Young Director, Blocking MUST be part of your storytelling or why are you there?

How characters move through space is significant since space is territory and territory denotes who is in command, who is advancing, who is losing ground who is dominant and who is under threat and so on. The space between people tells a lot about their intimacy, whether they feel threatening or threatened and whether they are isolated or close.?

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Blocking is part of storytelling in film making it’s used to tell how the character feels, the relationship with other characters and their intentions.?

Are they friendly or hostile towards each other?

What is the power dynamic between the two financially or socially?

Is one intimidating the other by how they approach them or move their body?

Does the body language of one contradict their words?

Intentional blocking from the page and interpretation from the Director adds layers of subtext to the storytelling.

Blocking for both emotional and visual impact. That's what makes a Director's presence relevant. Makes it more than a technical or supervisory role. That storytelling heart and eye.

Otherwise characters are just moving from point A to B with no meaning. Or worse. No blocking.

They just stand and deliver their lines and move on to the next scene. Or they improvise and there is no meaning of depth to their movement which can contradict the intents of the scene.

That's not directing .That's recording.

Might as well not hire a Director and send out the PM and Camera Operator with a shot list to capture for the Editor to assemble later on.

Here is how Director Tolulope Olamide Ajayi used Blocking in a dialogue heavy screenplay for THE ENCOUNTER to show the power dynamics and rapport between the characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjfArgKim8g

How do you think blocking can elevate a scene beyond what is on the page?

What are some of your favourites scenes of great blocking? Leave a comment.

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