Casting Session

Today I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in a casting session for some online episodes the Church is producing.  I was assisting the producer, the casting specialist, and the women who is in charge of the website the video series will be posted to.

Staring next spring the Church is going to be launching a new website for Young Single Adults.  They are creating a video web series for this website.  Today we were casting the host for that video series.

I learned a lot about casting.  It's long, but at the same time it's fun and worth it.  There are a variety of people who showed up today.  People who were nervous, people who were too energetic, people who were over confident, people with a lot of acting experience, and some with no experience at all.

Things I've learned include:

Stage actors tend to be really big; lots of motion, bigger facial expressions.  For film, that isn't always really good.  Stage actors have to convey the emotion to a live audience; they have to make sure the guys way in the back of the theater get the same experience as the guys in the front seats.  Film actor aren't so big because they aren't acting in front of a live audience, they are acting in front of a camera and talking into a microphone that's straight above their head.  You don't yell to a friend standing next to you in real life, you don't use a lot of body language when talking to someone right next to you - film actors get that.  Stage actors seem to be more dramatic, and film actors seem to be more realistic.  Both acting styles are good and have their place.

Also, the term "slate" can be used as a verb.  I've previously known slate to mean the clapper board AKA marker board. However, in auditions actors "slate" to the camera.  Which means they introduce themselves.  They state their name, their talent agency, their age, and other important information.

I was grateful for this experience today and I hope to continue to learn new things everyday!  I love my job and I am excited for all the new learning opportunities!