Recent projects featuring Acting in Columbus students.
ACTOR DEMO REEL PACKAGES NOW ON SALE
Acting in Columbus has teamed up with TAKE 3 STUDIOS to produce actor Demo Reels with high end production values. If you lack content, we can shoot and edit scenes for your reel.
- Flat rates quoted on projects.
- Keep it short. Two or three minutes is plenty.
- You must grab the viewer's attention immediately. Long, "artsy" intros are unnecessary and self- defeating. The idea is to show quick clips of your work in a professional manner.
- Remember: the people who look at your work view thousands of demos. Your demo must grab them instantly. So let's make yours special.
- Packages can be split between two actors.
For more information contact Richard Mason: richardmason@actingincolumbus.net
See our sample demo reel below:
CAPTURING YOU by Mark Atteberry
The three questions your headshot must answer
If you've been an actor for any length of time, you've probably heard at least one of these statements: Your headshot is your most important tool, it's the one thing that will make or break your career, it's your first impression, and it's why you get cast or don't get cast. Really?! That's a lot of pressure to put on one photo session. So the $10,000 question is: How do you get a great headshot? And for that matter, what is a great headshot?
Headshots are, first and foremost, marketing tools. They are all about casting. Never forget that. Most actors think the purpose of a headshot is to show the casting director or agent what you look like. But in reality, it's so much more than that. Great headshots answer the three basic questions of casting: What's your look, what's your personality, and can you act? All three must be addressed or the headshot will be of little value.
Before we dive into the three questions, let me address Rule No. 1 of Headshots: Your headshot must look like you. Simple as that. It has to be real and natural and show what you really look like. Ask any casting director his or her pet peeve and chances are most will say, "I hate when actors come into the room and don't look like their headshots!" Stay away from high-fashion-style lighting, dramatic shadows, disproportionate or goofy poses, and anything else that makes the shot more about the photographer's artsy style than about you.
Now for the questions. The first question that a great headshot has to answer is "What's your look (or type)?" If you don't think typecasting is an integral part of this industry, you're sadly mistaken. It's often said that most casting is done in the first seven seconds after an actor enters the room, and it's true. In the blink of an eye, an assessment is made, the first impression is locked, and they've sized up your type. If that first impression is anything other than what you've shown in your headshot, you've broken Rule No. 1 and they're done with you. They called you in and wanted to cast you based on what you submitted. Casting directors decide which actors to call in primarily by looking for a match between the actor's type and the character's type. To understand good headshots, you have to understand casting.
Almost every casting director I've worked or taught with has said the same thing: They usually think of actors as being able to play one, maybe two, or at most three things. Agents will tend to say their actors can play anything—as any good salesman would—but when the rubber meets the road, they know full well how casting directors think. They know which roles their actors will book and which they won't. Whether you like it or not, you're going to get typed. Why not take advantage of it? If you do, you'll be way ahead of the pack. Once you're famous, you can play any type you want. But until then, take the path of most success and least resistance.
It's All About You
Second, a great headshot has to tell us, "What's your personality?" I have a saying: Acting, it's all about you! David Nutter, the brilliant TV director, once said, "Acting is autobiography." In other words, it's revealing bits and pieces of yourself, who you really are, in the lines and movements of someone else. When agents or casting directors look at your headshot, they should instantly be able to see your personality and who you really are. Show us something about you. Show us how hard your life has been and how you've prevailed anyway. Show us how you love, how you are at a party, or how you handle stress. Are you analytical, sweet, charismatic, parental, or enigmatic? We want to know, we really do!
The secret to capturing your personality in a headshot can be found in these two simple words: Have fun! Have you ever noticed that our best pictures are always the ones that our friends take when we're just hanging out, having a good time? It's because we're not trying to be something we're not. We're simply comfortable being ourselves. We're around friends who accept us as we are. This is why it is so important that you find a photographer you connect with. Make sure you meet with potential photographers beforehand. Make sure you have good chemistry with this person and can relax and be yourself.
If we see someone having fun in a headshot, we can't help but like that person. It's called the likability factor. Casting director Stephen Snyder said it best: "When I look at a headshot, the first thing in my mind should be, 'I'd love to hang out with that person.'?" Even if your primary type is the bad boy, the bitch, or the psychotic, if you're having fun, we can't help but like you. Anthony Hopkins said one of his favorite characters was Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs." Because he loved the role so much, we can't help but like the character, even if he is a cannibalistic serial killer.
PLAYING AROUND
Third, a great headshot has to answer the question "Can you act?" Meaning "Can you connect with the camera and have something going on in your head?" Again, if you bring in lines or scenes and play around with the photographer while he or she is capturing those moments, we'll look at your shot and say, "That's a great actor!" I once heard a commercial casting director say, "My favorite headshots are the ones where it looks like the actor is messing with the photographer."
Get specific, have fun, and make it an acting assignment. I've had standup comedians do their routines while we shot. I've had dramatic actors do Sam Shepard monologues. I've even had a well-known sitcom actor drop his pants in public (not to worry—he had boxers on and I cropped from the chest up). Be active and have something going on in your head. If you're thinking about your poses, we'll be bored and doubt your acting skills.
You've probably heard the saying "Great headshots are all about the eyes." It's true. They tell us who you are. If your eyes are dead or there's anything that distracts us from them, it's a huge problem. That's why we have rules like no big stripes or patterns, no giant jewelry or accessories. With agents and casting directors getting hundreds or even thousands of headshots each day, your shot has less than a second to catch their attention. Make sure it's the eyes they gravitate to first.
Finally, by way of example, take a peek at the headshot accompanying this column. It is probably my favorite of all time. This person gave me only eight shots to capture his "perfect headshot." So I simply asked him to recall the most defining moment of his life. And just before he spoke, I shot my eight shots. He didn't need to say a word. His eyes told me everything. Without ever having met him before, I knew who this man was, I knew his personality, and I knew how to cast him. I understood his rich history without him uttering a word. I've had more calls about this headshot than any other I've taken. No wonder; he was himself.
See if you can do the same in your next headshot session. The world is waiting to know you.
PHOTO: Columbus actor Jeremy Ryan Brown.
Acting for TV Commercials - Introduction to Acting for the Camera
Sunday, November 14, 2010 1:00pm -8:00pm $175
This class is limited to 12 students. As of November 5, 2010 there are five (5) slots available.
Learn how to audition for and break into the local commercial and industrial industry. You will learn how to make the first contact with the agents. By taking this class you have the opportunity to show the agents that you are serious about pursuing this type of work.This workshop will give you experience with the actual audition process:
You'll work on-camera all day doing both prepared and cold readings, and receive plenty of feedback from instructor Richard Mason.
Script analysis skills: We have written our own textbook that breaks this process down and makes it simple.
Comfort in front of the camera: How do you stand? How do you hold the script? How do you deal with your partner and the camera at the same time? What is a slate? What do you do with your hands?
Practice at doing all types of commercials: Scene work, improv, one-liners, bite and smiles, handling products, etc. You'll also learn how to market to the casting directors, all about pictures and resumes, how the unions work, etc.
PHOTO: Candace Bullock took this workshop earlier this year and is currently appearing in this SAFE AUTO Commercial.
CRAFT NOTES by Ed Hooks
“UNPREDICTABILITY”
Some place I read that the first thing actor Christopher Walken does when he commits to a new script is go through it and cross out all of the punctuation. He doesn’t want to be tempted to get into a line-reading situation that was suggested by the playwright.
Most really excellent directors will tell the actors at the first read to cross out those italicized stage directions that the playwright put in there. Words like “Lovingly” and “Tearfully” and “Excitedly” are eliminated.
I’ve directed maybe more than my share of plays and make it a point to instruct the assembled cast on the first day to eliminate blocking. Things like “She crosses to pour a drink.” Or “Sally gazes out the window”. Most often, those stage directions were put in there by the stage manager of the very first Broadway production. Amateur actors and directors can follow them if they want to, but it isn’t a requirement.
An exception to this is a playwright like David Mamet or Neil Simon, both of whom make a big deal about how they don’t want side directions taken out. If I’m not mistaken, Simon even has that in his movie contracts.
But let’s forget for a moment who the few exceptions are and focus on the averages. Most playwrights, once they get on a writing roll, will “see” the play unfolding in their heads and, if a character says something a particular way, will make a note of it. That doesn’t mean you have to say the words the way they heard it in their heads.
An actor has an obligation to say the words of dialogue as written. Period. There is no obligation to say them in any particular way, even if the script suggests that there is. Indeed, part of the fun of staging a play is making the character’s words your own.
Personally, my artistic respect for a director plummets if he or she does not instruct the cast to take out the italicized guidance at the first rehearsal or read through. I take that to mean that this particular director is going to be more like a traffic cop than a director. If the script says a line should be spoken “sadly”, this kind of director will make certain it is spoken sadly. Bah! Humbug! Don’t tell me to say a line sadly. The way I say the line will come out of the playing of the scene and depends a lot on what the other actors are doing.
By the same token, lines can be broken up to great advantage. Suppose a character has this line: “Jesus Christ, don’t you dare talk to me like that, mama!” Just because all of that is in one sentence doesn’t mean you have to run it all together. You might, for example, exclaim, “Jesus Christ!” out of exasperation, intending to say nothing more. Then the rest of the thought comes to you. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that, mama!” In other words, the actor might well make two lines out of one.
I have always advised my acting students that the best gift an actor can give his scene partner is to surprise her. Don’t be predictable. The two of you have rehearsed until you have a good idea what one another is going to do. Now, in the playing of it in front of an audience, forget about all of that. Reading a line of dialogue is not intended to be frozen. It comes out of the moment. I figure that, even if I have seen a play fifteen times, I should be surprised by the sixteenth production.
Writing about this takes me back thirty years to summer stock outside of New York. There was a young actress in the company whose idea of acting was to get your performance “right” and then never vary it at all. She said every line the precise same way every single time, and it was the most boring thing in the world to act with her. Sweet girl, though. I wonder whatever happened to her? She’d have made a great mom because her kids could count on her to be consistent.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
THE ACTOR'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CASTING DIRECTORS. By Karen Kondazian.
Karen Kondazian talks to the premier casting directors in film, television, and commercials from New York to Los Angeles.
While I'm not in the habit of recomending industry books, I do praise Karen Kondazian's, The Actor's Encyclopedia of Casting Directors. It's a highly practical, intelligently written work that will be an asset to any working actor or newcpmer who hopes to find work. The information dispened in the Q&A format will help you prepare for any auditon wheter it be for the particular casting director profiled or someone else you may be reading for. A quick note; not one day after reading the book I stepped into an elavator and came face to face with one of the casters profiled in the book, I'd actiually read for this person two years before but for the life of me couldn't remember her name. Then, miracle of miracles I somehow saw her face and name from the book, and was quickly able to make a proper introduction. I use the book regularly before auditons to refresh my memory as to what each casting directors' likes and dislikes are. -Thomas Mills - Senior Columnist, Backstage West
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