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Demo Reels: The Basics

Demo Reels: The Basics

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Your reel is so, SO important.

Often times, it’s the very first taste we have of your abilities as an actor. Sometimes, it serves as a reminder of who you are, and occasionally, it proves that you’re capable of handling a specific role. Your reel is meant to sell you; to agents, to casting directors, to producers, execs, etc.

While there are about a billion things we can say about reels, these four points are what I consider to be the absolute basics, when compiling your demo reel:

1. Less is More: keep it short and sweet.

ONLY put your best quality (acting and technical,) and most current clips on your reel.

  • If you work often, you should update your reel with new (HIGH QUALITY) stuff as frequently as you can. (And even though you loved the work you did on CHEERS or SEINFELD, those clips are too old for us to see what you look/sound like now. Keep the credit on your resume, but take the material off of your reel.)
  • Two-three minutes worth of material is about all we need. Only have 45 seconds or one minute worth of clips? That’s ok, too.

HINT: Leaving us wanting more will often result in an audition…

2. Open with your BEST scene.

It might be the only thing we see, so start with your strongest work.

  • This also means that you should skip the opening video or photo montage. Open with a title card of your name or just jump right into the first clip. Either way, we should be seeing a scene within the first five seconds of your reel.
  • Try not to start with a scene where you are doing an accent, or are in crazy make-up or period costume. We want to see and hear YOU. Save that work for a little later in your reel, if you can. (However, if it’s truly your best scene, then put it first.)

3. Seriously, skip the fancy editing tricks.

Your reel is meant to show off your acting chops, not your Final Cut skills.

  • Sometimes, casting will need to edit your reel to pull out a specific scene, or even reorder your material. Want to know the first things that get dumped in the trash? All your cool-looking edits and fades.
  • Two basic, helpful edit tools: A title card with your name and contact (either at the beginning or the end,) and a chyron of the project name in the corner of each clip. Everything else is extraneous.

4. It doesn’t matter if your reel is one big clip, or separated out into individual scenes/clips.

Since there is no “industry standard” for this, it should be decided by you and your reps (and your bank account – these uploads/clips cost money, after all):

  • If you DO have all your material in one big clip, make sure your reps have access to the individual scenes (in a shared folder, through your website, etc.) It may help when they’re pitching you for a specific role.
  • Some people have separate reels for their comedy and drama work. Some have a separate reel for commercials or stunts. If you have enough material to fill different kinds of reels, go for it. If not, put it all together in one. Simple as that.

Remember, your reel is meant to SELL YOU.

If you’re not completely proud of a clip, don’t use it on your demo. It’s better to have no reel than one that will harm your chances of getting in the room or booking the job.

Auditions - No Excuses

Auditions: No Excuses

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Auditions: When Excuses Take Over Your Read…

  • “I just got the material.”
  • “My reps didn’t send me the full script.”
  • “I have three auditions today, so I’m not off-book.”
  • “Normally I coach, but this appointment was too last minute, so…”
  • “I was camping and didn’t have internet, so I just looked at this for the first time this morning. What exactly is this project, anyway?”

Casting Directors have heard every excuse imaginable when it comes to why an actor isn’t prepared for their audition. Actors will use it to preface what we are about to see, which makes us assume a combination of the following:

  • “This read will be subpar.”
  • “I’m going to have to give them a crapload of backstory before we can even start.”
  • “I will likely not get them to the performance I want, no matter what, since they don’t know the lines well enough.”
  • “This will likely be a waste of both of our time.”

When you start your read with an excuse, not only are you putting the CD on edge, but you’re also saying to yourself, “This isn’t going to be very good.”

Truthfully, we KNOW that there are extenuating circumstances as to why you may not be FULLY prepared for this read. We know you’re human beings, with lives and families and jobs/classes/auditions. (And 2020 update: we know there’s a global pandemic and everything changes by the moment.)

We also know when your appointment went out, so unless we sent you that audition within the last 12 hours (or less,) we DO expect you to have figured out a way to become prepared. And if it was so utterly impossible to do so, did your reps try to move your appointment? (Sometimes we can’t allow you to change your day/time, but we are always aware of when the request has come in… or if it hasn’t.)

On the reverse, when we knowingly give an actor very little time to prepare and they come in, bounding with energy and ready to play without a word of how much time they had with the sides, we are utterly delighted. Inevitably, those actors will get the callbacks/jobs, even if they’re up against people who have twice the resume. They come in open-minded, ready to do the best they absolutely can without fear or hesitation, and guess what… IT WORKS.

So the next time you’re sensing the urge to preface your read with an excuse, curb the feeling… trust Casting to guide you, and focus on being there in the moment, listening and having fun.

Auditions: Moving on from a So-Called “Bad” Read

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Not every audition goes perfectly. Actors have good days and bad days, (you are human, after all.) How often do you find yourself thinking, “That was crap. I KNOW I could’ve done better. I can’t believe I…”

Far too regularly, we see actors dwelling on what they consider a “bad read.” While it’s ok to (briefly) rehash and learn from mistakes, this cycle of shame can too easily affect your confidence and be carried from one audition to another.

Casting Directors often see self-doubt follow actors into the audition rooms. It looks like this:

  • An actor comes in, a little sheepishly because they’re not sure why they’re reading for a role, (either they feel they’re not good enough/never going to get it, or based on the sides or other people in the waiting room, feel that they aren’t right.) They walk in, literally questioning us as to why they’re there. Those actors AUTOMATICALLY give a sub-par read. Their heart isn’t in it.
  • We don’t give the actor a note, and they assume it’s because they did a terrible job on their first take. They walk out of our office with their head down, sulking, no matter how much we tell them that they did a good job.
  • We DO give the actor a note, but they’re so in their head about screwing up that they’ve stopped trusting themselves (and us,) and are unable to take the direction. Those actors get so frustrated with themselves that they leave looking utterly disgusted.

Casting Directors know the difference between someone who is having a bad day, someone who just isn’t this character, and someone who is green and not yet ready for that kind of role. We also know that if someone walks into our office with a crappy attitude, it doesn’t matter how good they are or how long their resume is, we’re never going to get the read we want from them. There’s an emotional wall standing between the actor and success at that point, and we can’t break it down in the five minutes we have together.

But as I said, you ARE human. Inevitably, you will fall into a negative mindset at certain points in your career. If the self-doubt monster gets the better of you, acknowledge it. BREATHE. Toss your sides in the recycle bin and MOVE ON. Dwelling will only keep the cycle going and it will absolutely affect your future auditions.

So in the words of a particular ice princess, LET IT GO. Trust your abilities and your Casting Directors, keep working on your craft, and look ahead to the next one.

Self-Tape Tips - Choosing which and how many takes to send

Self-Tape Tips Part 5: Which Takes Should I Send?

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Arguably, one of the most difficult parts of self-taping is choosing which take(s) to send to Casting.

Which is the best take? Should I send more than one to show my range? This one has a great beginning but this one has a great moment in the middle, and this one shows I can do an accent but I don’t flub the line in this take, and and and…

You have my sympathy on this. Trying to be objective when you’re staring at yourself on video is neither easy nor pleasant.

There is no science to this, I’m afraid. I can’t give you a fail-proof method to guide you. BUT! There are ways to make the process easier for yourself.

Here are some do’s and don’t’s to assist you in choosing a take:

DO as much character prep as you can before you ever step foot in front of a camera. That way, you’ll know what you’re aiming to accomplish.

DO NOT “work it out” in front of the camera. This is the equivalent to throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks. You’ll be there forever and end up with too many options. (And you’ll have a very cranky reader.)

DO limit the number of takes you do. I like to say no more than three takes before you watch those to see if you got it (you probably did) or if there’s something missing.

DO NOT stop yourself if you’re really vibing at the end of a take. Start again immediately without futzing with your camera.

DO listen to your body. When things go really right, you FEEL it. Trust that instinct.

DO NOT let your reader/coach/taper pressure you when to stop, when to do another take, or which takes to send. This is YOUR audition. You know this character better than they do. Listen to their feedback and reasoning, but the decision is ultimately yours.

DO trust that you can get it done in one or two takes! You do it ALL THE TIME in live auditions. You can do it for your self-tapes, too. Prep the same way you would if you were going in the room and you’ll get it done quicker and with more clarity.

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Ok! Now, you’ve got a take that is really great. But there’s another take that’s pretty good, and another that’s pretty different and shows some range, so…

Should you send more than one take??

You have to follow your gut on this one. If you have a take that you feel great about, given your performance and everything you know about the project/tone/character, then that’s absolutely the one to send.

If you are thinking about sending a second take, consider these questions:

  1. Does it still fit the tone of the piece? The biggest issue we see when actors send a second “different” take is that one take fits what we’re looking for and the second take might as well be for a different project, because the energy is just TOOMUCH. If you’re TRYING to do something different, you’re schmacting. And we can see it from a mile away.
  2. Have you made choices that are different and interesting but still truthful and that fit within the world? Oftentimes, the second take is a near carbon-copy of the first. To help guide you, think about the things you CAN change vs. the things you CANNOT.
  3. Is an accent, wardrobe piece or a prop the only thing that’s different? If that’s the only change, we don’t need that take unless we specifically ask for it, which leads me to…

A few reasons Casting may ask you to send multiple takes:

  1. It’s a small/short scene and we’d like to see what you provide some options on the character/moment.
  2. Accents. We’d like to see a take WITH an accent and WITHOUT an accent.
  3. We don’t have the benefit of time, so we’d like you to do the scene with two different sets of directions (as opposed to having you adjust and re-tape later.)

Remember: if you only send one take and Casting wants to see you do something else, we can always ask you to re-tape (pending time.)

We don’t envy you having to make these selects. It’s not easy. But if you’ve done your homework, grounded yourself in the truth of the moment/character and trusted your instincts, you will make the take-choosing process easier.

Auditions: Erica’s #1 Pet Peeve

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“What’s your biggest pet peeve?”

I’ve been asked this question HUNDREDS of times. Every Casting Director you meet will likely have a unique answer.

For me, the worst thing an actor can do is come in unprepared.

Let me clarify:

I’m not speaking to your memorization skills. Do I want you to be off-book so we can really play? Absolutely. But being prepared goes far deeper than that:

1. If you received a full script, did you read it?

Scripts are rarely distributed these days, since everything tends to end up on the internet. If we are lucky enough to send you a script we expect you to read it. A full script gives you total context; it’s a literal gift. But often, actors feel too rushed to read/skim a script AND learn their lines. Do your best. It will help you IMMENSELY.

2. If there are words or names in your sides that you are unfamiliar with, did you look them up?

(How to pronounce them as well as what they mean in that context?) If you don’t know what you’re saying, how will we believe that you are that character? If you’re supposed to be an expert medical examiner and you mispronounce “carotid”, it will quickly take us out of the moment and remind us that you are an actor. Could we just correct you and have you do it again? Sure. But we’d rather you do your homework, because if we correct an actor in the audition room, it often makes them freeze up a bit and inevitably, they’ll mispronounce the word again anyway.

  • Side Story: We once cast a pilot where we needed a “techie.” The sides these women had to read included the phrase “coax cable”. Inevitably, half the women pronounced it “coax” (as in “persuade”,) as opposed to “co-ax” (as in “coaxial cable,” which is a tool that a “techie” might use.) If they missed that one line, it immediately took us out of the moment.

3. Did you look to see who was involved in the project?

When you receive your appt. information, you usually receive the breakdown as well. The top portion of the breakdown holds a WEALTH of information. Such as:

  • What type of project is it? (Pilot, Feature, 1/2 hour, sitcom, single-cam, etc.)
  • Who are the prods, director and casting team?
  • Is anyone already cast?
  • Which studio/network is it for?
  • A brief synopsis of the story

If you don’t know who someone is, look them up! Do a search for the project in the trades to learn a little more about its evolution. Would you go in to interview at Google without looking to see with whom you were meeting, what kind of resume they had and what you could bring to their team? The breakdown header could help you understand the tone of the project, as well as being aware of for whom you might be reading.

  • Side Story: We once cast a pilot with a VERY well-known director who liked to be in the room for auditions. For some reason, perhaps because they were so focused on learning the material, many actors didn’t realize he would be in the room, (despite his name being on the breakdown/in the trades and us putting a sign in the lobby, saying who they would be reading for.) We’d walk the actors in to the audition room and they’d freeze when they saw the director – not exactly a wonderful way to buck the audition nerves. Eventually, he ended up sitting out of auditions and just watching everything on tape because he was concerned about how distracting his presence was.

4. Did you look to see if we’re ONLY reading certain scenes?

Oftentimes, we will give out more scenes than we know we want to read, mostly because it provides context. If we know ahead of time that we only want to read specific scenes/pages, we will tell you every way we can:

  • We’ll write it on the sides
  • We’ll put it in the audition notification
  • We’ll put a sign in the lobby
  • We’ll tell you when you walk in the room

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve reminded an actor that we’re ONLY doing scenes 1 and 3, and they look at me like I’ve run over their dog, or they give me the, “oh really? But scene 2 is so great! I’d love to try it anyway…” (The answer to that is almost always no. Save your energy.) Pay attention to that stuff so that you aren’t wasting time rehearsing a scene that we aren’t going to run.

We realize that sometimes we do this to you at the last minute – we’re not trying to torture you by taking away a scene right as you walk in the door. There’s always a good reason for it, so try to not let it frustrate you.

So by all means, study your sides, but also arm yourself with knowledge about the project and creative team involved. It is the quickest way to up your confidence before you walk in the door or self-tape.

Self-Tape Tips - Frame

Self-Tape Tips Part 4: Frame

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Finally, let’s talk about your self-tape frame and aspect ratio.

Here’s the good news: this is the EASIEST self-taping technical aspect to nail. Minor adjustments will get you exactly where you need.

COMMON SELF-TAPE FRAME ISSUES:

1. Your frame is too wide. We can hardly see your face and hence, miss all of your subtleties and nuances.

2. Your frame is too tight. We have full access to your facial features, but now you’re just a floating head. (Weird.)

3. You’ve filmed your scene with your camera or device held the wrong way. Aspect ratio: it’s a real thing.

SELF-TAPE FRAME SOLUTIONS:

1. You should frame yourself from around mid-bust to just above your head. Even if the scene calls for some “business” (typing on a computer, for example,) we don’t need to see what your hands are doing. Resist the urge to go wider. (Your eyes are the window; they hold OUR gaze and grab our attention… we need to be able to see your eyes/face clearly!)

Be careful not to frame yourself TOO tightly. Yes, we want to see your face, but it just feels odd and overly dramatic if that face is not attached to a neck and torso.

2. Your device or camera should ALWAYS be turned so that the image is HORIZONTAL or LANDSCAPE. It feels more natural to hold a device vertically, since that’s how we use them in our daily lives. However, it will throw off the aspect ratio and you’ll end up with giant black bars on the sides (see image above.) You will also have inadvertently shrunken the amount of space available for YOUR image.

3. Use a tripod. It will make your life so much easier. You’ll be able to set the device up, check the frame and then shoot your self-tape. If you’re propping your device up on something, it could slide. If your reader is holding it, your frame could drift or shake (doesn’t matter if they have surgeon-steady hands. Their breathing alone will cause the camera to move.)

There you have it! The self-tape basics are lighting, sound, backdrop and frame. Get a handle on those and everything else is fun.

Next self-tape tip… How many and which takes should I send?

Self-Tape Tips Part 3 - Sound!

Self-Tape Tips Part 3: Sound

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Bad sound is frustrating.

Think of all of those times when you couldn’t hear someone speak clearly; did it make you want to give up on listening and walk away? If the sound on your self-tape isn’t up-to-par, it’s easy to become annoyed and stop watching. If you pay a bit of extra attention to your sound, that dreaded outcome is easily avoided.

COMMON SELF-TAPE SOUND ISSUES:

1. Your reader is 20x louder than you. This is the MOST common sound problem we see in self-tapes. (Especially egregious if your reader is not a great actor or their voice is more engaging than yours.)

2. There’s an echo. You’ve cleared your space so that you have a plain background, but now you’re in an empty room/hallway which is ripe for sound issues.

3. The ambient noise is constant and distracting. Dogs barking, kids playing, sirens, smoke detectors beeping, etc. All of these things can land in your audio and take away from your read. (Note: it’s ok if some normal ambient noises exist, but if a siren is taking over 20+ seconds of your tape, we’re losing something…)

4. The volume is just WAY lower than you expected. This generally happens at the source/on your device, but can also happen as you’re exporting and compressing your file… OR it’s because…

5. You aren’t using your full voice. Perhaps this is because the device feels like it’s in your face, or you don’t want to wake someone, but an unnecessarily whispered read feels energetically dead.

6. The sound is out of sync. Again, this is usually an export/compression issue when something truly goes awry. But it can also be the curse of taping on an old device. This is the #1 thing that will make us turn off a self-tape.

SIMPLEST SELF-TAPE SOUND SOLUTIONS:

1. BUY A MIC (lavs, shotgun, etc.) A microphone kit can be quite pricey, but if you look on eBay or another site for gently-used equipment, you can find some great products at a discount. (Videographers are constantly upgrading and re-selling their equipment!)

NOTE: You can find very affordable mics online but when it comes to sound equipment, you truly get what you pay for. Might be worth investing a little extra money if you want to buy a mic.

  • Side story: We use lavalier microphones in our office. 98% of the time, they’re AMAZING. The other 2% of the time, they’ve run out of batteries without us noticing or the “mute” button was accidentally switched on or the adapter wasn’t pushed hard enough into the camera for the sound to be picked up or a cell phone rings (on silent) and the phone waves create static. Sound afflictions happen to the best of us. So if you DO decide to buy mics, test/check them OFTEN.

2. WHEN TAPING ON A DEVICE THAT HAS AN INTERNAL MIC (phone, tablet, DSLR) PLACE THE CAMERA CLOSE TO YOU, AND HAVE YOUR READER SIT A FEW FEET BACK FROM IT. Not only will this help your frame/light, but it will clear up the issue of your reader being too loud or you being too soft.

3. AVOID LOUD AMBIENT NOISE BY MAKING SURE THAT WINDOWS AND DOORS ARE CLOSED, and your pets/children/roommates are either aware of what you’re doing, away, or asleep. You will likely always have SOME ambient sound (unless using mics,) and that’s ok. As long as it’s not massively distracting, it won’t ruin your tape.

  • Side story: we were once in an office where the AC was UNBELIEVABLY loud for some unknown reason. Even though we used lavalier mics, when the AC kicked on, you could barely hear the actor and the reader became non-existent. As such, we had to turn the AC off whenever we had sessions. (It was July, in the valley. Fun.) So as long as your ambient noise doesn’t drown you or your reader out at any point, you’re probably ok.

4. LEARN HOW TO EXPORT OR COMPRESS A FILE WITHOUT LOSING QUALITY. YouTube vids are a great way for you to pick up some exact settings for whatever program you use to edit/export.

5. AVOID AN ECHO BY MAKING SURE YOU SELF-TAPE IN A ROOM WITH SOME SORT OF SOUND-ABSORBING MATERIAL. If the emptiest place for you to tape is the hallway or stairwell in your apartment building, you will likely end up with an echo. Taping in a room with furniture or things on the walls (just not in the frame,) will almost always help you avoid this issue.

6. USE YOUR FULL VOICE. Remember that this is an audition: would you come in to a casting office and use a quarter of your voice because you don’t want to disturb anyone? Probably not. (If yes, then we’ve got bigger things to discuss.) A self-tape should make use of the same kind of energy, voice and breathing techniques as an in-person audition. If you feel like the scene has too much yelling/screaming and someone may call the cops on you, perhaps do that audition at a taping/coaching facility. Otherwise, don’t muffle yourself for civility’s sake or because you think you’ll be overly loud due to your proximity to the camera. Perform appropriately for the scene.

7. CHECK YOUR SELF-TAPE. I can’t stress this enough. Once you’ve picked a clip and/or compressed/exported/uploaded it, CHECK IT. Watch it back, and make sure that nothing went awry in the process. Actors are always shocked when we tell them about technical issues we’re having with their tapes. Before you send your self-tape to casting or your reps, take 30 seconds and make sure it plays the way you want it to.

Next self-tape tip… FRAME/ASPECT RATIO!

Self-Tape Tips - Lighting

Self-Tape Tips Part 2: Lighting

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Two of the most important technical elements to your self-tape are lighting and sound. If Casting can’t see or hear you, then the entire endeavor is moot.

Lighting can be unbelievably tricky. Until you find a set-up that works, this is one aspect of self-taping that can truly drive you crazy.

COMMON SELF-TAPE LIGHTING ISSUES:

  1. Lighting that creates shadows across your face. We’re not looking for dramatic ambience; we want to see you.
  2. Too MUCH light. It will blow out your skin tone and any facial feature that makes you interesting.
  3. Not ENOUGH light. We can’t see a lot of your subtle nuances.
  4. Forgetting to white-balance your camera after setting up your lighting scheme. Unless you’re shooting with the exact same light at the exact same time of day, (or in the same windowless room,) you need to white-balance your camera for every audition to avoid looking blue/yellow/orange.
  5. Lighting yourself in front of a very dark backdrop or a light-filled backdrop (see previous blog post.)
  6. ONLY using overhead lights. They will create shadows and bags on anyone, no matter how youthful you are.
  7. Trying to fix the exposure in post. This COULD work if you’re quite savvy with editing software, but more often than not, it’s too one-size-fits-all and could affect your file size and quality. You’re better off dealing with the issue at the source.

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SIMPLE SELF-TAPE LIGHTING SOLUTIONS (PROS AND CONS):

1. NATURAL DAYLIGHT.

  • PRO: Daylight really is your best friend. (Think of photos that are shot in daylight versus those with a flash… natural light is exactly that: natural.) As long as you can find a shadow-free spot, you can almost never go wrong with daylight. (And PLEASE don’t make the mistake of shooting your scene outdoors to get good light. You’ll end up with a nightmare of ambient sound.)
  • CON: Daylight is constantly shifting. If you spend an hour doing your self-tape, you will have different light in every take. Use it wisely, and quickly.
  • CON #2: If shooting your self-tape at night, daylight is obviously not an option.

2. LAMPS/LIGHTING YOU HAVE IN YOUR HOME.

  • PRO: A combination of the light from your (MANY) lamps can work, if diffused and appropriately positioned. Overhead lighting doesn’t look good on anybody, but overhead lighting in combination with directional lamps can get the job done.
  • CON: Lamps often use different wattage, so you could end up with one side of your face darker than the other. Low-wattage also means you’ll need a LOT of lamps to light yourself properly.
  • CON #2: Light bulb colors can range from blue to white to yellow. If your lamps all use different colored light bulbs, it will be hard to get a result that you’re happy with.

3. BUY A LIGHT/LIGHTING KIT.

  • PRO: You can find affordable photography lighting kits at camera stores or online. They’ll quickly take the guess-work out of lighting your self-tape. Some are even compact enough to travel with! (Bonus! Never miss an audition because you went out of town!)
  • SOFT-BOX CON: They tend to be bulky so you probably won’t want them in your living room all of the time. They can also be a bit annoying to disassemble and reassemble constantly.
  • RING LIGHT CON: They’re beauty lights… they run HOT (meaning: at best, you glow from your t-zone. At worst, you look like you’re dripping sweat.) Buy a dimmable ring light or divert the light by aiming it (at full brightness) at your white (or light-colored) ceiling.

Next self-tape topic… SOUND!