A - Auditions Module Overview

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Auditions

Introduction

"Several times a week, sometimes several times a day in the case of commercials, an actor has to go try out for a job. This means he must do a reading, that is, he must take a scene from the script, look it over, and get up and give a performance. Yet for all his years of study, training, and experience in community theatre, college theatre, stock, regional, Off-Off-Broadway, Off Broadway, even on Broadway, nothing in the actor's life prepares him for this endless- for most, lifelong-process of auditioning to try to get a role. For in order to act, it is necessary to audition for the role- unless you are a star or a great and good friend of the director. If it is a musical, the audition entails singing, perhaps dancing, and then reading for the role. If it is a straight play, there may be an initial interview, but everything hangs on your reading for the role. Since an actor's life is made up of auditions, why does nothing in his training prepare him to audition? What is he to do in order to get the job?" - Michael Shurtleff,  Audition 

Auditions are the primary way career performers get work. The audition is the job interview for the actor. This module is an introduction to the different types of auditions, choosing audition material, audition slating, resumes and headshots, what to wear, and self-taping.

Key Terms

    1. Slating: The introduction to the audition or attaching your name to the audition submission.
    2. Cattle Call: An audition before a large collection of theatre companies or institutions.
    3. Acting Resumé: A brief account of your personal details, and the theatre, film, or performance jobs you have had.
    4. Headshot: An 8 x 10 photograph of yourself used primarily in auditions and in promotional material.
    5. Audition Book: A collection of monologues or songs an actor has prepared for the purpose of auditioning in a variety of situations.
    6. Framing: The placement/arrangement of the camera lens and what to include in the shot.

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

  • Preparing for an Audition: Students will learn about a variety of types of auditions, choosing audition material, rules for slating, what to wear to an audition, as well as expectations for an acting resumé and headshots. 
  • Self-Taping an Audition: Students will learn how to self-tape an audition, how to frame shots, optimal camera angles for self-taping, and advice from working Georgia actors about auditions in general.

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