This week I attended a Shooting People networking event with a talk from director Virginia Gilbert and actor Erin Doherty of upcoming feature 'Reawakening' and BBC's 'Chloe'.
The pair discussed the relationship of a director and actor and what this entails, providing fascinating insight into each of their roles from opposite sides of the camera.
I personally loved hearing Virginia talking about how to direct a crew successfully. I found it particularly interesting to hear her say she feels the need to have a lot of control over her personal life but once she steps onto set, she has to let that go. This can be mean being pleasantly surprised by the outcome of collaborations between her and her teams, even if the end result is not exactly how she had imagined it.
I resonated with this a lot, knowing how it can feel to want everything to be perfect and doing an incredible amount of planning and prep work, only for it to go out the window once production starts. This may seem stressful, but often the results are wonderful.
Virginia also emphasised the importance of meeting and familiarising yourself with your cast before production begins. This is due to the incredibly personal relationship that ensues between a director and their actors.
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