Casting Call Tips

With our second casting call for Stopover City rolling around I've definitely picked on to some of the do's and don'ts of casting calls. I thought you all would appreciate some tips for your future casting calls...

How to run a successful casting call

• Casting Location
• The location needs to be in an comfortable environment with ample room for actor to prepare prior to auditioning.
• Advertise Casting Call
• Promote your casting date on all social media (Facebook, Twitter, and the film webpage)
• Promote via posters *literally post them everywhere*
• Expand promotion outside of school, send mass emails and contact actor agencies.
• Choose Scenes for Actors to Read at Casting Call.
• Look for short scenes that involve the character interacting and illustrate a range of emotion.
• Have more than one scene available for reading.
• Make a schedule

• Rent Location for casting, and if needed equipment before hand to avoid any potential conflicts
• Extensive time block. *you want to avoid making the actor feel rushed.

• Distribute information sheets to actors
• At the end of each audition, you should provide the actor with an information sheet that contains the following:
• outline the days of production
• contact information for them to fill.
• Extra Tips for Casting Day!
• Be knowledgeable of script and all deadlines
• Have a script available. I recommend 1 electronic copy, and 2 hard copies.
• Have a script breakdown and character descriptions *actors will appreciate more context of their character prior to auditioning
• Have a camera ready to record the audition
• Have a sign in sheet posted
• Provide refreshments and snacks to leave a professional and lasting impression.

Scripts are for Squares

In the classical filmmaking sense, a director finds a script. She or he then auditions actors until he/she finds that special someone.


Maybe he’s looking for a heroic ladies man.




Or maybe, she’s in the market for a fat quirky lady to play the protag’s “best friend.”












In both scenarios, the director has a script, and has a very strong idea of what the actor should look like. English writer and director, Mike Leigh, adopted an entirely different directing technique.


You may recognize Leigh’s name due to his most famous works like:

“Naked” (1993)
[Best Director Award at Cannes Film Festival]




















“Secrets and Lies” (1996)
[BAFTA-winning, Oscar nominated, and Palme d’Or winner]

"Vera Drake” (2004)
[Golden Lion winner]

Or, maybe you’re just too young. Anyway, Leigh directs unlike many other famous directors of our time. For example, Leigh casts his films before fully writing/ obtaining the script. (At least this is how he produced his famous "dramedy" Happy-Go-Lucky.)




Leigh’s in that zone, you know, where you get the “concept” of the script, you just haven’t really gotten to the.. writing part yet. Anyway, this is where Leigh gets a little bit genius. Instead of doing all that hard work developing the character himself, he hires the most brilliant of actors and has them do it instead.


Rather than spending the bulk of his film production on set, he front loads his work to pre-production. Leigh emails his concept script to the same actors he's worked with in the past before they even accept the part. Unlike a regular script however, the actors are given a character, complete with the specific character's background story-- that's it. The actors are rarely given any lines, almost very little story context, and, best of all, they have no idea who the other character is. While most actors rehearse by running lines together, Leigh works initially one-to-one with each actor, developing a character who is based, in the first place, on someone he or she knows. It isn't until the characters meet on-set that they discover the  genre of the film.

Actor Eddie Marsan played a troubled character named Scott in Happy-Go-Lucky. Because of the dark nature of his character, Eddie Marsan thought he was preparing for a heavy drama, and it was not until he started working with Sally Hawkins that he realized how funny the film actually was.







"The world of the characters and their relationships is brought into existence by discussion and a great amount of improvisation – that is, improvising a character. And research into anything and everything that will fill out the authenticity of the character."  - Writer/Director Mike Leigh

It is only after months of rehearsal, or 'preparing for going out on location to make up a film', that Leigh writes a shooting script, a bare scenario. Then, on the shoot, on location, after further 'real rehearsing', the script is finalized.

"I'll set up an improvisation ,... I'll analyze and discuss it,... we'll do another, and I'll ... refine and refine... until the actions and dialogue are totally integrated. Then we shoot it."[8] - Leigh

Leigh films his scenes in the most organic way possible. Amazing actors become a specific character. By throwing these characters together, with only the knowledge of the scenario and their own personal “background” to go off of, the actors literally write the movie. This type of directing is rare, but amazing things come out of it.

The trailer for “Happy-Go-Lucky”

How to Get Arturo's Stamp of Approval: Short Film Edition

Since we'll all be spending the next few days thinking up the project that will control our lives for the next 2+ months, I thought it'd be nice to do a "Short Films for Dummies"-esque post on how to make a great short that we'll want in our portfolio.

As I'm sure you all expect me to say, a great short is nothing without a great story. Choose a story that you have a personal connection with. When the writer or director has a connection to the material, it demonstrates a powerful point of view--something that's much harder to find when you tackle big topics like space travel, the meaning of life, or an entire relationship. Then take your personal connection and tell a story of one character's or couple's journey, but no more than that. In a short film, there is little room for subplots and secondary characters and montages. Just a single dilemma that will be resolved by the end in some way. Short films are not about events, but the people those events happen to. While plot and twists are important, your film will be forgotten without memorable characters that your audience can empathize with. So you want a main character with a strong personality, including quirks, desires, and goals.

All great stories have three things in common: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Even if it feels like the story could go on or become part of a larger story, every short needs some sort of closure or resolution. Sometimes the hardest part is deciding where to start your story. You have a very short window of time to create a world that grabs the audience in. Mapping out your characters' journey is a good way to figure out where to start. You need to find the most visual and quickest way for the audience to get to know your character. Whether it be an image or action or line that makes the audience get where the characters are starting from, let that be your opening shot and scene. In a short, there's no luxury of 10 pages to set them up and tell us about their hopes, dreams, backstories, and all that little stuff you'd find in a feature. You've really only got your first page to make them interesting to your audience. In that first page, you want your audience to understand, connect with, and root for your character.

The last thing you want is predictable story. Audiences like when you set up their expectations, then subvert them. There should be twists in the first and last minute of your film. It's easy and tempting to use your film to say something cynical about human nature or relationships or society, but if you find a way to leave your audience with even the slightest positive impression, there's a much greater chance of it leaving a lasting impression on them and remembering your work. So if at all possible, end with a positive spin.

Let's move on from story to other aspects of making a short film. It doesn't take a great amount of money to make a great short, but it does take great production value. So how do you guarantee great production value? You start by choosing great locations. You want locations that add a visual element to your story and allow for great shot choices. When choosing locations, think about the tone and mood that each place creates and make sure it fits the tone and mood you have intended. In shorts, it's not just what story you tell, but how you tell it. The writer and director should always be trying to get their voice and style across. That includes having visuals and moments that show off voice, style, POV, technical awareness, knowledge of shot composition, depth, etc. You absolutely, positively must be prepared before you get on set. You should know exactly what you need to get from every scene, including what emotion, what action, what shots, what tone, etc.

Back to budget. As I said earlier, short films do not require much money. To keep your production at a low cost and on schedule, start by writing a project with only a few locations and a few characters. The fewer locations, the better. As for characters, try not to have scenes that call for a dozen extras. The more actors you have to manage on set, the more difficult your life will be. Quick side note. I'm only going to say one thing about the casting process. When casting, don't cast your friend cause they bought you beer or your professor's son out of convenience. Hold auditions like the young professional that you are. That is all. Another tip for saving time on set (and budget, if you're feeding your cast and crew as you should be) is to try to keep the times of days in your scenes as consistent as possible. Having all day scenes or all night scenes will condense the number of shoots you can film your short in. And the last thing you want to do is have a scene focused around a specific hour, like sunrise or sunset. You're practically guaranteed to not get everything you need in time and may lose a whole day of production.

If you want this next short to be one that you submit to contests, then it should not be longer than around 12 minutes. Festivals need to fit numerous shorts into 90-minute slots, so they can't program a short that takes up one-third of their time. The average length is about 4-8 minutes, plus end credits, which could add a minute or so to your short.

In conclusion, keep your short, short.

It doesn’t take a great deal of money to make a great short, but it does take great production value. - See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/notes-margins-elements-great-short-films#sthash.8wTX71zo.

It doesn’t take a great deal of money to make a great short, but it does take great production value. - See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/notes-margins-elements-great-short-films#sthash.8wTX71zo.dpuf

It doesn’t take a great deal of money to make a great short, but it does take great production value. - See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/notes-margins-elements-great-short-films#sthash.8wTX71zo.dpuf

Extra, Extra, Read All About It

Over the past couple of years, I have been a pretty avid follower of the yahoo top news stories. I know its not the greatest link for news, but it gets the job done and helps me stay knowledgable about what's current. Recently, I just saw an article that talked about movie extra's in feature films and how people will do anything to even have a chance to be on the big screen. The producers and directors will normally send out a mass invite to anyone in the local area interested in part taking in his/her feature film. This past summer, I drove out to Heinz Field In Pittsburgh, PA to be apart of the The Dark Knight Rises. The final batman movie had a scene in the stadium where the main villain interrupts the game being played with explosives and fireworks. It was sweet to see all the cast members and have the chance to be in the background of a very popular soon to be film.

At the end of the article i was reading, the author provided a link to a youtube video of the world's most used extra. The video identified the person in over 50 films and

shows, a pretty impressive number if you ask me. The man's name is Jesse Heiman,

a 33 year old actor who still to this day plays teenagers and young adults in the backgrounds of many films. In some cases, the actor is paid for the countless second he is on the screen for. I thought it was cool to have a chance to be in one movie, but this guy has been in over 50, a number that will probably never be topped.