease inside the relationships. How do we achieve these when we are in a time-constrained shooting situation...?
So, here are a couple of tips so you can make the challenges easier for yourself. These tools are quick, cheap and simple. And I am writing about them today because actors have reported-back to me just this week on their successes with these approaches.
PAPER FACES
My client was about to go on set with some very famous people. She was pretty nervous about it. So, for the few days before the shoot, I recommended that she seek out some images of these actors looking straight down the lens, and print-out these faces at life-size (with various different expressions and mood-vibes), taping them…