Commercial castings can be an actors nightmare.
They can often feel like cattle calls, you are often seen late, have been waiting in a small uncomfortable waiting room, paired with someone who you have no rapport with, and keeping an eye on the clock because you should have been back at work ten minutes ago!
Don’t let any of this get to you, it will read on tape. You need to go into every casting with a professional and likeable attitude, and for commercial castings this is doubly important.
I strongly believe that getting a recall is based on a combination of three things: Looks, Talent, and Personality.
Yours looks are probably the most important factor. You need to look right for the product, for the target market of the product. A commercial will probably last under a minute so the audience needs to ‘get’ who you are and identify with you in seconds. If you don’t look right for this role and this product it’s unlikely you’ll get a call back.
Your talent and creativity is really important. If you are reading a script or more usually improvising around a script then you need to add some magic to it. The tape will be watched back by the creatives and if you can bring their vision to life and enhance that vision then you stand a good chance of coming back and meeting with them and the clients.
Your personality is equally as important as your talent and it is your personality which you can easily leave outside the room. Personality, confidence and your unique ‘essence’ need to be present in your introduction, and if you get wound up or flustered outside the room this can be read and seen on your camera introduction and it’s unlikely that the director, clients and creatives will think you would be fun to work with.
For me, the biggest thing that nails jobs is attitude.
People bring the wrong stuff into the room. They bring in their own drama.
You don’t go on a date and start moaning about your life. It makes you unattractive!
People bring the wrong stuff into the room. They bring in their own drama.
You don’t go on a date and start moaning about your life. It makes you unattractive!
At the start of any commercial casting you will be asked to give your name and agent to camera. Your introduction to camera is the first thing the people who might hire you are going to watch, and it is so easy for you as an actor to overlook the importance of it.
At a first call for any commercial it is quite likely that there will be 50 to 100 actors seen. This will probably amount to about two and a half hours of video footage for the powers-that-be will have to watch and more than likely they will watch this in about 30 to 45 minutes.
Yes, that means a lot of actors will not be watched or will be watched on fast-forward.
How you look will determine if you are watched or not, but also how your personality comes across in that initial introduction has a lot of influence. Those few seconds often determine if your actual audition will be watched or not.
The saying goes “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” and this is especially true in a commercial casting.
Relax when you introduce yourself. Think about how you introduce yourself normally to people, it is never too forced or powerful, it is relaxed and real and comes from a place of genuinely wanting to make a connection.
Focus on one of the people in the room and keep them in your mind. When you look down the camera lens imagine it is that person and say “Hi, my name is XXXX XXXXX, and I’m represented by XXXX” or however you want to say it, use your words, make it different and real each time. Don’t find yourself ‘locked’ in a way of saying it or it will become too rehearsed.
Tips on Commercial Castings – How to give good ‘slate’
Here are some things to keep in mind when you are saying your introduction down the lens at a commercial casting:
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Don’t be too perky, or cutesy.You will probably come across as insecure and working too hard to be likeable. Yes, you should smile but only if it a genuine smile. The camera picks up everything and if you are forcing a smile you will come across as insecure.
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Don’t be moody.If the waiting room has got you annoyed or the journey on the tube was hellish – leave this attitude outside the door. Approach the casting with curiousity and fun. Being moody, arrogant or annoyed will read on camera and you will come across as someone who won’t be fun on a shoot which might have you hanging around a lot. No one wants to work with a diva.
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Make Eye Contact with the camera.You will look shifty if you are looking around the room and it might look odd if you are directing at the casting director. Look into the lens, don’t glare and stare into it. Just softly look in and imagine you are introducing yourself to someone you genuinely have an interest in meeting.
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Speak normally.Don’t rush, but again don’t speak too slowly. Just speak at your normal pace. And whatever you do don’t push your voice and talk too loudly. Actors who talk too loudly will often look like they have little or no camera experience. It will appear too much and almost amateurish.
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Don’t Try, Just BeThe camera will probably be framing you for a mid shot or a close up, so when the clients and creatives watch it back it will look like you are only two or three feet away. Being too big, too expressive and too loud will all be a distraction from who you are, and will probably make you look too much like a theatre actor and not a screen actor.
Don’t underestimate the importance of being you and being genuine when you introduce yourself on camera at a commercial casting.
If you can be positive, relaxed, self-assured and likeable when you say hello who you are and your agent, then if you also look right your audition will probably be watched in full.
If you can relax and be yourself when you make your initial contact in the casting room, it will put you in touch with the people in the room, the people watching the tape and also put you in touch with yourself and your own instincts and means you will probably give an even better casting.
The first impression is EVERYTHING so put your best foot forward from the first moment of your audition! Learning to get out of your own way and enjoy the process is half the battle. Be yourself and you’ll never let yourself down.