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1. The Director’s Eye
VI. The Director’s Eye
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and
women merely players. They have their exists
and their entrances and one man in his time
plays many parts.” As You Like It, Act II, ii, 139.

2. The Director’s Eye
• I view each new witness who comes into court
like a different scene in a play.
• Each scene has a specific purpose. In other
words, there is a reason why the writer wrote
it. In one short sentence, what does the writer
want the audience to learn when the lights
come up in the theater?
• Examples would be, “Don’t judge a book by its
cover,” or “Love conquers all.”

3. The Director’s Eye
• Here’s an example from the wizarding world of
Harry Potter.
• There was a zoo in Surrey, where the Dursleys
took their son, Dudley on his eleventh
birthday and, against their will, Harry.
• While at the zoo, they bought ice cream, saw a
gorilla, ate at the zoo restaurant, and visited
the reptile house.

4. The Director’s Eye
• At first, Dudley found the place boring
because none of the reptiles were moving
around much. But when no one was watching,
Harry discovered that he was able to speak to
snakes when he realized a boa constrictor
understood what he was saying.

5. The Director’s Eye
• Harry inadvertently caused the glass of the
snake’s tank to vanish, enabling it to escape.

6. The Director’s Eye
• Objective: “Parseltongue” is the language of
serpents and those who can converse with
them. It is a very uncommon skill, and is
typically hereditary. Harry was not consciously
aware of his ability to speak Parseltongue until
this trip to the zoo where he found himself
communicating with a snake while in the
reptile exhibit.

7. The Director’s Eye
• Finding the purpose of the scene is critical for
actors because it’s their job to fulfill that
purpose.
• An actor can get lost if all they do is look at
the trees. They need to ask, “Where is the
path?” The purpose of the scene becomes the
path that leads the actor out of the forest.

8. The Director’s Eye
• By understanding why a particular witness has
been called to testify, you can understand
what piece of the story he is coming in to tell.
• A question that actors ask that we can ask
ourselves when preparing to question a
witness is, “What happened the moment
before the scene (i.e., event) began?”

9. The Director’s Eye
• By becoming laser-focused on your objective, you
will know what information you need from this
witness and what type of questions will enable you
to draw it out. You’ll come face to face with the cast
of characters. Who are the heroes and who are the
villains? Who are the good guys and who are the bad
guys?

10. The Director’s Eye
• You need the jury to understand the problem
from your client’s perspective – what other
choice did he have than to defend himself?
What does it feel like to be misidentified as a
killer?

11. The Director’s Eye
• This will make it easier to identify what
feelings you want the jury to be left with after
hearing from each witness.

12. The Director’s Eye
• This is an antidote to falling into the trap of
“asking the one question too many” or having
the witness give damaging testimony “on your
watch” while you look on helplessly. Because
you’re the one asking the question, the jury
will be left with the impression that you’re
tacitly endorsing the answer. Your stock in the
jury’s eyes will fall faster than the Dow Jones
Industrial Average on news of a global
economic slowdown.

13. Old Abe
• Slight digression to tell the story behind the
phrase, “Do not ask the one question too
many.”
• During his years as a trial lawyer, Abraham
Lincoln took on his share of criminal defense
cases.

14. Old Abe
• Once he was defending a man charged with
assault and battery.
• During the cross-examination of the
prosecutor’s star witness, he seemingly
violated one of the Ten Commandments of
Cross Examination: Do Not Ask The One
Question Too Many.

15. Old Abe
• During the course of cross-examination,
Lincoln got the witness to admit that he never
actually saw the defendant bite off the nose of
the victim.
• But he then asked the one question too many.

16. Old Abe
• Lincoln: You didn’t see my client bite off the
victim’s nose.
• Witness: No, I didn’t.
• Lincoln: Then how do you know he did it?
• Witness: Because I saw him spit it out.
Ouch!

17. Soft Focus vs. Hard Focus
• These terms relate to lens flaws in
photography.
• Directors use them in a slightly different
context.

18. Soft Focus vs. Hard Focus

19. Hard Focus: Eyes Wide Open

20. Soft Focus: Constricted Pupils