Week 1 Workshop: First direction

Observe one provided take, diagnose a problem, and write and review a redirect

22 February 2027

Production walkthrough: See how The Last One carried out this stage in a real production.

Before the workshop#

Nothing to install or sign up for. Your instructor provides the clip. You will observe it, write a redirect, and review a partner’s note. You will not generate another video in this session.

In the workshop#

Activity 1 — Recap and locked scene (10 min)#

Instructions. Recap the lecture’s chain: intention, objective, playable action, result, interpretation. Today’s scene is a deliberate counterfactual: what if Nadia had not answered her brother’s call? The ringing has stopped and the call has gone to voicemail. She sits at the kitchen table at night, holding the phone. This is a rehearsal variation, not the story’s canonical continuation.

Keep Nadia, her wardrobe, the kitchen, phone, lighting and static camera fixed when writing your redirect. The objective and intended interpretation will be revealed after your first viewing.

Expected output. A shared understanding of the scene and what must stay fixed.

Activity 2 — Watch Take A cold (15 min)#

Instructions. Watch the provided clip before seeing the objective or any production note. Write what Nadia does, roughly when, and what you think she is trying to accomplish. Separate observable actions from your interpretation of them.

Expected output. Three or more timed observations and your initial reading of Nadia’s intention.

Activity 3 — Reveal and diagnose (20 min)#

Instructions. Read the locked information:

• Objective: Nadia wants to call her brother back, but only once she is sure she can do it without her voice breaking when he answers.
• Intended interpretation: her pause should read as steadying herself to reconnect, rather than regret, avoidance, or having changed her mind about calling.

Watch again. Choose one observable problem that interferes with this reading. Name its approximate time, what you actually see, and how it changes your interpretation. You may consider timing, gaze, gesture, breath, emphasis, degree, or unwanted speaking. There is no required single diagnosis.

This is an imperfect generated clip. Distinguish a performance choice that could be redirected from a generation artefact, such as a distorted hand. A generation artefact is worth recording, but choose a performance problem for your Note B. Do not invent an action that the clip does not show or change the objective to make the clip fit.

Expected output. A diagnosis naming one observable performance problem, its location, and its effect on your reading.

Activity 4 — Write Note B (25 min)#

Instructions. Write a short playable redirect that addresses your chosen problem. Tell the performer what to do, when, or in relation to what, rather than asking for a result such as “be more emotional.” Keep the scene, character, objective, intended interpretation and camera fixed.

Under your note, explain how the proposed action responds to your diagnosis. Describe the observable change you would look for in a future take. This is a prediction; no new take is being generated or selected today.

Expected output. A first Note B, its rationale, and an observable criterion for checking a future result.

Activity 5 — Partner review and revision (35 min)#

Instructions. Exchange your diagnosis and note with a partner. Each reviewer replays the relevant moment in Take A and checks:

• Does the diagnosis describe something actually visible in the clip?
• Does the note target that problem and give a playable action?
• Does it preserve the locked objective and scene?
• Does the proposed observation make it possible to check a future take?

Spend 10 minutes reviewing each person’s work. Give specific written feedback, then use 10 minutes to revise your own note. In the final five minutes, a few pairs share one diagnosis and the corresponding revision.

Peer review checks the written redirect’s reasoning and specificity. It cannot establish whether the redirect would improve an actual new performance; that requires generating or performing another take later.

Expected output. A partner’s written check and a revised Note B, with a brief explanation of what you changed or why you kept it.

Activity 6 — Completion check (15 min)#

Instructions. Submit your timed diagnosis, first Note B, partner’s feedback, revised Note B, and the observable change you would look for in a future take. Check them against the four spec criteria above. Clearly label predicted effects as predictions.

Expected output. One complete diagnosis-and-redirect record.

Afterwards#

You leave with an evidence-based diagnosis and a reviewed redirect. The lecture demonstrated how a new take can test a note; today’s exercise practises writing a note precise enough to make that later test possible.