Even though we wrapped a portion of The
Hunter’s Anthology a couple months ago, I’m going to go back and write
about my experience of directing what is so far the equivalent of a short film
(and a half.) After the crowdfunding
campaign we had some of our budget and some of our cast, but for me, there was
still work to be done. There was also
much more for Nicky, my producer, to do.
From a writer/director’s perspective, there’s certain things I had to do
in a very short period of time. This is
my first entry about “prep,” starting with casting:
For those of you who have not been following The Road to
Wrap, I had to cast two more roles before shooting. For “The Fortune Maker,” about a woman having
her fortune read, we had already cast Marilyn Oran as
Madame Renee but I still had to find Tabitha, the protagonist. She is not only the protagonist of this
story, but she’s also one of the passengers on the subway with Mac, the demon
hunter.
The search was on for Tabitha, and it wasn’t easy. After all, this is a story about two
characters sitting in a room for 20 minutes.
They have to be able keep the audience interested. I had only three weeks to get it done, and
after watching several video auditions, I was lucky enough to receive one from Janna Bossier. She made all the right choices and understood
the role. Without giving too much of the
story away, I needed to find a balance between a woman who is not only desperate,
but also mysterious.
I called Janna the day I got the video and offered her the
part right on the spot. I was that
sure because she was that good.
Next thing I knew, Janna was coming to NYC in two weeks. It can happen that fast.
The other part that needed to be cast was in the other
story, “Lust Potion Number Who Cares.” I
had already cast Eric
Colton as Rod, a man in search of a love potion. But, I didn’t yet have my magic potion shop
owner, Mooni. Mooni is not an easy role: she’s a bit of a cougar, and she
provides some much needed comic relief in what becomes a pretty dark, 5th tale
in The Hunter’s Anthology. Another last minute search was on, and I
finally came across Yoko Hyun’s info. When an audition makes you laugh out loud,
you know you’re in great shape. I was
all set!
Anyway, how do I approach casting? There are many different ways a director can,
but I’ll tell you what works best for me.
I like to start by sending a one paragraph character description of the
part to give some exposition and basic emotional descriptions of the character
for the actor. They need some idea of
who this character is. I do not, however,
send any direction. This way, the actor
is free to make their own choice. I want
to see where they go on their own. It
also provides an opportunity later to see how they take direction.
I also send 3-4 pages of sides from the script, separated into
two different scenes. This provides
opportunities for two different key emotions or mindsets. Maybe I’ll have a scene of Tabitha
desperately wanting her fortune read.
What choices will the actor make for setting up the story? Then there’s a real turn in the plot I won’t
give away. What’s her reaction to
that? It’s a totally different place for
her emotionally. Then, thanks to modern
technology, the requested auditions are emailed to me as videos. It’s so much easier now: rather than taking a
whole day to rent a place to squeeze in 100 auditions in a row, I can click on
it whenever I feel like it.
I know a lot of people will say good actors can make wrong
choices during an audition, especially with minimal information. I understand that, and it’s my job as a
director to know if it’s a result of the actor’s skill or if it’s another good
choice I just wasn’t looking for. I have
always thought the closer the actor is to what you were thinking, the less work
needs to be done on set, or in general. It’s
usually true. But sometimes if I really
like the audition and I feel a little direction can help, I’ll ask for another
audition with direction. It has worked
with some and hasn’t with others. You
just never know.
Don’t get me wrong, I love working with actors and spending
time with them on their performance.
It’s a team effort, and it’s actually my favorite thing to do on
set. But if they are too far away from
what I want, it can cause production issues, and you never know if they’ll ever
get there in the short period of time you have.
That’s when it shows on-screen later and the project suffers.
That said, I’m really big on rehearsing with the cast before
shooting. It’s so important. Here I gather the cast and leave the floor
open to questions about the script. Then
we read through to iron out everything and make sure we’re all on the same page
so we’re all set for the shoot.
These are just a few things that work for me, but it may not
work for you. Casting is only a part of
prep… next up: gathering your crew!
