The Film Director's Intuition, Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques by Judith Weston

Chapter One: Intuition, Ideas, And Imagination

• Intuition: is when you see or feel something that is not apparent to others, that may even be contradicted by ordinary reason and evidence.
• When directors say, "they are in the moment" this means that their emotional territory is primarily subconscious.
• Directors need to communicate with actors on a level that goes below the social mask on a feeling level.
• First the director needs to read the actors impulses and feelings, then they need to respond to what they see, they need to know when they need to talk seriously to an actor and when to tell a joke, they need to know when to engage and push an actor and when to step back also, they also needs to know tools to use when- when to use an image, when to use a verb, when to tell a story or when to ask a question.
• Directors need to know how to prepare so that their ideas achieve a level of intuitive truth, this means deep script analysis, also to develop and practice your craft by this I mean to include shot composition and understanding of technology, however it should also include the abilities to see below the surface of the script to shape and block a scene so the "master shot" can be usable, and to engage the actors in the emotional events of the script. To be able to do this well the director must activate his full intelligence, which included his unconscious knowledge and associations, rather than perform to rules.