Auditioning potential cast members is your first chance to see the director/actor relationship at work. Even if you plan to cast your friends or family, be sure to audition them first. This will help establish a new kind of relationship and let them know that you’re treating your film as a professional endeavor (and encourage them to do the same). Some directors choose not to audition actors but rather simply meet with them to discuss the project. This works best if the actor is well known, with several films in release so that the director already has a general sense of how the actor looks and acts on camera.
There are two types of auditions: open calls (sometimes called cattle calls) and scheduled appointments (which more experienced actors usually prefer). An open call is when you advertise hours that potential actors can drop in and audition on the spot. Scheduled auditions are when you ask actors to contact you beforehand and schedule a specific appointment time.
Getting the Word Out
Before you can hold an audition, you need to have some idea of what you’re looking for. This involves another kind of script breakdown, this time by character. You’ll want to prepare a brief description of each character you plan to cast, certainly anyone who has a major speaking role. This shouldn’t be more than a paragraph or two, a brief summary of the character’s key physical or psychological traits.
Once you have basic descriptions for each of your characters, you’ll then want to distill these down to one- or two-sentence summaries of their visible demographic information: gender, race, ethnicity, age, general look. You might also include an adjective or two regarding their visible demeanor. This is the information you’ll use to advertise what types of actors should audition.
Because ads cost by the word, the goal is to be succinct but clear enough so that you are only looking at people you’d consider casting. Besides a brief character type, include the logline in order to give prospective actors a sense of what the film is about. Also let them know if there will be pay or if you’re expecting them to work for free. Be sure to include your contact information.
TIP: To keep everything more organized and separate from their personal lives, filmmakers will often buy cell phone services, create a separate e-mail address, set up a website, or rent a postal mailbox just for the production. All of these cost money, however, so you have to budget for them. But they can afford you a little bit of privacy, and these expenses, if used exclusively for your film, are tax-deductible if you keep all your receipts.
If your local community has a theater newsletter or an actors’ hotline, definitely place your ad there. Some local newspapers also have classified sections specifically for actors and musicians; if yours doesn’t, you could place an ad in the “help wanted” section knowing that you may get a lot of calls. You could also post an ad on the bulletin boards at local college theater departments or community theaters.
When posting fliers on bulletin boards, make the bottom edge of the flier a series of small tabs that can be torn off, each with a reminder of the ad’s content, such as “actor wanted,” and the phone number or address to contact you. This will help keep interested people from taking the entire flier or not contacting you because they didn’t have a pen and paper to write down your info.
You’ll need to decide whether this first call should be just for resumes and headshots or whether you want to go ahead and schedule the actors for an audition time or whether you want to create an open call for drop-ins. If you just want the actors’ resumes, you should only include a mailing address in your ad; if you want to go ahead and start seeing people in person, you’ll want to include your phone number and ask them to bring a headshot with them to the audition.
Before you can actually schedule appointments with your actors, you need to figure out where to hold the auditions. The ideal audition space will provide access to restrooms, a small check-in or reception area where actors can wait if they get there early, and a separate room where the actual audition takes place. Your home is an inappropriate and unprofessional location for auditions. If you have set up a production office outside your home, and it’s big enough, that might be okay. Otherwise, you’ll need to rent or borrow a room for the auditions. Many local municipal buildings and libraries will rent meeting rooms for a nominal fee, as will some high schools, colleges, and churches. Even community theaters might have a stage or meeting room they’ll rent.
Never hesitate to see if you can bargain the price lower or exchange free use of the room for a credit in your film. The worst they can do is say no. Any rental fee you do have to pay should be included in your budget as an expense of the film.
Author: Rick Alan Thomas
Source: ezinearticles.com
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