Auditioning actors

Started by TheVoiceOfNick, July 02, 2003, 11:36:54 AM

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TheVoiceOfNick

July 02, 2003, 11:36:54 AM
Hi, i'm about to start auditioning actors for a short film, and I wanted to know how other people audition their actors. Where do you audition them (rent a space, at your house, at a bar)? My previous films have been with actors I didn't need to audition because the parts were written specifically for actors I knew already. This is the first production that I plan on paying actors too... i'd like it to be as professional as possible, but not extremely expensive! Anyone who has ideas, please let me know. Thanks.

Nick
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chainsmoking insomniac

#1
July 02, 2003, 11:38:15 AM
At a bar, man.  Go there on an off night (say, Tuesday) and start a tab.  That'll keep the bartender happy, and they'll leave you alone....

Just a thought. :)
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote: 'The world's a fine place, and worth fighting for.'  I agree with the second part."
    --Morgan Freeman, Se7en

"Have you ever fucking seen that...? Ever seen a mistake in nature?  Have you ever seen an animal make a mistake?"
 --Paul Schneider, All the Real Girls

SoNowThen

#2
July 02, 2003, 11:52:34 AM
Renting a space is a very good idea. And video tape everything, of course. My friend has a good method. He puts adds in local papers (some will do it for free), then when people phone, he meets them at a bar, or restaurant or some public place. If they're on the level, he gives them the audition time. It seems to work pretty well, because you get to meet them out of the pressure situation first, one on one. Then you hear them read in a (semi)professional environment when they come to the place you've rented. Our local film co-op rented us a perfect room (pre-lit, and everything) for $25 (canadian) a day. So that's like $1 American :)
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

mutinyco

...
#3
July 02, 2003, 12:32:51 PM
Make sure you have a clean couch and a camcorder... :)
"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research: he who fucks nuns will later join the church."

-St. Joe

82

#4
July 02, 2003, 01:01:15 PM
Post info in papers and at local theatres.. also.. ask the theatres if you can use their space for these auditions.. some may allow you to for free or a nominal fee..

Usually having them prepare a 2 minute monologue should be good enough.. and maybe a cold reading from the script..  But yes deffinatly tape record the auditions.

Im just waking up so i may think of other things in a bit.
"We're all one thing, Lieutenant. That's what I've come to realize. Like cells in a body. 'Cept we can't see the body. The way fish can't see the ocean. And so we envy each other. Hurt each other. Hate each other. How silly is that? A heart cell hating a lung cell"

Ghostboy

#5
July 02, 2003, 02:21:06 PM
If your state has a film commission, you can announce your project on their website. That's what I did and I got over a thousand headshots (for a nonpaying short -- if you're paying, you'll get even more). Then you can call them based on their headshot/resume and set up the audition.

I'd rent a space. I got to use a friends' conference room for free, but another film I worked on rented a room at the local recreation center, and that worked just as well. It only cost about 35 dollars.

Videotaping is definitely a good idea, although I actually ended up not using the footage as much as I thought I would have. Have sides printed up for them to read, but asking them to prepare a monologue is also great, since it's always nice to hear them perform something that isn't a cold reading.

I auditioned actors for four days, ten hours a day. It's fun at first, but then it gets tedious. And then there's the callbacks....

mutinyco

...
#6
July 04, 2003, 11:36:52 AM
I once did an audition at a friend's apartment. (We were doing the film together.) So, we're auditioning the first actress, when suddenly, his roomate walks into the room wearing nothing but a towel -- going to take a shower. Imagine the look on the actress' face.

So, yeah, that was pretty uncomfortable...
"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research: he who fucks nuns will later join the church."

-St. Joe

SoNowThen

#7
July 04, 2003, 11:44:35 AM
As a total tangent, anybody ever get the casting couch working? I mean on a no/low budget indie, with a genuinely HOT actress (which means that a decent majority of other people found her attractive)? Extra bonus points if she had a boyfriend. Super extra bonus points if he also acted in the movie.

Sadly, this has never happened to me. Actually, out of the 5 female parts I have cast for my two shorts, I've only been able to stand 2 of them, and actually continued to speak to them after the shoot. A good no budget shoot means grudges with most of the cast afterwards, and complete banishment from all locations used.  :oops:  :)
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

ReelHotGames

#8
July 04, 2003, 01:20:02 PM
QuoteA good no budget shoot means grudges with most of the cast afterwards, and complete banishment from all locations used.  

Sad. Sad. Sad. Mostly true. Sad.

My web series was a total low/no budget shoot - and I am actually speaking to most of the cast, though as our upcoming DVD will show, we recast about 4 roles after shooting had commenced (in one case on the last day of this actors call he up and quit over creative differences, it caused us to lose 1 actor, lose a major location and have to reshoot a total of 6 scenes - all for the better, still...)

Anyway, I hope my next film doesn't get me banned from the location, there is only one, Alcatraz Island and I'd like to be able to go back after we're done.  :wink:
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