To pull off this one shot scene, as a camera operator I had to get used to my actor’s movements and how I would frame him.

After knowing my actor for around 7 years I predicted that he would be bored by anything non-spontaneous, so thats how I thought we should work.

In the Wisdom of the Unrehearsed Scene ; chapter 24, pp. 110-144 the metaphors of football and soccer are used to illustrate two different approaches to shooting a scene. Football being high strategic and “regimented” while soccer is more fluid and driven by instinct.

I told Zeon, ‘Just walk around the house and do whatever you like, I’m just trying to learn how to operate the camera.’ But really I was trying to learn how to OPERATE HIM.

Warm up 

I got Zeon to pick things up and just go crazy.  We went from the bathroom, with him staring intensely at the mirror with to throwing bananas onto the kitchen bench. It was really valuable preparation. Having a good feel of the space (the house) after exploring different ways of moving through it helped me improvise later for the real shoot.

“Table read” 

I drew out a storyboard and tried to do a mock “table read” since I hadn’t written any lines yet. I told him that he was relaxing at home and wasn’t expecting to be disturbed and that the phone call should set him into panic. Zeon scanned my scribbles and nodded blankly. When we went to shoot and I broke into a cold sweat as I realised that I was a football coach trying to instruct a world famous soccer player. Perhaps it was my indistinct doodles or lack of vision, but either way my actor was set on doing it his way.

I would describe Zeon’s acting style as predictably erratic. Sounds strange but I began to understand his way of thinking. We were dancing partners (foreshadow for trial #2) but I was mistaken in thinking that I would lead.

In retrospect I should have had a clearer idea of my character’s backstory, intentions and feelings. (edit: This came later in trial #2)

“tape out” 

To be frank tape didn’t work. Tape on the floor was too small to notice. It was difficult to have him look up and down on the floor. Instead using reference points of the room like “the washing machine edge” was much easier and allowed him to look a lot more natural while completing an action.

BINGO!

After trying out a few different approaches, what worked best for both of us was having key points of action that MUST be completed in order to move onto the next one. This way I was able to have a basic  understanding of where Zeon would end up in the room without tying him down to specific movements. This method also worked for Zeon because he was able to stay spontaneous and exercise his amazing ability to improvise while being somewhat predictable. 

This “dot point script” gave us flexibility but also a clear guide; we were both very entertained and kept discovering new ways to do things! I took note of some of the actions that he would often forget like “close door” and remember to cue him at the good time so he’d have enough time to get to the next action but also not break character because I startled him.

In conclusion I am very excited to get started on the actual shoot and Zeon is a fantastic energetic person to work with.