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watch Would You Call Her In?

If you were looking for a good actress, and didn't care about accents. You just want a good actress for your role.

Would you call this actress in for an audition?

Do you think this reel shows off her talent?

Too long?

I still have a little color correction to do in spots, and I don't have her name on there yet. Because she hasn't ok'd it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcy4ErDiRTg
 
To my untrained senses she seems pretty good. The accent wouldn't be a problem to me, unless she was supposed to play a southern belle or something. Many actors/actresses can fake accents as well you know/
 
Would You Call Her In?

If she was right for the part... maybe.

If she was not right for the part... no.

That's assuming I even sit through the reel. (I watched this one, for you). Very few get watched, at least from what I've experienced when helping cast.

I'd dump the opening stills. It's almost the entire first 40 seconds. Video means motion. Stills are for headshots.

Also, her first "ambassador & the orphange" scene is pretty bad. Sorry.

Things get a lot better at 1:30-ish when the redhead appears. Your Jane seems to work better with other people in scene to play off.

Stick her best scenes at the very start, and start off with a bang. Only a select few will ever make it all the way through, so the good stuff better be at the start.

Just my opinion, of course.
 
I'd call the actress back.. and fire the composer.

I've zero experience with demo reels - but are the stills and the song in the beginning necessary? Seems like you'd send a head-shot with a demo reel anyway?
 
Seems professionally fine.
Accent isn't an issue.


What'll be the character demographic or archetype she'd be playing?

And I'd stick the stills at the end.
 
Loose the stills, show me clips from films/commercials/etc she's been in.. A demo reel shouldn't be for modeling and acting.. Pick one. Or make two separate reels.

I stopped at the :35 mark because you hadn't shown me anything worth seeing. Probably should have stopped in half that time.

Get right to the goods. Loose the filler. Make it short and to the point. Highlight the acting, loose everything else.
 
I put the photos in, because these really show a range. From the pretty ingenue to the sex kitten. But, I do think I'll throw them at the end. This way if someone makes it to the end, they'll see them.

I've gone hunting for reels, and they have helped me get in touch with some actors. But, I have rarely made it to the end of one. You can tell within the first few seconds if a person can act.

Zensteve: That's funny that you hate that opening monologue. When I first auditioned her, I loved her. But, I didn't want to. Accents freak some people out. So, I went on-line searching for something with her, and I found that. I loved it. There isn't a word out of place (IMO), and she says it perfectly. So, I was hoping when she came in for her second audition she'd mess something up, anything. I just wanted her to do something wrong. But, she didn't. She's really a damn fine actress. Very, very natural.

She's going back to the Ukraine for a while. She's hoping to be back in September. Hopefully she'll be able to do the reshoot of Leading Lady.
 
Facial bone structure is unique. Acting is decent. Echoing others above, depends on role, keep professional interfaces brief. Think of the kind of people you'll be sending this to, and their time constraints.
 
I agree with much of what's been said already - I would lose the stills up front, and trim back on the scenes. Lose the scene where she's watching the girl change into the bra - that one is almost entirely the same reaction shot from the actress the clip is for, and gives too much time to the other actress. Each of the other scenes should be cut sooner - almost a quarter or a half could be cut from each of the other clips and it would give me a better feel for her than the longer clips do.

The reel should run one minute; two minutes, tops.


gelder
 
I took the advice here, and made a short version. Does it seem more effective and to the point?

She wants the monologue in it, so I can't remove it. Plus, I honestly think it's great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O2-HeZm2r0
 
It still seems long to me. I've never watched more than :60 seconds of a reel without jumping ahead or moving on to the next candidate. That being said, she seems decent, and would probably get called in if she fit the character.
 
I would trim from :44 to :51 and 1:07 to 1:16. I'd also probably cut the hug at the end, so from 2:04 to 2:11.

Those cuts would bring you under 1:50, which would be better. It's still kinda long for casting people.

gelder
 
I would trim from :44 to :51 and 1:07 to 1:16. I'd also probably cut the hug at the end, so from 2:04 to 2:11.

Those cuts would bring you under 1:50, which would be better. It's still kinda long for casting people.

gelder

I was trying to figure out where to cut by the :44 yesterday. THANKS. I did these plus I cut right after she hands him the photo. So it's 1:55. I left in the hug at the end. Her expression is excellent.
 
I don't like the monologue, a bit gushy and melodramatic. Some of the clips have poor production value, the proverbial white wall for a background And I'd only use one clip with the red head. One of those scenes with the red head...all I remember are the red head's chest. I think I want to cast her!
The music isn't so great. And, are all her films girl on girl stuff? Does she do movies with men? All these scenes seem to be the exact same character, try and get her in some diverse roles, action, scifi, comedy, horror.
As far as her acting talent, she seems okay to me. Nothing exceptional. I don't have much experience with auditions. I recently auditioned about 60 LA actresses for SAG min role. This actress seems about like the typical that showed up.
 
I don't like the monologue, a bit gushy and melodramatic. Some of the clips have poor production value, the proverbial white wall for a background And I'd only use one clip with the red head. One of those scenes with the red head...all I remember are the red head's chest. I think I want to cast her!
The music isn't so great. And, are all her films girl on girl stuff? Does she do movies with men? All these scenes seem to be the exact same character, try and get her in some diverse roles, action, scifi, comedy, horror.
As far as her acting talent, she seems okay to me. Nothing exceptional. I don't have much experience with auditions. I recently auditioned about 60 LA actresses for SAG min role. This actress seems about like the typical that showed up.

I have over 10 years experience of watching auditions, and my judge of talent is excellent. If you saw 60 actresses and you're saying that Jane is typical of the norm, then your opinion of autioning actresses needs to change. I'm not saying she's going to be winning an Oscar or even be famous. But, her talent is way above the typical actress. 90% of auditioning actors Union or Non Union are pretty bad. If you saw 60, then you probably saw 4 - 5 exceptional, 10 passable, and the rest were "Why do they bother".

For my lead I saw over a hundred actresses, and only three were even considered for a call-back.
 
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I have over 10 years experience of watching auditions, and my judge of talent is excellent. If you saw 60 actresses and you're saying that Jane is typical of the norm, then your opinion of autioning actresses needs to change.

Sorry but these are subjective things. It's good you are happy with your choice, but expecting everyone to agree with your opinion of this actress is unreasonable .
 
Sorry but these are subjective things. It's good you are happy with your choice, but expecting everyone to agree with your opinion of this actress is unreasonable .

Actually talent is not subjective. Talent isn't up for opinion. There are varying degrees of talent. But, either a person is talented of they aren't. About 90% of all auditioning actors SHOULDN'T. They should be looking for real day jobs because they will never succeed in their chosen profession. That might sound mean. But, if you sit in on enough auditions, you'll find it to be completely true.

If you watch reels and think about anything other then talent, then don't watch reels. The only thing that matters in an actors reel is if they can act. Chances are if an actor has a reel the footage isn't going to look that great. Because if they need a reel they're probably just starting out. Any established actor will just point to reviews and their agent.

On a scale of 1 - 10, with Meryl Streep being a 10 and Pamela Anderson being between a 3 - 4. Jane is a 7. She's pretty close to that group where she instinctively knows what needs to be done and does it. That's nowhere near average or the norm. If you need to see it, look at her expressions, her timing when the red-head speaks. Look at her face when she says the lines. Is she natural and being truthful? Is she acting?

You're judging material. You don't have to like what they're doing. But are they doing it well? Do you see gaping flaws? Are these the director or the actor's fault? That's what you have to ask yourself. That's what you have to look for. Talent isn't subjective if you know what you're doing and what to look for.

Being able to spot talent is a talent in and of itself.

To call Jane typical is just wrong. She's a specific type. But, she's a very good specific type. That's a fact, not opinion.
 
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Talent isn't up for opinion.

There are varying degrees of talent.

a person is talented of they aren't.

About 90% of all auditioning actors SHOULDN'T.

Being able to spot talent is a talent in and of itself.

she's a very good specific type. That's a fact, not opinion.

Yeah? Well... that just your opinion, maaaan.
smiley_colbert.gif


Seriously, though... no need to worked up over people's opinions. Chillax. :cool:
 
Actually talent is not subjective. Talent isn't up for opinion. There are varying degrees of talent. But, either a person is talented of they aren't. About 90% of all auditioning actors SHOULDN'T. They should be looking for real day jobs because they will never succeed in their chosen profession. That might sound mean. But, if you sit in on enough auditions, you'll find it to be completely true.

If you watch reels and think about anything other then talent, then don't watch reels. The only thing that matters in an actors reel is if they can act. Chances are if an actor has a reel the footage isn't going to look that great. Because if they need a reel they're probably just starting out. Any established actor will just point to reviews and their agent.

On a scale of 1 - 10, with Meryl Streep being a 10 and Pamela Anderson being between a 3 - 4. Jane is a 7. She's pretty close to that group where she instinctively knows what needs to be done and does it. That's nowhere near average or the norm. If you need to see it, look at her expressions, her timing when the red-head speaks. Look at her face when she says the lines. Is she natural and being truthful? Is she acting?

You're judging material. You don't have to like what they're doing. But are they doing it well? Do you see gaping flaws? Are these the director or the actor's fault? That's what you have to ask yourself. That's what you have to look for. Talent isn't subjective if you know what you're doing and what to look for.

Being able to spot talent is a talent in and of itself.

To call Jane typical is just wrong. She's a specific type. But, she's a very good specific type. That's a fact, not opinion.

I disagree with most of this. Good luck with her though.
 
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