We're trying to reserve a room for auditions and we were wondering how long would it normally take? Say, we'll be auditioning 20 people?
How long does casting take?
- Thread starter justinisfilming
- Start date
For me it takes 7-10 mins per person. 10-15 if I liked what they did.
I would think that depends more on you than "normally".
If can see 6 people an hour you can do the math. If you can see
4 people an hour, going through 20 people will take longer. I have
planned on 5 people an hour and easily made 7. I've had people run
late which throws off my planning. I, personally, have never seen a
"normally" in auditions.
Is 20 people overkill? How many people do you guys audition in a day?
Damn maybe I'm doing it wrong. My auditions usually take about 5 minutes and I know if I want them or not.
If you have five parts to cast 20 people isn't overkill. You see as many
people as you book. Don't book 20 if you don't want to see 20.
I have auditioned 40 in a day. I've auditioned 15. I've seen 80 actors
for a part and still not found what I needed.
Thanks directorik. I'm casting my 2 major roles so it's not gonna be that much. Another question...
I don't have time for callbacks, but I still want to see chemistry between the actors who will be auditioning. How could I go about this in 1 day (4 hours)?
I don't have time for callbacks, but I still want to see chemistry between the actors who will be auditioning. How could I go about this in 1 day (4 hours)?
Schedule the 4 hours carefully.
20 people for 2 roles is reasonable - 10 for each part. Frankly I
prefer seeing 15 to 20 people for each part. But seeing 20 people
PLUS "callbacks" to see different combinations is going to be damn
difficult - running the numbers in my head I'll say impossible. I
would never do that so I can't offer any advice about that. All I
can say is good luck.
20 people for 2 roles is reasonable - 10 for each part. Frankly I
prefer seeing 15 to 20 people for each part. But seeing 20 people
PLUS "callbacks" to see different combinations is going to be damn
difficult - running the numbers in my head I'll say impossible. I
would never do that so I can't offer any advice about that. All I
can say is good luck.
You'll have to make combinations.
But 10x10 is 100 combos, which is a bit too much.
If you can let your first selection stay that day, you can make different combinations to see the chemistry.
In my opinion Justin, If you're in a big city like Chicago 20 actors for 2 roles is WAY too little. One out of every 10 actors can act at ALL. So you will have probably 2 decent actors out of 20. That doesn't leave you much choice. I would aim for 25-100 actor submissions per role. I know that might sound like
a lot but the population of Chicago was 2.6 million in 2010. I know a lot of actors won't act in a small film but you've got to do what you can to get the best performers possible. I know it's tough. Its a lot of work. It was for us. Best of luck.
a lot but the population of Chicago was 2.6 million in 2010. I know a lot of actors won't act in a small film but you've got to do what you can to get the best performers possible. I know it's tough. Its a lot of work. It was for us. Best of luck.
As much as I would love to do that, I just don't have time for that many. And time is money. Plus, I don't live in the city (I live in the suburbs). So I don't really get that much people showing interest in the film.
Maybe when I get dedicated people for my project I'll do it. But for now, I don't see it happening.
I understand. In the future, if you have to push the date back on shooting for casting (if possible of course) do it. There's nothing worse then listening to bad acting on the footage you've shot and knowing you can't re-shoot without great expense.
So for now you aren't facing 20 actors in 4 hours. That's good news in a way.
How many actors have you booked so far?
You know what? It's very hard for me to book actors coming from Chicago and having them audition in the suburbs. I emailed them yesterday and only 1 has shown interest so far and the others are saying that it's too far or they're not free at that time. So I'm kinda nervous. Should I just do Skype auditions? Should I just skip the audition process and just get the actor who can travel and work on the film and take the chance? Lots of questions in my head right now....
How far are you from Chicago? One hour? Two? If you're close enough that you want actors to come out to you, you can certainly hold auditions in the city and make it so that only one person (you) has to drive/take the train.
On my last short, I auditioned actors in the city. Most of the actors came from out of town (suburbs). The girl I ended up casting actually drove 3 hours (one way) to come in for a two-minute audition.
If you're worried about auditioning in the city when you're filming in the burbs, it's not a big deal. Like I said, I held my auditions here on the north side, and filming took place in the suburb of Berwyn. I had no problems at all.
As for call-backs. If you can't schedule another day to do them, then you can't do them. I don't see any way logistically to do initial auditions and call-backs on the same day. It might work for an all-day audition like you might have for a big musical, where people get cut as you go along and everyone hangs around, but that's a horse of a different color.
On my last short, I auditioned actors in the city. Most of the actors came from out of town (suburbs). The girl I ended up casting actually drove 3 hours (one way) to come in for a two-minute audition.
If you're worried about auditioning in the city when you're filming in the burbs, it's not a big deal. Like I said, I held my auditions here on the north side, and filming took place in the suburb of Berwyn. I had no problems at all.
As for call-backs. If you can't schedule another day to do them, then you can't do them. I don't see any way logistically to do initial auditions and call-backs on the same day. It might work for an all-day audition like you might have for a big musical, where people get cut as you go along and everyone hangs around, but that's a horse of a different color.
I am in the suburbs of Boston (about an hour out), and we had no problem with casting for a non paying production. We even had a actor studio/casting director helping for free. We had over 50 people apply and found all the people we needed. We had them all do a minute or two monologue of their own choosing. We chose that day and informed the people the same day.
I've been a reader for several larger projects (theatrically released) and I'm an actor who goes through this process on a daily basis.
If you're auditioning mostly chicago actors....take the audition to them out of respect. If there are one or two people where you live that you want to audition just do it on a separate day, because you are going to get your best actors in Chicago...that's where they are going to have real training.
How many people to bring in for a part? As many as it will take. The problem comes in figuring out how many parts you have to cast. For your small parts.... dayplayers and such...Just bring in your top 4 or 5 (get a reel from them to help you decide beforehand). For your larger supporting obviously bring in 10-20. For your leads you'll probably want 20+ because if you have some in the lead and they can't carry the film it will make for a very very boring end result.
Callbacks should be your top 3 or 4 for the bigger parts....and 2 or 3 for your supporting cast. You shouldn't even need callbacks for the dayplayers. Most big offices in LA will put you on tape for producers for a 1 or 2 liner.
Honestly if I were you I'd rent a hotel room for the night...see if you can't lock down a conference room for the weekend and hold audtions over the entire weekend.
If you're auditioning mostly chicago actors....take the audition to them out of respect. If there are one or two people where you live that you want to audition just do it on a separate day, because you are going to get your best actors in Chicago...that's where they are going to have real training.
How many people to bring in for a part? As many as it will take. The problem comes in figuring out how many parts you have to cast. For your small parts.... dayplayers and such...Just bring in your top 4 or 5 (get a reel from them to help you decide beforehand). For your larger supporting obviously bring in 10-20. For your leads you'll probably want 20+ because if you have some in the lead and they can't carry the film it will make for a very very boring end result.
Callbacks should be your top 3 or 4 for the bigger parts....and 2 or 3 for your supporting cast. You shouldn't even need callbacks for the dayplayers. Most big offices in LA will put you on tape for producers for a 1 or 2 liner.
Honestly if I were you I'd rent a hotel room for the night...see if you can't lock down a conference room for the weekend and hold audtions over the entire weekend.