Having a demo reel is no longer optional
May 11, 2009 | 0 comments
Sometimes it seems like video is taking over everything. Newspapers and magazines give way to video podcasts and looping info reels on subway platform LCDs. Static websites become rich media sites. Cellphones become video cameras. Social networking sites become video sharing platforms.
Even my own business - photography - is changing into a strange hybrid of media production jobs. I spend less and less time doing traditional photography, and more and more time producing, directing and editing video projects.
The slate's in the DVD menu! How cool is that?
Actors (and particularly actors agents), as usual, are slow to change, but that doesn’t mean the world around you (the world of production and casting) is too. If video is the new photography, a video demo reel of some kind is the new headshot. I can tell you from experience, having a demo is a must-have if you want to take the next step as a working actor.
One of the new services I’ve been offering is called “The better audition piece”, and it’s a great alternative to the cheap “self-tapings” casting houses offer. Traditionally when an actor submits on an audition they can’t actually attend, or has to provide prospective agents with a taped audition, they book a self taping — a short session in the audition room of a local casting place where they have an opportunity to have themselves “taped” performing a monologue or scene.
Even for big deal productions, self-tapings tend to look and sound like ad-hoc, tinny VCR recordings. Harsh fluorescent lights, a drab office setting, no direction (unless you’re lucky enough to have your acting coach with you), and shitty sound aren’t just not ideal, they’re hindrances that distract and detract from your performance in a huge way.
I wanted to take the same high production value, collaborative approach that I use in photographing actors, and apply that to producing demo pieces that they could use as stand-alone audition pieces, or for integration into a demo reel. And I wanted to do it quickly and cheaply.
I think the results are pretty awesome! Check out these two pieces I produced for Michael Paylor, a fantastic and talented young actor from London, Ontario. Michael wants to make the move from theatre into film & TV, and to help him land a great agent we chose scenes that were contemporary, relevant, and targeted to his category and his perspective.
Since I also edit and author DVDs, I put together a menu for his monologues that integrated his slate and contact info. Pop the DVD into the player and up he pops to introduce himself. Awesome!
The “better audition piece” is only $199 at the moment. You get up to an hour of my time in the studio. We’ll run it a few ways and watch playback. When we have a take we’re happy with I’ll grade and edit your piece and deliver it on DVD and as standalone quicktime files formatted both for HD and web. I can even help you choose an audition piece, provide a reader, and connect you with other actors who might want to shoot a scene with you.
Then it really gets cool. Two actors means we shoot the scene in coverage, and I produce an edited piece with tight cuts between closeups and twoshots.
If you’d like to learn more about audition pieces or demo reel editing, check out the products and services page, or click the Contact Chris link in the sidebar.
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