Robin Williams - In Motion

--Thank you Roosevelt, here's a song
coming your way right now.

"Nowhere to Run" by
Martha and the Vandellas

Yes, you know what I mean.

Hi my name is Tony and
this is Every Frame a Painting.

Today I’m going to honor
the incomparable Robin Williams.

There have been a lot of
moving tributes over the last month,

but I’d like to sidestep
what others have said

and focus on something else:
how he moved in a scene.

--You do an eclectic celebration of a
dance. You do Fosse, Fosse, Fosse

You do, Martha Graham,
Martha Graham, Martha Graham!

Blocking is the choreography
of the actors and the camera.

To put it bluntly, the actors move.
How they move tells us something

about the characters,
the scene and the story.

--but you keep it all inside.

Good blocking is good storytelling.
If you’d like to see this for yourself,

pick a scene and watch
how the actors move.

--We're all gonna sit down
and we're gonna finish it.

Three minutes later,
this is how he makes her sit.

--Anybody up for iced tea?
I'm gonna make some tea.

You could watch this film with the sound
off and still understand

most of the story. That's good blocking.
Everything you need to know about

the characters, their relationship
and how it changes

is presented to you through physical
movement. Blocking is a collaboration

between actor and director. Even though
the director approves it, the actors are

ultimately the ones who
have to perform it.

And that's why Robin Williams
work is so dynamic

--You move with it!

--Lead with something!

Few actors could express themselves
as well through motion

Whether that motion was big

or small

Even when he was doing the same movement
in two different scenes

you could see the subtle variations he
brought to the arc of the character.

Sometimes he would move
and the camera would be still.

Other times...
--You're just a kid.

he would be still and the camera
would move. This shot lasts

2 minutes and 45 seconds and is the
first time these two characters connect

which Gus Van Sant shows by having the
camera literally bring them together.

--You don't know about real loss because
that only occurs when you love something

--more than you love yourself.

And in other films, he moved with the
camera, creating an elaborate dance

--And all the time he's mumbling.
--What's he mumbling?

--Mumbling truth.

Or a less elaborate one.

To watch his work is to see the subtle
things an actor can do with his hands.

his mouth

his right leg

and his facepalm.

Robin Williams' work is an encyclopedia

of ways that an actor can express
himself through movement and he was

fortunate to work with filmmakers who
used his talents to their fullest.

--I want you to find your own walk
right now, your own way of

striding, pacing, any direction,
anything you want, whether it's

whether it's proud or silly. Anything.

I can't talk about how he pulled off
so many different characters

because I have no idea.

But I can talk about a few things that
directors did to help his performances.

Here are five.

#1: They let him play it straight
through. Movie acting is weird because

it’s hours of preparation
to shoot one angle.

And sometimes the actors only
get a few seconds to really act.

--My God, the children.

Many directors here have a history of
shooting scenes in 1 or 2 set-ups

which helps the actors keep their rhythm

Some preferred elaborate camera moves.
Others liked it very simple

But no matter what, they shared a common
desire to let all the actors perform

uninterrupted, as much as possible.

--It's me, Alan, mom and dad!
I'm home! I'm back!

#2: They gave him
something physical to do.

Open the window. Pick up the apple.
Put the cans back in the right spot.

--I said, well, you know
what I'm dealing with here?

These gestures sometimes
repeated later in the film

giving us a nice before-and-after
portrait of the character.

--Eleanor?
--Yes?

Other times they were
just one-off moments.

As an editor, I can testify that when
I’m looking at 12 takes of a scene,

these little gestures make
all the difference.

#3: They used blocking to tell the story
visually. Human beings are wired

to respond to subtle
changes in body language.

We often derive more understanding from
a person’s movements and tone

than from the actual words they say.

--You forget the girl.

One of the great things
about good blocking

is that it’s universal and doesn’t
need to be translated or explained.

--you playing Dear Abby
--I know, because she's my sister!

Even if you can't speak English, you
understand exactly what's happening here

--Come on!
--I don't like you, sir.

--Why not? I got a great personality,
you ask anybody.

#4: They let him listen.
--That started with Peter Weir

where he said, if you just listen
there's a great power in that.

A good percentage what you think of as
acting in a movie is actually listening.

Sometimes that’s what happened
in the moment. Other times,

we editors find those moments
and move them around in the edit.

As they say, acting is reacting.

And lastly: They didn’t let perfection
get in the way of inspiration.

There’s a real desire sometimes to film
it exactly the way it was in your head

or on the page, but working with Robin
Williams was about opening yourself up

to sudden bursts of inspiration.

--She used to fart in her sleep. One
night it was so loud, it woke the dog up

So be open. This man improvised
many of his most iconic moments.

Maybe he was onto something.

--There's great moments that obviously
people have rehearsed and gone over

and gone over and gone over, but
literally when the stuff really hits you

it's usually something that happened
and it happened then

and that is what film is about:
capturing a moment.

Farewell, Robin Williams.

--He is an editor's nightmare though,
editors see him and they go "AGH!"

because he shows up, you cut on him all
the time, you can't cut on half a phrase

--Like it's hard to get a
two-shot right now right?

--Dammit I can't hold it! Dammit Jim,
the camera's too wide! Bones, go wide!

--I'll be back.
--We love you.