How To Cry On Cue

You’ve landed a great dramatic role, but you have to cry on camera. What do you do? If you have trouble crying on cue, that doesn’t mean you’re not a great dramatic actor or actress. Trust me, some of your favorite celebrities who have been in the business for years still have trouble getting the tears to fall.

Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your big dramatic moment. Try a few of these and you’ll be sobbing in no time:

• Think back to a sorrowful time in your life. For some actors, simply finding a powerful impulse for crying works like a charm.

• Open your eyes wide and resist the temptation to blink. Exposing your eyes to the air using this tactic can help your eyes begin to water.

• Cut up onions or wave the fumes from eucalyptus oil near your eyes just before your scene.

• Use eye drops.

• Is there a scene in a movie that gets you every time? Bring your IPod or portable DVD player and watch a sad scene right before your big performance.

• Study other scenes where actors have cried convincingly on camera. By mimicking their body language, facial expressions, and vocal cues, it may help you to get the tears flowing when you need them to.

Be sure to practice these methods before your performance in front of a mirror to make sure you appear authentic. If you’re still unable to cry, try the scene a different way. Instead, have the character attempt to fight back tears, which can be equally compelling onscreen.

For a list of dramatic roles currently being cast, visit http://www.EliteCastingNetwork.com today!

The Cutting Room Floor

You’ve auditioned for 20 roles and you’ve finally booked one! Hooray! You show up on set to shoot your scene and when the project is released, you gather all of your friends together to watch your Hollywood debut. But wait a minute! The television episode or film comes to an end and your scene is missing. What happened? Oh no! You may have been a victim of the cutting room floor.

This happens more often than you may think. The cutting room floor is a term that refers to where footage ends up when the director and editor decide not to use it in the final edited version. (These days all editing is done using computers, so the footage doesn’t actually end up “on the floor” anymore – but you get the idea.) Many new actors who experience this are often devastated. It can be a huge letdown to have worked so hard to finally book your first role and then not have it immortalized on screen. But don’t let it get you down. Just because your scene wasn’t included doesn’t mean that the director didn’t like your performance. The project may have been running long requiring some scenes to be cut to fit within time constraints. And sometimes once all of the scenes are shot, the director may decide that some scenes are no longer as relevant to the story.

Even though your scene may have been cut, there’s still a lot that to be happy about. First off, you booked a role and not only are you now a working actor but I’m sure you probably met a lot of really great people in the process. Secondly, these days when most films are released on DVD, footage that was not included in the final edited version is often available to watch in the Extras section. So you can still see your performance and you can still use the footage on your reel!

Most experienced working actors don’t get upset if their scene gets cut. They know that it’s part of the business and they know it’s only a matter of time before they book another role. So are you ready to book your next job? Of course you are! Visit http://www.StarSearchCasting.com today and check out our casting notices. I bet there’s a role of a lifetime out there with your name on it!

Avoiding Conflict On The Set

Once you arrive on the set, there are lots of people to meet. From the cast to the crew, you’ll encounter many different types of personalities and it’s important that you find a way to work together for the successful completion of the project. Sometimes this is easily done. But unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for conflict to break out and drama – the kind that’s not scripted - to ensue.

Whether you’re a new or seasoned actor, conflict on the set can cost you jobs, your reputation and eventually your career. When Isaiah Washington engaged in a heated argument with cast members on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, the situation escalated, spilled over into the media and eventually resulted in the actor’s termination.

It’s important to remember that no matter what, you’ve been hired to do a job – which means you should strive for professionalism at all times. Your career will be far more successful if you develop a reputation as someone who’s easy to get along with and works will with others.

Here are a few ways to avoid conflict when you begin your Hollywood career:

• Don’t discuss issues with the cast and crew while you’re angry. If you become upset, excuse yourself from the set and take some time to calm down.
• Don’t chastise other members of the cast and crew. If someone is causing a problem, advise the director or producer and let him or her handle the matter.
• Be a team player – it’s not just about you.
• Be considerate of others on the set, regardless of their position or role.
• Leave business related issues, such as salary, to your agent or manager to handle.
• Remember when your mother said, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” That’s definitely a rule to live by on set.

Want to know how other actors handle conflict on the set? Visit the online community at http://www.StarSearchCasting.com to connect with new and experienced actors and get advice on industry-related issues.

How To Become A “SAG” Actor

You may have heard actors talking about the elusive “SAG card” and wondered what they were talking about. The Screen Actors Guild, most commonly referred to as SAG, is the largest union for working actors. The union represents nearly 120,000 working actors in film, television, industrials, commercials, video games, music videos and other new media. While many people who are interested in breaking into the industry as an actor have heard of SAG, or are somewhat familiar with the union, they don’t know how they become eligible to join.

There are several ways that you can become a member of SAG. You can become a member by 1) securing a principal or speaking role in a SAG film, videotape, television program or commercial, 2) securing a role as a SAG–covered background player at full SAG rates and conditions for a minimum of three work days or 3) if you are a member of an affiliated performers' union (ACTRA, AEA, AFTRA, AGMA or AGVA) for a period of one year and have worked and been paid for at least one role as a principal performer in that union’s jurisdiction.

That’s a mouthful! Let’s see if we can simplify it.

-If you book a role in a major television, film or commercial role, then you become SAG eligible. Most of the time this does not include independent film projects – although there are some exceptions.

- If you work as a background actor for at least three days on a film where the producer has signed a SAG agreement where he must cover background actors, then you are SAG eligible.

- If you are a member of another union such as ACTRA or AFTRA for at least a year, and you secure a principal role on a major union production, then you’re eligible.

Being a member of SAG is a great opportunity and has a lot of invaluable benefits. If you have more questions about SAG, post them on our bulletin board. We have lots of SAG members that are active on Star Search Casting and I’m sure they’d be happy to answer your questions.

Stay tuned for my upcoming blog about the many opportunities available to non-union people who are getting started in the entertainment industry as actors, models, dancers, singers, background players (extras), etc. And be sure to take a look at our forums for more great information about the entertainment business: http://www.starsearchcasting.com/forums/index.php