Introduction
This portfolio will put in place strategies to make the most out of my third year: knowing my casting, optimising industry contacts while also making it enjoyable. You’ll see how my mindset has shifted across second year as I have looked at the industry more closely, moving towards a professional outlook.
Attached in Figure 1 is a comparison between the targets of my first year portfolio versus now. I have come a long way, spending extra time on my voice (and managing to get my highest grade of the year in voice) showing that with focused learning I can boost areas previously found challenging. I think this was mainly through actively naming the challenge in my first year portfolio – flagging it in my development.
Despite overcoming these challenges I will be naming new challenges moving forward such as saying yes to any event, no matter how insignificant I may think it is in my career, building a stronger resilience during rehearsal periods and generating material such as self-tapes of monologues and singing reels that aren’t necessarily covered in third year.
Figure 1
Industry and Connections
Following a lesson about nurturing industry connections, I created a ‘solar system’ list of my personal connections, detailing their roles. Adding to it often means that for example, if I am in need of a producer, I have one I know personally noted down – see figure 2 for my ‘solar system’.
My challenge for my third year self is to put myself forward for things more and go to events such as the Leeds Student Creative Network run by MA student Tyler Pickles because I have realised how vital it is. Going to that one event has lead to connections such as Theatre North (a theatre company set up to support northern artists) and Finding Our Feet Podcast (alumni of Leeds Conservatoire). One event really can lead to indispensable connections and then jobs.
I have started to think about different companies and agents that best suit me and why, because I believe that artists entering the industry need to have preferences and boundaries in order to have any control over their career. I have noticed that I have a preference for lower capacity agencies (e.g boutique agencies) as moving into the industry the more focused support I can get the better; however, later in my career this need may decrease. I have had a look at agencies and one that stood out to me is Northern Gold Personal Management, which has bases in both Yorkshire and London which is ideal as I have bases in both regions too. They also have links with casting directors such as Kharmel Cochrane, a high profile casting director; this is important as having an agency that can nurture relationships with casting directors is key. They are also a boutique style family run agency which suits me in my early career, whereas a high profile agency like Hamilton Hodell is unattainable and may set me up for failure.
A Casting Director who casts within my casting bracket is Rachel Sheridan who has cast for TV series like Big Boys which is my sort of casting (that style of comedy). She has also worked with Sally Wainwright who is one of my favourite directors. I am passionate about a lot of TV Sally Wainwright has created like Riot Women. Writing about people in society who go unnoticed and empowering them is the kind of work that truly excites me.
Headshots and Me
Graduating into the industry, it’s becoming increasingly likely that your first job will be in television rather than stage because of faster production, therefore I have tried to research more into casting for screen, knowing it’ll be likely I’ll start here. I have detailed some comments on my casting type in figure 3 – mostly taken from teachers or industry professionals who don’t know me personally (to have a more objective opinion, more similar to that of a casting director).
Looking for headshots, I realised how much more critical it was that I knew what I wanted from my headshots from a casting perspective, rather than solely focusing on the style of the photographer. This was a realisation I made in screen lessons over the second term of year two as Matt Lewney taught us that knowing your casting will get you jobs and you’ll be more likely to be cast if you have a ‘look’ of that character type/types in your headshots. Instead of getting heashots that just make you look ‘pretty’ and the best version of you, it’s far more important to capture the characters of you. I also did some research into current third years (see figure 4) and working professionals (see figure 5). The main thing I realised was how different I wanted mine to look from Georgia’s and Camille’s – I wanted mine to be far less bright and ‘happy’ than Georgia’s and more like Camille’s, however hers were too serious and all on one note and I wanted variety. The main reason I wanted them more dull than Georgia’s was that I wanted and have been told to play less pretty, more gritty, real characters and I also want to allow for period roles. Headshot artisits like Michael Carlo have a more suitable style (lighting and backgrounds) for me than Yellowbelly and still have plenty of variations in shots (unlike Camille’s). I opted for VRC Studios as a more cost-effective version than Michael Carlo’s. A lower cost shoot tends to mean I may need to know more clearly what backgrounds, angles and tops suit my casting, whereas in a more expensive session you’re more likely to get help with this. Attached is a Pinterest board (Figure 6) of ideas for my headshots – a period/drama look, a youthful (could play a child) look, a corporate, intern look and a ‘me’ look.
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Creating an Actor’s CV, I took inspiration from the current third years. I didn’t want it to be too cluttered with useless information but still wanted to show my wide range of abilities so made sure to narrow down on the ‘skills’ section – see figure 7. As I am changing my name for my spotlight I wanted this to be key in my design with the ‘sky’ blue aesthetic running throughout. Creating the CV via Canva meant I could give it a professional look which is important for me as I want to show my organisational ability and that I am a reliable actor.
Using the ‘About Me’ section in my CV as a base, I created a biography. This was tricky as I find it hard speaking in the third person without it feeling contrived but I wanted the professionalism. Attached is my biography – Figure 8. I made sure to mention roles that I feel best show my range of casting and that I enjoyed playing.
Another resource I wanted ahead of my third year season that I will continue to add to, was a list of monologues, dualogues and songs I find that fit me. Having them all in one place means I can grab one at short notice, knowing I have a range to choose from – see Figure 9.
Figure 9
Figure 7
Own Work/What I wanna create
Creating work is another great way to take control of your career instead of sitting around and waiting for your agents to book you jobs. It’s also I find the most rewarding as you can do what you want! I am also a driven person and love to keep busy so know that sitting around without a creative outlet would be a struggle. People such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote her role in Fleabag and this allowed her to rewrite her casting type and do something she loved. Fleabag started as a “onewoman play… presented… at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013” (Bulen and Howard, 2020). This was where she was picked up by Jack Williams and then it got developed for the BBC. This makes me excited as I hope to go to Edinburgh Fringe this year and potentially take a show there in a few years. I love the idea of having the opportunity to write a role that perfectly fits me.
Having found out Jack Williams produced Fleabag, I did some further research and found out he also produced The Tourist and most recently he has produced social marketing for Louis Theroux’s movie Inside the Manosphere, which made me think about how he values original, rich storytelling and truth. He’s definitely someone I’d like to keep learning about and following.
Creating a theatre company during drama school at the end of first year, has been instrumental in my development as a creative. I have learnt how to write funding bids and how to start up a production from its roots. We have nurtured relationships so that we are having performances rebooked (with companies like the Royal Armouries who re-booked a year or so after we first connected). I have experienced getting my first professional contract, getting shortlisted for festivals (but learning to take rejection when this did not lead to a booking). As a startup company I have learnt to be grateful and treasure every step, despite how small (making a shared email address or struggling to open a shared bank account). I’d love to continue to create new work that resonates with me and write roles that I thrive in.
Aside from Screen and Stage acting, I have had a look at other forms of acting I might be interested in. Recorded media such as audio and animation voiceover work interests me as I love the idea that you can play far from your normal casting bracket (such as Nancy Cartwright voicing Bart Simpson: a little boy). Attached (figure 10) is some research on how I might get myself into this industry.
Figure 10
Summative Statement
Connection
During our first project in second year – Our Town by Thornton Wilder, directed by Beth Knight, I learnt how to tackle a role I wasn’t immediately inspired by. I was cast as ‘Stage Manager’ which is the narrator voice of Our Town. I struggled to find the character and their story as it can be played quite functionally – as narrator. I had to find different ways to connect with them; I found use of animal studies and Laban efforts more useful than ever because they got me out of being ‘stuck’. I also learnt more about myself and learnt that I can’t just keep belabouring so taking space to leave the character for a weekend helped me to come back with fresh eyes. I managed to make them more enjoyable and character driven than originally perceived. In the future I will learn not to have preconceptions about a character until fully tackled with my own method. Alan Rickman said “if you judge the character, you can’t play it”, and I feel I’ve really understood that quote fully this year. Without empathy for the character and understanding of their purpose (as narrator) you can’t play them truthfully. This experience makes me feel confident that in the future I can tackle a range of characters, no matter how intimidating they may seem.
Setting
Another key method that has helped me grow as an actor this year, is the appreciation for environment within a scene. During Screen lessons I really understood its importance; subtleties that you think are irrelevant really make a scene stand out, for example, imagining there is a person you’re talking to where the lens of the camera is (e.g noticing ‘their’ whole body taking moments to scan the ‘other person’s’ hair or shoes). When watching other classmates do it, you really see how the scene becomes three dimensional. This then connected with what I had learnt with Alex Palmer at the start of second year about the fourth side. I hadn’t fully implemented it, because I thought that it was imaginary so the audience wouldn’t see it but in Screen lessons, I noticed how the changes in behaviour of the actor in response to different objects on the ‘fourth side’ (Hagen, 2008) can elevate a scene. Moving forward, I’d like to intergrate this “anchoring” (Hagen, 2008) of ‘tangible’ objects more; I will try it out in my second project this year.
Fear
In my feedback for my Shakespeare assessment, I was told that my final performance had been elevated significantly from rehearsals, because I had connected to Olivia’s need. I should therefore identify how I did this and how to replicate this in rehearsals. During rehearsals I think I had a perfectionist attitude especially as I knew it was an assessment, therefore I wasn’t taking high risks, because of the fear of failure. Norelle and I had practised outside the rehearsal room without our director and had been more free to play. I believe this fear in a rehearsal room (with a director) is what puts barriers between me and a strong performance. I built this confidence and went into the performance knowing I had a strong knowledge of the scene and I had nothing to lose as I knew it wouldn’t get any worse from the rehearsal room. I believe a mindset shift was what led me to a strong performance and I think this mindset shift needs to begin in rehearsal so it doesn’t all just come together at the last minute but is a scene that has been built on and built on. Another reason I think I felt free to take these risks in the performance came from the connection with my scene partner. I trusted that we would be able to respond to one another as we had done in some of our rehearsals (one on one) and having this strong base in a scene partner is really important to me as a perfomer.
Bold choices
I have always confused bold choices with big choices but during second year I began to understand that a bold choice just means comitting to a offer; this was a realisation made during our ‘comedy block’ with Tom Aldersley. For comedy to be clear – in our piece Broken Biscuits by Tom Wells – you had to make a strong character choice. This strong choice would then cause a clash with other characters which is where the comedy lay: within the conflict. Firstly I was trying to make a big physical choice of being anxious and jittery but this then detracted from the scene and was a big offer rather than a committed offer that was active in the scene and therefore not very helpful. I then found that being judgemental of the other characters was a stronger more connected choice except I found it hard to push the extremes. When Tom asked, “Why are you stuck to that chair? It looks like you want to move across the space”, this made me realise that I’d made an offer (of being averse to all their antics) but I hadn’t pushed it and committed to the ‘bold choice’ while being active and responsive. I then realised that this linked back to my shakespeare assessment and how I had treated that. I noticed in myself that I would make a creative choice but not commit, notably in the assessment where I only comitted at the last moment. Now I have fully identified exactly what is meant by a bold choice I hope to use this moving forward making connected strong offers in third year and onwards.
Conclusion
I feel confident moving into third year that I have a strong grasp of my strengths and I have the tools to sell myself as an artist. I also feel that during second year I have a more well rounded understanding of the industry and what inspires me. I’d like to gain more professional experience, (e.g putting myself forward for short films) so that I get to grips with a set as I am very much someone who learns through doing and any professional exposure will help me grow.
My personal challenges for third year include building a trust in myself that however rocky a rehearsal process is, I will get there. This should allow for me to play and experiment during rehearsals without fear of failure and without thinking of the end product. I also hope to develop and practise a self-tape set up, across third year, that is reliable and teach myself how to edit clips to industry standard. I do hope to sharpen my networking skills and figure out the best ways to contact agents and how to engage.
Embarking on a professional career is excitingly close and I can’t wait to make my mark on third year and beyond.
Bibliography
