Arts & Entertainment
Scene Workshop, Part 3: Final Take
Lesson time 12:41 min
In Part 3 of Mira’s scene workshop, Mira breaks down how actors Philip Luswata and Madina Nalwanga work with Mira’s direction to enhance their performances.
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Topics include: Scene Workshop, Part 3: Final Take
Teaches Independent Filmmaking
The Oscar-nominated director teaches her methods for directing powerful performances, maximizing budgets, and bringing authentic stories to life.
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So now, I want you to go into that kind of place where you have lost something that is precious to you. You are a very determined young person. And you're also a very competitive person, you know. You've lost the competition. But you feel ashamed that you have done that in the presence of the whole world, you know, where you forced yourself to come. Everyone said you're too young, but you have not listened. - Yeah. - You have not listened, not because you are wanting only to win and have glory. You have actually come here because you hoped you could be a champion and win a stipend, win the prize money that would help your family, you know? But now you're in this place where, in front of everyone, this much older, 25-year-old Canadian champion has basically systematically, over three hours, not let you move anything in your game. And when you decide to leave, it's like, you just don't want to obey anyone. You just want to go away from the lights, go away from people, just run away. You don't even think. You're in a foreign place and you don't know where to go. OK? So you've run through the snow now. You've run through it. You actually crying. And you come to this. And you just find a place to hide, OK? You're not thinking. You're not thinking at all clearly, you know? It's hard to do that. You know, it's hard to do that. But I just want you to remember when you felt like this, you know? When you wanted something, and you worked for it really hard, and it was taken away from you. Not just taken away from you quietly, but taken away from you in front of everyone. So you want to hide. Yeah? Don't run into it. Don't rush into it. There's no one way, you know? But I want you to really be in that space. And I can come with you, and we can-- just to get you into what that might feel like. And then we'll shoot it, and we have time. There's no problem, OK? And there's no one way, you know? As long as you are remembering, you know, what it is like to feel. So come. Let's walk there and we'll see. - OK. - But this is tough. Tough times. Now you are older. You can understand. But then-- I mean, when you're a child, it's very difficult, you know? And a brilliant child. Somebody who has a gift, you know, to win. And she's lost. You know? So, Miles, when she stands up, we'll know she's ready. - OK. - OK? Medina? Action, whenever you're ready. - OK. [EMOTIONAL BREATHING] - Ah, please. Fiona, I told you never to leave the team. - I will never be a master. I'll never be good enough. - I will tell you from experience, Fiona. Some of us always start on the outside. But it does not mean that is where we are meant to stay. - I sell maize, Coach. I sell maize. My job was to get 1,000 shillings a day. And I knew how to do that. Me, I've never cried before. Not even the day my sister died. But look at me now. Look at me now. How is it that chess has destroyed my life now? How? How is it that it can ma...
About the Instructor
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair approaches directing with the “heart of a poet and the skin of an elephant,” spurred by rejection and fighting to bring uncompromising stories to film. In the Golden Lion-winning director’s MasterClass, learn to make a big impact on a small budget in film production, evoke the best from actors and nonactors, and protect your creative vision so you tell the story that can only come from you.
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Mira Nair
The Oscar-nominated director teaches her methods for directing powerful performances, maximizing budgets, and bringing authentic stories to life.
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