Self Tape 401 - Week 3
Okay, this is the last week of doing old 101 sides. The collective goal for the week is that we have a workshop full of auditions that hit on tone and hit on your rareness. In a perfect world, we’re seeing that diverse menu of actors we talked about.
Click on the link below to download your side. This is for a pretend streaming series shooting in Vancouver, Canada. This is a family dramedy set in a small town. Think “This Is Us“ meets Netflix’ “Virgin River.”
The role is a recurring, top-of-show guest star, and a possible romantic interest for one of the series leads. The character description is as follows: After years away, Chris (or Kelly) has moved back to Whitney Lakes. His/her return has started the town buzzing with rumors, because he/she had originally left under a cloud of mystery. Normally reserved and cautious, things really start heating up when he/she runs into Kelly (or Chris) at the local library.
Choose either the Chris or Kelly role and self tape it. Just pick your best take
Please shoot a full-body slate. During your slate, say your name, height, your citizenship (USA, Canadian, UK, etc), and if you have a valid passport.
Please edit together with your take(s) and then the slate and only submit one file.
In class, we discussed how you have the option of doing more than one take if you want class feedback as you experiment bringing your unique qualities to a role. The example I provided is that sometimes adding your natural sarcasm to an already sarcastic character, can be too much. If you choose to do more than one take, please put a text graphic before each take so we know what you are trying. (i.e. Take 1 – Playing with reserved by adding my studious quality. or Take 2 – Playing with mystery by adding my dangerous quality).
MOV, MP4, or MV4 files only.
Label the file Firstname-Lastname_ROLE_CITIZENSHIP (i.e. Homer-Simpson_KELLY_USA or Charlie-Brown_CHRIS_CANADA)
Email a downloadable link of your self tape file to scott@talktothecamera.com. Use a file transfer site like Hightail or WeTransfer. (No YouTube or Dropbox).
All file sizes must be less than 120 MB.
Due by NOON (PDT) two days prior to your workshop. (No late submissions without casting approval)
This week, you’ll have short snippets of homework as we dig into showing off your rareness on IMDb. To get the full benefit of this, you will need to be a subscriber of IMDb-Pro. It is $19.99 monthly or $150 for the year. I find it indispensable and entirely worth the cost. It’s also how the industry sees you, so it’s important to know how your rareness is being seen by the decision-makers. We will discuss all of this in workshop.
Homework #1A – Take 5 minutes to do this: pick your favorite major actor/director/editor/cinematographer and enter their name in the search box at the top of IMDb-Pro. When you start typing in something, it will automatically start suggesting names with people at the top, projects in the middle, and companies at the bottom. Find the person’s name and click on them. Then explore….what do you see? What is it about their profile that makes you know that they are a major actor/director/costume designer/casting director/etc? Now click on any of their projects, and look at that? How do you know it’s a major project? Click on any person working on it props/art director/actor — literally any one in the cast and crew. Keep going and going and going. What do you notice?
Homework #1B – Take 5 minutes to do this: same assignment from above, but specifically pick someone you either know or know of who has NEVER booked a network TV show or studio film or major indie. Same thing as above, put their name in the search box and find their profile. Click it then explore; what do you see? What is is about their profile that makes you know they are NOT a major actor/director/hair stylist/etc? Click on any of their projects, and what do you see? And click on any of the people working on that project and look at their profile. Keep going and going. What do you notice?
Homework #2 – Now click on this person’s profile. What do you see? Does that person lean more toward someone who works on major TV shows and studio films or someone who does not? Click around for a couple minutes? How do you come to that conclusion? Does this person’s profile make you more inclined to cast this person? Why?
Homework #3 – Now look up your profile. What do you see? Does your profile lean toward someone who works on major TV shows and studio films or someone who does not? Click around for a couple minutes? How do you come to that conclusion? If you were casting, would your profile make you more included to cast you? Why? (And if your answer is no, we’ll work on it in workshop!)
Homework #4 – Take a maximum of 5 minutes total to do this next one: your manager is pitching some projects for you to do. Let’s assume there’s a role in each project that you are perfect for. Enter the project’s name into the search section at the top of IMDb-Pro and as you type, the site will begin to suggest the right matches. Look below the People section to the middle part labeled Titles. Once you find the right project, take a look at the project’s profile to decide if you want to read for it or not. You can choose to do all four, or none, or anything in between. Why are you deciding this? What is it about the project’s IMDb-Pro profile that makes you want to do it or not? The projects you are being pitched are:
Streetside Flower (2020)
The Only Way Out Is Through (independent feature film)
Red Wedding (independent feature film in “pre-production”)
Abandon All Hope (TV series)
Common Areas (TV series)
Homework #5 – Take a maximum of 5 minutes total on this next one. Let’s pretend that you are putting up $650K of either your money or money you’ve borrowed from friends and family to produce a film. Congratulations, you are now a producer. You’ve hired a casting director and she’s pitching certain actors to cast in certain roles. Take a look at the downloadable list and look at their IMDb profiles. Which actors do you feel comfortable bringing in?
Homework #6 – Take a maximum of 5-minutes on this next one. You are looking to get a new agent and your friend gave you a list of agents she thought might be good. Enter the agency’s name into the search section of IMDb-Pro and look at the bottom of the search window to see “Companies” to find their profile. Then look at that agency’s profile to decide if you’d like to be repped by them. The following agencies are:
Michael Zanuk Agency (MZA)
A3 Artist Group
Houghton Talent
Here are links to Week 3’s required reading/viewing. Enjoy!
ARVOLD Conversation: 3 tips to make your demo stand out