Audition Direction Terminology And Lingo
Posted in Film and Television on Mar 9th, 2009
In the workshop one topic that came up is that how as an actor you have to understand the strange terminology that some casting directors use when they are trying to get you to enact the scene in a certain way. For example, they could tell you to be “a little colder”, “warmer” and one really odd term was “smellier”.
So imagine doing a scene where you interpreted the character a certain way and afterwards the person asks you “Can you please try that scene again except try being a little smellier?” I’m pretty sure most people would just be frozen over that.
Basically, the casting director is trying to tell you do the scene in say a lighter approach, more sinister fashion, etc. The thing is too there is no universal dictionary for these things as every casting director uses different terms and may have different meanings for them. The only real way to learn is based on experience.
Kind of an interesting obstacle that actors face.
