Any good books on Casting?

imageonepictures

imageonepictures

Well-known member
Hey,

I'm about to start auditions in April for our film project called "A Life". Any good bookson casting and "Do's and Don'ts?"

Would love to hear other people's experiences...

Chris
 
just had my first audition session last saturday....

1. one thing that worked well for me was to over book by at least 20%.... i had a bunch of actors cancel prior to the audition, and some that didn't show at all. Cover your ass and overbook.

2. don't forget to print out extra sides, running to kinkos the morning of isn't fun.

3. I try not to give direction on the first go around... i wanted to just see how they interpreted the characters i've created.... but that was also due to nerves, lol

4. I didn't go right into the audition, i asked some questions, like why they responded to my ad.. you'll easily find out who's done their homework vs. just booked a whole days worth of auditions.

Mike
 
my process:

1. book auditions five to ten minutes apart.

2. have them read as they prepared it.

3. if they have potential, give them an adjustment to see if they listen to your direction. this, to my mind, is the most important part of the process. the adjustment doesn't even need to be accurate for thaqt character. sometimes the actor nails it in the first read, but i still ask them to do it again in a different way. you're auditioning to see how well they take direction.

4. thank them and move on to the next.
 
Don't know about books. My suggestion would be to hire a casting director the first time. They have access to talent you might not and they can guide you through the process. You get what you pay for. You can learn a ton from hanging out with a good casting director and they likely won't even realize they're teaching you anything.
 
I just finished something like 21 days of casting for 16 parts.

The one thing I would add to this mix is CALL BACKS!!

Do your first round, and really try and hold a call back auditions. Here is why... the first time you see people alone. The second time you can pair up people and see how the chemistry works, and also, you can see if the first time was a FLUKE!

This happened the whole time I was doing auditions... our A cast came back at call backs and dropped the ball in one department or another.

Another great reason for call backs is to guage professionalism of the performer. A professional performer will be willining and able to attend two auditions, if they can't then what are they gonna do on your 10,20 or whatever day features!

And last but not least, I found using a website to distribute sides and post character breakdowns a real bonus.

FYI check out my casting site at www.bloodsm.com THis proved very useful when organizing the 1500 or so people for my audition.

I also hired a professional who really opened my eyes to the process, and I must say she improved my project 1000 percent.

Best,

Dean
 
Dean,

Thanks for all the info. Casting for my project is in late April. Should I get them to read sides just once or get them to repeat it different ways like once how they see the character and then again with direction.

I am really new to the whole thing.
 
It depends on how soon the actors have a chance to review the sides.

If possible, try and make the entire script available, that way an actor who shows up who has read the entire script prepares more, and is probably a better candidate.

Yes -- have them read it, perhaps with a recap of what some of your style goals are with the show (like this is theaterical, or physical, etc)

Then if you like what they did, try and push them in a few directions. But remember you will see lots and lots of people, so be sure to tape them and have somebody else present to bounce feelings back and forth.

Also, don't drag out the audition, make it 10 minutes tops.

Always say thank you.

Don't offer anyone the part right after the audition,

always do call backs!

Casting will make your film.

-- Dean
 
If you are having them read one part in a dialogue, get someone else rather than yourself to read the other part. It'll be much easier to see how they act or not when they aren't looking at you, and you're not looking down at the script!

The someone else doesn't have to be an actor - in fact if they just give a neutral/boring even reading it can be useful to see how well the actor can cope when they don't have a good actor opposite to bounce off.
 
Read my thread, which you can access through the link below.

I cover a lot of my casting experience in the thread related to my short motion picture, Saturday Night Special, including:

- The value of a front room
- how to use www.breakdownexpress.com
- how to reduce your headshots to a manageable amount (I had 2,500 actors submit head shots for my last project...and we only had 3 roles. So, I've been forced to develop techniques to save time and identify my goal for each step in the casting process.)
 
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