Peter D. Marshall has worked in the Film and Television Industry for over 35 years. Written by: Frank Pasquine. Filled Under: Acting. Tags: filmmaking tips , how to block a scene , new york film academy , nyfa , scene block tips , stages for blocking a scene. Follow NYFA! Blocking is one of the most important aspects of directing a scene.
It determines how you want your audience to engage with it and where they should be looking at any given time as well as figuring out sightlines for actors in and out of frame. So what is blocking? Blocking in filmmaking refers to where actors stand on a set and how they move around over the course of filming, or as some would say choreography. The position of an actor on a set can greatly affect how their performance turns out so getting this right is crucial for film directors.
Blocking a scene is like choreographing a dance. How can their motions embody the text and subtext of dialogue, reflect relationships between characters, direct focus on certain parts of scenes for filming? Blocking conversations during rehearsals will allow actors to craft movements that evoke these effects before they start shooting.
When it comes to blocking a scene, the possibilities can feel endless. There are so many ways you could move your camera and stage your actors that it is easy to become overwhelmed and paralyzed by all of them.
These tips will help make this task less intimidating for you as well as helping achieve what you want out of a scene:. By looking at these examples, we can get a great overview of blocking in filmmaking and what makes it so important. Here are a few famous examples of how blocking tells the story between the lines to inspire you to think outside the box.
Well, besides the wonderful performances, the masterful direction and blocking of Sidney Lumet really bring the story and characters to life. Without it, the film would be a boring slog. The film is about 12 men crammed in a hot jury room as they have to decide on the fate of the boy who allegedly committed murder. Notice how crammed everyone is into the shot. The feeling of claustrophobia rams up throughout the film. It intensifies to a level to where the blocking of each scene feels suffocating as you can see here.
Look for example at one of the scenes near the end. While a writer might write blocking into the script, a director will alter, add their own, or completely invent blocking that fits their own vision for how the characters and the camera move together. Let them do what comes naturally to them inside the space you are shooting.
A scene may not work the same as written in the actual location you are shooting in, so while the actors run through the scene, start or stop to make adjustments along the way. You can block your camera by placing your camera in a select position to capture the actors according to your vision. This often includes camera moves, be it a camera pan , tracking shot , or dolly in or out that you need to rehearse with the actors as they move throughout the scene.
Run through the scene with the camera operator, practicing any camera movements required for the shot. Where you place the camera will convey to the audience what to pay attention to, so block the camera to capture what is most important in the scene.
Once both the crew and the cast know what will happen, work with the DP Director of Photography to light the scene, accounting for any shadows that come with the blocking you just staged.
You may need to make adjustments to the blocking depending on your lighting limitations, so be prepared to take a little extra time before you shoot to rehearse once or twice more. Yes, having a shot list will definitely help you throughout the blocking process, but be just as ready to make adjustments to your shot list as you are to make adjustments to your blocking once you get on set. Or you might run out of time to fit everything you planned into the schedule.
Either way, be ready to improvise! Good directors use blocking to convey information about each character, how they are feeling, and what their relationship is to the other characters. As their feelings and relationships change throughout the scene, good blocking reflects these subtextual, internal struggles, staging the characters or camera to take action.
So much of human communication is nonverbal, and the same is true for film storytelling. Film is, after all, a visual medium. Here are a few famous examples of how blocking tells the story between the lines to inspire you to think outside the box.
When Kay asks him about his business, he gets up and starts pacing. Kay, meanwhile, keeps her cool and asks him one more time if the rumors are true. Michael lies and welcomes her into a hug.
Michael, not moving an inch, is then greeted and joined by his fellow mobsters as they swarm around him. Kay is left to watch from the end of the long hallway; so much distance between them.
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