A lot of people post about self-tapes these days and it's a main topic of conversation whenever actors talk to CDs etc. So much has been said about over-perfectionism and doing takes over and over and over again and I just wanted to share a realization that helps change one's mindset when it comes to doing these. Obviously people have talked about how if you're doing too many takes, it means you're not prepared enough - so clearly, you should **memorize properly**, **analyze the beats** beforehand, and then **do truthfully in the moment**. If you're making huge mistakes, then it's preparation that you're lacking. But once all that is done, you need to understand that if you are at a level where you know what you're doing acting wise - you trained, have good impulses, and know how to break down a script - your tape, whether good, or great, is only gonna book you the job **IF YOU'RE RIGHT FOR THE ROLE.** And by that, not only do I mean, your appearance, dumb stuff like your height or eye color, but also your **ESSENCE.** Are you this person, or is there something about you that helps build the compelling character portrait the writer or director is trying to share? **Everyone wants to believe they can play characters but nobody plays characters until they're an established, in-demand actor.** There are simply too many people to pick from who would fit the bill at an entry level. Once you understand that **it's not about you**, and statistically you are only the best person for the role every once in a while, your tapes will simply be a way to show **what you bring to the role**, your version of it. What you would do if you were offered the part - and that might not be what they want, but that's what you can bring to the table. If you're not yet at a point where you're nailing what feels like a take you'd be willing to send within 3-4 takes, view the self-tapes as an opportunity to **practice and get better**, until you're able to do that. Personally, if you're gonna do it again, I'd say do it through twice, watch the thing, understand what beats you should hit differently and if you're doing everything right from a technical stand point, then do it once or twice more.
I work with and advertise for brands on Tiktok and we are looking for people interested in making content for us! No need for crazy equipment, cell phones are great! ​ Our hope is to gather a short list of creators capable of shooting organic feeling content to be used as tiktok and social media ads. If we enjoy working with you and you are interested, we want to make it an ongoing partnership and whenever a contract comes up, we contact you for first dibs. ​ Get a contract, accept it, shoot some quick content, get paid! ​ If this sounds like something you would be interested in, send me an email and we can connect and work out some details. spencer@pilothouse.co ​ Disclaimer: we may ask for you to shoot a video or two for a fake brand to make sure your quality + vibe are what we are looking for. We will also share over some great ads as inspo as well! ​ Thanks for your time!
Although learning lines and doing the character work is crucial, what are ways to keep yourself spontaneous and open in an audition when a scene? I hear so many stories of actresses that did something that was completely unscripted or risky that made winning scenes or even got them the roles so it’d be interesting to find out ways to prep yet remain open. A perfect example of this is the story of how Margot Robbie won her role in Wolf of Wallstreet: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/how-margot-robbie-won-over-leonardo-dicaprio-after-awkward-audition-moment/news-story/e02a7388a652810fd7a3c9c068323753%3famp
Long story short, I auditioned for a supporting role in a rather large studio film. After sending in a self tape, I was scheduled for a virtual callback with the director, producer, and CD’s. The callback went AMAZING, the director and I just talked normally for a good fifteen minutes beforehand and got along extremely well, and after doing my scenes she told me she had absolutely no notes for me and that watching me act had been the highlight of her entire day, and that she enjoyed watching me act so much she could do it all day, and that actors that could do that were rare. I left feeling I had crushed that callback and that it was out of my hands now. Four days later I get a call from my manager telling me that I’ve been pinned for the role and that me and two other actors had been sent to the studio for approval. This was on monday. I was extremely excited and glad that the audition room had felt as good as I thought it had. It is now thursday night and I’ve heard nothing. I have been “pinned” for things before, most recently a tv series lead and I was contacted about those after about three days to let me know I booked it, so it being that time and not hearing anything has got me worried. I know I’m going to be told whether I booked it or have been released once a decision is made, but I’m worried I’m now just sitting in waiting as a possible backup, or something like that. The project begins shooting on location this month, so I would imagine they are working fairly quickly. Thoughts?
***Me & a team are writing story's to animate and whichever gets more votes wins & gets animated, were looking for Voice actors to fill those roles, join the discord for more information.*** [***https://discord.gg/rZpUAVT9mW***](https://discord.gg/rZpUAVT9mW) ***:) dm mxrsh0.x#0460 once joined and you'll be assigned Voice actor.*** Were also looking for animators, (UNPAID) you will receive pay later in the season but for now UNPAID and entertainment only work.
Just curious if other voice actors share this hobby.
International actors working in Hollywood, please share your experience and process for obtaining your O1 visa. Is there any specific advice you'd like to share? How long does it take? How was the interview, what did they ask for? Did you use a lawyer and how much were you charged? Do I need to have an agent/representative? All that.
the resumes.breakdown express.com link comes up when you search my name on google was wondering how to make that go away
I'm a director (very small time, but still a director). I'm curious what things directors do that annoy you as an actor so I can work on not doing them myself. Does anything commonly peeve you? Here's your chance to vent.
So, an actor needs empathy for the character he plays to access the emotions but on the other hand some actors eventually become the character and the emotions are true. Which method do ya prefer?
How does an actor stay in the scene in a closeup? when the camera is infront of their face.
Surely anyone would say, It depends upon the character there is a role for everyone but that’s just for “certain role”. Considering there are actors like Al Pacino(5’6) who had played several types of movies from gangster movie to love story, he fits for every role. Height really doesn’t seems like a problem. So what is ideal height or let’s say less than what is unacceptable for leading role
What is the best place to hire an actor online ? Actor has to film the video himself at his own location 100% online gig. Its the role play of a zoom call. We will give the script Max time required is 30 seconds. Which is the best place to find actors for the job ? Any help would be appreciated. Budget $20 \~ $30 for the 30 second video. EDIT : DM via chat if you are interested to see samples.
Let's say you're auditioning for a commercial with another actor and the casting director asks you to enter the scene and already be in middle of conversation or story. Do you have any go-to stories, lines or something that you use when starting off a scene? Like, "and that's why I can't live with cats because my allergies are horrible." Would love to hear examples.
So I’m an aspiring actor and I’m just starting to get out into the acting world! I don’t have an agent as yet but I recently stumbled upon an open casting call. They aren’t looking for anything specific but the thing is my hair is extremely short (boy cut) and dyed blonde but my headshots are with a black Afro wig. I’m not sure if I should film my self tape with the wig or with my dyed short hair, I don’t want to throw the casting director off and possibly miss my chance for such a minuscule thing. Or if I should also just take headshots with my short hair as well and send that one in instead. What should I do?
I am a cinematographer by profession, but making my first official directorial debut on a short dark comedy. I am looking for a few people who might be free oct 9th between 6pm and 10pm for a shoot in los angeles. UNFORTUNATELY, as most shorts go, I am out of pocket on this and dont have funds to pay. So, if you just like taking part of fun projects, and would like credit, please DM me. my reel = [www.zakaree.com](https://www.zakaree.com) ​ instagram.com/dp\_zee ​ the story is fun, and it will have amazing photography
The final episode of our show is here, we'd love it if anyone from this page would be kind enough to check out the series and give us some feedback on the show, both narratively and technically. Hopefully you'll enjoy it. We're looking to network a little more with the wider community, so, if you did feel like dropping us some feedback, either leave a comment or drop a message to Short Tale Sounds. We're really happy with the performances in our show and would love to know what you everyone thinks of it, but also to hopefully showcase our performers to you all. Here is the playlist for the full series: [https://soundcloud.com/shorttalesounds](https://soundcloud.com/shorttalesounds?fbclid=IwAR3da0i8J9gax7iOp5FwvjHTXk13o31Nr7Zx7z23M3YYF9naBvwu_IL3F1c) The Show has featured on BBC Radio Bristol and BBC sounds and is nominated in the Audio Verse Awards 2021. We've loved the process of making the show; the auditions, callbacks and time with the actors was easily the highlight of the whole process. ['The year is 2036. The world stands on the cusp of an unparalleled medical breakthrough. Lead Researcher Robert Lyndon and his team of scientists have finally unearthed sufficient samples of the elusive Crye Chitin. As the team begin their final journey aboard the deep sea vessel PROTEUS, unexpected circumstances will not only threaten the lives of the crew, but potentially billions on the surface above. With power low and the situation critical, Captain Todd McAllister and his crew must battle a race against time to avoid a most gruesome fate.'](https://preview.redd.it/osf3lru06hq71.jpg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e194fbf3551d23573115156ce28632784dcfdce) "PROTEUS is our 4-part audio drama. Episodes will air on a weekly basis on five platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Audible, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, and YouTube. More information available at Short Tale Sounds. Written by Joshua & Fletcher, PROTEUS is the first production from Short Tale Sounds. Episode titles are as follows: ‘Down and Out’, ‘Forced Farewells’, ‘The Judas Kiss’, concluding with ‘A Captain’s Promise’. In total the series runs at over 70 mins and promises stellar performances, drama, action, suspense and punch to the gut emotion throughout. With PROTEUS we set out to do things a little differently, we wanted an experience which was Inherant to the formula of a typical audio drama, but also one that would incorporate a cinematic sense to its storytelling and sound design.We wanted the story to be a truly transformative experience for the listener; one in which they too have to survive the journey of the PROTEUS. We set about doing this by crafting sound scapes that not only felt real, but also were willing to push that sense of scale and scope. For example when it needed to sound terrifying, we would add in a lot of elements and processing to provide the audience with this incredibly surreal environment with sounds both familiar and foreign to them. This has been aided no end by the incredible performances of our cast, they became the characters and through their every emotion, line inflection, beat of tension, they take the listener on a wild and impactful ride. We couldn't have done it without them."
I feel like as a voice actor you HAVE to be really social and likable to be able to pull from your social experiences to make your performances dynamic. The thing about me is I’m an only child and grew up being bullied and outcasted so my social skills are very lackluster. My looks also get in the way of me being able to develop my social skills, though despite this I want to be able to anyways. The thing is because of my unattractiveness when I try to socialize people either ignore me, or keep the convo really short. It just hurts because voice acting means so much to me. I want to understand people psychologically so deeply and be able to connect with them but things outside of my control make it hard. Have any of you ever experienced this? If so how did you push through it and what would you recommend ?
So a reoccurring thing I’ve noticed many actors will say is to get your foot in the door, get in contact with casting directors. How do you even go about that? I feel like networking is so hard when you don’t have people around you in the industry.
Too long didn't read summary: We enjoy playing D&D together online and publishing it as a podcast (just a hobby, doesn't earn money). We're tired of people trying to join us with a potato instead of a microphone, so we're posting this here because voice actors make the best podcast recording friends. :) Do you want to play D&D? ​ ​ Full post: ​ Would you enjoy joking around with friends on a D&D podcast? ​ Are you a friendly person with a good microphone or willing to get one, who is interested in playing Dungeons and Dragons on a podcast? You’re welcome to play with us. We’re Firebreathing Kittens: a silly, light-hearted D&D podcast. Every game session has a self contained plot with a beginning and an end, and gets released as its own episode. Our members play every other week to every other month, as often as works for their schedule. If we’re laughing together on our show, then we’re doing it right. The main idea behind Firebreathing Kittens is that it’s all about hanging out with friends. If you’ve ever been watching the anime “Fairy Tail” and thought to yourself: “I wish I had friends who supported each other like that”, well, we thought that too, so we made it happen. ​ D&D Experience: No previous Dungeons and Dragons experience is required. We do ask that you please purchase and read the 5th edition Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide. These are hardcover books published by Wizards of the Coast. The player’s handbook is about 300 pages long, but it's not written with the intention of being read in page order necessarily. Read the start of each chapter to see if your character uses those rules, rather than reading it in order of page numbers. For example chapter ten on page 200 has how to cast spells, a very basic thing all spell casting classes need to know how to do. If you’re playing a character that doesn’t cast spells, then you can skip that chapter. Use the table of contents and glossary to find the sections your character build needs. There are youtube tutorials on skills, for example Critical Role’s video “Handbooker Helper: Skills” and on how to fill out a character sheet, for example the Jocat’s video “A Crap Guide to D&D \[5th Edition\] - Character Sheet”. If you'd like, you can listen to our episodes as an example of how the game is played. You can find our Firebreathing Kittens episodes on itunes, iheartradio, spotify, podcast addict, etc podcast playing apps, on firebreathingkittenspodcast dot com, or on youtube. Listening to an actual play podcast can be a great way to learn how to play D&D. ​ Standalone Plot Format: Each week's four hour long game session of Firebreathing Kittens has a beginning and an end to its story. Because of this format, the individual adventures stand sturdily on their own. This is an “anthology” format. You don’t have to play every week to level up. Once you start playing, long term, you'll probably want to listen to the other episodes to see what your friends got up to, what the NPCs were doing, and how the overall season long story arc is developing, but jumping in and out of the campaign as your schedule allows is kind of the whole point of our setup. Each member is an adult with their own individual life, and everyone wants to have the freedom to play D&D as often as their current schedule allows, which may change. Players are welcome to play as frequently as every other week, or as infrequently as every other month. There is a big signup calendar at the top of the page we use to organize games. The group organizer posts new open spots weekly. Members comment on the calendar to join an open spot. You pick which weeks you play, and you can see who’s in the game you’re joining. ​ Long Form Story Telling: Some people have commented that they enjoy long form story telling, and are not sure how it would work with an anthology format. Never fear, you can totally do long form story telling with individual episode anthologies. For example, Bones is a TV show where each episode is a standalone mystery, but there's an overarching story in each season. We’re a bit like Bones. (Ah, well, realistically we're probably a bit more like Midsomer Murders 'cause we get a bit wacky. (I killed him for the orchid! \*screams!\*) lol.) An example of a recurring non-player character in Firebreathing Kittens could be Hans Fessenden. He first appeared in Pixie Problem as a son of rich parents working a token job but who dreamed of writing poetry. The adventurers kinda ruined his parents’ business in that adventure. He next appeared in "One Year Later", where he was trying to make it on his own as a poet but ah, his poetry sucked, and he drank a lot. The adventurers had to deal with him as a sloppy drunk. He appeared again in "Sons of Anarcrud" after cleaning up his act because his rich parents had hired the adventurers to find out if the woman he was fathering a child with really was having his kid, or if she was just using him like a cuckoo to get his family’s inheritance money while having someone else's baby. "Pixie Problem", "One Year Later", and "Sons of Anarcrud" all used Hans Fessenden, NPC. So, that’s one way there can be long form story telling even though each individual story stands alone. Recurring characters are pretty common. Examples: Chauncey the butler, Uncle Algenoth, Simmond the Kind, Enzo Aarestrup. It just kinda happens naturally when there’s a character people love and you’re all collectively storytelling together. ​ Our game calendar looks a bit like this: Level....Date.......................Members.....................................Airs ...8....Aug 1/2......DM Liam, Players Olivia, Noah, Emma....Sep1 ...8....Aug 8/9......DM Mason, Players Ben, Jada, Elijah........Sep 8 ...9....Aug15/16 ...DM Emma, Players Tyrone, Lily, Mason...Sep 15 ...9.....Aug 22/23...DM Olivia, Players Liam, Noah, Ava.......Sep 22 ...9.....Aug 29/30...DM Tyrone, Players Open, Open, Open...Sep 30 ​ The week before each game, we make a poll for the three players and the DM. The poll says: * Weds 6:30-10:30 pm ET (ET is New York City time zone) * Thurs 6:30-10:30 pm ET * Fri 6-10 pm ET * Fri 8 pm-midnight ET * Sat 10 am-2 pm ET * Sat noon-4 pm ET * Sat 2-6 pm ET * Sat 4-8 pm ET * Sat 6-10 pm ET * Sat 8 pm-midnight ET * Sun 10 am-2 pm ET * Sun noon-4 pm ET * Sun 2-6 pm ET * Sun 4-8 pm ET * Sun 6-10 pm ET A week before the game, the four people who signed up on the calendar are asked to click yes on every time on the poll that they are available. If you would be available for at least six of those times then it should work out. ​ Playing vs DMing: If you're never interested in DMing ever then this might not be the right group for you, but if you'd be okay with DMing at least once every five months then that would be great. You don’t to have any experience having been a dungeon master in the past; this is a good setup to practice and learn DMing. We like to rotate who DMs so that a diversity of thoughts and ideas and voices are represented. Our DM rotation calendar looks a bit like this: .............January...February....March...April week 1......DM2....DM5 ......DM8......DM11 week 2......DM3....DM6 .....DM9......DM12 week 3.....DM4.....DM7…...DM10....DM13 week 4.....DM1......DM1......DM1.......DM1 Character Level Progression: We like to do one year, one season. The characters start out at level 1 in January and finish December at level 20, having spent approximately three weeks at each level. That means that, going by the air dates of the episodes (which is about a month after we record them), characters are approximately: Month…….....Level January….….…1-2 February…...….2-3 March……..…..3-5 April……....…..5-6 May………........6-7 June………..…..8-9 July…………...9-10 August…..…..11-12 September…..13-14 October……..14-16 November…..16-18 December…...19-20 The week determines the level of the characters playing in that game. You’ll be able to grow and develop your character through a full progression from level 1 to level 20 in one year. One year, one season. At the end in December, each player is welcome to record an epilogue for their character. Neither gold nor items carry over to the next season. You can retire your character fat and wealthy at level 20 in their mansion, retire them with a happy family, a business venture, or whatever epilogue you write. Or you can throw it all away and reset them to level 1. We had a player who wrote a wonderful epilogue for their character where they broke their pact with their patron and lost all warlock levels. You can listen to their story, it’s in the episode called Season 2020 Epilogues, and it was really well written. The player then started the character off at level 1 as a wizard, learning magic the legitimate way through hard work and study rather than being gifted the powers. So, you can either retire or reset your character at the end of a season; it’s your choice. ​ Here are some things you'll need to play D&D with us: * 5th edition player's handbook and dungeon master’s guide * the free program skype * the free program audacity and a willingness in being trained to use it * an external microphone (if you don't yet own one, ask us about some suggestions for good models. The recommended minimum microphone is a Focusrite Scarlett Solo audio interface, an XLR cable, and a Behringer Ultravoice XM8500, which all together cost a hundred and fifty US dollars from Sweetwater or Amazon). Even better microphones are wonderful and are appreciated. Headset microphones are below our minimum play requirements. * an arm style microphone stand * closed back over the ear headphones that do not noise cancel because noise canceling produces sounds the microphone can detect. ​ Improvisational Comedy (Improv): Here are a few quick under five minute videos on the improv technique called “yes, and”. 1. youtube dot com/watch?v=Qe2a3ppacUk 2. youtube dot com/watch?v=DphjhudlZis 3. youtube dot com/watch?v=NmafmRIeet0 An example of a less than ideal “yes, and”: Person 1: We are going to the zoo. Person 2: Yes, and the mall. Person 3: Yes, and the bank. An example of a good “yes, and”: Person 1: We are going to the zoo. Person 2: Yes, and we see a hippo. Person 3: Yes, and the hippo uses its tail to fling its poop everywhere. The difference between the bad and the good "yes, and" is that in the bad example, it didn’t really matter what Person 1 and Person 2 said. Person 3 didn’t really hear them. In the good “yes, and”, Person 2 and Person 3 were each listening to what came before them, which allowed them to build off of that and create a (somewhat ridiculous, but that’s how it goes sometimes) story, each person making every other person feel heard and validating them. Listening to the person who spoke before you and using what they said makes them feel like they mattered. ​ Accents: We welcome all accents on our podcast. A diversity of voices is actually a really great thing for podcasts because it helps listeners easily hear the difference between who's speaking. Feel confident that we will like your voice. ​ Duration: We see each other as lifelong friends. One of the best parts about playing D&D online is that even if you move geographically, wherever you move to you’ll have some friends who you’re looking forward to seeing again and who are looking forward to hanging out with you :) ​ How to Join: 1. Be at least 18 years old. Listen to a few episodes so we know you understand the format. There is a great diversity in what the stories are like. You'll see. Example episodes that each have a different DM: A Pirate's Life, The Final Replay & Of Wedding Cakes and Giant Spiders (a rare two parter), Missives From A Corpse, How To Construct a Siege, Self Maid Man, Puzzles and Pickpockets, etc. Hopefully there will be a few individuals amongst those groups who you would enjoy playing or DMing with :) In general it’s encouraged that you catch up on the current season that you’ll be joining since that’s the overarching story you’ll be playing in and the new friends who you’ll be playing with. But if that’s too much to listen to then don’t stress about it. Once you listen to a few episodes, you’ll understand the format and the types of variation you’ll encounter from one game to another. We’ll be welcoming new members next week, next month, and next year, so there’s no rush. 2. Send us an email at firebreathingkittenspodcast at gmail dot com asking to join. Tell us about your equipment: what microphone model you own (or asking for microphone model suggestions), and that you own closed back over the ear headphones and an arm style microphone stand. Also, tell us what you thought of your fellow players and DMs in the episodes you listened to. Lastly, let us know if you’ve played and DM’d 5th edition D&D before, and if you’ve got any improv and podcasting experience (no experience is required to join; this is just so that we know what supplemental info to send you to teach you about things). We reply to every new member request, so if you don’t see a response email in three days then we haven’t gotten an email from you. 3. We’ll reply back with the standard support agreement our lawyers ask us to have everyone sign. You know lawyers; they always want the agreements settled first before we play, not after. Take it to a legal witness (most banks have a ‘notary’ or signature witnessing service for members for free) and sign it in front of the witnesses, then scan and send it back to us. ​ Support Agreement: There is a support agreement to sign because some of our members are authors and webcomic artists it made sense to have a system in place where people could express themselves creatively with novels, audiobooks, and webtoons based on the D&D adventures they loved. We have several real books actively for sale on amazon people can buy that were based on our adventures. There's a chance the D&D session you play in could become a t-shirt, book, audiobook, comic, etc. When for example a book is published based upon an episode, the support agreement says that the people who DM’d the episode, played in that episode, wrote the book, designed the book cover, etc are the ones who get a share of the royalties from the book’s sales. Anyone who wasn’t in that episode and didn’t contribute to the book isn’t due any of the book’s royalties. Being in episode 15 doesn’t entitle you to royalties from a book based upon episode 89. This is just a hobby, not a job; we don't earn any money from this it's just better to have a support agreement than to wish later that you'd had a support agreement.