Hate Actors

F

FatalFire

So... I feel so nieve right now. At least I can take this as a learning experience....

So this 5 min film project we were given at uni, we had almost no limitations and could do what we wanted. Most people tend to do abstract art type things. I'm not interested in that I like narrative films. I decided to make a short which was 1 scene. The film is basicly a conversation between 2 people at an apartment front door. I planned to use this project to practice writing and filming dialog and creating characters in a short span of type. I wrote it up everything was ok, I worked out how I was gonna film it in my house to make it look like an apartment. Everything good to go. It was october my deadline was january 12th.

I dont know so many people in this city and my hometown where my friends are is too far away so I sent out an email to all the performance arts students at my uni. I needed a guy early 20s and a woman the same age who was pretty. I got no replies at all from guys so I figured I could do that myself since the camera is fixed on a tripod anyway (we have to do the filming ourselves). Several from women only 2 of them really looked right. I talked with them over several emails and they both liked my project idea and both wanted to do it. I tried to set up a meeting with one of them to talk about the project and show her script, thats when she stopped replying to all emails. The other was busy all the time but gave me her number, we spoke on the phone a lot about the project. I asked her if she will be free to do the project before christmas she said sure. By December 15th she tells me she cant and can only do it in january. I remind her my deadline jan 12th and we agreed we would do it in the first week of jan. I call her on Jan 2nd no answer... I text her on Jan 5th no reply... so now its the 8th and I have given up on meeting my deadline and am thinking what to say to my lecturers. They are pretty much gonna think I am some douche slacker who doesn't care about the course at all when I have ideas about film making, stories and scene ideas buzzing around my head constantly everyday. I just want to make a film but people keep letting me down... ugh.....................

Next year my final year I have to make a much longer film, 30-50 mins I think. I have tons of ideas for it but I find myself dreading it now worrying about flaky actors.

People just make me sick. Its like a couple hours max, just a rehersal then the filming. Then they get a short film of themselves acting that can be used in their portfolio, I said I would give them a copy on dvd aswell.....omg :-/

People who mess others around like this just need to die. I cant believe people can be so selfish.


I'm done ranting.
 
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How did you present the project? Did you ask to meet in a public place or your place? You have to remember there are a lot of crazy people on the Internet and if you ask a woman to meet at your apartment and tell her you are the only actor, it could come across as suspicious.
 
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I explained what the project was about in the email I sent out and explained it like I did above. I said to meet up in the uni cafe.

And no i'm not an internet psycho, i'm just frustrated right now
 
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Hate actors? :eek:

I love 'em.
smiley_hug.gif


Make the most of your university. Go see the director of the performing arts school, explain the project, the need to cast quickly, provide script/side copies, everything all prepared. There ought to be more actors (and actor-wannabes) available than you can shake a stick at, at a performing arts school.

Heck, if they're putting on plays there you could even shoot on the stage (unless it's some weird-ass set that makes no sense... but then again, it could make your film a little more surreal, too. That could be fun). That makes it super-convenient for everyone. Maybe even take advantage of the stage lights. :cool: You have a tonne of resources all around you.

You've only got a few days left. Get away from the computer, quit mopin'... and get it done.
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Hey mate, I've had the same problem in the past. I'm in uni in well and basically have relied upon myself, close friends, and creating shorts that need a limited amount of actors. I'm working on my first film with more than 2 actors and am lucky to be at home over break for it where I know a ton of people. The only advice I can give is to write scripts with limited amounts of people. Then again you were only looking for one girl. That's rough. I hope it works out.
 
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We did a school project and had the whole cast leave set before we got our first shot (they had a hockey game to get to :P ). We recast on the day and shot anyway. Dig your heels in, you still have time. I know for fact you can put together an 8 minute short in under 48 hours ;)
 
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Don't be discouraged. Get your head down, stock up on caffeine, put yourself through the grind and get it done in the next few days. Back in high school we had to compose a several hundred page anthology in a month, and naturally I waited until the final week. I stayed up 3-4 days in a row with no sleep, got it done and turned it in...wasn't good, but I got it done.

My point is that if you turn SOMETHING in and THEN explain to your instructor your circumstances, it will go better than if you turn in nothing. Even if you fail or get a poor grade, 55-65% or whatever you get is worth a lot more than a zero.

And after the project comes and goes next week, chalk it up to a learning experience. Especially young people are irresponsible (especially college students). Check out some of the other threads on this forum that deal with professionalism because some great advice has been given by smart people here. Basically, the more professional you make your project seem, the more professional of an approach any collaborators will approach it with too.

Even if it's just a short student film, if you hold an audition, set deadlines, keep professional communication in emails and in conversation...your chances are better that your actors and others working with you will approach the project professionally and behave responsibly. If you act casually and treat the project like it's "just" a student film and not that big of a deal....others might treat it like not such a big deal either.

Hope it works out for you....good luck!
 
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Getting actors as a student filmmaker isn't easy unless you've got friends who want to act or will act anyway regardless of what they want. Fuck it you could always just give up on trying to get uni theatre students to act in your film and become a video journalist filming in iraq or afganistan, you sound like you'd scare them off anyway,(in afghanistani) oh fuck that crazy psycho with a video cameras coming run, no shoot him, don't shoot him we can improve our portfolio, "but we're militia though" we better act in his film or else he's gonna get our ak 47's and shove them up our ass. I find it hard getting like one actor to turn up let alone two at the same time for scenes with more than one charcter in it. Thats why i'm glad i'm currently making a cg film, no annoying unreliable, shit faced wannabe theater actor performers not replying to your emails.
 
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my deadline was january 12th.
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I hope things turned out okay for you in the end! So ... how did things turn out???

It's a war story. Learn from it, I guess: many filmmakers here undoubtedly share your frustration! We try to create and organize this huge product ... and get shut down by actors or crew who (as you say) all they had to do was show up and give it a decent effort ... and even THAT's too much to ask.

It's frustrating NOW ... and it will be frustrating if you / we are ever lucky enough to do it PROFESSIONALLY. Many Actors seem to be Flakes, who knows why? Maybe learning a skill and a craft (as CREW and TECHIES must) weeds out the flakes among THEIR tribe ... but then too many Actors and Actresses get by on looks and ego? I dunno ...

EXPERIENCED Actors aren't such big flakes, probably for the same reason: they're the ones who stuck with their Art, their Skill, and people are willing to COUNT ON.

The hot chick who "wants to be an actress" ??? Today she wants to be an Actress, but the day of your shoot she wants to go shopping. :(

Anyway ...

1) You cannot give another person AMBITION or DEDICATION. They must already have it within themselves. You can "fire up" people who have the fuel inside to take your spark ... you cannot "fire up" the soggy or the useless.

2) You can have back up plans, you can re-schedule, you can make-do, you can improvise, you can re-write on envelopes and re-shoot on the run ... and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

But you cannot make someone who has promised to not let you down, not let you down after all. You cannot explain to your cast and crew of ten dedicated people ... why YOU as the Director "let this happen" that the one good-for-nothing Actress screwed you ALL.

So we live, and we learn, and we compensate all we can ... and sometimes we get hit unfairly and that's it.
That's showbiz.

FILMMAKING is COLLABORATION. Sooner or later, no matter how good YOU are ... the weak link in the chain betrays the whole chain.

Have you considered WRITING? You don't need anyone else to WRITE.

But then they will just find another way to screw you as a Writer ...

The Road of the Peyote is a Hard Road.

Musicians make music. Painters paint. they don't need nobody so nobody can get in their way.
 
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And perhaps the 'flakyness' of actors ISN'T a reflection upon their quality as Actors. I was reading in this recent ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY about people's experiences working with Heath Ledger (who few would doubt was a great artist and actor) -- how he went from being totally confident acting to totally insecure at times, how the creative electricity inside him caused him to sign up for deals then back out, how he'd love acting and then refuse or resist to promote the end product.

Imagine that: hundreds of people collaborate on a movie, tens of millions of dollars are risked on an Actor's ability ... and then the Actor risks destroying the success of the movie because he or she "doesn't like to do interviews" etc ?!?!
 
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To me, it's not a thing about actors so much as it's just that the people I've met in my life, by and large, are kind of on the flaky side.

And that seems to be especially true for a lot of creative-minded people, as much of a cliche as that is.

I've moved through numerous fields of writing, and if I had a dollar for every time a project collapsed because someone else didn't hold up their end of the deal, I could probably afford to shoot the seven full-length film scripts I've written so far.
 
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SoulCinema said:
The hot chick who "wants to be an actress" ??? Today she wants to be an Actress, but the day of your shoot she wants to go shopping. :(
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:rofl: Hah! Oh, god, that's SO NOT FUNNY! Well, maybe its funny cuz its true :D

Here is what you take from that exprience though, FatalFire. Now you have an idea of who you should and should NOT work with. You know who is reliable and who isn't. The next project you have, you know who to call on. This is one of those hard lessons we all get in one form or another--I had a secondary cameraperson quit on the 2nd day of an out of town, 21 day shoot. I'm still mad. But you know who and what to do the next time.

I would like to say this: out of all the young people who say they want to shoot something and that they need actors, I have never heard one ever say: I went to the theater club at school. Every school puts on some kind of play or musical. Why doesn't anyone look there for some actors?

I do documentaries, but I have a couple of short stories that I eventually want to produce. The first place I would look would be the little theaters and the acting classes at the local schools...but that's just me....

-- spinner :cool:
 
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Yeah well... incase anyone is wondering it did work out in the end I found some new ones who were not douchebags.

From now on i'll presume everyone is a jackass until they prove otherwise.
 
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Yeah well... incase anyone is wondering it did work out in the end I found some new ones who were not douchebags.

From now on i'll presume everyone is a jackass until they prove otherwise.
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It's happy news things worked out for you in the end.

You may indeed have just hit on some unlucky choices to act in your movie ... in every group some will disappoint you, others will go above and beyond.

A recent personal anecdote: lined two models up for photo shoots, both working TFCD just to build their portfolios.
#1 is not all that attractive, and her "portfolio" doesn't just look like snapshots but like BAD snapshots: she had every reason to be needful and bend over backwards to grab the opportunity to get some decent photos of herself taken.

#1 stands me up, two days before shoot ... vanishes. No e-mail replies, no phone replies ... I pull the plug on the scheduled shoot. Two days later she's "Can't we please pleasssssse re-schedule?!" I'm like ... yeah, okay, we'll see. I have a new camera, I wanna work out the rocket-science twenty shooting modes and quirks gremlins ... I can use a model and she'll get cool pix. But I'm THINKING "burned me once" etc ...

Model #2 looks like Rebecca Romain (however it's spelled, y'know, MYSTIQUE from the X-MEN. Except she's not blue ...) She's already GOT a real cool portfolio, plenty quality shots. She can model for money, doesn't NEED more shots.

But SHE'S into it as an ART. She values creativity over hourly pay. I'm like ... really? We'll see.

I ask her if two hours is okay ... "Don't worry about it"

I ask, she's out of town, can she be responsible for finding a cool place to shoot (I'm thinking ... it's freezing outside, just find some drab place, anyplace to shoot with electricity for my lights etc)

So ... I drive down, things are a little rough from unforeseen issues ... but she ends up giving us FOUR hours, and her energy and enthusiasm doesn't drop under 150% for a minute (except, she's posing nude in front of the windoes and the lights come on in the neighbors' house, and she's "Okay, we can't shoot in front of the windows, sorry." THAT was her only moment of non-happy joyjoy)

And the drab place she might have come up with, I'm not expecting much:
It's her gay hairdresser friend's freaking 1930's brothel-looking PALACE of mirrors and art deco coolness!

My point being: I could've doubted, I could've said "Can't trust people they'll let you down, break yer heart, LOWER MY GOALS, etc" ...

But then you get LUCKY, you find creative and enthusiastic people with THEIR OWN BLISS, and they take you beyond anything you expected.

PUT YOUR POSITIVE ENERGY OUT ... and if you get disappointed NINE times, the TENTH will make it all worthwhile.
Never let THEM make YOU into the cynical badguy, or into the guy who disappoints THEM.

That's my advice. In a world of those who don't keep promises ... that makes those who KEEP promises real treasures.

Treasure a treasure and you'll be a treasure, imo. :yes:

If I sound all happy and dear diary ... it's because every so often things fall together instead of fall apart ... and it's wonderful! Artists and Creative folks need to plug into that magic with less cynicism and fear.

Things go wrong. No one else cares about your thing as much as you care about your thing. But it's YOUR THING ... and finding the RIGHT FOLKS (often in unexpected places and situations) makes it BETTER than YOU. Trust, be disappointed, trust, win the big prize.
 
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I hope you don't mind me jumping in. I've been acting for 15 years, in both film and stage.

You have to realize something--the 'professional' actors tend to stay far away from 'student films' for some of the very reasons you called-out the 'flaky' actors. Because most of us who have worked on student films have either been burnt, or subjected to horrible productions. I mean that with no ill-will at all. I'm just being honest. Not to mention, if we aren't going to get paid, we want to work with established production companies that guarantee a quality product.

Basically, my point being, actors that tend to be OK with student films, don't tend to carry with them much experience, and much professionalism. You have to hope and get lucky with talent at that level of the game.

Also, I can understand how difficult it is to find a good actor for any production...let alone a student film. One piece of advice I will offer is this...don't skimp on actors. Do your homework early, so you can get quality talent. Throwing bad actors into your picture is a sure-fire way of dragging the production down to unwatchable. Other than sound and lighting...the next big problem with indies are the actors.

And besides just my example...actors can be flaky in general. That is why when you find a few good actors, you stick with them. If you can find a balance of professionalism, talent, and ease of work in your actors...it can be worth it to write them into your script, as opposed to finding new ones.

It's a catch 22...finding experienced actors with great work ethic to act in student films is difficult. Experienced actors don't want to do student films for some of the same reasons you voiced about actors.

I hope I've helped a little.
 
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SoulCinema said:
If I sound all happy and dear diary ... it's because every so often things fall together instead of fall apart ... and it's wonderful! Artists and Creative folks need to plug into that magic with less cynicism and fear.

Things go wrong. No one else cares about your thing as much as you care about your thing. But it's YOUR THING ... and finding the RIGHT FOLKS (often in unexpected places and situations) makes it BETTER than YOU. Trust, be disappointed, trust, win the big prize.
Click to expand...

I actually agree with this. If you are in it for the long haul, you'll live for the times that everything falls into place and you get a great shot or a great shot you thought you missed. Those times are so gold...

-- spinner :cool:
 
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