Your First Screen Test

Your First Screen Test

To begin with a positive note, screen tests are not something that is impossible to crack although it might seem tough and nerve wrecking for many. But remember you don't get these opportunities too often so you have to make the best use of it to demonstrate your talent to the talent agents, casting directors and directors. You should not be let down by the outcome of the screen test and always look ahead, you should always take it in a right sense after all the failures are stepping-stones to success. Keep in mind only one fact that you have to work hard towards your goal and having a positive attitude can do that. Apart from the attitude, one should be passionate and ambitious to achieve goals. Also enjoying the work you do makes the quest easier.

Do not forget to take your resume and a headshot most preferably 8"X10" with you to the audition. Some talent agents also need social security number, so take it with you. Sometimes the aspiring actors are called in the number of hundreds, be prepared to stand in line for hours. But most of the times you are called for screen test through an invitation. It is very common that you will get few pages of the script that you may be asked to read during the screen test. Read the script thoroughly and get into the character and ask yourself questions about the character. After getting into the skin of the character you should learn your lines properly using the best way you can.

Some people say to dress according to the type of the character and some say dress lightly so that you feel comfortable during the screening, go with whatever you think is more comfortable for you but you can also combine light dressing with the dressing of the character by complimenting your dressing for instance with a hat for a cowboy role. It's a good idea to do some exercising and rehearsing before the audition and give ample time to relax in between. Also avoid blabbering when you stand in the line after signing up this will ensure that you are focused on the screen test.

Usually the casting directors will take the first call and talk to you and instruct you to begin. It's the time to show what you in you. Be confident and focused on the character and show your talent to the casting director. Important thing to remember is that everyone sitting in the screen test is not your enemy, but they are probably there to get the right person for the role, so remove that fear and perform the scene that you have been given. Also, it is a good idea to re-enact that scene in your own way to show the creative side of yours. Keep in mind to keep safe distance from the casting director; do not try to get too friendly either. Don't be so over enthusiastic that you destroy the settings.

Things should move on life and prepared to take criticism and hear 'no'. You got to take life as it comes and move on and should look forward to what is coming up next. If the screen test goes well you will definitely get a call again for another screen test with select few actors and if you get through this one who knows you might land up getting the role.

The Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are the most prestigious and popular film awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science or AMPAS situated in Beverly Hills, California started it in May 1929. PricewaterhouseCoopers since 1935 have managed the balloting process. In 1941 the confidential envelope system started which exists till this date. This was how the phrase "the envelope please" became famous. The members of this academy are invited by the Board of Governors to join. The membership has fifteen branches each based on the different categories of awards.  

The gold plated statuettes are also presented as the Academy Award of Merit. It has a black metal base and weights 8.5 lb and 13.5 inch tall knight holding a crusader's sword standing over a film reel with five spokes, which represent the five main categories of awards. It was created by George Stanley and Alex Smith and since then the Oscars have been manipulated only once. Forty Oscars are made for each annual Academy Awards in Chicago, Illinois. They are presented every year for movies, which have been produced in the last twelve months. The seventeen-month qualifying period was introduced to consider films released in a single calendar year in the year 1932. And since then this time period has been taken into consideration. The minimum length of the movie should be forty minutes and the minimum resolution should be 1280x720 so as to qualify as a feature-length.

The Academy Awards were held on Thursdays until 1954. From 1959 - 1998 they were held on Mondays except for few exceptions. It started to be held on Sundays from 1999. For nearly sixty years the Academy Awards were held in later March or early April. Since 2004 it is being held in late February or early March. The very first awards ceremony was held at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood. The Ambassador Hotel and Biltmore Hotel were the venues till early 1940s. Next venue was Grauman's Chinese Theater, which was followed by the Shrine Auditorium. In 1949 the awards were presented at the Academy Award Theater. For the next ten years the venue was Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Next in line was Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica. Then the ceremony was shifted back to Los Angeles in 1968 at the Los Angeles Music Center and Shrine Auditorium and it was held there until 1988. In 2002 it was finally shifted to Kodak Theater in Hollywood.    

Oscars recognizes talents in field such as acting, screenwriting, production, direction and technician. The awards categories can be broadly described as Best Production award, Best Director award, Best Actor award, Best Actress award, Best Supporting actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay award. The only three movies that have won awards in all the categories are "It Happened One Night"," One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "The Silence of the Lambs". This achievement is also known as the Big Five or Oscar Grand Slam. Three films hold the record for winning most number of Oscars, which are "Ben-Hur" in 1959, "Titanic" in 1997 and "The Return of the King" in 2003. On the awards night, invitees walk the red carpet in their best dresses, which create a fashion statement. The whole ceremony is broadcasted live on television all over America except Hawaii and Alaska, the first ever broadcast was in 1953 on NBC channel. There are performances by the nominees of the Best Original Song category and countless other performances. The telecast attracts over a billion viewers from all over the world as claimed by the Academy. 

Writing for Television

Writing for Television

People think that writing for television and film is the same but on the contrary both the industries are different. The main elements of the television industry are networks, studios and production companies. Writers are basically hired by a studio to write for a particular network or channel. They even have the rights to sell the material elsewhere. This material is then used by the production companies to bring the script into action.

The writers face two kinds of deals, a development deal and overall deal. Development deal requires the writer to write for only a single project. Only a single story is being developed for which the writer gets paid from $30,000 - $50,000. Overall deal requires the writer to write on a long term basis and the income is more than development deal.
After the initial filtering, about 4-10 writers are selected and they are placed in hierarchy. Showrunner is at the top and is the program creator. They are the ones which have maximum experience in writing and receive an Executive Producer status and earn up to a million. Later in the hierarchy of writing team are co-executive producers, supervising producer, producer, co-producer, and executive story editor and at the end is the staff writer, also known as baby writers as they are the starters.  

Aspirant writers should start by joining classes which are taught by experienced TV writers. The classes help to get the basics right and the same time helps increase the friend circle, which will be of help at some point of time. Beginners can get a break by hiring an agent which has contacts as most of the shows don't hire baby writers and it would take about three years to get the break. But at this level originality of work is what matters. Original material relating to screenplays or even a sketch material will be of good help. One can also work on spec. Specs are trailers which give the outline of the story. This shows the grasping power of the writer. Plays should be carefully chosen when writing a Spec. Do not choose a series just because it is hot or is based on fiction. While choosing a play the writer should keep in mind what he finds interesting and what he wants to work on in future. After preparing the spec, send it to the showrunner of the same show, because the showrunner will be under the assumption that no one knows his show better than himself.  It is advised to send the spec to showrunner of a similar show. Specs reflect the writing ability, the grasping ability, the scene structure sense, story narration style of the writer.

With these entire qualities one can land up as a writer's assistant and if a showrunner hires the starter, it would be a good boost to him. An assistant can also witness the actual proceedings of the show and the basics get brushed up .One must never quit writing. Even if a writer doesn't get anywhere for a short period of time at least he will improve his writing skills which will be of great use in the long run. The writer should meet the deadlines when on job. Sometimes the deadlines can be short too. So constant writing can train in that aspect too.

The writers have the greatest power. He can play with the mind of the viewer. He is responsible for the shaping of dreams of millions of viewers and all this can be achieved by constant practice.

Writing your first Screenplay

Introduction to the story, characters, location and time frame should usually be the start of the screenplay. Setup is an important part as the audiences have knowledge about the movie or the performance. It's better to start with a picture rather than an unknown voice on a blank screen as that will be good to absorb the audience into the story. The image can be of anyone, either that of the actor who plays the central role, or any place like his hometown, whatever conveys the theme? Like in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a snake is shown crawling which later gets killed by Potter in order to save himself and the students. 

Starting with characters interaction is also a good idea as the audience concentrate on them for a while to decide whether they want to pursue them or not and also keep them wondering about the plot of the story. But it's very important that whatever is portrayed in the first few scenes or the first ten minutes should be directly related to the story. If any irrelevant stuff is being displayed it will simply confuse the audience and can also make them lose interest.

After gaining audience's interest the next ten pages should explain about the unfolding of the story and at the same time holding the suspense of the story. Most of the characters can be introduced, environment can be created, past events can be enacted and the villain can also be introduced but that isn't a must. To build the suspense the villain can be pictured as a good guy but his reality comes to light after a bad incident or when he caught red handed by another character. But this shouldn't take long to test the patience of the viewers.

Next is the catalyst or the inciting incident which creates a twist in the movie. The normal flow of the story should be disrupted. The audience should be kept on their toes so as to retain their interest in the story. Questions like what do the characters want and what is obstructing them should be answered here.  After these questions are answered the next question will be very important, that whether the evil-doer will win in his plan. Until this question isn't answered the audience waits for something to happen, they wait for some action or they wait for the climax of the movie. If the antagonist doesn't win the story will have a happy ending and the characters will live happily ever after. But if he does win, then the story will have a tragic end and sometimes will result in the death of the main character. This is known as the first act of the movie.  

The catalyst or the inciting incident can be depicted as small scenes which when linked creates a mystery or with the receiving of vital information by some character or as a clash between the good and the bad characters. In the movie "Disturbia" the hero watches reports on the television about missing girls and were later found murdered. In another scene, the hero hears a scream of a girl from his neighbor's house, who is also the antagonist of the movie. 

Plot point one is the climax of the movie. It occurs after the first act. They are usually meant to surprise the audience with something unexpected with the occurrence of a pivotal event.  The main lead takes a risk and faces his opponent. And if it's a happy ending kind of a movie, the main lead gains victory over the villain by either killing him or making him learn a lesson. And if the story is supposed to have a sad ending, the villain gets away by causing harm to the good character. The last page should give an idea about what the future will be for all the characters and if it's a sequel, it should keep the audience guessing about the future.

Trying out for American Idol

Trying out for American Idol

As everyone knows American Idol is a television program that has singers competing with each other to win the coveted title of American Idol. The show was conceptualized on the lines of Pop Idol from U.K. Even now American Idol is produce by U.K. producers Ken Warwick and Simon Fuller who also produced Pop Idol. The first ever episode of American Idol debuted on June 11, 2002 with its first season attracting a lot of enthusiasm around the country and record television viewers. The show aims to discover the best young singing talent in the country through a nationwide search for the singers. The search is usually performed in six to seven cities every season. The candidates are filtered into few hundreds from thousands. The contestants are further filtered in Hollywood round and ultimately 24 contestants go to the semifinals of which 12 are males and 12 females. The contestants are further reduced to 12 in the final round. From there on a singer is eliminated from bottom three contestants each week until the last episode when only two singers remain from which the winner and the runner up are selected.

Many youngsters dream about getting a break in American Idol and also try hard to get there. Some fail and some come out with flying colors. But we should realize there can be only winner at the end the day and everyone performing in the program cannot be an American Idol. Apart from the singing talent one also need to have the personality to win the competition. In addition to having a beautiful voice you need to have the rhythm and command over different tunes. Knowing how to dance along with singing is also a huge advantage over others who can't dance.

If you are planning to audition for American Idol do not forget to read and if possible memorize the information provided on fox television's idol website. There are lot of frequently asked questions and answers on this website. You can clear many misconceptions you have by reading the information provided. The eligibility criterion to get into the competition is that you should be a citizen or permanent resident of the country and you should be between the ages of 16 and 29.

Some of the previous winners of the American Idol gives an advise to the aspiring contestants to really put everything you can into the song you are singing. You should feel the lyrics when you are singing a song and the expressions should show on your face. Also they advise rehearse the songs you choose over and over again until you perfect it and sing the same song in front of the judges with full confidence and capture their attention and imagination and leave them wanting to hear more form you. Remember focus you attention on getting though the current round and each time you make it into next round you have an extra chance to show your talent and you are that much closer to the crown.

Also remember you may be asked about your role models. Try to come up with two or three names. And how you describe them? You should fine tune your verbiage and if possible try to come up with some interesting words to describe those personalities but only if you are comfortable, do no use it if you feel that you will end up getting embarrassed. Also be prepared to tell about yourself concisely. Part of the job is to dress well, get fashionable if possible but never under dressed. Also be honest, respectful and truthful to the judges. It is also seen that the judges often like contestants who dedicate songs to their friends or family members. Also taking few voice-training classes greatly increases the chances of making it into American Idol. If one follows the tips discussed above there should be no stopping you in landing on the sets of American Idol and who knows you might be the next American Idol.

Walt Disney: A Short Bio

Born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois to parents Elias Disney and mother Flora Call Disney Walter E. Disney was the best thing that happened to show business in the last century. Walt's family moved to Marceline, Missouri after his birth where he was brought up in a farm. Drawing caught his imagination ever since he was seven years old and he sold his sketches to his neighbors. Family moved to Chicago again where Disney concentrated both on Drawing and Photography in his high school. He also attended the Academy of Fine Arts at night. 

Walt was also attracted to the beauty of nature as he grew up and he began to love and appreciate it. Though his father was particularly opposed to his plans her mother and elder brother Roy encouraged him to pursue his dreams. Disney even tried to get into military service but was rejected because he was only 16 years of age and thus was underage to join military. But he joined Red Cross where he was sent to France and he spent a year there driving ambulance. 

After returning from France he pursued a career in commercial art and even started a small company called Laugh-O-Grams which went bankrupt soon. This prompted him to go to Hollywood. It is said he had only one suitcase and $20 with him when he went to Hollywood. His elder brother Roy was living in California, he pooled in $250 and they borrowed another $500 and constructed a camera stand. It didn't take a long wait before they received an order from New York to make the first Alice Comedy and they started producing cartoons in the rear of a real estate office in Hollywood.  After successfully making Alice Comedies Walt became a famous figure in Hollywood. 

Walt married one of his employees Lillian Bounds and they had two daughters. The cartoon film Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 and his talents were exposed to the world in a silent cartoon called Plane Crazy. The year coincided with the introduction of sound in movies just before the release of the cartoon. The cartoon character Mickey made its screen debut in Steamboat Willie which was the world's first fully synchronized sound cartoon. The cartoon premiered at the Colony Theater in New York on Nov. 18, 1928. 

Walt was never content with his work and his quest for excellence made him introduce Technicolor in cartoons in 1932. He used multiplane camera technique in 1937. On December 21, 1937 Walt released the first full length animated musical film called "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" made at a whopping cost of $1.5 million. The animated film is still regarded as one of the rare feats of the motion picture industry.

Walt had a studio in Burbank constructed which was ready in 1940 and the employee count went up to 1,000 which comprised of artists, animators, story men and technicians. Disney used combine live action with the cartoon medium in 1945 in the musical "The Three Caballeros". Walt went to make many award winning cartoon films such as "True Life Adventure" series, "The Living Desert" and many more. Disneyland was launched in 1955 with a capital of $17 million and the investment increased by 10 fold within a few years. Walt turned to social causes in 1965 and directed a film on Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow to improve the quality of urban life in America. But Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966 leaving many achievements and unfulfilled dreams behind him.

Walt Disney envisioned and had directed to purchase about forty three square miles of land, double the size of Manhattan Island in central Florida. It took about fifty months to complete the planning and construction of the Walt Disney World which was eventually opened to public on October 1, 1971. Walk Disney was truly a pioneer and visionary of many modern days' technologies. No wonder why he has received more than 950 honors and 48 Oscar awards and 7 Emmy awards. Truly this man stands out for his outstanding contribution to the improvement of art of cartoon making.