Commercial
Audition at Explore Talent
Commercial Audition
 Commercial Auditions are much
different than film or television auditions. The etiquette
is the same; show up fifteen to thirty minutes before
your scheduled time, act polite and professional.
But to get the most exposure in the commercial world
one should have a commercial agent who specializes
in casting for advertisers.
The process starts with your
agent or a casting director contacting you. They will
be very vague on the description of the character
needed for the commercial, but your look is what they
are trying to find, so be confident in that.
The casting agent will give
you a few words on what kind of character you will
be auditioning for is like, "casual, hip, mother."
From there you will determine what to wear to the
audition relying on what you think portrays a casual,
hip, mother (or whatever they are requesting). An
agent's advice is great for this. But the goal is
to be comfortable.
The most important thing to
know when going on auditions for commercials is you
are selling something. Though you may be playing a
character, that character needs to seem natural, so
the viewer buys in to the advertisement. The actor
is the advertisers vehicle to sell a product. Think
of yourself as a theatrical salesman.
Commercial auditions are usually
a little looser than movie or TV auditions. There
are often many people auditioning together, especially
if the commercial calls for a group of friends hanging
out, and a casting director wants to see different
combinations of people.
When you arrive, you will meet
with a casting assistant and fill out a card with
your name, measurements, special skills and hat size.
As always, be polite and cooperative to any casting
directors or agents.
Your audition can be a wide
range of performances. A lot of times, a casting director
will put you in groups to perform improv (improvisation)
to get a feel for every ones personality.
When you audition alone, there
are two kinds of performances depending on the commercial.
There is the character performance and the salesman
performance. The salesman performance is for a commercial
that has the subject talk directly to the camera.
Like a Mom telling the camera how absorbent Bounty
Paper Towels are. The character performance is where
the subjects in the commercial are seen through the
camera as subjects, like three guys going into a bar
to drink Miller Lite. Character performers usually
don't look at the camera.
Depending on the audition,
you may have to perform both styles. Just be you when
auditioning. Advertisers want to see actors that portray
real people, because it is the real people that will
hopefully be buying their product. If you over act,
it will seem unnatural. They already like your look,
so keep being yourself, and hopefully your performance
will shine through. |
