I’m preparing 20 actors for a massive scene in a feature film. I’m the Director, Background Action. This means I have been part of casting the scene and am now charged with drawing performances out of the collection of wonderful faces we have lined up to support the leads, who are three very famous actors.
No pressure!
Have I met any of these 20 supporting actors before? Not yet. I won’t meet most of them until half an hour before we start shooting the scene which will take 4 full night-shoots.
Half of them are actors and half of them are locals who have never been on a film set before. Some of them have particular skills that we need to see on screen, like medical or mechanical skills. Some of them have wonderful faces but no idea how to create a replicable performance for camera.
How do you set about rehearsing a scene like this? With little time and lots of pressure you have to find a way for a crowd of actors with different levels of experience and ability to make the scene the best…