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The Power Of Inspiration

photo(1)L-R Anne Hubbel, Tiffany Shlain, Rose McGowan, Mamrie Hart, Kamal Sinclair

By Marci Liroff

In my last column, I wrote about how my film, “The Sublime and Beautiful,” made its world premiere at this year’s 20th annual Slamdance Film Festival. Slamdance started as a ragtag festival running simultaneous with the Sundance Film Festival, and features emerging talent in films made for under $1 million. While I was there, I tried (to no avail!) to get into screenings at Sundance, but tickets are at a premium and mostly sold out—or you stand in a long line outside in the cold, only to be turned away. But then I discovered the panels! The panels at both film festivals were eye-opening. Beyond being there for my film, I found my true reason for being there: inspiration!

Inspiration can sometimes be an elusive thing, but when it strikes, it’s so powerful that you just know you’re on the right path.

The Women in Film panel at Sundance was especially inspiring. Anne Hubbell from Tangerine Entertainment moderated, with guest speakers Tiffany Shlain (founder of the Webby Awards), YouTube sensation Mamrie Hart, actor Rose McGowan (at Sundance with the short film she directed, “Dawn”), and Kamal Sinclair, senior manager of the Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Story Lab.

One of the themes repeatedly discussed was “community supporting community,” and the notion that you should not wait to be asked to the party by looking for permission to create. There are so many different ways to “crack the nut” to launch your projects, whether it be in film, television, Web series, or theater. Whatever your art is, surround yourself with advocates, put together your team of like-minded, incredibly talented, and creative people, look for your mentors, and keep your eyes open for your inspiration.

A Slamdance panel discussing short-form content had Chad Hurley (the co-founder of a little thing called YouTube!) and brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, who were at Slamdance in 1997 with “Pieces,” before Steven Soderbergh hired them to direct George Clooney’s “Welcome To Collinwood.” They then directed the pilot of “Arrested Development,” became executive producers–directors on NBC’s “Community,” and most recently co-directed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

In this panel, they talked a lot about how short-form content (i.e., Vine videos, short films) can be a “point of access” to decision makers. Joe Russo says his daughter doesn’t watch comedy TV the way we used to. Now she watches Vine videos for an hour and laughs hysterically to get her “hit” of comedy. He mentioned Vine star Rudy Mancuso as a good example of how you can be discovered, “because somebody like me sits in an office, laughs, and says, ‘Find this guy.’ ” They liked him so much, they contacted him about doing a project, all from watching his six-second videos! I wondered if all this short-form content was fostering short attention spans in the viewers. I think our brains, especially in the younger folks, are actually being rewired to only be able to view and retain short-form content.

The Russo brothers suggested that if you’re a filmmaker, you should have scripts ready so that when you get the opportunity, you actually have content to show. Decide what kind of career you want and use the question, “What do you want to be doing in five years?” to reframe your thinking and choose your path.

So I ask you: What do you want to be doing in five years, and how are you going to get there?

Make sure to check out my new online course “How To Audition For Film and Television: Audition Bootcamp”. You can view it on your laptop or your mobile device and your subscription gives you lifetime viewing privileges for this course. I’ll be adding lectures throughout the year.

Glad you’re here.

Marci

USE PROTECTION

277236988_d9a4dca962Photo credit: Kanonn

By Marci Liroff

You’ve got an extremely emotional scene to do. You arrive early to your audition so you can get settled and get in your “zone”.

In the waiting room you overhear the casting assistant talking to CAA about sending a script to Mr. Famous Actor for your role. You can actually hear the actors auditioning in the other room and they’re getting a great reaction. You’re starting to question all your choices. “Eek! I wasn’t gonna do that!”

You shove your earbuds even further into your ears hoping you can drown out all these distractions that will be undoubtedly be your undoing. “I’m good. I’m in my zone. I can do this!” you repeat over and over. You’re calling up your character’s emotional past to grab onto the emotions you’ll need for the upcoming scene.

You’re ushered into the casting office and are greeted by a peppy and excited assistant OR a group of people that barely register that you’re in the room to audition. Then they want to chat. “How’s it going?/What did you think of the script?/Do you have any questions?” In the background you can hear the distinct sound of your heart beating so loudly that you can barely hear them asking you these inane questions. Then you realize, no, it’s not your heartbeat it’s the distinct sound of a drill because they’re putting on a new roof on the office while you’re auditioning.

Are we having fun yet? No, we’re not. How can an actor give a great audition against all these odds that seem to be set up as an obstacle course to make them fail? Protect yourself. Yes, YOU have to protect yourself against all these outside elements. Concentration is key but asking, or rather telling them what you need is also crucial. This is what I call “controlling the room”.  If you have a traumatic scene to do and you’re all geared up to connect to the character’s pain emotionally, then you come into an office and have to chat first – protect yourself. You can say, “I’d love to jump into the scene first then we can chat after.” It’s all about the way you ask/tell. If you’re polite and gracious you can get away with murder in this setting – as long as you’re not a diva about it.  Remember, we want you to do well. We want to help you. It’s ok to ask a specific question about the scene, character, screenplay beforehand but make sure that you can use the answer in a very specific way to inform the way you’ll play the upcoming scene.

If you get lost in the first few moments of the scene, stop and say, “I’m going to start over” and do just that – start over. Don’t ask for permission. You need not make a big deal about it. Don’t apologize and don’t have a meltdown. Remember, you didn’t do anything horrible – but if you flip out and say, “I’m so sorry, can I please start over? Damn I always do that!”, then you give me pause and I’m now worried how you’ll be on set if this happens. It’s how you handle these little speed bumps that shows us what a pro you are.

Remember, this is your time. This is your audition. Tell us what you need.

I’d love to hear about how you protect yourself in auditions and I’m sure it would help our community as well. Leave a comment and share this blog with your friends.

Glad you’re here!

Marci

 

 

To Be(off book) Or Not To Be(off book) – That Is The Question: 4 Hot tips For Success

 

By Marci Liroff
Many of you ask me if we expect you to be off book. For the first audition, we expect you to be completely familiar with the material, have read the script if available, and have made distinct character choices. You can look down at your sides for reference. But, as you come in for call-backs 2 and 3 times, and certainly for any test at the network or screen test on a film – yes, be off book.  You can still hold your sides if you need to, but be off book.  As you know, competition is SO stiff, and if the next guy is more prepared than you, then it doesn’t make you look very good.  For us, your behavior in an audition is indicative of how you’d be on the set.
  
Why would you NOT want to be as prepared as you possibly can? I always say, THIS IS YOUR JOB PEOPLE! Why would you come in and do a “sort of good” attempt at the material when you can be GREAT?! You’ve spent years training, you’ve done the work, you’ve studied, now go out there and be as fabulous as you can.
Being off book allows you to connect to the person you’re reading with. It makes your audition look more authentic because you are PRESENT in the scene. When the actor is continually looking down at his sides you sort of break the spell that you are trying to create. As the viewer or reader, it takes me out of the scene when an actor is reading off the page or continually looking down at his sides – usually at a crucial moment in the scene.
Being off book means you are going to be on your toes when that rare moment comes along and the director actually gives you notes in the room and asks you to do it again. Yay you! It means that he/she actually SEES something in you that makes them want to see the scene again with their re-direction. It means they want to see if you actually CAN take direction. Because you know the material like the back of your hand, you’ll be able to LISTEN and weave those notes into your already fine-tuned and thought-out performance because you’re not struggling with the lines. Currently I work with a director who is very articulate in “actor speak” and he’ll give you 10 notes on a scene and expect you to integrate them into it. Try that if you don’t really know the lines? Your head will explode!
Hot tip #1: Hold the sides in front of you. Turn the pages along with the flow of the scene so that if you do get lost, you can easily dip down and find your place and continue along, with ease and grace, and we don’t have to stop and start over. If you get lost – how you get back on track is also something we look for. If you have a total meltdown and start apologizing and freak out and dissolve into a puddle because you got lost or have to start over – that gives us pause because we wonder how you will be “on the day” if you aren’t handling things well in our little office when the meter isn’t running yet! We’re all human, we make mistakes. How we handle them is the key.
Hot tip #2: Holding the sides also shows the executives (network and studio) who are watching this audition outside the room, that it is a work in progress. It’s not a finished product. You can’t imagine how much they all scrutinize your performance. Since they’re removed from the work space (our casting office) they sometimes forget that we’re still playing – this is not a finished performance. When they catch a glimpse of the sides, it plays subconsciously into their viewing skills and reminds them that – oh yeah, these aren’t dailies. It’s subtle but it works.
Hot tip #3: Your memorization skills also come into play when you’re actually shooting. I cast a tv series last year and I couldn’t believe how often lines were flying-in as we were shooting the scene. Both producers were writers on the show and they were changing-up dialog while shooting. If you don’t have this skill-set now, go get it! Develop it. It’ll be the sharpest tool in your bag that’ll take you a very long way in this business.
Hot tip #4: Have you ever been given a scene and the other person in the scene has a long speech and they skip over the whole speech and just read the last line?! You’re all prepared to be listening and responding to the speech and they’ve jumped ahead and you’re totally thrown. Ask FIRST before the audition starts if we’re going to be doing this whole speech or all this dialog within their speech – then you’ll know whether they are going to skip over it or not. I usually advise my coaching clients to ask the CD or reader: “Can you please read the whole speech as it’ll help with my reactions?” Good idea, huh?
For me – one of the key elements in an audition is whether an actor is LISTENING. Whoever these CDs are that are skipping over large chunks of dialog so that they can get to your lines are SO missing the point here. I love to see the look on the actor’s face as he’s comprehending and reacting to what the other character is telling them. 
There are many ways to memorize lines – you have to find the system that works for you. Practice. You can learn a scene or a monologue every day and it’ll help your brain start to become comfortable with this process. Here is a long list of ways to learn lines. There’s also a great app called Rehearsal  which is great for memorization along with other wonderful bells and whistles. Figure out which one works for you and start sharpening your skills. 
In closing, please know that we’re not just looking for the actor that can memorize all the lines. That’s just one very small part of your performance. How you interpret the scene and the character and make it your own is what we need to see as well. Along with knowing the material well, you’ve got to be able to change things up if/when the director gives you adjustments. I see some actors get so locked-up in the way they’ve rehearsed it that they can’t make any changes. We need to see that you will be able to adapt to any changes that come along. 

You can read a version of this article on BackStage Magazine.

 
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Glad you’re here!
 
Marci