First directing scene

Today I shot my first directing scene of my career at USC!

Our assignment is to direct a scene from a movie that we have never seen before. We cast based on our own interpretation and directed the actors emotions and blocking based on our own judgment. I chose a scene from Sex, Lies & Videotape.

Cynthia, played by Bety Le, and John, played by John Caraccioli, are two lovers in an affair. John is married to Ann, Cynthia’s sister. LOVE TRIANGLE!!

I had auditions last Tuesday in our famous Zemeckis building. The auditions went incredibly well and I had a blast. Eric Robbins helped me run the auditions and Satome Mack played “Cynthia” when there were no females to read the part. I could not have successfully run those auditions without them! Satome also brought me dinner…I would not have successfully run without her!

There were a few actors who came in who completely blew me away and some who really looked the part as well. I think I had a lot to choose from and the ones I picked really felt right with the roles. It was a good feeling.

We met Monday for rehearsals. I was incredibly nervous because I had not directed a scene in over a year. Both of the actors were very eager to help develop the role of their characters with me which made a very productive and creative environment.

Thursday I had the opportunity to bring my actors into class for a dress rehearsal. My directing teacher, Mark Rosman, has worked on “The Ghost Whisperer” as well as everything Hillary Duff has ever been in! So it was nice to have his opinion. And boy did he help! He helped me come up with a direction for the actors that I had never even thought of and it completely changed the scene. I knew the scene wasn’t perfect and something wasn’t right. He helped me see that with one word, the whole scene could change…for the better!

We shot the scene today at my apartment. My friend Lindsay let me borrow her oh-so-hot (non-returnable) red “satin” sheets for the scene. The room was lit wonderfully and the color looked fantastic. We were done in about an hour and a half … record time if I do say so myself…and I treated my actors to lunch and we looked at the footage. I got a “great job” from John and Bety and we were on our way! I was so happy they liked the footage because I know how weird it is seeing yourself on camera.

Just so you all know how the shoot went…here’s some screen shots of the shoot … as well as some screen shots of when Neil Williams, Maritte Go and I goofed off with the camera during cinematography class. And when I say “goof-off” I mean…played with color, lighting, sound, angles…and DANCE!