MattHawkins Online - Film Making Forum

What do you prefer. Directing or Acting? I would choose Directing because I like being behind the camera rather than infront of it.

Directing without a second thought. My acting is some of the worst stuff in the world. Though I do enjoy the ocational sunt person role, and I'm always the first person killed in my flicks, becuase if I'm not willing to get covered in red Kyro, then my unpaid actors arn't going to do it.

This is a bit of a weird question really! Especially on a film making forum. It's a bit like saying "What's your favourite bit about gardening, mowing the lawn or building a shed?"

What I will say though, is that I wish I could act and I wish I enjoyed acting. It would be a lot easier and a great way to make a fast buck

It's difficult. I'm apparently a very good actor (I have the highest grade in the school) but my heart is behind the camera. I love acting but I don't trust anybody else to film something correctly So more often than not I'm behind the camera, although I will have a pretty substantial role in our next film.

Lately I've been handling both. I think it's important for every director to experience acting in some way, so you can understand the stress from the acting process and how to better help actors reach their best performances.

I prefer to direct, but I had to act in my latest production. It was a good experience, because I got to go through first hand of what it's like to act. It's one thing to tell your actor, "OK, you need to do this, and show this type of emotion", but it's an entirely different thing to actually experience it and step in their shoes. Every director should act, if at least for the reason to explain that they understand what it's like to act, which gives them the authority and experience to direct others.

Perfectly comfortable in front or behind a camera. I spend more time behind it.

ALove wrote:I think it's important for every director to experience acting in some way

I agree. If you don't know how to act then you'll have a hard time directing your actors

Ornsack wrote:

ALove wrote:I think it's important for every director to experience acting in some way

I agree. If you don't know how to act then you'll have a hard time directing your actors

because and I think some people don't see this, that there is a differance between know how to act, and being able to act. Such as I understand the consepts and prinsapals of acting, but am a rubbish actor at best.

Ah yeah exactly, I'm good at bossing people in to acting certain ways that I couldn't do to save my life

ALove wrote: I think it's important for every director to experience acting in some way, so you can understand the stress from the acting process and how to better help actors reach their best performances.

I do that in most* of my films. Mostly because only two of us make them! I decide the shot we are gonna use then get infront of the camera. In my films we don't feel much stress because they are such low scale films and they last for about 3-4 minutes.

* I say most films not all because some of them are Lego. I like doing lego because I get some good effects in them. By the way, who here makes lego films?!

It's kind of strange. When I'm directing, I feel a bit uneasy, directing my friends about, but when I'm acting, it's a lot of fun because we're all in the same boat. I still love both, but I didn't vote.

SammyJim wrote: I still love both, but I didn't vote.

Sorry about that! I should have put Both on the poll. OOPS! My bad.