HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY PREPARE FOR A FILM OR TV AUDITION? An acting audition is not a test of how much acting theory you know. It is an opportunity to show what happens when the camera turns on. At ActorZone, we approach audition preparation differently. Film and television acting is physical. An image enters your imagination, your body responds, your breath changes and behaviour follows. The goal isn’t to stand there thinking about your character. The goal is to play. LEARN THE WORDS, THEN GET AWAY FROM THEM Know the material well enough that the words are available to you. Then stop making the words the centre of the audition. Actors can spend so much energy remembering lines, analysing beats and trying to manufacture emotion that you can almost see them thinking on camera. Instead, give your imagination something to respond to. See the person. See the room. See what has just happened. Let those images affect your body and breath, and allow the words to come out of that experience. ACTING HAPPENS THROUGH IMAGES If I say, “Don’t think about a pink elephant,” what happens? You see one. Your imagination works incredibly quickly. Actors sometimes make performance much more complicated than it needs to be. Rather than intellectually trying to create an emotion, give yourself something specific to see and allow your body to respond. This is why simulation and play are such a large part of the work at ActorZone. You’re training the connection between imagination, body, breath and behaviour. UNDERSTAND THE FRAME A brilliant performance can still become a poor self tape if the actor doesn’t understand the camera. Where are your eyelines? How close is the shot? How much movement can the frame take? Where is the other person? What happens when your eyes move? These aren’t technical details separate from acting. They are part of screen acting. Film and television acting happens inside the frame. Learn to use it. GIVE YOURSELF SOMEWHERE TO GO An audition shouldn’t feel identical from beginning to end. Experiment with speed. Experiment with volume. Move when the image makes you move. Allow yourself to listen. Try something. Then try it differently. At ActorZone, we work through multiple takes because actors need the freedom to discover what works rather than trying to manufacture the “perfect” performance immediately. It also trains something incredibly important: taking direction. A casting director or director may only give you another take. They might completely change what they want. Your job is to be able to play the new direction rather than desperately trying to recreate the performance you prepared at home. STOP TRYING TO SHOW EMOTION You don’t need to demonstrate to casting that you’re sad, angry, frightened or in love. Give yourself the circumstances and play them. If the situation affects you, we’ll see it. The camera is incredibly good at seeing thought. It’s also incredibly good at seeing when you’re trying to show us something. PREPARE FOR THE PRESSURE AS WELL AS THE PERFORMANCE Professional acting can move quickly. An audition arrives. There may be very little preparation time. Casting may want two takes. A director may give you a note you weren’t expecting. Your agent may need the tape back that afternoon. That pressure is part of the job. Your process needs to work when you’re nervous, when you’re rushed and when somebody changes the direction. That’s why audition training should prepare you for the realities of working in film and television, not simply teach you how to analyse a scene. YOUR AUDITION IS PART OF YOUR CASTING IDENTITY Every audition gives the industry another opportunity to understand who you are on screen. Your headshots, footage, self tapes, showreel and professional profiles should begin to tell a consistent story about where you fit in film and television. Talent matters. But casting also needs to be able to see you. That’s why ActorZone combines camera training with audition preparation, professional footage and profile building. TRAIN INSIDE THE FRAME ActorZone is based in St Kilda, Melbourne, with online coaching also available. Created by Logie Award winning actor, director and producer Paul O’Brien, ActorZone helps actors bridge the gap between taking acting classes and actually being ready for the film and television industry. Train your auditions and self tapes. Understand your relationship with the camera. Build professional footage and develop a casting profile that represents who you actually are. Train in the frame. Get seen.
