Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. Today I will be talking about my journey of a masterclass with director Sarmad Masud. This was my second encounter with him, but I believe that it's good to keep the connections going in sessions like this as you never know when they may come in handy.
The Beginning:
At the beginning of the session, Sarmad talked about his journey as a director and how he got to where he is today. I won’t reveal all but let’s say that things haven’t always been easy for him, mainly on the financial side of things. But that didn't stop him from seeking opportunities and doing some amazing work. This also breaks the limiting belief that all directors are millionaires, when in fact it’s not the case at all. He also talked about making his own work, like his feature film My Pure Land, based on a true story which I watched last year and thoroughly enjoyed it so much, which was nominated for an Oscar last year, and I could see why!
But the main show he talked about was You Don’t Know Me, which he started on straight after Bulletproof: South Africa (which is another show I would recommend), and showed us a clip from the main actor, which I remember very well from the last time. He talked about the process of how it transferred onto screen was just incredible, and also told of us of the actress who played Kyra and how she had a nervous tick when filming, but mentioned that it did work as her character, as we all had our own unique traits. In addition he told us of how the character of Marlo was not the same type of person as what you saw on screen. So my challenge for anyone reading this is to watch the show, and I’ll let you guess on what the original character description was.
He also mentioned other shows he directed like doing 10 days of Murder, They Hope, starring Johnny Vegas and also Boarders for the BBC, but also how there were some jobs that he didn’t want to do but he knew that he had to do them for financial reasons mainly. And that really gave me food for thought, as yes even though I’m looking for flexibility in my career and finding a day job to give me just that, earning an income is something I should be grateful for. And if I’m not grateful for the smallest of things how am I going to be grateful for when I do get that flexibility? And the final thing he mentioned was to take opportunities as I’m flexing my muscles. I do get what he’s saying but I think it all depends on what the project is. As if I’m not passionate about it then I don’t want to put myself in something which I’m not going to enjoy.
Q&A:
Before the break we had abit of a Q&A. This was very useful as then we got to ask stuff which was tailored to us and it was very helpful. I didn’t get a chance to ask mine but at the very end of the session I asked him about disability in the workplace and how if he saw a neurodivergent actor playing a neurotypical character. And his response was as long as I’m good, then it doesn’t matter. And he was surprised himself when I mentioned why that is worth regards to the situation within my film group, and it just goes to show that there will be people who see that there’s more to a creative than their identity.
Scenes:
We then looked at the scenes. We all had the same two scenes, with each of us giving our own interpretation of each of them. And wow everyone brought their A-Game to the table. Some had 3 goes at the scene and some had 2 like myself. I don't know if it was a good or bad thing, but you know what? I just went with it, and I think I did a good job. Also as I got into it, I noticed that each actor was taking on each note from the previous pair which showed very well as the scenes went on. And I took on board each of them to film as a self-tape for my socials, one of them I re-filmed with the notes in place, and the other where I didn't get time to film in the session due to fear of running over and Sarmad himself needing to go for other commitments, but I took on board the notes given from some of the other amazing actors. Please see the links below and let me know what directions you think he gave which I implemented the notes:
Evaluation of the Day:
So overall, a really good day learning from this legend of a director. It was a good chance for me to see him again, refresh my brain on how his process works, and also see that he is just a human like us, and not the big scary monsters that people perceive directors to be.
Hope you enjoyed this read, and let me know if you've seen the shows he's directed and what you're thoughts are of them.
See you soon for another blog. Until next time...
This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)
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