Male vs. Female Screen Test! Help Choose The Lead.

StormFactory

StormFactory

Well-known member
We're excited about our new web series and we want you to weigh in and let us know which actor you'd like to see play the lead character of Zimm.

We have two great actors and we love what each of them bring to the character. However, we can only have one Zimm.

Should Zimm be MALE or FEMALE?

Even though these are rough cuts with TEMP SOUND and a TEMP SCORE, you'll get the idea.


Male Version
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I AGREE



Female Version
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I AGREE


Thanks!
 
how come the female version seemed to have better audio and lighting.

the other one seemed more rushed.

still, seemed more plausible on the male version, maybe with the female version girl in the (on of the suits role).

as for the scene:

maybe if it was a bit more subtle, like the guy not stopping what he was doing and not being interested in what the suits want, and not having too much cheese in the scene.
 
I thought both actors were good, but the male version worked better overall. I also thought the way you shot the male screen test was better as well. I thought the angles and more contrasted lighting looked better overall. I know it is just a screen test, but I thought it looked pretty good. Audio was a little better on the female screen test.

Also, I checked out your script on your ZIMM website, and I think the character works best as a male character.

Good luck with the series. I'm gonna have to check it out when it goes live. I'm a big sci-fi nut.
 
I thought the female lead was a better actor...why didn't you have her wear sunglasses in the beginning?

The male lead has the "look" but doesn't deliver the way I would like him to. He's a little cheesy in delivering his lines, but perhaps he can be directed to deliver in a way that would suit him and the script.

The female is a really good actor, I enjoyed watching that one.

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.
 
Amr Rahmy said:
how come the female version seemed to have better audio and lighting.
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Because the female version did have better sound.

The male version was shot last year for MonsterFest and we learned some things from that shoot. We originally boomed with a Sennheiser into a H4N. There is a major street at the end of where we were shooting so boom placement was critical but the person on boom was not that experienced. It was really noticeable so we thought we'd try something different.


We shot the female version last week so we were able to use the 5D Mark II firmware upgrade. We used a G2 wireless straight into the camera. We turned off AGC and adjusted the levels in camera. Going with the G2 cut down on the traffice noise from the street and sounded a lot better.


Thanks for checking them out.
 
I think she's a little better but the writing was suited more to the guy. Particularly the blood on the suit lines.

Sound was a little distracting to me in both clips. I know it's just an audition but it made it hard for me to lose myself in the performances. I didn't find the level or presence of the ambient noise distracting. Just that it kept cutting in and out. Really all you need is an ambient bed to keep the noise consistent. If your on FCP there's plenty included.

It does look pretty slick and I'm definitely interested to see the web series!
 
thekeygun said:
I thought the female lead was a better actor...why didn't you have her wear sunglasses in the beginning?

The male lead has the "look" but doesn't deliver the way I would like him to. He's a little cheesy in delivering his lines, but perhaps he can be directed to deliver in a way that would suit him and the script.

The female is a really good actor, I enjoyed watching that one.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was about to write. Emphasis on "being directed to deliver in a way that suits him and the script".

Jack Daniel Stanley said:
I think she's a little better but the writing was suited more to the guy. Particularly the blood on the suit lines.
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Another +1
 
Greg,

Ooooh, that's a tough one. I'd almost like to know a little more about the character and the story before deciding which one was the better actor. They both did really well! The female actor reminded me of the Rene Walker character on '24'. She was convincing in the role and the scene you had them do was challenging, especially for a female.

So, without some back story, and just watching them in this scene, I would lean towards the female. But can she pull off the whole story that you have in mind?
 
Agree with all technical points made before. All actors did excellent job. I'd lean more toward the male lead primarily due to the amount of testosterone that seems to be present. My take is the female lead would have to actually deliver on threats or have more backstory to maintain & hold credibility with the script as presently written.

Really like the look & feel - looking forward to this. Are you aiming strictly web or broadcast series pilot??? Please share more as you're able.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
I think she's a little better but the writing was suited more to the guy. Particularly the blood on the suit lines.
Click to expand...

That's part of why I think the guy worked better in this situation.

Maybe cast the actress in a different role for the series, as I agree with the others in that she was also very good.
 
I don't know enough about the backstory, but the female is a better actor. And this was just a screen test, give her time to really sink her teeth into the material and discover the character in more depth, she'll be great.
 
the female was a much better actor imo, more natural and more believable she had a good strong presence about her, the guy seemed like he was acting the part too much, dont think he pulled it off as well as she did. she is a brilliant actor imo
 
I like the males look better, the jokes were all seemingly written for a female though, and she seemed to read a little better.

Tough call for sure, what was the character originally written as?
 
Nektonic said:
I thought both actors were good, but the male version worked better overall. I also thought the way you shot the male screen test was better as well. I thought the angles and more contrasted lighting looked better overall. I know it is just a screen test, but I thought it looked pretty good. Audio was a little better on the female screen test.

Also, I checked out your script on your ZIMM website, and I think the character works best as a male character.

Good luck with the series. I'm gonna have to check it out when it goes live. I'm a big sci-fi nut.
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Thanks for commenting and thanks for checking out the first ZIMM script!

I liked the overall look of the male screen test too. Those angles were easier to get because he was much taller than she was.
 
I liked the depth the female brought to the lines. The male one (done a year ago) did feel rushed, and a bit cheesy. One thing I'll say that others haven't is that I really preferred the supporting actors from the male screen test, especially the female.
 
thekeygun said:
I thought the female lead was a better actor...why didn't you have her wear sunglasses in the beginning?

The male lead has the "look" but doesn't deliver the way I would like him to. He's a little cheesy in delivering his lines, but perhaps he can be directed to deliver in a way that would suit him and the script.

The female is a really good actor, I enjoyed watching that one.

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.
Click to expand...
I wasn't thinking about the glasses when we shot that one.

Both actors were easy to work with. Since I shot her scene months later, she had the benefit of a slight change in direction. I think the guy could pull off more vulnerability with more direction.

I'm glad you liked it.
 
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