Image courtesy of 89studio/freedigitalphotos.net
We can’t really speak about auditioning for television or a movie, since we produce medium budget corporate videos, but if you are likely to darken our doorstep, or a similar company’s, here are some observations and tips.
If there is a call time for you and only you then you should be there on time. Your agent will have been told there is a specific time for you. Getting there late doesn’t ruin your chances though if you apologize and promise to arrive early or on time for the shoot you may or may not get. For larger productions, there is a block of time set aside for auditions, aka the cattle call, and you could show up at 9:00 but they won’t call your name until 3:30.
It’s quite effective to wear wardrobe that is appropriate for the role. Wearing something appropriate to the role assures producers that you have something acceptable to wear on the production day. (Smaller productions usually have no budget for wardrobe.) It also shows that you have an understanding of what the role is. If it’s a corporate spokesperson role then business attire is a plus. Often the producers don’t have the final word on who gets cast and it’s the client who makes the final call, and they may not be able to envision you as their corporate spokesperson in your Dead Kennedys T-shirt. They may want you to send them a picture of yourself in your business attire after the audition.
Demonstrate that you are easy to work with. Being agreeable and incorporating direction from the producers during your audition shows professionalism and an ability to do what they are looking for. Spending a long production day with someone confrontational is no picnic. This is a two-way street as well. If the director at the audition is a tempermental amateur, it may be worth considering turning down the job if it’s offered.
Finally, if the producers asked for a French speaking person and you think your French is pretty good because you took it in high school, guess what — it’s probably not. People fluent in a language can tell a mile away if someone is unsteady in that language (and some clients are especially fussy about regional accents). This is especially important for teleprompted jobs. You may find that the script you have received from your agent will be amended or added to at the audition, just to find out if you can adapt in that language. We do this all the time. We’ll often add a paragraph or two at the audition just to gauge the authenticity of the person. Anyone can work on 200 words and get it down, but when the shooting day requires plowing through a dozen or more pages, we need to know we’ve got the right person who can handle it.
We welcome anyone’s thoughts or comments on this or any other related topic.
