Actor Growth

Okay, I must be over-complicating this or something as the first time I chose a photographer I simply went with the one that the people in the acting community kept saying was a good one. It was very expensive but it turned out great.

Since these are supplemental looks that I would be going for having to look through every photographers portfolio seems to be a little cumbersome. One way that has semi helped the process is by simply going to a photo reproduction site where it seems like all of the photographers have their work on it. So you can scan through every image to see which style clicks for you as oppose to visiting each person’s site individually. Search continues.

So yesterday I was watching the season premiere of 24 as it is one of my favorite shows. Afterwards, I decided to read about other people’s comments and what they thought about the show. One comment stuck out in my head so much. Basically, the person was complaining that there wasn’t enough “Eye Candy” in the show thus far. Basically, not enough people prepped up in a hot and good looking kind of way.

Why did this make me think so much? Because of the whole plan to make a web series as technically I would need to put a producer hat on too. For myself as the actor of course I would say that it should be all about the story telling and execution. Basically, good scripts with a good cast while presenting it in a compelling manner. But at the same time I have to remember that our job is to entertain, for a lack of a better word, and that people need to care about it.

In many ways I think the viewers look at the characters that we portray as a kind of fantasy and so they want to see these people with above average looks and skills. I guess it is just like watching a sport as you want to see people that are say faster or stronger than you perform extraordinary things.

In those cases too, granted there are many times where people want to see the “ordinary” guy. Same thing with movies. But at the same time I would say the majority would want to see the above average in one form or another. So that got me thinking about how things like the costume and makeup would work for an extremely budgeted web series.

Okay, so with that in mind maybe it’s good to have a healthy mix of male and females in the cast as I’m sure that way the group will be able to cover a lot of ground when it comes to knowing what people find “attractive” and such.

For my personal web series idea I think it caters to an Internet savvy crowd. They say you write what you know and with this idea I think it will be a blast with the things I have seen over the years.

At the same time, I’m wondering if targeting an Internet crowd would mean the standards are different when it comes to looks and all. I definitely wouldn’t want to compromise the creative to the point where I wouldn’t believe in the product anymore. Basically, in a “selling out kind of way.

I guess this whole “eye candy” thing is something I will have to keep in mind though.

I was working on a TV show today and while talking to other people it sounded like so many people were contemplating about creating a web series of some sort. Interestingly enough, over the weekend I learned that some of my acting coaches were interested in it as well.

Guess more and more people are taking the creating your own future route. I was trying to think of an idea and I think I thought of something that would be right up my alley. I think I need a female actress to partner up with that has the right background though as that would create the perfect dynamic for the theme.

There are a lot of big featured films being released soon where many of them were shot here in Vancouver. As a result, it’s not surprising that many of the films have local actors who have roles in them. I happen to know a few of them too and I think it is so cool to see them get their opportunities for which they have worked years to get. While there is always a chance someone can just get “discovered” and have all the opportunities pour in, for the most part it is one crazy journey. That’s the fun part right?

Okay, so that means next one of you actors out there in cyber land with blogs that I follow need to report right away when you land a big gig too. I want to see more successes.

I recently just read that there was supposed to be an event happening here soon where there is like a panel of industry professionals who then discuss about their thoughts about the current film and TV industry. As well, it looks like they accept questions from the audience.

It looks like the panel would consist of people such as casting directors, agents and even actors. I was debating if I should go or not as I never attended anything like this before where it was specifically geared about the film industry here in BC.

So I was talking with my agent recently about my growth and direction thus far as I was curious if he had any input when it comes to myself in comparison to other local Vancouver actors who get seen by casting directors. Essentially, I was trying to find out what other people’s competitive edges were where they would be called for something over myself or vice versa.

He began by mentioning how it would make his job so much easier if he knew exactly what a casting director wanted. However, most of the time they just ask for very generic descriptions for a person such as the age and sex of the actor.

Out of that conversation too he addressed that a casting director usually calls 15 actors to audition per character. As well, he estimated that there were approximately 60,000 male actors here in the BC area. Putting that number into perspective should really make you think how competitive this field is.

He even mentioned that even though I’m ethnic, which puts me in a smaller demographic, there is no way to figure out what characteristics a casting director is looking for unless they mark Asian males only in their casting information.

You know, casting directors always say that if you even make it to the audition room you should be super happy. Many times I don’t really think too much of it, but thinking about those numbers sure puts everything in a different perspective. If here in BC we have 60,000 male actors, does that mean LA has like 500,000?

Now I know what my old acting classmate meant when he said he went to New York and couldn’t even get seen.