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REFLECTIONS

In the working world of television, a director's contact with actors is often only for the duration of the job and although this enables a view to be formed about the acting process the opinions acquired are mostly based on short-term relationships and circumstances. These circumstances are confined by the nature of the work. One of the benefits of running The Rehearsal Room is the opportunity to observe actors coping with a variety of circumstances over a period of time. Watching actors over a series of auditions with different casting directors has provoked the following reflections about the audition process.

Actors and The Casting Director
PROCESSING THE AUDITION PROCESS

Assessing the comments given by Casting Directors to actors is a tricky business. Actors of course wish to please and impress casting directors and therefore listen earnestly to a casting directors advice. In fact listening to a casting directors advice is a very sensible thing to do for they are a very significant conduit to the working world for the actor. It has however been interesting to watch actors perceptions grow about the complexity of the auditioning process when they discover that two different Casting Directors can give them two absolutely opposing views as to what elements of their performance they should be working on.

Rights and Wrongs
The question that arises is, "Can a casting director be wrong?" And the answer is that they can't be. They have expressed their view about the ingredients of performance they are looking for and those views are clearly going to affect the way they judge the actors work. So, for the actor, what is important is not whether the Casting Director is right about the advice being offered but rather the understanding that different casting directors have different views and those views affect the choices that will be made about who is cast in any role. Actor's have to live with the fact that judgments about performance are very subjective and therefore quite diverse.

Different Paths
For example one casting director can tell an actor that they are too still and that they need to bring more physicality to their process while they may well be told in another audition that they are too active. And in fact, different directors and producers will also have different views and offer differing advice. How does the actor deal with this? The Rehearsal Room's view, which like everyone else's is only an opinion that should be heard and judged for its value, is the following. If an actor tells the story and is believable then they are doing the job well. In the audition room if those goals are achieved they have a chance of being considered for the gig.

Additional Components
There are of course other factors. Physical looks may play a part in the choice - although it is probable that those issues have been taken into account before the actor was invited to audition. How the actor responds to direction will also be a significant factor. The actor may look just right and do a very good reading for the character but if they can't take direction and bring clear and significant change to their performance it is a brave director that would give them more than one scene or a few lines to do. So, being believable and being able to change significantly while maintaining truthfulness are very important elements.

Making a Choice
What of the casting directors advice …? It should definitely be listened to. It is the key to the choices that the actor will make for the next take - so it is very important. Those choices will play a significant part in the successful outcome of the audition. So dealing with the information on offer is an important part of the audition process.

Sometimes the notes given to the actor are extensive and complicated. Understanding the intention of those notes can sometimes be difficult, particularly if there are a lot of them. How can the actor assess them?

The following thoughts have emerged as a result of The Rehearsal Room process.

A Functional Plan
The number three seems to be a recurring factor in many Rehearsal Room discussions. And on this occasion it seems that incorporating three changes into an audition performance is an achievable goal if those changes can be simply categorized.

Greater Risk
If a significant number of suggestions are being offered by the casting director then listening carefully and prioritizing the requests is important, for if there are a lot of notes it may not be possible to deliver them all in one take. The risk that struggling to achieve something minor might distract the actor from pursuing an issue of major significance is a very real possibility under these circumstances.

Identifying the Changes
One way of simplifying things is to group a number of items together as one. For example suggestions that tension should increase at two or three places in the scene can be collectively labeled as one item. This means the two or three moments of realization which provide turning points or gear changes in the scene can be grouped together as one - "a growing tension". It is important to note this sort of direction as it indicates that the casting director believes there should be a distinct escalation of the drama in the scene and this is an IMPORTANT ELEMENT of scene/story structure that the actor should endeavour to deliver.

In addition there may be a number of lines that the casting director is pointing out which could be played humorously. Rather than trying to remember all the lines and what readings are being offered this suggestion could be grouped under the a general heading of bringing a lighter colour to the scene.

And finally there might be a number of suggestions relating to the beginning or the end of the scene that could be grouped together under a heading such as, "make the beginning really energetic".

Having arranged about 8 or 9 suggestions into three simple groups

  • an energetic opening
  • with lots of light, "laughingly" colours
  • and a significantly growing tension through the scene

the actor is now organized to venture boldly forth in an open and trusting way towards an achievable goal.

So, prioritizing and simplifying instructions can significantly help deliver the essential ingredients of a complicated request.

If this is achieved then the most essential audition goals of delivering the story while being believable and directable have been delivered.

Letting small issues eclipse or distract from big issues is an important trap to avoid in the audition process.

Other traps for general auditions are:-

  • Using scenes that the actor has previously performed so that the process lapses into imitating an old performance rather than delivering a new one
  • Failing to listen (all casting directors can tell if an actor is not listening)
  • Striving to be different or unusual (generally means everything else goes out the window)
  • Not clearly identifying the story of the scene
  • Not playing turning points.

Allison Telford, Casting Director for the ABC in Melbourne offered the following advice to a recent Rehearsal Room workshop -

  • Always seek clarification if you are confused about any notes
  • Clearly identify and play the 'gear changes' in a scene
  • Keep the audition simple
  • Understand the detail of the scene (too many people work in broad brush strokes)

In addition she suggested that if an actor had difficulty understanding the instructions given by a director then this wasn't immediately seen as the actor's deficiency but rather an indication that perhaps this director and actor were not suited to work together. An interesting thought. Allison it would appear not only is searching for an appropriate actor for the role but also for an appropriate match of actor and director.

July 2003

Copyright © The Rehearsal Room 2003. All rights Reserved.


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