Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Acting in commercials
In
the incredibly limited world of commercial casting, an actor’s instincts can
lead one astray. If you go into a
commercial audition with any intent, method, or technique prepared, you’ve lost
the part already. Those producers, ad
people and clients behind the table may tell you that they don’t want anything
obvious and that they don’t want to typecast, they’re not consciously lying,
but their instincts will always draw them back to the familiar. They need to make a safe choice to satisfy
the needs of the client. It’s best not
to consider any part of the commercial process an “art”. It’s a business, and you will benefit by
thinking of it as very lucrative whoring.
Your aim is to please the client.
The goal is to sell a product and you are a sellable object. Keep in mind that those people behind the
table determining your fate aren’t necessarily artists. They are a mix of business people whose
primary goal is to sell something. And
they aren’t particularly interested in the different or the daring. The advertising business is, by nature, risk
adverse, and while there may be creative elements involved, marketing and
numbers always prevail. The lone voice
that wants something unfamiliar and “different” will always be drowned out by
the numbers people. When they tell you
that they want something “subtle”, that is defined by commercial terms. Subtle in advertising would be broad and
caricature in any sort of “real” acting challenge. It’s really about making readily recognizable
faces and aping interest in a product. If
they tell you otherwise, they don’t mean it.
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