# Acting Direction

Direct behavior under pressure. Give performers playable work; let emotion emerge as a consequence.

## Order of work

### 1. Read the complete dramatic unit

Read the whole exchange and its ending before directing a line. The ending often reveals what the event actually was.

### 2. Name one shared event/direction

Find the unspoken process all present characters inhabit, including silent listeners. The physical activity—packing, driving, cleaning, waiting, fighting—is the terrain through which the event moves, not necessarily the event itself.

### 3. Give each character different fuel

For every present character, define:

- **Motive:** why this person pushes the shared direction.
- **Goal:** what this person wants from a specific partner now.
- **Obstacle/stakes:** what resists and what one crack costs.
- **Tactic:** what the person actively does to the partner to get it.
- **Physical channel/business:** what the body/hands are doing while pursuing it.
- **Listener task:** what the person checks, measures, decides, hides, or waits for while not speaking.

Use action verbs: convince, expose, disarm, charm, shame, protect, test, provoke, recruit, delay, conceal, reassure.

### 4. Change tactics at beats

When a tactic fails or new information lands, change the action. Make the beat change filmable through timing, posture, distance, speech rhythm, interrupted business, or gaze target.

### 5. Preserve two truths

For important close performance, hold a contradiction: helps while resenting it, jokes while begging, threatens while seeking approval, stays calm while testing whether escape is possible. Avoid a single clean emotion.

## Acting task block

Use a compact form for strict prompts:

```text
ACTING TASK — <character>
Shared direction: <unspoken scene vector>
Motive / goal / obstacle: <fuel, fight, pressure>
Tactic: <playable action toward partner>
Physical channel: <business and body rhythm>
Moment to moment: <dialogue/beat → tactic and listener check>
```

Do not paste theory into the prompt. Convert it into actions the model can show.

## Eyes and listening

Treat the eyes as purposeful work, not decoration:

- check whether a point landed;
- search both eyes for trust;
- compare words with hands or exits;
- steal a look and return before discovery;
- let the eyes reach the new target just before the head;
- react before the partner finishes when comprehension arrives mid-line.

Use natural blink/gaze continuity as a minimal AI safety layer. Do not try to create acting by choreographing endless eyebrow, mouth, and blink commands. Task first; micro-life second.

Never solve dead eyes only with catchlights. Lighting can reveal eyes but cannot give them intention.

## Physical life

Define what matters for the shot:

- center of gravity and body weight;
- tempo and economy;
- breath consistent with exertion and pressure;
- openness/closure and status behavior;
- proxemic distance and motivated changes;
- physical business and the moment it stops.

The interrupted-action beat is strong punctuation: hands stop because something became an event.

## Character master profile

Create one durable performance profile for recurring characters:

- body as biography;
- core behavioral engine;
- voice identity;
- signature habit with trigger;
- stress/concealment behavior;
- default mask and exact crack condition;
- gait/movement grammar;
- chosen stillness versus fidget behavior;
- one softening target when dramatically useful.

Keep wardrobe, camera, grade, and scene-specific blocking outside the master profile.

Adapt the profile per scene. Transform impossible behaviors rather than deleting their energy: pacing may become wrist-flicks or micro-sway when seated.

## Voice identity

Keep vocal identity stable across shots:

```text
age register + origin/accent + pitch/timbre + pace + habitual delivery + pressure behavior
```

Change the scene's tactic and intensity without casually rewriting the voice identity. Name phonetic markers only when needed and when the production has permission to use the voice/likeness.

## Dialogue performance

- Give exact words to one speaker.
- Separate voice identity from scene delivery.
- Give listeners active tasks.
- Preserve breath and emotional carry across cuts.
- Let pauses contain assessment, decision, or refusal; remove empty pauses.
- Keep reaction timing connected to the partner's line, not delayed by default.
- In tight close-ups, reduce external behavior and let intention, breath, and eyes carry the beat.

## Audit failures

Flag:

- emotion labels without playable action;
- one tactic across the whole scene;
- waiting-for-cue faces;
- synchronized ensemble reactions;
- gesture illustrating the spoken word;
- free tears/rage without pressure or trigger;
- dead pauses;
- emotional reset between beats/shots;
- voice identity drift;
- facial choreography that fights the acting task;
- silent characters with no listener task.