Casting Revealed
Hester Schell
$20.95, 160 pages, illustrated.
Michael Wiese Productions (2011)
www.mwp.com
One of the nicest things about being snow locked: you get to spend time reading a book you’ve put off for a while.
This slim volume was worth it. After a polished script, the most crucial element to production is people, behind and in front of camera. Hester Schell’s book clearly demonstrates they are two different breeds. The folks in front of the camera bring the show to life and imbue it with emotion and behavior to tell the story. Who is right for this part? How is the decision made? How is casting conducted? What administrivia is required? How do you cast family members? How do you reject actors who aren’t right?
These aspects and the rest of the craft are well covered here, and in the tradition of most all Michael Wiese books, it’s effectively demystified. I was especially curious about arranging casting sessions, handling rejection, and avoiding gotcha’s. Hester’s certainly been there, as an acting professor, SAG actress, art director and casting director for professional work coast to coast and overseas. I also learned that careful casting makes a production fly where it could really drag with a cast of just pretty faces. You need to cast for both the role and the production; done right, your cast becomes a powerful ensemble, a performance engine which can be a delight to work with.
The book makes a solid case for casting trained actors. The amount of time saved during rehearsals and shooting pays off. The book provides industry-standard tools a casting associate is expected to handle, like headshot sheets, with tips for ideal compositions for actor photos. Standard acting resume layout is provided. Professional presentation is huge: casting directors know it when they see it. The casting workflow and duties, from script breakdown to auditions, is well covered.
One bombshell I got out of the book, which can be practiced in auditions: don’t tell actors how to feel. Tell them what to do! A competent actor takes that action and from it results the authentic feeling required. This was not obvious to me, but it makes sense. The result will be owned by the actor, and the camera never lies when recording it.
This also harkens directly back to a good script, which ideally describes action and behavior the camera loves to record. Capturing motion as the primary expression of dramatic ideas separates plays from movies. If it’s not in the script it needs to be worked out in rehearsal or on set and the feeling must come from the actor for credibility. In that sense, this book is as much a call for good screenwriting as for casting and performance. (Hester is in fact part of Harvard Square Scriptwriters; the development group started 20 years ago by Laura Bernieri, now conducted by screenwriter and teacher Scott Anderson, www. hssw.info).
Hester also reminds us that good casting and acting serves to make good editing happen. This becomes obvious when the editor grapples with shots and has to match action and performance energy, along with other aspects to a scene join, yet I have never heard this from anyone in performance crafts. It’s good to see this perspective. A good casting director will interview and audition for a performer’s ability to maintain character continuity, which is crucial in an industry where shooting is usually scheduled discontinuously to accommodate the weather or location availability, not the story.
Casting Revealed packs in a lot of info, and reveals a lot more than casting, and effectively relates it to your craft space, whatever it may be. Highly recommended for your bookshelf.
DSC Camera Charts
Various models and prices,
visit website.
CamAlign FrontBox Series HD 12+4 chart discussed: $398.00.
DSC Laboratories, www.dsclabs.com
Why do you need a camera chart? You can tell if the white values on location have a yellow cast, right? If your eyes are good, you should be able to see if the lens is soft when you zoom out from a close-up, right? Are these things for any but the purists among us?
Well, how much time do you have? An accurate camera chart is for any serious shooter or colorist who doesn’t like to guess with every lighting change. Color charts from DSC allow both shooters and colorists to assure luminance and colors are reproduced accurately. Most models can be used for camera set-up in tandem with a waveform/vectorscope field monitor, and as reference for post work using the same scopes in the editing room. Many have a back-focus star on the back.
I’m looking at the CamAlign FrontBox series HD 12 + 4 chart, the front of which includes various skin tone chips and intermediate colors, an 11-step crossed grayscale, circumscribed within HD and film widescreen reticles, with a star BackFocus test pattern on the reverse. The blacks, grays and white are spectrophotometrically neutral – no color cast, unless indicated. Some DSC charts are “pocket” models and can be deployed under unusual conditions—their Splash model is for underwater work– to give a shooter exactly the accuracy needed, and fast. Shooting a DSC chart gives your post team the same accurate reference from which to deliver verbatim color or any special look.
DSC charts are not cheap products; they’re mounted on aircraft aluminum frames for highest rigidity and light weight, and laminated for weatherproofing and easy cleaning. Their color specs are equally rigid, tested 4 times, or the chart is trashed. Talk about purist—if you look closely you’ll see a “use by” date indicated, after which DSC recommends an upgrade due to possible color change under bright set or sun lighting—or over-long duration under airport x-ray! Very few complain about the glossy surface, as it renders blacks far richer, more accurate, and better protected. DSC also offers several mounting solutions for easy table and light stand mounting.
DSC stands for David and Susan Corley, film producers and environmentalist entrepreneurs in Missisaugua, Ottowa, who since 1962 have offered chart models for all kinds of production environments. They began by producing charts for the CBC and later for NASA and various research clients. Now there are charts for broadcast to prosumer users. For instance in any color-critical shoot with my trusty Sony A1U HDV/DVCAM I’ll capture a short clip of the HD 12 +4 chart to accurately render my footage greyscale and color levels on a small Sony broadcast grade monitor in my studio.
If you intend to shoot for broadcast video finishing or digital intermediates, you’re wise to invest in a DSC chart or two to include as standard workflow: a chip shot for each setup under any new lighting change.
These smart charts are a cool tool for serious production value.
Loren S. Miller edits longform drama and
documentary and TV series for clients in Boston,
LA and Seattle, and teaches college-level post courses.
His FCP7 KeyGuide is currently sold by Focal Press.
He can be reached anytime at techpress@mindspring.com.