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First time on a TV show - recurring character - my diary (days 1-2) by jostler57 • last post Oct 8th
Hi all, I just had my first two days of TV show shoots, and I wanted to just unload my thoughts and observations. I was very anxious beforehand, as it was my first time on a large budget set with lines, so I figured it might help the next person to calm their nerves! I did not write all this at the time - I didn't keep my phone with me, at all; this is from memory. Also, I can't be specific about many things, so what you read is what you get. I have 9 or 10 days of shooting, so I'll write more after I do those when time permits :) **NOTE** This is in Taiwan, so there are some things that might be different from your experience! I am American and can speak just a little Mandarin; enough to get around with the basics. They provided a hotel room, at which I arrived the night prior. This is in another city, so I had to travel to get here (they paid for travel). #Day 1 (no lines): * 4am: Wake up and get ready for 4:35 pick-up. Only me and a bald, older man in the entire van. * 5am: Arrive at old, abandoned factory. Nearly 100 people running around, some with flashlights. There are dressing tents to change clothes. I and the older man are greeted by a handler who shows us where to rest. We are given breakfast (dumplings), and will be called for hair/make-up and costume when it's available. There are many background actors for today's shoot, and they all arrived at 4am. * 5:30am: I am called to hair/make-up. They minimally cut my hair as needed. Makeup I have to ask for additional eye makeup, as I had an irritated eyelid that day, and didn't want the redness to show. * 6:15am: I've got my costume on (minus suit jacket), hair quaffed, makeup on, and am just relaxing with the other actors, getting to know them. Two other actors from America, one is an ABT (American Born Taiwanese), and the other is a white guy who has been living here for 25 years. Great folks! Also, the bald guy turned out to be a famous comedy actor, who has been on TV for over 20 years, but his English is not so great (same as my Chinese!) * 7am-lunch: Here we go! There are 5 scenes, today, and they all have *many* background actors. Before lunch we will do 2 scenes, but they are LARGE and with a lot of people. They do blocking and 1-2 quick rehearsals before shooting each scene, but that's about it. I get to take a lot of breaks when I'm not in the shot, but always have to be ready for the next camera position. Toilets are just porta-potties, and they are the squat style (traditional style for Asia -- no seat!). I've decided I'll hold any #2's for the hotel haha. The PAs and helpers are a-plenty and very attentive. The Assistant Director is small woman with a large voice; kind but demanding. The Director is a soft spoken, calm man with excellent vision. The star of the show initiates a conversation with me; most of my scenes are 1:1 scenes with him, later, so we had to get on the same page with our characters. His lines with me are all in English, and that's not his native language. He is a nice guy, and is passionate about the story. I have a couple medium reaction shots and group shots throughout this bonanza. They are great at organizing the mass of people. The background extras are falling asleep standing up. * After lunch-6:30pm: We're running late. Our lunch was cut short; only 20 minutes to eat. They forgot to ask me what I wanted to eat, but luckily I got something I like. It's cheap food, but edible - even the star is eating cheap food; at least it's filling. Another American actor (small character) came around 12pm, along with some other foreign (non-Taiwanese) background actors. They brought in a vintage car (1958 Mercedes) for a shoot. The car's owner is there with his wife. He takes pictures with all the stars of the show. **They gave me a line to speak, but no mic -- it was just for a quick greeting.** They also gave my character a last name, as the other character had to introduce me -- Ass. Dir wrote the name down for later. We are hurrying to get the rest of the shots before daylight is all gone. Sunlight is gone -- they set up more lights to make up for it. We get all the shots, and we go home 30 minutes early! I am STARVING! (They had food back in the resting area, but the afternoon was non-stop) ---- #Day 2 (4 lines): * 6am: Wake up and get ready for 6:40 pickup. Riding with the other American who came at 12pm, the day before, PAs, and makeup/hair people. * 7am: Same location (but different area of the factory) and same deal as before - eat, costume, hair/makeup. Only about 20 people here, today, with just 4 background actors, and another actor. The ABT guy arrives around the same time as the star, after we've finished our hair & makeup. * 8am: We're all fed and ready to go! Only 2 scenes, today. **REWRITES!** I'm told they want to add a line for each of us to make it more robust of a scene, and they change the entrance structure from what's in the script. So, **now I have a 5th sentence** I get to speak, and the other actor gets a line when he had none (for today). Hooray! Blocking, rehearsal, and then off we go! * 8:45am: Blocking isn't working perfectly well, so **I'm given another 2 sentences** to fill time while our adversary scene partners come in. During practice the star made the funniest joke of the day and we were all bent over laughing. Lots of camera angles for the exact same scene, so I must've said those (now 6 lines) several dozen times. Other American actor gets a nice close-up reaction shot of his own - lucky day for him! Turns out he's a semi-famous youtuber, here, and the ABT guy has been in several dramas, previously. I'm the only green actor on set! (I mean... I've done stuff, but not at this high of a level) * 10:30am: More angles and then we do the next scene - a continuation of the scene prior. Super easy, but needs 5 different camera angles. Other American and I are told to just improv in the background regarding the situation that has unfolded, but loud enough that the mic can hear it. Sort-of more lines? I'll take it! * 12pm: It's lunch time, but we're already done for the day! We all get driven to the train station. I have a commercial tomorrow in Taipei, and then back on the TV show set for the entire weekend and Monday. These days were pretty easy for me, compared to what's coming up. I didn't have a lot of lines to do, so it was nice to just be able to take things in and get the pacing. It's a great help for when I have some pretty beefy scenes, coming up! Knowing my lines and how I wanted to deliver them was key. I must've practiced a hundred times at home. Doing that for all my scenes! Also, when I was given the script, it only had the parts with my lines; it didn't even have my non-speaking scenes. So, I had a very fragmented knowledge of the story prior to shooting. ABT guy read the entire 12 episodes of the script (it's all in Mandarin, and Google translate sucks, so I couldn't). I asked him a dozen questions, and thank god I did! It really helped me to understand the context of my character. Super happy to have met the ABT guy! Thanks for reading!
Should I make the move to Dallas or LA? by raspberriesonfire • last post Oct 8th
Sorry if this has been asked before, I’m just kind of really unsure what to do in terms of my next steps. I’m a voice actress and I’ve made a bit of a mark in the indie scene. I have some credits for indie games with big actors and have worked with animation studios. I’ve taken lots of classes with various funimation and big LA actors who have told me I’m ready to work professionally. I have no agent and have not been actively searching for one. I’m primarily a character actress but do commercial stuff on Fiverr and voices123 to pay the bills. I’ve been considering moving to Dallas to pursue the funimation track, but I have no idea how to even audition or get in for some walla roles. I’ve considered submitting my demo to their email, but I’ve heard they never really check it. I’m really afraid of moving to Dallas and not having anything lined up, and same goes for LA. I’m afraid to uproot myself and have no line of work when I get to either of these cities. Does anyone who has any experience with this have any sort of advice?
Best acting schools that are not universities by leavemeinpeace10 • last post Oct 8th
In 2 years, I’m going to move out of my family’s house and most likely be disowned. I have some choices to make before them however, so I’ve been doing research. Since I’ll be needing a job, when i graduate high school I’ll probably have worked as a journalist, PA, and TRIED to be an actor where I live (Not a big acting place). I believe that I learn things when I study them myself. That’s why I like to write scripts and produce movies in my free time and I’d like them to be apart of my career. But at the same time, I really think more extensive training will suit me more. But college in the US is extremely expensive, especially if I don’t have my parents money to fall back on and I don’t think I want to waste four years training when I could be out there getting work. And someone please correct me if I’m wrong about anything, but I heard that experience beats out training. I would like to find a good actors’ studio that’s not a university. Because if I’m not going for prestige in a university to use it as a tactic to wow casting directors, I should probably be gettjng work WHILE training (probably forever because you’re NEVER done training). So any reputable acting studios/schools anyone? (To clarify I just want something that’s less than four years and doesn’t cost as much as uni)
An Ode to Al Bernstein ConfettiHeads' The Callback class by American_Assface • last post Oct 8th
DISCLAIMER: I've never worked with Al or ConfettiHeads prior to this class and signed up purely to try to find out if this would be worth any of your time. I said I would post a review once I took the class - well, it's been a few days since Monday when I finished it and I wanted to make sure I gave my honest review. /u/Little_Remote_8569 has been criticized for posting almost strictly about the new company ConfettiHeads (and yes the posts are still happening - fam chill out with the self promotion) but I took on the 2hr for $30 class taught by Al Bernstein and I will say I was pleasantly surprised by the result. For starters, Al was wonderfully professional. He emailed me personally several times before the class communicating about how the class may be small and asking what I wanted to work on, either a monologue if it was just me or a scene if other people showed up and wondering which one. When a few more people joined the class (potentially previous students of his as they were quite excited to work with him again), he chose scenes to assign to the actors and partners to read with them. I was the only male in the group so I got to read 3 times out of 4 scenes we did. This included scenes from Jerry Maguire, The Departed, Manchester by the Sea, and one more, so I will say there was a nice amount of variety stylistically. A working actor himself and a teacher, his training was in Strasberg technique and was well equipped to guide an actor through breaking down the scene into its component parts. He gave each person a chance at a "cold read" (more so a prepared read if people did their own homework), asked them some classic questions about objectives, who the character is, and a few more, and then gave specific notes and had them read again. To me, this was highly reminiscent of the work I would do in a college theatre course and a useful type of practice regardless of what level actor was reading at the time. I felt like he was confident and took the class seriously while not treating us in any particular way. Now, I can't say much for ConfettiHeads because they really had no part in the class, so I don't want everyone reading this to assume they were telling Bernstein what to teach or how to teach it. I imagine they are an up-and-coming company and found Reddit was a good way to find a wide breadth of students. Does it mean spamming links and classes is okay? Definitely not, especially if it goes against any subreddit's community guidelines. But as for Al Bernstein? Well, I liked him and maybe you would too and found his feedback insightful, so if you have $30 lying around and want to get some immediate feedback on some work, it might be a good investment of your time and money without having to drop a huge paycheck on a month-long series of classes. Thanks for reading and play on!
Actors in Seattle Washington area? by Cool_Blacksmith1709 • last post Oct 8th
Im working on a horror short, and looking for an actor. Im shooting in Everett
Looking For a Mentor (Had a Frustrating Experience With a Local Community) by JaredAhn • last post Oct 8th
To expand my list of available services (I work full time as a translator), I want to get started with voice acting. And yes, I did and am doing a lot of research, but I just would prefer to have a mentor/coach to guide me through my journey. However, the problem is that I live in a non-English native speaking country, have had trouble finding people who teach in English, and thus are looking for people online. **(1) Have I asked a local community?** As a matter of fact, I have, and it they have admitted they are very unwilling to take in new members. According to a few older members I was lucky to talk to, most people were able to join because they knew somebody in the community that was leaving the country. Furthermore, the demand for English voice actors is very small (obviously), which is one of the reasons they are unaccepting, and corona has excaerbated the situation. That is understandable, and I don't think I have any chances with them. **(2) Have I searched?** Yes, but I am always cautious of the results I get from simple googling, which is why I am posting here. ​ So, could give any opinions, and point me in the right direction? Thank you very much ​ **\[Rant (You don't have to read this part I just wanted to vent\]** The frustrating experience? As I am a contractor for the entertainment industry, I naturally have many friends and connections in there. I tried appealling to some that I could be a valuable asset, but they were just eager to drop me their mixtapes. It was almost as if they were entitled to my help, while being unwilling to offer any help at all. I want to clarify it was just the few, but it just really threw me off.
Characters and Voice Actors - Fast & Furious Spy Racers (Netflix) by Jurda12345 • last post Oct 8th
Big Talent Agency, Small(er) Talent Agent. by demonic790 • last post Oct 8th
Hello! I am currently signed with a boutique talent agency. I love my agent...but I do not feel they are strong enough to get me into the room often. I have decided to put some feelers out and see if I can snag a meeting with one of the top-tier agencies in Vancouver. Thankfully, I managed to secure one so far. HOWEVER, it appears this particular agent is a new, junior agent who seems to have been promoted from assistant at the office. In checking IMDB pro, it looks like this agent does not represent anyone particularly notable. Of course, I wish every agent all the best and understand industry leverage is always a work in progress...but I'm just not sure if it's smart for me to make the transition from one "newer" agent to another simply because of the huge name attached to their agency. Is this way of of thinking false? Is the big agency name really all it takes outside of a strong actor-agent relationship? If anyone could offer me some solid advice, that would be awesome. I am incredibly conflicted. Thank you so much!
Free reel editing by Rainingsun15 • last post Oct 8th
Hello! I just finished a video editing program and I am a working actor based out of Texas and New Mexico. I think my skill set as a tech savvy actress with an eye for cinematography and editing skills would lend itself well to reel creating/editing. I have a long car ride in a few days and I would love to help a few people out who need their reels created. DM me if you’re interested and I’ll send my email so you can send footage from a few strong projects and I’ll create a 1-3 minute reel for you for free. Let me know if you want to see a sample of my work!
Online Table Reads by Nick Assunto - Stage32 Script Services Coordinator • last post Oct 7th
Hey Actors of Stage 32!
Should I Submit My Reader's Voice In A Voiceover Audition? by Busy_Honeydew • last post Oct 7th
Hi, I'm submitting a voice acting audition, and my friend (another actor) read the side with me. The instructions on the audition say "Send us a file as a single take." Should I submit my reader's voice, or should I take it out and just submit my voice? Also, in general, should I submit a reader's voice in my voiceover auditions? Sorry if this question has already been asked before! Thank you very much for your help!
Vocal separation in animation? by Motya105 • last post Oct 7th
Hi all, I’ll be participating in a workshop whose description states, “This class will focus on Vocal Separation between multiple characters within the same show...” What is Vocal Separation in this case? When I Google, all I find are articles on separating audio in a Daw. Is it the same as not stepping on actors’ toes during reads? Thanks for any explanations!
THE COLLECTIVE PODCAST by Whatever_Nadia • last post Oct 7th
**The Collective** podcast is seeking up and coming actors interested in sharing their story. If interested fill out this google form here [TheCollectivePodcastQuestionaire](https://forms.gle/ZWqwxFTLkrCcLL3B9) [Who. We. Are](https://reddit.com/link/j6iqr9/video/t6vnaufw1lr51/player)
Does anyone have experience with The Actors Gym? (https://actorsgym.co.uk/membership-account/membership-levels/) Is it any good? by Sherl0cked007 • last post Oct 7th
Do actors that do a different accent for a part stay in that voice all day when they are working? by samuelhinchliffe91 • last post Oct 7th
How The HELL Do I Calm Down??? by badguywindow • last post Oct 7th
Please, I'd love any and all advice, because I have no idea how to calm my anxiety down... When I asked actor Tom Payne, he said the best thing to do is stay in-scene, and focus on your scene partner so you don't get distracted and don't let the nerves get to you. He had to be pretty succinct because it was an Instagram Live Q&A, so he had seconds to respond, but I try to keep that in mind. But that doesn't help the minutes, hours, and sometimes even *days* beforehand. I oftentimes feel sick to my stomach from anxiety, and I can't eat or sleep or do anything but pace. There's no *reason* for me to feel anxious, but I am. Actor Aidan Gallagher said, in a Q&A video, that when he is preparing for scenes, he physically does things to become emotionally prepared. Like, for example, if he's playing an anxious scene for his character, Five on *The Umbrella Academy*, he forcibly hyperventilates, paces, drinks coffee, and lets himself get all shaky and stressed. I can do that. *But I can't* do the opposite. I lean into my anxiety when I need to play an anxious scene, and I lean into my depression, or fears, or anger, or whatever for whatever scene. *But being calm?* Fuck. I *can't* do that. I don't know *how* to. Any advice is welcome. Please.
What kind of job can I look for to get into the industry? by elyselia • last post Oct 7th
I would like to work in the industry while training as an actress, because I think it would be very useful and interesting to see how things fork and learn more about this world. Even bringing coffee to stuff members would be great! What and where should I look for (in UK or Italy) to get a job in this industry?
Want to improve my acting range by dpools • last post Oct 7th
I'm a high school student who wants to become an actor. I am currently in my sophomore year and I have 3 shows in my 2 years of taking Theatre class. As the title says, I want to improve on my range. I'm really great with genuine,emotional pieces, but I want to improve on my comedic and angry pieces. Do you have any tips? I would greatly appreciate it.
We’re giving back! by actorchrisbaker • last post Oct 7th
Hey everyone! We just wanted to spread the good news! The “Actors Network (r/acting)” isn’t just another Discord server. We are now a nonprofit organization! That’s right! We have just become a 501c3 nonprofit organization and we plan on helping our members in several different ways in the near future. Come and check us out! https://discord.gg/yXYgYmm
How Many Agencies Should I Submit To? by naijas_mm • last post Oct 7th
Hey y'all, I'm trying to assess next steps for myself as an actor, and I believe that getting an agent is the best next step. I'm young (22F) and somewhat green (I started auditioning about 1.5 years ago), but I have a few professional theatrical credits (mostly non-union) as well as some pretty legit connections imo. My question is, how many agencies should I submit to at a time? Obviously, I could submit to 30 and not hear back from a single one, but does anyone have any recommendations as to how many agencies to submit to at a time while balancing cost of mailing headshots and resumes (if needed), the time and energy it takes to submit esp. during corona-times, the likelihood of response, etc etc. I'm doing research already as far as what agencies I want to submit to, and I have a pretty strong sense of what I'm looking for in an agent, but tips and tricks on this front would be welcomed too. ​ Thanks!