Auditions

[thetvirus513]

Hey all,

So most likely this summer I will be shooting what I would consider to be my first "real" short film. As to say that I will be looking for help in the sense of a crew as well as casting it and whatnot as opposed to doing short things with friends and not necessarily going for a professional look. So, seeing as how it is my first time looking for a crew and cast I have a few questions.

1) What/where is the best way to promote or advertise your audition in order to get the largest turnout?

2) What is a good way to find other people in your area willing to help out on crew? (besides dvxuser of course.... )

3) What are the key things I should have people do in the audition, I assume get a little history on the people and have them read some excerpts from the script.....am I missing anything?

4) Finally, anything you guys can recommend to get the audition or really the whole project to go smoothly would be great!

Thanks!

 

[Jon Starr]

First of all, is this paid or non-paid? I'm assuming non-paid as it's your first? I have a bit of experience in that field.

1) In the past I would look for actors on my own, however it's a difficult job and I got a very reliable friend to take the job as casting director. Basically we went to all of the montreal acting schools and either posted on their boards or looked through their binders and contacted the actors. We then posted on several places, such as craigslist, mandy.com, and some acting school web sites. Then of course we used facebook and spread the word. We told friends, neighbors, all our film buddies. We even had some people from our class audition. People eventually came and told us they heard it from "insert name" and we wouldn't know who it was, lol. So the word was spreading. It may have been the content as people love the idea, but nonetheless, we worked hard to spread the word.

We made sure to set up a website with an official email, and gave our casting director an e-mail. He made sure to contact contact and contact. Basically he kept in contact with all the actors, he acted proffesional, made sure everyone understood what it was (non-paid, non-union, shooting dates, etc.) and sent out a confirmation the day before. My friend is very organized and works very hard, yay! Normally I would have a major drop-out, but this time around, even not paid, we had about 40 people audition, with only 5 people that didn't show up (which is a big deal compared to my past films). Normally I'd only have a small handful of people to show up.

2) If you're a film student, that's one way. Get your RELIABLE friends from film school. A good idea is to help them really feel part of the process. Rather than have them be "that guy helping me", have them make it their project as well. This is why I now have 3 writers and 3 producers (including myself) on this recent project to help out. Because I allowed my friends into the process and let them make it their project. I'm keeping in contact with my sound guy, letting him know what we're up to all the time. This way you won't have flaky people that may drop out last minute because they're "busy". Instead, they'll make sure they're available. If you don't have film buddies, you can post on places like Mandy.com or craigslist. If you're paying, it'll help, but there are always students and graduates that are hungry for something to put on their resume.

3) There are several ways you can run an audition. My recent auditions we had them perform a 1 minute comedic piece that they can find online or from a movie (the project is a comedy), so that we could determine who we want them to read for. We started with intros than the monologue as it's fresh in their minds. We didn't bother with background, but this was due to the time constraints (it's better to do so at the beginning to ease the actor, make them relaxed). One day we had every half hour block filled with no time for breaks or lunch, so we just rushed through them.

Then we had them read for a character. We gave them five minutes to prep for each section we had them read. You can do that, or have them do what's called a "cold reading", which is basically read it on the spot without preparation. I preferred a bit prepared.

Then with that reading, we gave them directions to see how well they take directions. Maybe have them change something, give them info on the character, etc.

Remember though, they're nervous, probably very nervous. This can affect their performance. So ease them, make them relaxed. You want to be proffesional, but you also want them to not worry, have time to prep, have time to relax, etc. So don't be rude. Don't be Simon.

Another thing that can be done is some improv. I've never done this in an audition though so far. Or you can give them a part of the script to prep before the audition, so when they come in they're already ready. I've done this before, but it's all a choice.

4) Act professionally, but don't lie about the things you can or can't offer (or can or can't do). Have confidence in yourself, but know you're limits. Be organized. Keep you're cool, even when/if people drop out (therefore ALWAYS have backups, for locations, crew and cast).

Once you have your actors, try to fit in at least a reading or rehearsal (enough rehearsals that you're comfortable with it, but not too many or else it won't have that freshness to it). It'll help both the actors and you to help things go smoother on set, and various other reasons.