The Best Way to Rehearse For a Film.

Directors rehearses differently. There are some that prefer little rehearsal because they want the raw performance to unfold during the shoot. On the other extreme is the director who rehearses for a week plus to get the performance to the level they want it to be. Part of this decision will be based on the level of actor and budget you have. For the big budget films, you are likely to have no rehearsal period before the shoot because the star actor’s schedule is tight and this film is slotted in with no time to rehearse. Also given that you are only shooting 2-3 pages per day, there is effectively enough time to rehearse on set.
For the low budget films, you are likely to have as much rehearsal time as you need because your actors are likely to be less experienced and have more time to offer. In this case, you will want to rehearse more because less experienced actors will need more time to deliver the performance you need. It is cheaper to do that during rehearsal as opposed to trying to do that during the shoot.

My preference is a 4-5 day rehearsal schedule. I think you should rehearse as much as you have to in order to get the performance right, before you shoot. Note that while you will want the spontaneity of the performances during the shoot, you still need to get close to that level of performance during rehearsals in order to make sure you get what you want. For the more experienced actors, you can be comfortable with less rehearsals and rely more on the spontaneity. You do not want to rehearse so much that it becomes a mechanical performance.

Day One Rehearsal:
Every main cast members comes in on Day One. You have a table read where the entire script is read out loud by the actors. Do not worry about incorporating a good performance into the read because this is just to hear it out loud.
Talk about what you are trying to accomplish with this film. Is the film a statement on an aspect of society, do you want to scare people, do you want to make people weep because it is so romantic, etc.
I like written backstories so either hand each actor a written down backstory on their character or ask each actor to create a backstory for their character. A backstory is a summary of the character’s background, including anything that the actors should know in order to better understand their character. Where the character was born, where grew up, shy or outgoing, age, likes, dislikes, etc. For the backstory that an actor comes up with, make sure it will fit with your vision of who this character is. This backstory is what the actor will refer back to when they get to points where they don’t know how their actor will react to situations.

Day Two Rehearsal
*. You will get into each scene more.
*.For each scene, discuss what the characters want from each other. What is the conflict, if any?
*.Talk about relevance of the scene to the film.
Actors will have questions and even suggestions. Be open to them and make adjustments if they make sense. I believe you should have flexibility on the lines and be open to changes in the lines as long as it communicates the same intention.
In terms of scheduling, you do not need all the actors at the same time. Schedule actors in smaller groups so that nobody is waiting around too much.

Day Three to Day Four Rehearsal
*.The scenes get polished.
*.The actors get close to the emotional stage that you want for the shoot.
*.To the extent that you can do it, do some light blocking. It is difficult to block a scene unless you are on the actual set. On the set, you will also adjust blocking to accommodate lighting at times. If there are action scenes, definitely block them well in advance of the shoot for safety reasons. In this case, rehearsing the action scenes will be incorporated in the week of rehearsals.

Final Rehearsal
*. Use as a Q&A session for the actors on any scenes.
*.Go over each scene at an overview level to remind actors of purpose of the scene and key transition points.
*.Focus on the scenes that will be shot on Day One of Principle Photography
For lower budget films, rehearsal time is one of the few advantages you will have over big budget films. There is no reason to not fully utilize rehearsal time to get actors close to the emotional levels you want from the scenes.