You forgot to slate.
NBD, right?
Well, not the BIGGEST deal, but a deal. Here’s the deal:
𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣.
Slates mattered before and they certainly matter now.
Think about it.
When you come into the room in-person, we are able to get a whole sense of you:
How you carry yourself, your posture, your stature.
Yes, the acting will always come first.
But it’s (very) helpful to know your true physicality before we sign you on for 8 episodes.
This is also why it’s helpful to do an ACTUAL full body slate. And spoiler alert:
A slow pan down from head-to-toe aint that.
A panned down slate on someone who’s 5ft tall looks exactly the same way as someone who’s 7ft tall.
It tells us nothing.
𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁, 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂r 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲.
As far as what to say: we’ll usually give you some guidance on that.
If you’re just told to slate without any specific instructions: a simple “name” and “height” will usually suffice.
Most importantly: 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵.
A slate is for informational purposes only.
It should be quick, to the point and (for the love all things good) NOT in character.
#themoreyouknow #thecastingdirectorscut #mondaymythdebunker #actorlife