CAUTION! AUDITION TRAPS AHEAD!

More than fifty years have passed since I had the honor of meeting the brilliant pianist and comedian, Victor Borge, when I visited Copenhagen, Denmark. Borge was affectionately known as The Clown Prince of Denmark and anyone who watched this wonderful entertainer perform no doubt can remember some of his act…turning sheet music upside down and playing it backwards; stating that Chopin’s Minute Waltz can be used as an egg timer, and more. One bit in his act was his use of phonetic punctuation. He would take a page from a book and read the words, adding a vocal sound effect for every period, comma, exclamation mark, etc. The result would have the audience roaring with laughter. This brings me to the subject of how an actor uses punctuation when using sides in an audition.

Punctuation is important when we read and write to clearly convey the meaning in written words. When reading out loud and coming to a period, we use a downward inflection in the voice and an upward inflection if there is a question mark, a pause for the comma, and more. However, I have seen actors deliver lines with clear punctuation…maybe not like Victor Borge…but one can clearly tell where the periods, commas, and other marks are. In my opinion, this is not good acting. Punctuation marks in your audition sides are there for a reason, however, they can also be traps that can hinder your performance.

Acting is not about just memorizing and saying the words. If that were the case, everyone could be actors. To quote Sanford Meisner, “Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” When I get the sides for an audition, I look at my character’s breakdown and determine his importance to the scene and story. Then, from the sides and using the POV of the character, ask what I am trying to achieve; what are my obstacles; and what I am doing to overcome these obstacles. I look at the other character’s dialogue in the same way.

When it comes to the question mark, I determine what the writer is trying to convey in the question. Am I angry? Sarcastic? Frustrated? Too many times, an actor will see the question mark and assume the vocal inflection should be up at the end of the dialogue. Depending on your natural way of speaking, it could be that way, or not.

Another common trap is the exclamation point. Many feel this indicates you should speak louder. Not true. This could indicate surprise, frustration, anger, but does not mean you should automatically raise your voice. This is the same for the “All CAPS” trap. Again, it does not mean you should always speak loudly. It’s important to note the character’s intent. Is he trying to make a point by emphasizing a word or sentence in a clear manner, but not raising the volume?

There is another trap that is not punctuation, but a word…BEAT. Without knowing why, some actors will pause their dialogue for one or two seconds and continue. If you’re not emoting the meaning of the beat, then you have given no reason for the beat to be there. It does not have to be a long pause at all, but show that the character may have lost his train of thought and cannot think of the right word, or perhaps is experiencing an emotion. The same goes for the ellipsis (…). In short, when you see the word “beat”, or an ellipsis, determine why it’s there. There are many more traps in audition sides (stage direction, emotional, physical) that an actor should question why they are there.

In my opinion, actors who fall into these traps and just read the words without making informed choices are destined to always be the bridesmaid and never the bride (OK…I know that was sexist. Just deal with it).

And now for the caveat. What I have written is my opinion based on my training and my experience. You may have another method that works for you.

Do what works for you.

A MESSAGE TO FELLOW FLORIDA ACTORS - WE CAN DO IT!

I am going to start this blog by stating some very sad facts that, as actors, should concern us very much. I will follow this with what I feel we can do to help remedy this situation.

I wonder how many of you are aware that Florida is the only state in the Southeast, and one of 12 states throughout the U.S. without a program to compete for film and television projects. At last count, Florida has lost out on approximately 100 major film and television projects that would have equated to over $2 billion spent statewide, and over150,000 cast and crew jobs. This also includes losses to ancillary businesses such as hotels (300,000 potential lost lodging/hotel room nights), equipment rentals and many more.

Film incentives in each state will differ, but the reasons for having them are the same…to promote their state, their businesses, and their workers. The latter is important to us because some states require that you be a resident of that state in order for production to get the incentive. Therefore, there are many roles for which we will not be able to book. For those states where we can work, booking a role can be made even more difficult. All things being equal, the local actor normally will have priority.

When living in Texas, I was a member of the Texas Media Production Alliance (TXMPA). At that time, we had lost our incentives (much like what happened here about eight years ago) and work just dried up. We worked hard to promote local filming and, despite many hurdles, did get the incentive program passed, but it required the work of the members. I remember attending Lobby Day in Austin, where members showed up to promote filming to our elected representatives. A huge number of our members were fellow actors who understood the need to promote more filming in Texas.

Subsequent to my move to Florida nearly six years ago, I joined Film Florida, a statewide organization similar to TXMPA. During the past few years, Film Florida has been actively involved in promoting film incentives to our legislators, and while we still do not have an incentive program, we have received more bipartisan support each year. In short, it’s not a case of “if” we get a program, but “when”. The ”when” part of getting the program depends on those who support filming in our state, which should include our state’s local, professional actors.

The yearly membership cost to be a member of Film Florida is $75.00 for individuals. If I were to add the cost of ongoing training, headshots, SAG-AFTRA dues, IMDb Pro, Casting Networks, equipment needed to self-tape, and other costs I may have left out, I would come up with a significant amount of money that makes the yearly cost of membership in Film Florida seem like pocket change. Yet, without the help of Film Florida, all the money spent on those items will mean little if we don’t have films made in our state.

Finally, my fellow Florida actors, if you believe we are hamstrung because of a super Republican majority in our legislature...think again. Look at other red states...Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, etc. One very good example is Oklahoma...a very red state and listed as the fourth most Republican state in the U.S., yet they have the Filmed In Oklahoma Act of 2021! Remember what I stated earlier...we have received bipartisan support. Further, the last two incentives bills were authored by Republicans! Do not think we cannot succeed! Finally, our roadblock has not been the Governor...it has been Speaker Paul Renner. We now have a new Speaker, Danny Perez.

One more fact...we recently came close to losing the Entertainment Industry Sales Tax Exemption Program. As a result of the efforts of our Film Florida members writing 300+ letters, the program remains.

We can sit around and bemoan the lack of incentives and continue pointing the finger of blame all we want, and continue to watch nothing happening. Or, all of us involved in filmmaking and ancillary businesses that support filmmaking can get involved and make it happen! We need everyone to get involved!

It's a no-brainer, my friends! Let’s support each other by joining Film Florida. Let’s get back the big films like “Dolphin Tale” and the like! Let's be those local actors production companies prefer! Please check out their website: https://filmflorida.org. Film Florida Executive Director, John Lux, explains in this video: Who Is Film Florida.

SOCIAL MEDIA...BOON OR BANE?

I remember a time when social media was pretty much limited to letters to the editor of the local newspaper. There was no thought about Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok (what the hell is Tik Tok?). Someone once made the point that he was thankful to be old because there’s no proof of the crazy things he did in his youth. I concur…for reasons no one will ever know!

Now we have all those social media apps mentioned in the foregoing, and probably some I’m not familiar with. The question now comes, is social media helpful to the actor?

Well, yes…and no.

Social media is very important in that it allows you to network with other actors, promote your brand, share advice, support fellow actors, and share your latest achievements. There are several Facebook pages for the various regions in our country that are designed for the actor. You can request to join them and network with your fellow actors.

A word of advice. Be careful that you are sharing and not grand standing. Continually posting the same “Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!” will not win many friends. I have also seen several Facebook pages specifically for actors where an actor will constantly post the link to his/her IMDb page to get others to link to it. The idea of constantly posting that link is to boost their Starmeter ranking which, in my opinion, indicates they are not a professional actor (See my blog on the IMDb Starmeter).

Casting Directors do check on our social media. This gives them an idea of who we are and how we may behave and interact with others on set. If all you do is post negative material, you may be labeled as a negative person and difficult to work with. Avoid being argumentative. If someone writes something offensive to you, just continue scrolling or block that individual. Do not get caught up in a Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter) war.

Beth Melsky is a respected Casting Director in New York and has been in the business for many years. She writes an excellent blog about cleaning up your social media that I would strongly recommend actors read.

Remember, what you post on social media reflects who you are.

Be the best!