The Importance Of “Live” Auditions In Film

“All hands-on deck”! Realizing that the DP wasn’t going to have the necessary help that he needed, it was time to re-strategize again. People were going to have to play multiple positions so we can keep the schedule and get everyone out on time. In this instance, I was especially impressed with Cristian and Michelle because they took on the challenge with no worries.

So, we get on with the shoot and get through each scene as best as we possibly could. The only thing I could do was just let things play out, get into character, deliver my lines, and let the director, DP, AD, and production designer handle the rest.

The hours passed by pretty smoothly. Now, it’s 5pm and it’s beginning to get dark. My scenes were completed for the day, but we still had a few more with different cast members to shoot. We also still needed a public area that would still give off a very personal aurora. Luckily, in Baltimore, these types of public locations were everywhere. We end up finding a basketball court with a huge surrounding field that was completely empty.

So, we began to set up, and out of nowhere we begin to hear loud sounds. It was here where I realized the cons of working public areas within small communities. Literally anyone can pop up, hang out, and cause a distraction. We look over to see where the loud sounds were coming from to find that it was a young kid playing basketball. This was going to be a problem because we needed the right amount of quietness to get through each scene.

Thank goodness for the Assistant Director (AD), Britt Morton, because she had some incredible social skills to keep the young kid occupied and quiet enough for us to shoot. But boy, was this young kid smart and inquisitive. I wouldn’t be surprised if he became a top-notch lawyer or politician. Then, the young kid asked a very peculiar question, “what are you guys going to do when the dogs come out?” (Huh? Dogs? What dogs?). Apparently, every night, around 6pm, owners bring their dogs out for their daily nighttime walks and playtime. (Oh gosh).

I immediately rush to the director to let her know about the dogs and she sped things up. The remaining actors show up and the final scenes began. Then, the AD and I noticed that one of the cast members looked slightly older than we expected. His audition tape gave off a younger appearance hence the reason why we hired him. It was in that moment I realized why it’s important to have in-person, live auditions.  

But he was such a good actor and incredibly professional. The delivery he gave of his lines and the interaction with his co-star was fantastic. However, I still called Morgen over to express my concerns. In order to calm me down, she showed me a few still shots of the footage they were getting. To my surprise, I was relieved. They both looked great on camera. The quality, their skin complexions, and their pure, genuine connection all made sense.

So, I decide to keep going. Then, I realized something else, the lines in the last few scenes didn’t match the actor’s mature look. They were meant for someone in a younger age range. I couldn’t risk fooling the audience. So, I did something unexpected – I ended the shoot early.

I needed to go back to the drawing board and re-write the remaining scenes. As soon as I made that decision the dogs began to come out. 

Other posts you may be interested in:

• How To Survive Pre-Production Chaos?
• How Important Is Production Design In Film?
• How Important Is Visual Effects In Film?

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