The rules of the game for prepared and office scenes are virtually identical. Really, the only difference will be where you are performing it. You'll perform the former on a stage and the casting director or agent will come to see you. For the latter, you'll go to their offices.
The Cardinal Rule
Maximum: five minutes. Strong preference: three minutes.
Sound like acting for a stopwatch? When you work in TV, that's exactly what you do anyway. Don't try to cheat the time limit. We know of actors who were cut off in the middle of a scene long before, as they put it, "we even got to the good part."
If the scene doesn't fit into that three-minute time span, cut it or find another scene. When you begin working on the material, read it aloud with your partner and time it. Since blocking and business adds time, when it's ready to be seen, time it again. Longer than four to five minutes? Pull a "Jason": chop without mercy. If you err, be short. As theatrical agent Miriam Baum put it, "Too short is fine - if you make an impression."
Choosing a Scene
The source doesn't matter. You can cull your scenes from television and movie scripts, plays and books. (You can even write your own - if you can write and are shrewd enough to keep your authorship to yourself so your audience doesn't judge that instead.)
If you've got a VCR, videotape television shows and films regularly - especially ones that are not all that famous anchor seen by the general public. (Your local video store is a treasure house of obscure movies.) Or try soap opera: the intimacy and intense actor-to-actor relationships make them perfect.
Beyond that. . .
- Cast yourself close to the grain: Don't stretch. Perform roles you would play. Forget accents, roles calling for you to be older or younger than you are, and character pieces - they're not looking for a new Dracula. Says actor Steve Ray, "One thing I hear all the time from casting directors is 'The person miscast himself.' Pick something that you would get cast in."
- 'Who's that other guy?": If an agent has you in to do an office scene, choose one that shows you off - not your partner. If it's a showcase - where both actors are paying equally - both parts naturally will have equal weight.)
- Res ipso loquitor: That's a Latin expression, used in law, meaning "the thing speaks for itself." Make sure the scene is self-explanatory. "Intros" are boring and they won't help.
- Make sure it "translates" well: You're going to be doing the scene in someone's (probably cramped) office. The more activity, the "bigger" you have to be to make the scene work, the worse your choice. The aim of the scene, remember, is to show you relating and reacting to your fellow actor; a lot of running around defeats that. And scenes requiring emotional fireworks can be embarrassing around typewriters at 9 A.M. (You can be slightly bigger in a showcase - you'll be on stage.) The best scenes are usually two people sitting, talking and reacting in a relatively quiet way.
- Forget English Lit 101: Shakespeare, Ionesco, Pinter and the other masters may speak well of your knowledge of theatre, but not of your knowledge of what's needed on television.
- Find something fresh: As one casting director put it, "If I see one more version of a scene from Barefoot in the Park, I'll scream."
- "Who's doing Brando in this one?": The only person who gets anywhere doing famous scenes, pitting himself against legendary performances, is Rich Little.
- A good laugh . . .: Some food for thought from Steve Ray: "There's a theory that anybody can do drama but not everyone can do comedy comedy is special. So, if you do a comedy well, they will assume you can do drama. But if you do a drama they will not assume you can do comedy."
" Don't have set- and prop-itis: When choosing (or working on) a scene be sure your concentration is on acting. If it'll take longer than 30 seconds to set up, it's wrong. The best scenes require nothing in terms of props or set. And choose one that keeps blocking and business to a minimum.
Bottom line, the scene should only ask you to do four things: sir, talk, listen, and react.
Choosing a Partner
If you're not in an acting class, or have no actor friends who are "right," you can tack up a notice in one of the many workshops around town. Or ask an instructor for a recommendation. Or simply place an ad in Drama-Logue.
Just be sure your partner understands it's your scene if it's an office scene and a shared scene if it's a showcase - not a chance for him to upstage you. And don't choose a partner who is a bad actor in the hope that hell make you look good. He won't. On the other hand, thinking of choosing a partner vastly better than you? Razor blades are quicker.
Above all, be careful. "Most actors choose friends," says Steve Ray. "Your friends are not always the best people to do a scene with."
And, once again and most important of all, don't ever EVER do a showcase or office scene if you're not ready.
If no one is given more than five minutes, read the script over once, decide what strikes you the most about the scene based on that first reading and then go for it! Don't second-guess yourself. Trust your instincts and go out on a limb. Better to be interesting and totally off than to be "correct" and dull. Bear in mind a five-minute reading is pure and simple a form of gambling. Enjoy the roll of the dice. Your odds of doing well if you trust yourself are far greater than hitting sevens at Las Vegas.
