So let's say you just got a film script,

you're going to be reading for a roll.

What are your first thoughts?

For some it's,

oh, this is so cool

for others, it might be, oh

god,

you fall into one of those two

categories.

Listen to day's episode is all about

film script preparation.

I know it's a subject that sounds

deceptively simple,

but it can make or break your audition.

It can make or break your performance.

And yes,

even your call back

they're visual, they're economical, and

they leave much unsaid.

Unlike stage plays, the dialogue is

sparse, and the emotional journey lives

between the lines.

So today we're going to break it all

down, the challenges of reading film

material, how to track the emotional

arc of your character, that traps that

many actors fall into, and the best

practices that can help you stand out

while staying grounded in the truth of

the work.

Are you ready to roll camera on your

process?

Let's go.

This is casting actor's cast.

Well, hello, and welcome to today's

episode of Casting's Actors Cast.

I'm Jeffrey Dreisbach.

I'm a partner with McCorkle Casting

in New York.

How are you hope you're having a good

day, looking forward to sharing this

material with you today.

Because it's absolutely true that we

have to approach each of these

opportunities, whether it's a

television show, whether it's a film

script, whether it's a stage play.

Each one really has its own set

of interesting

ways to approach and prepare.

And so we're dealing with film scripts

today.

And I think you're going to find this

really, really valuable, at least I

hope that you do.

But first I get to say thanks for

tuning in.

If you would check out the website,

casting actor's cast, all one word dot

com, you're going to find all kinds of

cool stuff there.

One is a book that I wrote called

booktit,

the actor's playbook for getting cast.

There's also a course that's available.

And then there's a form that says, dive

into the talent pool, giving me your

name and your email address will open

up.

But that's a way you can get hold of me

as well.

If you have a question,

if you found the material interesting,

if there's some questions that you

wanted to have me cover on a future

episode, that kind of thing.

There's a form right there.

You can fill that out.

I get it right away.

That would be really helpful but I

think you're going to find it useful in

the website, because there's archives

of past episodes.

There's also

jeff's jots, which are the

corresponding show notes.

And today, in particular, the show

notes are going to be available on the blog

jeff's jots for this particular

episode.

It's a checklist

for film preparation.

So all of the elements that we're going

to be talking about today are going to

be available on a checklist it's

absolutely free of charge.

You just have to go to the blog jeff's

jots, and the corresponding episode

number is number 370.

Sorry, the course number is

38380.

I've done so many episodes.

This is episode number 380.

So that's the one you want to check out

that gives you the absolutely free, the

checklist that I think is going to be

really helpful for you if you have this

kind of situation happen.

So anyway, thanks for all.

That.

Here's my shout out to my friends at

actor's connection, actor's connection,

dot com, slash, New York.

All right, let's talk about this.

So we know that less is more in film

scripts.

Film scripts are very lean, and they

really are

full of emotional cues

that are often implied and not stated.

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00:04:28,34 --> 00:04:32,5

Also, no, the film scripts are really a

bunch of seeing fragments,

especially in auditions.

I can tell you

they can be disorienting without the

full story.

See, film scripts don't spell out

everything.

They don't sort of explain the

motivational environment of the

character.

And the tone

often must be something that is

inferred, not necessarily stated.

So if you're reading without context,

that can cause actors to misread the

energy of a moment,

because filmscripts demand internalized

behavior, not theatrical delivery.

Let's talk about the importance of

visualization while reading a film

script.

See, film is a visual medium.

What's happening around.

The character matters just as much as

what is said

while reading.

See the scene in your mind.

That kind of visualization is so

incredibly helpful.

What's the setting

what's happening just before the first

line is set.

Ask, what is the camera?

See,

what am I doing when I say this line?

You see, visualization

anchors your performance in physical

reality,

not just emotion or line delivery.

So when reading the script,

there are some

good general Rules of thumb I need to

share with you.

First of all, you need to read the

script multiple times to track the

emotional journey of the character.

So on the first read, for example,

keeping it really simple for yourself,

I think, is important.

Just simply

ask, what's happening.

Get the gist of the basic plot.

The characters

understand where it's taking place.

Now when you do the second read,

that's when you can ask, what's my

character's goal or need in each of the Scenes,

really getting an idea about what's

happening underneath.

On the second read,

when you understand the character's

goal or the characters need, you are

feeling much more comfortable and much

more confident with the material.

Plus, it helps you get into the writing

rhythm

of the work, overall in general.

Because writers have their own voice,

they also have their own rhythm.

Now on the third read,

what changes emotionally from the

beginning to the end?

What journey do they take?

So ask yourself, what's my emotional

temperature at the top of the scene

versus the end of the scene.

And then, of course, you can do

the highlighting of beats.

You can find reversals, discoveries.

This is your emotional road map.

Now we're going to talk about some

common traps

when preparing some film scripts.

And we're going to do that right after

this

welcome back common traps with

preparing film scripts.

This is something I see firsthand.

Our office is currently working on four

feature films right now.

So we're getting all kinds of self tape

submissions, we're doing and running

callbacks, we're having Sessions.

And I can tell you, firsthand, I see

this a lot.

So what I call traps are things just to

be aware of, just to be leary of.

Please be careful about over explaining

or playing the emotional

too heavily.

Film absolutely picks up subtleties.

And when we're recording

callbacks, for example,

many times I come in on a pretty tight

close up of view.

And so being too heavy handed with

where you are, emotionally,

it just doesn't quite translate very

well.

Because film picks up subtleties

here's another trap.

If you skip subtext, entirely just

saying the lines, without understanding

the emotional undercurrent

that's another trap.

actors have been in training

circumstances where they hear from

their instructor, or a director from a

previous experience.

Less is more.

What less isn't more

as more.

Or less is less.

So if you really Embrace the emotional

undercurrent,

try not to do nothing.

Have the experience, but don't show the

experience.

Somebody write that down.

That was really good.

Have the experience,

but don't show the experience.

Here's another trap that I see

happening fairly frequently in

auditions.

And that's preplaying the ending,

knowing how the scene ends, and jumping

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00:09:34,274 --> 00:09:36,9

into that too soon.

I'd also caution you about memorizing

too early,

because when you memorize, you also

lock in the delivery before

understanding the context or the arc, or

you've left out some spontaneity that

might really be advantageous

in an audition.

It's not about just recreating what

you've rehearsed.

I've seen this

as well.

And that's ignoring physical behavior,

forgetting what your character is doing

physically in the scene.

If, for example, you're running to

catch up to somebody, it just makes

perfect sense that you might be a

little bit out of breath.

That is a playable action.

That is

a truthful

moment that you need to bring into the

scene.

Ignoring it, pretending like it doesn't

exist,

kind of leads us to believe that you

haven't read the full script, or that

you haven't put yourself fully in the

environment when it's being asked for

something to keep in mind.

So let's talk about the best practices

for filmscript preparation.

I think that it's valuable to work with

a scene partner or a coach.

You know, I think cold reeds are

valuable for sure, no question about

it.

But a scene partner gives you

reactions, gives you rhythm and gives

you the opportunity for discovery.

Coaches, by the way, can help you

unpack subtext.

They can help behavior, and they can

help pacing.

You know what?

Those happen in ways that you might

miss if you're doing it alone.

My other thought is that

I would suggest we look at table work

first, just literally sitting down and

doing the tablework.

My rule is table work first,

performance later.

So break down the scene before jumping

into the delivery,

to find the objectives, beats and tone

and timing the rhythm.

All of those are elements to be

discovered first.

And then, of course, you want to make

specific choices.

The more specific and unique your

choices, the more interesting that

scene becomes.

As long as it's authentic and truthful.

Next, I think, avoid the generic.

I need you to personalize the work with

an inner life,

be clear with the relationships

and have specific imagery

ask, what is my unique lens on this

moment,

Embrace your own uniqueness.

Be careful and don't play the type or

mimic what you think casting directors want.

I've asked this of students many times.

I ask them, how many hours of

television have you seen?

And of course, everyone goes, oh my

god, thousands of hours.

Sometimes I'm seeing actors trying to

play what they visualize when they are watching

the show,

and that's not truthful.

So they're putting themselves into a

rhythm and a pace that is something

that they observed.

And they're now just kind of spitting

back.

No, no, no.

You have

to bring your own original energy and

thought to the work.

Your lived experience

and truth

are what makes the role come alive.

I also suggest you rehearse on camera

if possible.

Seeing yourself

helps adjust those micro expressions,

your breath, your pacing,

all of those things.

But be careful,

don't watch with a judgmental eye.

All you need to do is just look for

clarity,

look for honesty, look for connection,

believability,

all of those things.

Keep it really fresh for yourself.

Here's a suggestion that a lot of

actors would benefit from, I know, and

it sounds like it's just more task

oriented, but it's not.

And that is, keep a journal.

I want you to jot down discoveries and

emotional beats and performance

questions that you might have with

every film script you get.

We're working on a feature film right

now, and there's a very, very well

known actor who we offered the role to,

and we set up a meeting with this

actor, this British actor,

to do this film role,

a lead role in a very small feature,

but only three characters in this

movie, but a brilliantly written script.

And so the actor set up this meeting

with this director, facilitated by us,

actor, went on for an hour and a half,

asking questions,

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00:14:30,570 --> 00:14:32,5

step by step

about his character, about, what does

this mean?

How does this affect that?

And it was so amazing

that we thought, my gosh, I've never

experienced anything like that.

And you know, what was so interesting

about that is that the producer and the

director both had these intense

conversations about every beat, every

nuance the script had.

And I'm happy to report that the actor

said, yes,

he accepted it because he got answers,

but he also was able to throw out

questions that were left for debate.

Really, really helpful

so when you are able to reflect on the

material, that deepens your process,

and it builds confidence over time.

So keeping that journal really does

make sense.

All right, let's talk about some

closing thoughts.

And this is absolutely true, I think.

And that is that so many actors think

script prep is just about learning the words,

having an idea.

But you know what?

For film,

it really is about learning the life

between the lines.

Preparing a film script is like being

both a detective

and a poet.

You find the clues, you shape the

rhythm, and you tell the truth with precision

and simplicity.

So the next time you get a film

audition or a juicy scene to work on,

go beyond the words,

visualize,

track,

question,

discover

and, above all, bring you to the roll.

If this episode gave you some new ways

to work, share it with a fellow actor

or

leave a review.

ITunes especially.

And if you have a film role that you're

currently working on right now, I would

love to hear about your prep process.

Reach out

until next time.

Prepare smarter,

act better and book more let's book it.

I'm Geoffrey driesback.

You've been watching and listening

casting actor's castle