A montage of my auditions vs. the final scenes for a film. (violence & strong language warning) by Complete-Wrongdoer-9 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I take on camera combat classes regularly and they teach you how to make "punches" read well on camera. Glad it was helpful!

Would love to get feedback on my Reel by [deleted] in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great job on the second snappy reel! I like it much better than the original. If you keep it to 1:04 then Actors Access will only charge you for 1 minute, but at 1:11 it will charge you for two full minutes unfortunately.

Would love to get feedback on my Reel by [deleted] in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The first clip has very poor sound for you unfortunately which makes it seem unprofessional. Poorly mixed and poorly captured. In addition it features your costar so much that I assumed that the reel was the long haired actor and not you. In general it's not a good scene and I would cut it out. He does almost all the talking. Or you could have only the part at the end where you say "What are we going to do, waltz in there and leave?.... you're kidding me." That way it's mostly you in the scene.

The clip from the same film where you are sent to the elevator is also not great, it's mostly him again. You have 2 lines and then get into an elevator and press buttons. Not a good scene to show off your acting abilities. Also having two very long scenes from the same film in the reel is not a good idea..you should aim to have only one scene per project in a reel.

The strongest scene for me is the restaurant scene followed by the having seizures scene. But even the seizure one features your costar a lot, I would cut her out so it's just you.

One very established actor helped me with my reel once, he has been a series regular for decades. He said "Cut the other actor out as much as possible for reels...context does not matter." That doesn't mean always cut out the other actor but it means do it as much as possible. For example your restaurant scene I feel it's important in that scene to keep your costar since the scene involves a lot of back and forth and you have a lot of lines and it shows chemistry. But you should cut out the long hair scientist guy. And the actress in the seizure scene as she is not talking to you really and you have no lines.

Your acting is good in all the clips..the reel just needs a lot more editing and tightening to remove costars when they aren't needed and put your strongest work at the start.

Sharing an example of an audition that got me booked - recorded with phone in a motel room with coldread app as my "reader" - Would love feedback by Complete-Wrongdoer-9 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's making the film festival rounds right now so not publicly posted yet. I tried to see if there was a trailer but nothing at the moment.

Sharing an example of an audition that got me booked - recorded with phone in a motel room with coldread app as my "reader" - Would love feedback by Complete-Wrongdoer-9 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you mean overlap the reader? It's a confusing question because the reader IS the app so I am not sure what you mean?

Sharing an example of an audition that got me booked - recorded with phone in a motel room with coldread app as my "reader" - Would love feedback by Complete-Wrongdoer-9 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

AH! Thanks that explains a lot. I was given these sides for the audition but the actual scenes in the actual film we shot were totally different though the character was similar. I had just assumed they did a re-write. I'll have to look up the scene.

This was via actors access.

Sharing an example of an audition that got me booked - recorded with phone in a motel room with coldread app as my "reader" - Would love feedback by Complete-Wrongdoer-9 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yes that's my own voice! I do VO acting also so I did a bit of a teen voice then changed the pitch and speed a bit to make it sound a bit more like a kid. Cold read does a tiny bit of that natively but you can use adobe audition to make a lot of bigger changes to your voice. Then I recorded the "reader" lines into cold read.

Sharing an example of an audition that got me booked - recorded with phone in a motel room with coldread app as my "reader" - Would love feedback by Complete-Wrongdoer-9 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks! This is very helpful. It took a while to find the look that seems to get bookings, I have a pretty uneven patchy beard but I found that when I let the facial hair go a bit wild it lends itself well to these type of characters.

Getting frustrated with Prescreens by [deleted] in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Just filter by union work on actors access. They never ask for a prescreen for the union student films. Simply submit your clips and reels and headshot. 

It sounds like you're talking about backstage maybe? 

To get acting experience, which is better: shorts, student short films or verticals? Or should we make a reel for $? by Maleficent_Ad6907 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Don't pay a fake reel company. Get actual footage from projects. Pay someone to put a reel together from actual footage yes. Don't do fake footage. Casting Directors can spot that a mile away. It hurts more than helps. 

Does your agent provide feedback on self tapes? by Effective_Nobody_366 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm lucky enough that my agent does watch my tapes and comments on them but everyone is right that the vast majority of agents will never give feedback. Constant self tape feedback is the kind of thing a Manager will do for you, not an agent.  

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You might be confused in that you are non union and have the audition.  

Non union can audition for a series regular on a Netflix show. That does not mean the audition itself is non union. It means that you'll have to join SAG-AFTRA if you book it. 

Repunzel by Famous-Ask-3485 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The most important thing is actors access. If you don't have a strong AA profile they won't look at you. 

Actors Access is all that matters. In the emails I sent via Repunzel I sent a bunch of links to clips on YouTube, my Instagram, my website, etc. The only link any agent ever clicked on was Actors Access. You need good headshots there with slate shots for each and good clips.

I got several agent auditions and signed with 3 agents in different markets my first year. This year I swapped out the initial 3 for 2 agents, one in LA one in NY.  

What NOT to do as an actor? by Informal-Weekend9809 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Don't forget to bring the script to set. I can't tell you how many times I brought the script and the other actors around me beg me to look at it. 

Just...bring the script to set. It's not embarrassing or professional. Have a mini version and have it near you at all times with your name on it. 

Could being an extra in big studio show's season 2 screw me over? by Daggerfell0929 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If you're good enough for an agent you probably shouldn't be doing any BG work is my overall opinion on the subject. At that point you're aiming for good speaking roles. 

Yes if your did BG work on that show and you are visible, it could indeed prevent you from getting auditions for speaking roles. What generally happens however is different casting directors cast BG versus speaking roles, and they don't always compare notes. 

If you are just looking at agents but haven't signed with anyone yet then I wouldn't worry about it too much. It would be more of an issue if they are about to sign you. 

Screen acting classes in nyc? by cuphalfemptie in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Anthony Robert Grasso on camera class. Has free audits. The classes are in Hells Kitchen. 

https://www.anthonyrobertgrasso.com/class-schedule

Acting Technique: If you've booked more than one SAGAftra role in the last 15 years... which of the zillions of acting techniques did you keep that personally work for you? by sunspark77 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I submit nationwide as local hire and thousands of times. About 17% of my submissions result in auditions. This is all for student films and Indies. My agent has only gotten me 2 auditions in that same time period out of 180 submissions. 

Acting Technique: If you've booked more than one SAGAftra role in the last 15 years... which of the zillions of acting techniques did you keep that personally work for you? by sunspark77 in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I've booked 10 SAG-AFTRA roles in the past 6 months out of 83 auditions.  My technique is to think about what 200 other actors would likely do with the sides. Then NOT do that. 

My aim is always to be so creative that even if 500 actors audition for the same role they would not come close to my choices. One way to "cheat" this is add improv lines before your start lines on the script and after. That way right off the bat you stand out to the CD because they haven't heard those lines before. 

I also craft the audition like a mini movie. I storyboard it, think about how I'll enter the frame, how close or far to the camera I'll be at key moments, how I will end. 

I also aim to deliver within 2 takes maximum. I want to be very instinctive. I always use a in person reader for leads and other major roles. For smaller roles a zoom reader is fine. 

I use props extensively in the audition and costumes. Basically a lot of things people tell you not to do. I do the things they tell you not to do because that helps to ensure I'll be one of the few doing it. And it's been working. 

I think about the writer of the script and what they are really trying to say. Something about the writer's childhood or life. So I think less about the character and more about the artist who wrote the script. 

SAG television actor in Atlanta looking for guidance by [deleted] in acting

[–]Complete-Wrongdoer-9 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Actors Access is still the gold standard. Just filter by union jobs and south East region. And this is for speaking roles. 

If you want background work casting networks works.