This one is interesting to see the small example frames on the right

Sam, the professional actor, was directed to look like he was waiting on a train for his sister to arrive. We set up a camera in the direction of Sam and connected it to the TV, meaning we could switch between watching his performance in real life and on screen. This reinforced that acting is exaggerated in screen acting, as to view Sam in real life seemed really over the top and dramatic whereas when you seen performance on screen it looked normal. He re-enacted the scene for each different frame type and we learnt that the tighter the frame / closer to the actor, the more exaggerated the acting becomes. This is because the actor has to be able to display the same amount of emotion and movement in a smaller space as they would in a larger one. For example you get more information from viewing a full body shot such as playing with feet etc and therefore more understanding of the mood/ tone, than you would if viewing a close up of the character's face. Therefore in a close up shot the actor has to put more emphasis on facial movements to make up for the lack of information on the action of the rest of the body. 

We also watched two clips from the movies LA Confidential (1997) and Heat (1995).  The first contained a scene in which one of the actors was not very responsive to the other, therefore making the edit poorer. The latter film, showed a scene between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, in which both actors carefully watched each other and paid attention to the other's movement and dialogue, therefore creating appropriate and much better reactions from the two resulting in a very good edit. This demonstrated the importance of making sure you hire the right actor for the job during casting in order to make the film flow. 

Nigel also gave us tips on how to cast for a non speaking role, putting an emphasis on body movement performance. He directed Sam to be a TV chef, who was in a nightmare on his show. This was a good way to show whether or not the actor had comedic timing and any other desirable traits for the role. 

I found today very useful, fun and feel I've learnt a lot more about the mechanism of directing actors. I now understand better how to efficiently cast and lead a group of performers on set and feel more confident with the whole process.