Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

Below are just some notes from the Film Craft Directors book I've been reading -

• They talk/discuss among themselves for months, batting out the structure of their story, a blend of real life and fiction. Once a draft is complete Jean-Pierre will begin work on the screenplay. He'd then send  it to his brother to work on then he'd send it back. They do this until they're on their 7th or 8th version of the script.
• The don't like actors improvising on set. Once the dialogue is written it's not open for change. They have one or two months of rehearsals before the shoot so any changes, if needed, are made then. Not on the shoot itself. 
• They shoot in continuity, they start with scene one and work from there. They preserve the sets/locations just in case things have to change along the way. Some films are exactly like the screenplay and others will change. 
• They say their camera work is their writing tool. It's not done in random fashion. They try to use movement to create tension, announce in literally using camera work. 
• They use a lot of long shots, things stay hidden within the frame and then reveal themselves. The world exists around the characters  the characters are there in the scene but the scene does not exist for the characters. They say it's mise-en-scene in disguise and comes from their background in documentaries. 
• They try to help their actors 'action orientated'. They're not putting on an attitude or posing for the camera the actors are actually doing what you see them to be doing on screen. During rehearsals the two brothers will remove the camera and allow the actors to perform the scene, they will then decide where best to position the camera based on the actors performance and where they are on set.     
• For their actors spontaneity is wishful thinking, the performance is worked on during rehearsals, fine tuned. When the actors are on set they know exactly what to do and they perform automatically. They are aiming for 'not acting' acting with this technique. (Makes sense to me!)