Winning Auditions: 101 Strategies for Actors - Book Review
Author: Mark Brandon
Publisher: Limelight Editions
Copyright: 2005
ISBN: 0879103167
My advice: Own it
It seems the longer you stay in the entertainment business, the more and varied advice you’ll receive about how to go about landing that break-through role. Most of the advice that is presented, however, is based in some kind of fantasy world and was probably created by people who were looking for excuses as to why they weren’t getting cast. The fact of the matter is, for the professional, there are techniques that can be employed that will help any actor, regardless of experience level,increase their chances for nailing that next audition.
That’s what Mark Brandon provides for you in his book, Winning Auditions: 101 Strategies for Actors. Having worked in the industry and been through several university training programs as well as a number of workshops, I can tell you that Mr. Brandon has provided a product that is worthwhile. Most of these strategies he has developed after teaching workshops on acting for the camera and discussing these problems with his students. In his introduction to this book, he talks about the process of culling through his copious notes and compiling them into its current form.
Furthermore, he goes to the trouble of breaking them up into three categories: Preparation Strategies, Presentation Strategies, and Performance Strategies. He also cross-references himself several times throughout the book linking one strategy with another and pointing out their most important differences.
His strategies were devised from actors working in the field. These are the actors who are continually going out and being seen before scores of casting directors and agents and their own observations about acting techniques and how to apply them in the highly competitive world of film and television auditions.
Perhaps his simplest strategy is the one that he references the most; in fact, its so simple, it’s elegant: Have Confidence. I know that sounds simple, but throughout the book, he references this strategy (it’s number 5 in the book, by the way) and tells you exactly how a lack of confidence can affect you and your performance at the precise moment you need it the most. He goes into detail about how to use the various types of sides you’ll see in the casting director’s office from film/TV scripts to commercial copy and beyond. He also talks about simple strategies to help you improve your cold-reading technique and how to keep it at its best.
The strategy that is provided the most detail in the book is Number 71: Above All Else, Aspire to Truth. In this strategy, Brandon details the difficulty and inherent problems most actors face in preparing their audition ahead of time: getting so bogged down in their preparation that they forget to just let it go and strive for honest and truthful reactions when they are reading before the casting director. He outlines several techniques to help actors with less experience overcome this problem.
In short, in this short 110 page book, he covers the absolute basics of what to expect in auditioning for pretty much anything in front of a camera.
The book is organized extremely well and is a quick, easy read. Not only that, it’s just as easy to use as a reference book to help you prepare for those auditions where you’ve got a few doubts or feel a bit behind the 8-ball.
If you are an actor, or are thinking about getting into the film/TV business, you could do a lot worse than to have a copy of this book handy.
Buy it from Amazon! Buy it from Limelight Editions!