Aug 16 2010
Director’s Hour: Peggy Sue Got Married
Seems I was much more interested in posting about preparations for my Director’s Hour than the Hour itself. It went well, actually. Pushed myself to a new place, learned some things.
So, here’s how it went.
Directing Segment #1
I introduced the scene for my fellow directors then told them my goals for the Hour, which were to work in beats and get to some specifics (since we had worked on more general shape-of-the-scene work during rehearsal).
We started with Beat #1: From the beginning through “You’re giving me the creeps.”
(Read the scene here)
I gave the actors a couple of things to work with at the top of the scene. For Richard, some sort of nervous habit–perhaps something he’s not aware of that he does when he’s thinking, or some sort of stance that he believes makes him look more adult. For Peggy Sue, I suggested the subtext for the line, “What I really think is that I had a heart attack at the reunion and died,” could be, “Oh, my poor children.”
We ran through the first beat a couple of times, but something was off. I thought perhaps the extra things I threw at the actors were too much. But then I realized what was missing–we needed that opening improv that we had done in rehearsal.
I didn’t want a repeat of rehearsal (hence not starting with this improv in the first place) but this opening improv (where Peggy Sue comes to Richard in the lab and strikes up a conversation about being from the future) really helped to anchor the top of the scene.
Moving on to Beat #2, from “Am I dead or not?” through “I don’ t want to die!” we worked on different scenarios for the almost-getting-hit-by-a-truck portion of the scene.
I decided to talk to Ellen alone, so I asked Ari to step out into the hallway. I asked Ellen who would be more frightened of getting hit by a truck, 17 year old Peggy or 42 year old Peggy? Ellen said 17 year old Peggy, so we went with the idea that she reverted to a 17 year old mindset upon standing in front of the oncoming truck.
I then asked Ellen if she would be up for doing a version of the scene where Peggy Sue actually gets hit by the truck. She agreed, but as we worked through it, she realized that she was uncomfortable having to fall backwards. She was worried about a knee issue and the fact that she was wearing a skirt. This is why I wanted to discuss it with her first. I was definitely open to the possibility that she would not want to go through with it. As soon as she said she was uncomfortable, I threw that idea out. Ellen, however, suggested that she could simply lay back onto the chairs that were set up as a bench in the scene. That, I thought, was a good way to go.
I asked Ari to come back in. We tried the truck section 4 different ways:
1.) Peggy runs away from the truck and into Richard’s arms.
2.) Peggy gets hit by the truck and dies.
3.) Richard rescues Peggy out of the street.
4.) They react simultaneously, he reaches out for her as she runs to the curb.
We then discussed how each version felt and which felt the best. The actors responded well to the idea of Richard grabbing Peggy out of the street, so we went with that.
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Feedback Segment #1
After 30 minutes or so working on the first two beats, it was time for the first feedback session. The actors were asked to step out into the hallway while the directors gave me feedback.
Received a LOT of suggestions from my fellow directors. There were some interesting ones…one director suggested trying the truck beat a 5th way: where Peggy Sue got hit by the truck but didn’t die and wasn’t harmed at all. Supernatural. Another director suggested a parallel situation where Richard would try the scene as though he were a Professor, and Peggy Sue as though she were in a confessional. A third director gave me some good specifics for making the oncoming truck seem more real. A fourth gave me some good thoughts on trust between the characters–do they trust each other, how much, how far, etc?
The directors also had a lot of questions for me, specifics about the scene, why I chose it, what I was looking for. I have to say, I really appreciated their efforts to understand what I wanted to accomplish and then suggest ways to help.
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Directing Segment #2
We worked on Beat #3 which went from “Okay, you’re not dead” to the end of the scene. This was new territory, as far as I was concerned, because this part of the scene was cut from the movie.
We did an Improv beginning with the line “Why would God bring you back as a high school girl?” where Peggy Sue explained why she thinks God is punishing / testing / saving her. Richard stuck with his opinion that science is real answer.
I then spoke to Ari individually while Ellen waited in the hallway. I told him that later in the story (but only a couple days from now) Richard would propose to Peggy Sue and that the seed of that proposal would start here, in this scene. We talked about how Richard hasn’t spent a lot of time around girls and here was a girl who was not only beautiful, but she’s talking to him about things that are in his area of expertise or interest. More than that, he could be her savior. Destiny is calling to Richard through this girl.
I suggested that he could take off his glasses at some point, as if he wanted Peggy Sue to see the real him.
Ellen came back in and we ran the 3rd beat. I really liked this portion of the scene. The actors worked really well off each other, they were more connected than ever.
For Ellen, we discussed that Peggy Sue had a son that was almost Richard’s age. During the scene Peggy Sue reached over and kind of messed up Richard’s hair, as a motherly gesture. Cute.
On Peggy Sue’s line,”I don’t know,” (This was in response to “Why would God bring you back as a high school girl?”) I told her, you DO know, and Ellen made a nice shift.
Time was running out, but I was curious to see it all put together. I quickly reminded them of where they were at the top of the scene, and we ran it one time all the way through. It was nice to see that there was real movement and change throughout the scene; that the characters started in one place (emotionally) and ended in another. I was very pleased with it overall. I found the scene very engaging and felt that the audience (the other directors) were engaged as well.
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To end the Director’s Hour, there are two more feedback segments. The actors gave me feedback, then the directors gave me feedback.
I am very appreciative of Ellen Haynes, Ari Vigoda, and my fellow DnA directors. Thank you for participating in my first Director’s Hour and for all your feedback and support!