Thespioprudence Australian film directors and Film performance “How do our directors work with actors on performance and what is the dominant approach to directing actors in Australian film?” Rosalind Nugent-Williams School of Film and Television Faculty of Creative Industries Queensland University of Technology Thesis in partial fulfilment of Master of Arts by Research 2004 State of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signed: Date 2004 Acknowledgements I wish to thank Helen Yeates and John Hookham for their patience, generosity and wisdom as my supervisors. I also wish to thank my friends, Merran Lawler, Mark Thomas, Margaret-Mary Batch, Genevieve Thackwell-James, my teacher, Wayne Taylor, and my partner, Sean Riordan, for their support. Abstract “…we, directors and actors, put into practice the practice – we don’t practice the theory. I think that if there is no theory of acting, at least there are theoretical laws that we may find, curiously enough, in all traditions of acting. It is true that the term “theory of acting” does not seem fundamentally wrong, but it seems always somewhat imperialistic and pretentious. I prefer to use fundamental laws which we sometimes know but then sometimes lose and forget. It is only practice that all of a sudden can make law or tradition rise to the surface. I will not say then that there is no theory of acting; on the contrary, there have been many of them. Of course, what interests me in these multiple theories are the essential laws that are common to all of them.” - Ariane Mnouchkine (from “Building Up the Muscle” in Re:direction edited by R. Schneider and G. Cody, Routledge, London, 2002.) I come to filmmaking from an actor’s perspective and believe that the power of each individual performance is the key to audience engagement with a feature film. The technical aspects of filmmaking, for me, exist primarily to serve the story as revealed through the actors’ performances. Because performance in film has been a neglected area of research, I set out to explore the different approaches to performance theory which might apply to film performance in an Australian context. In this dissertation, I have asked a number of key questions about how the director communicates with the actor to elicit the desired performance. I framed this thesis around one overarching question: What is the dominant approach used by Australian film directors when working with actors on performance? This study reveals that many Australian filmmakers have been most influenced by a wide variety of approaches to working with actors, particularly because of the way actors are trained in Australia. My interest in this project was partially triggered by my observation that many filmmaking students at QUT seem driven by the technical aspects of filmmaking. Given the complex demands made on actors, filmmakers who do not learn to speak the actor’s language arguably fail to capitalize on their working relationships with actors. I have attempted to express my findings in plain English because the whole purpose of this project was to ensure that my findings would be of use to new filmmakers in a practical sense. i TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Pages INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY Objectives 1 Context 1 The status quo and the need for research 2 Scope and significance 3 Research methodology 5 Reflections on the research: limitations and possibilities 9 Chapter outlines 11 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Literature review – overview 14 Theatre directors and acting teachers 15 Commentaries by and about filmmakers 18 Australian film directors 20 Commentaries by and about actors 23 Works by critics 25 CHAPTER 3 THE CRAFT OF DIRECTING ACTORS Introduction 29 The emergence of the theatre director – an overview 29 The Australian film director: a profile 30 The craft of acting: first studies 31 Training schools 32 Methodology 1: Stanislavski’s ‘System’ 34 Option 2: ‘The Method’ and its variants 37 Option 3: Improvisational Practice 41 Option 4: Brecht ian method 41 Option 5: The practice propounded by Rudolf Laban 42 Option 6: British restraint and a focus on language, text and technique 43 Option 7: Mamet and ‘Practical Aesthetics’ 45 i ii Other options: Other twentieth century practices 46 Summary 47 TABLE A – Elements of acting methodologies 50A CHAPTER 4 SECRET DIRECTOR’S BUSINESS? Introduction 51 Does a director’s own training fundamentally determine their own approach? 53 Introduction - Pioneers and the ‘New Wave’ 53 Charles Chauvel 53 Ken G. Hall 54 Peter Weir 55 Donald Crombie 57 George Ogilvie 58 Richard Franklin 59 Carl Schultz 59 Tracing the Tide 60 Bruce Beresford 60 George Miller 60 Fred Schepisi 61 Gillian Armstrong 62 The New Breed and Emerging Directors Baz Luhrmann 63 Cherie Nowlan 63 Mark Joffe 64 Stephen Wallace 64 John Ruane 65 George T. Miller 65 Rolf de Heer 65 Peter Duncan 66 Ana Kokkinos 66 Rowan Woods 66 James Bogle 67 Pauline Chan 67 Shirley Barrett 67 Craig Monahan 68 Di Drew 68 Other Directors George Whaley 68 Denny Lawrence 69 Gerard Lee 69 Daniel Nettheim 70 Michelle Warner 70 Mel Gibson 70 What course of action does a director take when he/she has an ensemble of actors with different training backgrounds and different methodologies or no training whatsoever, and how is this reflected in casting and rehearsal phases of the directing process? 71 Introduction 71 Pioneers and the New Wave Directors 72 Tracing the Tide 79 ii iii The New Breed and Emerging Directors 85 Other Directors 99 What is the dominant approach to directing actors in the Australian film industry? 104 Pioneers and the New Wave Directors 104 Tracing the Tide 108 The New Breed and Emerging Directors 110 Other Directors 114 Theatre Directors and Dramaturg 115 Michael Gow 115 Richard Wherrett 116 Nicolas Lathouris 117 Conclusion 120 CHAPTER 5 REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS Overview 130 Process 130 Objectives 131 Goals 132 Findings: matching the directors and methodologies 135 Training 136 Influenced by Stanislavski 136 Influence of Method 139 Practical Aesthetics 139 Improvisation 141 Text-based approach 142 Brecht, Laban, Physical theatre 143 Innovation 143 Key Findings – a quest for ‘truth’ and Stanislavski’s system 144 Casting 145 Developing the ensemble and an environment of respect 146 Improvisation 146 Innovation 146 Text, language and choreography 147 Practical Aesthetics and future directions 148 iii iv Does Stanislavski dominate – the final word 149 TABLE B – A summary of survey responses 151A BIBLIOGRAPHY Appendix 1 Survey 1 – long and short form Appendix 2 Tay Garnett survey Appendix 3 - A Informed consent letter and example letter to George Whaley January 2000 3 – B Letter regarding ethical clearance Appendix 4 Interviews Susanne Chauvel Carlsson Peter Kingston George Ogilvie Cherie Nowlan Scott Alerdice Kelli Jones iv MA Thesis 2004 R Williams 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY Objectives The primary aim of this dissertation is to investigate the approaches to directing film performance as practised by certain Australian film directors. Core aspects of performance in general, as well as the actor-director relationship in the Australian film industry, will be carefully considered. In particular, I have sought to answer one overarching question: “What are the key approaches used by Australian film directors when working with actors on performance?” As there is no existing term to describe the theoretical aspects of dramatic/cinematic production in this context, I have coined the term “thespioprudence” to describe this area of study. In the course of my research, I read Ariane Mnouchkine’s statement, as quoted in my abstract, relating to directors’ and actors’ practices and the search for essential laws that are common to acting.1 The search for fundamental or essential laws and ‘lores’ of performance practice underpins this research and I have therefore extrapolated and linked the notion of laws and performance in my chosen title for this study. The title derives from the Greek “Thespis” (the traditional father of Greek Tragedy) and the Latin “prudens” (meaning skilled or experienced in, or having wisdom of). Accordingly, in the context as used here, the term thespioprudence is intended to embody the notion of the knowledge or skill of acting, for actors and directors alike, and corresponds with the similarly derived term “jurisprudence,” which means “a system or body of law” or “the philosophy of law.”2 I most commonly use the term, thespioprudence, when talking about the lore associated with individual working practices of the directors discussed in this study. Because I have tried to deconstruct the essential nature and mechanics of how directors direct actors to achieve performance in the medium of film, it seemed important to find a single word to describe this much broader and critical notion. The secondary aim of this dissertation is to provide insights to emerging directors about negotiating meaning with actors in rehearsals, thereby enabling them more effectively and creatively to draw upon the talents of actors. Context To some extent, this examination of the nature of directing film actors is inspired by my own experience of working with and observing trainee actors whilst studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). It is also informed