This week's post is late, because I was busy shooting a commercial this week. (YAY!) I'm pretty excited about this one, because it required a kind of acting that a) is really popular in commercials these days, and b) I find challenging. And since I suspect I'm not alone, I decided to write about it.
It's that thing where you don't have any lines, you're just reacting, and the decision makers want that reaction to be very "small." Or very "real." Or very "film." There are a bunch of ways to describe it, but they all mean you'll feel like you're doing nothing. And that's REALLY HARD.
The interesting thing is that the same kind of acting also happens in film. When you're in a close-up, and your face is being projected on a huge movie screen, every tiny muscle twitch seems HUGE. So it's really easy to be "too big." Television, even drama, allows for lots more expression, both because the screen is smaller (in most people's houses, anyway) and because, stylistically, we're used to more theatrical acting on tv. But in film and commercials, small/real/film is what we, and the decision makers, expect.
So how do you pull it off? You have to trust yourself completely. You have to trust that, just by thinking the character's thoughts, your face and body will communicate, involuntarily, what's in your head. No consciously moving your eyebrow in the special way you have. No intentional movements of your face to convey the appropriate feeling. No indicating. Just think the thoughts. That's it.
It's HARD.
The good news is that commercial auditions offer the perfect opportunity to practice. They're relatively low-stakes, because if you try this technique out and it turns out your face is totally blank, the session runner will say something like, "ok, next time, act like you're alive" and you'll get another chance. Or, as happened with me this week, you might try this technique, and discover it got you a callback and then a booking, which is a pretty great sign that you can and should continue to trust yourself and see where this film/commercial technique takes you.
(Of course, only try it if it's appropriate for the spot you're auditioning for. If it's a big, broad, campy thing, save this experiment for another time.)
Have you tried the 'trust your thoughts' technique before? How did it feel? Planning to give it a try in your next commercial audition? Come back and let us know how it goes!