|
Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Feb 19, 2018 18:05:06 GMT -8
With the launch of this new guide, I figured I'd ask the actors here what are certain things that make you pause, if not immediately turn away from, an audition thread. Some of mine are: - txt speak/badly written posts ("ok So line one of my character is Hey wat r u doing Stop It")
- casting before deadline (also against the rules, but hey)
- bad attitudes (insinuating all actors are easily replaceable, they will recast at a moment's notice, or other things that indicate they may generally be a high-maintenance director)
- requiring extensive amounts of time commitment (OK for some people though)
- tagging unrelated people on social media in hopes they'll promote an audition thread for a project they aren't even in/relevant to (OK to tag with "would love an audition from you if you get the chance") but there's something a little off putting about being asked to retweet something I'm not even a part of??
- making interested voice actors fill out an "application form" explaining their credentials for auditioning or other things that should easily be evident from the audition itself. I even saw one once that had a drop down menu asking "what is your mic quality" and one of the answers you could select was "it's utter shit". That one was actually pretty funny, and props to anyone who answered it with that much honesty, I suppose?
|
|
|
Post by Michael Macaw on Feb 19, 2018 18:12:47 GMT -8
Mentioned in your guide but the "producers not coming back to the thread" thing. Obviously, it's annoying if they're not following casting call rules and never make the revisions they're required to, but even just posting it and never providing any sort of follow up once the deadline is passed or answering questions is something that conveys disorganization to me. You should at least acknowledge that you're no longer accepting new auditions and that you're contacting potential VAs over the next few days once a deadline has passed, even if you don't intend on posting a cast list/results or anything.
It makes you look a lot more "on the ball" and also helps greatly with the "send it and forget it" mindset so the VAs aren't constantly coming back to the thread wondering if a choice has been made or not.
|
|
|
Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Feb 19, 2018 18:29:40 GMT -8
Yeah, it's particularly frustrating for the mod team if we need them to update their post to include something but they never bother to come back and check responses. Traditionally that means locking the thread, but sometimes it will look good otherwise and it's clear they just forgot an email address or something.
|
|
|
Post by Bean on Feb 19, 2018 19:45:05 GMT -8
Count me in on the disappearing act being near or at the top of my list. Whether it's day one with threads being bumped months later to those that are here for a few days then don't edit to close their thread, it's tough to know if the role you spent time auditioning for was even cast!
For that matter, threads that are closed suddenly before the stated deadline. It's okay if you announce that you have a ton of auditions already and will be moving the due date up, but it's another to close it altogether out of nowhere. Please give an advance warning for any major change like that. This is very close to the casting before the deadline deal, but I've experienced a sudden closure firsthand. Nothing has hurt worse than getting ready to record/actually recording something only to find out the time you've set aside to tryout was for nothing.
|
|
|
Post by Brian B on Feb 19, 2018 20:41:49 GMT -8
I would say using words that no one ever uses in daily conversation and then not having a pronunciation guide to help out. ( In addition to everything already mentioned)
|
|
|
Post by Rebekah Amber Clark on Feb 19, 2018 23:07:35 GMT -8
1. Sassing the mods ("I'm too good for deadlines but I'll pretend to have one and just not TELL anyone who I picked until after the deadline, it's all the mean mods fault you're MAKING me waste voice actors' time!!!" type of replies)
2. When no info is given on the nature of the proect's content. If you just don't say "18+" I don't know if it's clean or if you're just breaking the "you have to say if its 18+" rule.
3. When offensive language is in the audition lines. I don't mean swearing, I mean slurs against people with disabilities such as the "M" word -- because for SOME reason, *that's* considered okay though racial slurs aren't. But whatever.
4. Unpaid projects that demand professional quality *anything* (microphones, acting skills, whatever). Sure, you might GET that, but simultaneously demanding crème a la crème and not giving anything in return is silly.
|
|
|
Post by benedict on Feb 20, 2018 0:25:20 GMT -8
4. Unpaid projects that demand professional quality *anything* (microphones, acting skills, whatever). Sure, you might GET that, but simultaneously demanding crème a la crème and not giving anything in return is silly.
That's a biggie for me. I know I'm not working at that level yet, so auditioning for what looks like a guaranteed rejection seems fruitless. Kira mentioned the other big one for me in her guide: massive time commitments or open-ended time commitments. I'm on-call 24/7 for my day job. I can usually guarantee small blocks of time throughout the week, but I'm not in a position to dedicate large blocks of time to a project right now. Small roles are good roles for me!
|
|
|
Post by cbdroege on Feb 20, 2018 2:37:22 GMT -8
If an audition for a short project calls for a specific communications software, like Skype or Discord, I usually give the project a pass. If the casting director or producer are not satisfied with e-mail communication, then they are likely expecting a level of real-time communication that I'm not going to be comfortable with.
|
|
|
Post by Lumisau on Feb 20, 2018 2:53:07 GMT -8
1. Sassing the mods ("I'm too good for deadlines but I'll pretend to have one and just not TELL anyone who I picked until after the deadline, it's all the mean mods fault you're MAKING me waste voice actors' time!!!" type of replies) Ugh, it's so easy to pick up on these kinds of people. They think they're being sneaky but they're not. This is a nitpicky thing, but when something lacks images I tend to pass over it. Images help in a lot of ways - it gives you a gauge of how professional the project is going to look, it shows the producer is at least somewhat into development, and it gives people of certain vocal ranges a better gauge to see if the character fits them or not (for example, there are 15-year-old males who have passed by puberty, and some who have not). I'll also pass by threads which use character makers or artwork I know the producer didn't make. This doesn't make me pass over something but it bugs me: Audition lines which are too short to get a grasp of the character. I can be a bit guilty of long-ass audition lines but I like to know if my actors can handle long stuff that I know is happening. Also lines without much emotional variation are a problem, for basically the same kind of reason. It makes me feel like a producer hasn't analysed what will help an actor best portray the character. Poor formatting. Make your thread look spiffy! There's a preview button right in the left corner!
|
|
|
Post by LaurenAlyssa on Feb 20, 2018 9:07:51 GMT -8
Ditto to all of the above.
Often when I'm on the fence, or if I'm simply curious about a creator or indie company, I'll go down the social media rabbit hole and see what kinds of things they've posted elsewhere. I've passed on many auditions that otherwise looked good if there are indications elsewhere that the creators are difficult to work with in any way.
|
|
|
Post by alexanderdoddy on Feb 20, 2018 9:54:20 GMT -8
Ditto to all of the above. Often when I'm on the fence, or if I'm simply curious about a creator or indie company, I'll go down the social media rabbit hole and see what kinds of things they've posted elsewhere. I've passed on many auditions that otherwise looked good if there are indications elsewhere that the creators are difficult to work with in any way. This! Also checking out their previous projects and how many of them come to fruition. If they have a track record of starting projects and nothing coming from them... Or if they have done little => No preproduction and they clearly aren't ready to cast
|
|
|
Post by Brittany Ann Phillips on Feb 20, 2018 12:28:25 GMT -8
Really everything that has already been mentioned.
Another one I'll add is if the audition lines are too vaguely written to have a real sense of what the possible scenarios the characters are involved in ("Hello, how are you?" for example).
I've also run across too many casting calls where a creator says that these audition lines are "so bad but they not a part of the actual script in any way/these lines are just random sample lines."
I understand not wanting to risk having a project leaked before it is released to the public, but why write poor/vague audition lines?
|
|
|
Post by Kyotosomo on Feb 20, 2018 12:37:44 GMT -8
I'm surprised no one has said this yet; but a lack of proof the project will come to fruition. If you're a game developer or animator it's completely unacceptable to post a thread without including any of your previous work or current work for the upcoming project you're currently casting for; whether that be images, videos, or links. These kinds of projects are a big undertaking and very frequently fail so how am I supposed to know you're not some dumb little twelve year old who has no idea how hard it is to actually make a game or animation? And really the proof thing goes for any other kind of production as well. Say you're uploading some kind of audio drama or comic dub or whatever to YouTube; you need to link similar past videos of yours and/or your YouTube Channel. I refuse to read your giant text wall and just assume this project is going to be completed and highly successful if at a glance I don't see any indication of your previous track record shown somewhere on the thread.
|
|
|
Post by h0m3st4r on Feb 20, 2018 12:45:52 GMT -8
- casting before deadline (also against the rules, but hey)
That's the biggest one for me. I could care less about most other things, but this, more than anything else, in my mind, shows just how unqualified a person can be to make a project.
|
|
|
Post by Rebekah Amber Clark on Feb 20, 2018 16:03:48 GMT -8
- casting before deadline (also against the rules, but hey)
That's the biggest one for me. I could care less about most other things, but this, more than anything else, in my mind, shows just how unqualified a person can be to make a project. YES. Audition deadlines are the first promise a director makes to voice actors. If they break their first promise, I won't believe any that follow ("this will be completed" "you can have this role" "I will pay you")
|
|