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Rejection
Rejection is a fundamental part of an actor’s life, the worst thing to can do is to feel that this is the end of any possibility of being an actor. If you are determined, then you have to go on and find another way through and absorb into your soul how to deal with the first of the multitude of rejections and disappointments you will no doubt suffer. In many ways you have an advantage over those who sail through these early stages. As they will face their first rejections that bit later when they are that much harder to cope with.
Stay in touch
Your Skype profile is the best way for you to keep in touch with our booking agents, don’t keep asking “What am I up for” it is extremely irritating as it takes precious time to comb through all the various lists. As an agency we deal with an enormous amount of paper. When possible we will volunteer this information. Leave it at that.
Your general aim is to make sure our booking agents have all the relevant information on your profile, this is the most efficient way for us to keep in touch
Often the office will be frantic when contact us. Don't take offence at an apparent brusque manner. Make your point quickly. Remember all that time we spend on the skype already, don’t add to that burden unless it is mega-important. And please don’t expect a response after hours. Always be contactable make sure you have your contact details on your profile.
You’re new Image
If you rapidly change your hairstyle, hair color or even growing a beard, you will need to get more professional pictures done.
We will look very silly if you turn up to an interview having been advertised as having long hair and you now have a crew cut. Although time can reverse some changes but we will lose credibility points with whoever is casting, and it could sour relations in the future.
What you’re up for!
If our bookings managers call you and tell you they have put you up for a part and nothing happens. Don't blame your booking agent. Often it gets down to the fickle nature of the industry.
Our working relationship!
We are not your slave nor your master. Ultimately you employed us- not vice versa. We hope you look at this as a partnership with each side having overlapping responsibilities.
We work harder then you will ever realize, we know what you go through in rehearsing a role, waiting hours on location in bad weather waiting for it to clear and giving your all. Trust and respect are essential.
The actor-agent personal relationship
Working relationships will often go wrong if they become too close. (The same can be true of actors interactions during rehearsals and productions, affecting the show) If you have personal problems, find someone else to help you. Your booking agent should only know about them if they affect your ability to work- then we only need the facts not the nitty-gritty detail. Any depressions about rejections and bouts of unemployment are understood. It is positively destructive to take those depressions out on your agent as it take valuable time and almost certainly depresses them and reduce their ability to work well for you.
The Appeal
Frustration from lack of work or lack of different kinds of work is a fundamental part of almost every actor’s working life. Don’t let it creep into your head. Too many people try to use their frustration with their current lot as grounds for appeal to the recipient’s better nature. An approach like ‘I’ve done my stint in children’s theatre, so give me a chance’ is not only condescending toward a fundamental part of the business but also reads like what I call a ‘winged’, that sound small children make when they’re working overtime to get what they want.
‘Brevity Is the Soul of Wit’
As for letters that go on for several pages, no director has the time. Especially those that go on about your whole philosophy of life, acting and the universe. Don’t laugh; people do it. Two or three hundred words - at most -are perfectly sufficient.
Flattery
Don’t resort to base flattery about one of the director’s productions. Compliments are very nice to receive, but some correspondents seem to think that going a little further can help their cause; it is not necessarily true.
People often try the more general gambit of ‘I’ve heard about the good work you are doing’ or variations on this theme; this comes over as ingratiating and patronizing. The other popular tack is the ‘double’ flattery approach: ‘Your Wonderful work would suit my talents precisely.’ All these statements may be true, but they are irrelevant, and often alienating to the recipient.
Your letter should be about you, not about them, but don’t overtly flatter yourself by making statements like ‘I am brilliant; you cannot do without me.’ That just comes over as arrogance.
Undermining Yourself
The more modest correspondents go for statements like ‘I’m a hard worker’, ‘I’d fit in well with your company’ or ‘I’ll do anything — even work backstage’. Acting is hard work, so the ability to shoulder it is a prerequisite for the job and therefore doesn’t need mentioning. Likewise, the ability to work well with other people. As for working backstage being the lowliest job — you are insulting very important people.
‘How Often Should I Write?’
It is extremely alienating to be pursued and complained at. If you’ve had some kind of positive response you think worth following up, never hassle but do gently remind. Always write to follow up; never ever contact us unless specifically requested to do so or unless you see a job listing on the skype profile that you are willing to do and are available for. And don’t keep on writing every month as some people do — you are only adding to our teams guilt complex, and you are even less likely to be seen. A gentle hint in about six months is probably the best approach, unless you feel that you can genuinely suggest yourself for a specific piece of casting.
Some Pitfalls to Watch Out For in Your Photograph
‘Are You an Actor or a Model?’
The other extreme — the glamour shot — is equally off-putting. Is this a dummy or is it a living, breathing actor? Don’t ask for bags under your eyes, moles, and so on, to be painted out. These phenomena are an essential part of you and cannot be removed for the hoped-for interview.
Funny Photos
Don’t try to be funny in your photograph, either. John Cleese may once have had a photograph of himself dressed as Elizabeth I, but he can get away with it — you can’t!
Mimicry
There is absolutely no point in mimicking the photo of a famous actor. It will simply demonstrate lack of imagination on your part.
Pornography
I have never received an overtly pornographic photograph from an actor or actress. I have, however, come across several examples of highly suggestive photos that have made me blink. My feeling is that, if you choose to advertise yourself in this way, you are going to such an extreme that I suspect you have very little else to offer.
The Last-Minute
Don’t try to get your photograph done at the last minute. Like performing, you need to be in the proper state of mind to have a good photograph taken. So make sure you’ve had enough sleep the night before or the results will add years to your face.
I would like to address the importance of having quality photographs!
Your photograph is a silent, static, two-dimensional representation of vocal, mobile, three-dimensional you. (‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’) It needs more thought than you might think.
Indeed, photos are the first thing any advertising agency or casting director will look at when they look at hiring you. Considering some commercial can pay up to and in excess of $1000pw it does pay to get organized with a good quality diverse range of shots show casing a diverse range of outfits.
Don’t be fooled by companies offering a free shoot often you will be:
- Asked to pay exorbitant royalties or booking fee’s, costing you thousands.
- Asked to pay around $25per image for the individual copies and due to the fact you will need around 30 quality photographs this can add up to $750.
- Give you one head shot in black and white that are often poor quality and are not worth even getting.
Other mistakes people starting out make:
‘My Friend’s got a Camera’
Indifferent and amateur photographs are another excuse to put someone to the bottom of the pile. An amateur photograph makes you look like an amateur actor or model. You’d be amazed at how many Bonus print-style snaps I have received — often with the actor, model, or extra blinking into a strong sun.
If you are serious about working in the industry and you don’t have professional photos of yourself we may be prepared to offer to cover most of the cost in organizing you a full professional portfolio if we are sure we are going to get a return on our investment through worst case scenario 10% of your earnings. Ask our coordinators if you qualify.
What we can offer you:
30 quality images showcasing a range of outfits to cater for the diverse types of scenes we work on. For example we worked on a scene with Nicholas Cage film in the city where they wanted people in business attire and the casting director only selected people with pictures of them in business outfits.
Please call (07) 32321130 if you are interested in booking yourself in for a photo shoot.
Method Acting-OPERATING YOUR EMOTIONS
Training is about gaining this ability to control your emotions. Intellectual clarity is necessary to focus on that or this feeling; next -- working it out to the full extent.
Completed action is always based on emotional completeness.
Here is a testimonial of the most known Stanislavsky trained actor, Michael Chekhov:
"I (have) said that we cannot directly command our feeling, but that we can entice, provoke and coax them by certain indirect means. The same should be said about our wants, wishes, desires, longings, lusts, yearnings or cravings, all of which, although always mixed with feelings, generate in the sphere of our willpower.
In the qualities and sensations we find the key to the treasury of our feelings. But is there such a key to our willpower? Yes, and we find it in movement (action gesture). You can easily prove it to yourself by trying to make a strong, well-shaped but simple gesture. Repeat it several times and you will see that after a while your willpower grows stronger and stronger under the influence of such a gesture.
Further, you will discover that the kind of movement you make will give your willpower a certain direction or inclination; that is, it will awaken and animate in you a definite desire, want or wish. So we may say that the strength of the movement stirs our willpower in general; the kind of movement awakens in us a definite corresponding desire, and the quality of the same movement conjures up our feelings.
Movement is only an expression of inner, emotional movement. "Master-gesture" term is a need to establish STRONG (shaped but simple) gesture. Sometime (often) I have to impose this "action gesture" on actors. This gesture becomes a character's trademark, his (not actor's) habitual movement. It works both ways:
From inside out and from outside in.
Character Development
Why do you need to do it?
To try different physical designs for your character. The WALK, for example. To HAVE a character is a first goal and rule of Improvisation. Go for a two or even one-dimensional stock character. Drunk, blind, pregnant, total idiot and etc. You can learn a lot about comedy, if you stick to one and only feature.
Two. You have to have some situation. The more extreme, the better. Fire, dying, stuck in elevator, bathroom is very popular.
Unless you're trained to think fast and have a good partner, you'll get stuck in the middle. Before you go into improvisation scene, you have to understand that the end has to be an opposite to your beginning and there is a "twist"! The same law of composition: "1 - 2 - 3"! You don't have to know it in advance, you must know that it is there. The contrast is everything in comedy. Tall and short, fat and skinny, fast and slow. Everything that can enhance the open conflict is good, throw it in!
Script Development
To help a playwright to see the potentials of the text. Again, don't improvise for everything at once. Set a goal. Is it a "situation" defining improv? Character? What side of the character you want to explore?
Actor's Mental Development
To help you "loosen up," to think on your feet, to respond, to train yourself on Re-ACTING. This is the skills development exercise. Could be an accent, a speech pattern, a walk and etc. Be specific. If you work on your "master gesture" -- get it, keep it, and only then you can move on other target. It takes a step-by-step development to get your character shaped.
If you feel weak in certain areas, identify them and keep working separately on each.
I use Entrance & Exit exercises to define the roles assigned in class. The door is your tool. How do you open it? How do you step in? Establish the stages of this process.We run workshops regularly if you are looking at furthering you skills contact our office on 0732321130
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