CHAPTER 14

Big-Budget vs. Low-
Budget Films

As an actor, my point of view of filmmaking has always been from in front of the camera and all that it entails to become camera-ready. When I first started working in movies, all I knew about filmmaking was what I had learned from the experience of being a spectator. Everything I thought came from my own personal experience of watching movies; my own taste and the performances of actors that I liked formed my opinion. If the movie did not entertain me, didn’t evoke some kind of emotion or philosophical response in me, then I didn’t like it. If I enjoyed it or it moved me in some way, then I liked it. I never considered the style, the photography, or the editing as being important. I wasn’t really aware of the essential roles they played in my enjoyment of the movie. I wasn’t aware of how movies were made. All I knew was that I loved watching movies, and I wanted to be in them.

When I started working in front of the camera, there was one other thing that I knew that was essential—how to act within my own circle of concentration and how to use my imagination in my acting. I soon started to learn more about the jobs of the others around me on the set. We were all part of one desire: to make the movie the best that we knew how, with each person concentrating on their own job. My job was that of the actor.

In the beginning, I played very small parts in big movies and lead parts in student and no-low-budget films. I wasn’t yet a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and I was working in Europe, so there were no restrictions on which parts I could take. I worked on experimental video projects with no scripts and did scenes for film production classes in schools. I took any opportunity I got to be in front of the camera and be on a set. As long as I trusted the people I was working with not to exploit me in any harmful way, I was willing to put myself into whatever situation was necessary to learn more about acting in film and get in front of the camera. As my experience grew, I naturally became more discerning in my role choices, but at the start I was pretty much willing to go anywhere and do whatever was asked of me.

Because I had a lot of friends who were at the Film and Television Academy in Berlin, I would often have the opportunity to be actively involved with the script development process. I was included in discussions when the other crew members would discuss how the script could be photographed, how the set would be designed, and which locations to use. Many times I was allowed to see the rushes (sometimes called dailies, because they are the unedited raw footage of the day’s shooting) with the crew. If I knew the director very well, I would visit him while he was editing and converse with him about his editing choices.

The apartment where I lived was very spacious. Some of my roommates were filmmakers, and many of the first films I did were shot in this apartment. I found that the more I learned about movies, the more I wanted to know. I learned to respect everyone’s input, and slowly, as I worked on bigger and more expensive projects with strangers, I learned where my job as an actor fell in the hierarchy of moviemaking. I loved every aspect of the collaborative art of moviemaking—I loved being photographed, I loved acting in front of the camera. I began to enjoy every kind of moving image presented on a screen, whether it was telling a story or merely existing for its own artistic sake, as my appreciation for the craft of filmmaking widened.

UNDERSTANDING FILMMAKING

Knowing or understanding how movies are made and what to expect while making them will not necessarily make you a better actor, but, if nothing else, it helps you to communicate with your director and comprehend what is happening around you. You become part of the milieu, you speak the language, you stay out of the way, and you know how to behave on the set. Understanding how movies are made helps you focus your attention on your job as the actor. It helps you to do a better job.

I am not a filmmaker, so there are many things about the making of films that I do not understand. People who are filmmakers, whether they are seasoned professionals or novices learning their craft, try to keep abreast of all of the exciting technological advances—in fact, it becomes a lifelong pursuit. As an actor, you are concerned more with the execution and development of your own acting, rather than how it will be photographed. However, there is much information that is useful and will help you to be better equipped for the experiences and procedures that you encounter as you begin to work in front of the camera. I will try to break down some of the experiences in different types of filmmaking, from the student film to the Hollywood movie, to help you prepare more efficiently and to fit into the environment around you.

USING THE WORD FILM

I would like to clarify why I use the word film even though many of the important movies of today are being shot on digital video and other media. There is a lot of discussion in the entertainment industry today about the advance of digital technology and how it will affect filmmaking, both now and in the future. Cameras are becoming smaller and more versatile, and there are affordable computer programs to edit whatever you have shot; for relatively less money than ever before, almost anyone can call himself or herself a filmmaker. There are those who are saying that film is dead and everything will be digital video in the near future. No one knows what the future will bring for certain. We know it will bring change, but in what direction and how it will change is always an unknown.

It’s interesting to note that in 1956, the entertainment publication Daily Variety had as a page one headline “Film Is Dead!” above an article announcing the invention of videotape. Certainly, videotape changed many things in the entertainment industry; it broadened the possibilities. It did not, however, kill film. Today, many have the opinion that anyone can make a movie, now that you don’t need expensive lights, film stock, a large crew, and a studio. Just pick up the camera and shoot. The question remains the same regardless of what medium you use—shoot what? What is the story you are telling? How is that story best represented in images? An easy-to-use camera does not answer these questions by itself. The creative artist behind the camera still must answer them. It’s true that the widespread availability of more inexpensive, lighter, and easier-to-use equipment broadens the spectrum of opportunity to those whom it might have eluded before, but technology is only a tool for talent; it does not do the job for you.

The technology has made certain things easier, but it will not give you great ideas. Having a pen does not make you a great writer, nor does knowing how to type or to use a computer. Shakespeare wrote with a quill, and he managed to be rather prolific with very crude tools by today’s standards.

Each generation finds new ways of telling its stories. Each generation wants to separate itself from the past, and that is quite understandable. But even in the modern world of filmmaking, the actor is still standing in front of a camera, and light in some form is still necessary for an image, unless the entire movie is shot in night vision. Styles may change, but the content, what the story is trying to say, and how that story is composed in images, is still very important.

The general consensus is that whatever the format, whether it be photochemical film, digital video, or computer-generated images, the process is still called filmmaking. We still say, I shot my film on digital video. So for purposes of clarity and brevity, unless I’m making a technical point about a specific medium, I will refer to all projects as “movies” or “films,” regardless of the stock or format that was used to produce the images in them. Indeed, many films today use a variety of media to create the look that is right for the movie. The actor is not consulted on these decisions, and, as always, she has to follow the instructions of the director.

ALL FILMS ARE THE SAME

Regardless of the budget, all film sets have the same problems; big-budget films just solve them more expensively. The same kinds of questions have to be answered by the filmmakers. There are millions of decisions that have to be made at each step along the way. With a bigger budget, acclaimed craftspeople, and an experienced crew, problems might be solved with more money, expertise, or artistry, but the basic dilemmas are still the same. The same questions arise no matter the budget or the film medium:

• What is the film about?

• How will it be told in pictures?

• Where is the camera going to be placed?

• What are the angles and camera movements that best tell this story?

• What and where is the light source?

The film set, whether it is in a studio with 70mm film or on a street corner with a handheld digital video camera, poses the same problems for the actor. Where is the camera, where is the light, and what am I supposed to be doing while the film is rolling? If you begin thinking of it in these practical terms, it’s much easier to take the pressure off and adjust, whatever the circumstances. If you think of it as Jodie Foster does, as a blue-collar job, you can easily place your concentration on the practical problems of the moment, rather than on the imaginary successes and failures of the future.

There are three phases that a film goes through once the decision has been made to shoot a script. Some form of each of these stages must take place to create the finished film. The actor is mostly involved in the shooting phase of the film, when photography takes place, but may be called in as needed at other times.

Preproduction

The planning stage of the movie. The locations are scouted, the crew is hired, and the major part of casting is done. A production office is set up that becomes the headquarters for the film. All special equipment is ordered; problems and travel plans are discussed. The shooting schedule for the movie is planned, and the different departments meet to find out what the demands on them will be. The more meticulously a film is planned, the better everything else will go once shooting starts. Aside from the casting process, an actor may be called in for hair, makeup, and costume tests during this period. If you are very lucky, rehearsals might even take place during this time.

Production

The period of time in which the photography of the film actually takes place. The average feature-length film takes about six to eight weeks to shoot. The production office is still the main headquarters through which all information flows. Obviously, this is the phase that involves the actor.

Postproduction

Sometimes referred to as “post.” This is the assembly of the material that has been photographed into what eventually becomes the finished film that we see. This includes the editing, the sound mix, special effects, and sometimes the shooting of additional scenes that the director now feels are needed to complete the film. The actor may be called in for these scenes or for looping, which is filling in dialogue in a studio synced to your own screen image.

There is, of course, another phase: the distribution and marketing of the film, which eventually brings it to the viewer. This phase is not covered in this book, although the actor may be called in to promote the film for publicity purposes.

STUDENT FILMS

Let’s take a look at the different types of film projects, starting at the beginning with the student film. Everyone has to start somewhere, and film school is where many filmmakers start. It’s not a bad place to begin acting in front of a camera, either. You can think of student films as a sort of scene class for screen acting. Many people teach film acting with a single video camera on a tripod, but there is a limited amount that you can learn from that. In fact, some of what you learn from such an experience will not translate onto a set and into the film medium. I think that student film projects are a great place to work for a variety of actors.

• It’s a good place to start if you are a novice actor or have never acted in films.

• It’s a good place for actors who have been away from the business for a long time and want to start working again.

• I think it can also be a good place to hone those elements of your technique that you have not been satisfied with in your previous film work.

A student film is made by someone in film school who is making the film as part of the school’s curriculum. There are many different levels of these projects, and it’s always a good idea to know what level and type of project it is before you get involved. There is almost never payment; it’s usually meals, transportation, and a copy of the tape. The meals will be bagels or peanut butter and jelly, the transportation usually an overcrowded secondhand car, and the tape (a copy of the film on VHS) may prove to be much more difficult to actually get into your hands than you ever could have imagined. That being said, these projects can be a lot of fun, very creative, and you might be lucky enough to create a lifelong friendship that will translate professionally later in your career. You are usually truly appreciated for being a participant, even if your director has no idea what to say to you as an actor. After all, you are really part of his dreams coming true.

Following are some different types of student projects you might encounter. Most film schools are four-year programs for undergraduate or two- or three-year programs on the Master’s level. Obviously, the later the year, the more proficient the student.

The Production Class Project

Film schools have production classes, where the students learn all the jobs of the film crew as they shoot small projects. Usually, these are assignments with an instructor present during class time. In the second or third year, the production class starts to bring in actors from the outside; before that, the students shoot one another. It’s usually a simple exercise, like coming into a room, or a small scenario, lasting a minute or two of screen time. The shooting of such a project takes about six hours.

The actor is usually responsible for her own clothing and makeup, all of which has been discussed and agreed upon beforehand. There isn’t a great deal of pressure to perform, because the emphasis of the production class is on the techniques of filmmaking, not on the performance and direction of the actor. It’s a good place to start if you have never been in front of the camera, because you can become accustomed to being on the set and start to decipher the crew positions. The atmosphere is generally very relaxed, because everyone is just learning what to do. You can also learn a great deal from the instructor if he lectures during the process. Call the school directly to inquire about how it finds actors for production classes.

The First-, Second-, or Third-Year Film Project

These are small films that each student is required to make in order to proceed to the next level. As you might guess, they can vary widely, depending on the talent and maturity of the student. These projects could take place anywhere and are shot by the student director and his classmates. They are usually about ten to twenty minutes in length. They could be crude or elaborate, depending on the creativity and the finances of the director. Sometimes the scripts can be lovely, dealing with daring subjects and issues. However, because these are student projects, the script may not be realized as clearly as you might desire. The time involved often exceeds expectations (this happens on all films), so you have to be prepared for that. Obviously, the later the year, the more experienced the student. As an actor, you can use the projects to:

• See how your technique responds under the duress of the set and the seemingly tedious repetition of multiple takes.

• Understand why relaxation and concentration is so important.

• Begin to learn about the importance of lighting and how you work with it.

• Try out your ideas about creating a character for the screen.

• Take chances in your acting that you might be afraid to risk in a more professional and high-profile setting.

• Ask to view the raw footage (the rushes) of your various takes, so that you can learn from them. You must promise to be quiet and not interfere with decisions of the director if you are permitted to do this.

The Thesis Film

The thesis film is the final project of the undergraduate film student before graduation. This is the project that every student filmmaker hopes will be his or her passport into the profession. This film is meant for the public, and film schools exhibit them in a theater around the time of graduation. A thesis production can be very close to making a real movie, and if you have a lead role, it could be a sizeable time commitment. I would suggest asking the director if you could see some of his previous work, and then make the decision if you want to be involved or not. His work doesn’t have to be perfect, or commercial, but it should exhibit some ability to tell a story and have a point of view. These are often cast through the traditional avenues of casting directors and the trades, or from the pool of people that the director knows and has worked with before.

The Graduate Thesis Film

A graduate student’s thesis project is the crown jewel of student films. These films are usually quite developed, since the students are more mature and have studied a great deal. They are usually clearer about what they would like to say in film. The professors at the graduate level are often famous filmmakers who mentor the students through their films.

Martin Scorsese attended New York University’s first graduate film class. His thesis project was a sixty-five-minute piece called Bring on the Dancing Girls and starred Harvey Keitel. It wasn’t well received, but it showed he had promise. Two years after he graduated, an instructor of Scorsese’s from NYU put his own money into the film and convinced him to go back and rework it. After six months of rewrites and the addition of new scenes, the film was renamed Who’s That Knocking at My Door, with Harvey Keitel again starring. It took five years for this process to complete itself. Scorsese made a sequel to it several years later called Mean Streets, starring Harvey Keitel and Robert de Niro.

There is no way of telling if the student director with whom you begin to work will turn out to be a director of the caliber of Martin Scorsese or if your relationship with him will be as satisfying and lasting as the ones he developed with Keitel and especially with DeNiro, but one always dreams. I would suggest watching Mean Streets to see the work of a young, talented director at work telling a story that he knows well with actors whom he loves. It will help you to train your eye to gauge the work of other beginning directors.

NO-LOW-BUDGET FILMS

A no- or low-budget film is basically a project that doesn’t really have enough money to get made, but everyone crosses their fingers, uses imagination, begs, borrows, yes even steals, and prays that the thing makes it to the finish line. Such a film could be a short (these are enjoying a comeback due to cable and the internet), or of feature length. There are many stories about these projects that go on to bring fame and fortune to all involved. There are many more stories of movies started that are never finished, or worse, finished and never seen. When you work on a no-low-budget film, you have to do it for the love of the moment, and not because you think it will make you a star. You should do it because you love to work; besides, you always gain experience and some exposure.

Conditions on no-low-budget movies can vary widely, depending on the experience and care of the director and his or her crew and production staff. Regardless of how much care is taken, the work will almost certainly be grueling. Eventually, exhaustion will set in. It’s in this state that the actor has to remember to specifically go back to the relaxation and concentration, perhaps now more than ever. There could be chaos around you, but you will have to stay within the scope of your own job, acting, and remain focused and calm.

Shooting Ratio

The shooting ratio is taken from the total amount of film or footage that is shot. It is the ratio between the footage that is actually used in the film to the footage that was shot but not used. It is not unlikely for a major feature to have the luxury of shooting at a 15:1 ratio. That means they shoot fifteen times more film than they will actually use in the edited movie. In a no-low-budget film, you’re lucky to be working with a shooting ratio somewhere between 5:1 and 2.5:1. That strains everybody’s nerves, because there is very little room for mistakes. The director does a lot of nail biting, because if he doesn’t pay attention to the amount of film that gets used each day, he won’t have enough money to finish the film. If he doesn’t pay enough attention to the scenes that are being shot, he will have material that isn’t good enough to be used, and he won’t be able to reshoot. The production company just doesn’t have the money.

As an actor, you can’t do anything about this, except be aware that every time you step in front of the camera when the film is rolling, you have to give it your all. You should also be aware of the enormous strain that is on the director, caused by lack of funds, and seek to understand the best way you can work to accomplish your job.

How a Low Budget Affects the Actor

There are many things that directly affect you on a low-budget shoot:

• The look of the character is often left largely to the actor to create. You may be asked to use your own clothing, which you certainly don’t have to do if you don’t want to. Many actors really enjoy using their own belongings for a character, because they feel that they are truly creating from their own raw materials and making a statement. They become excited about creating the look of their character. It can be very exhilarating, but it can also be very time-consuming and expensive.

• One thing I would suggest: Never use anything of your personal belongings on a film shoot that you aren’t prepared to either lose or have destroyed. It doesn’t matter if the director and crew have promised you that all of your things will be taken good care of, it’s a promise that can’t be kept on the lower end of filmmaking. On a big-budget film, you wouldn’t be asked to use anything of your own.

• Personal problems have a tendency to arise on the set—since there isn’t a lot of money for the casting process, directors will often use people whom they know, friends and family members. Many of the locations and props might stem from these relationships. These personal relationships between cast, crew, and the location can make for an interesting mix of events. The lines between your life, the character that you are playing, and your exhausted imagination can blur while shooting.

• There could be very poor facilities to do essential things. A low-budget shoot does not have trailers. Trailers are what supply all of the amenities, like bathrooms, makeup mirrors and tables with proper lights, places to change clothing, places to sleep or rest. If you don’t have a trailer, you’re using the sleazy bar on the corner’s bathroom and changing your clothes in the back of a van while the crew checks out their equipment. Modesty can be a real problem factor in these cases.

• The director and crew can completely forget about the actor. I know this sounds bizarre, but I have been in situations where the crew was finished with a scene, and no one told me that I was no longer needed for the shooting of that scene. The crew is much smaller on a low-budget, so it’s often missing the ­important liaison crew member who communicates what’s happening on the set to the actors. This can be particularly troublesome if you are on a location somewhere, in costume, and there is no one to take care of you while you wait or watch over your personal effects while you are shooting. If you are worried about your personal safety, it’s hard to concentrate fully on acting. When you act, you are vulnerable in a very special way; your defenses are down in a way that you don’t normally allow when you go about your daily life. If you feel that this aspect of your job reality is not taken seriously or acknowledged, then you have to bring it up to either a production assistant or to the director. Usually, it’s just on oversight. They figure you’re a grown-up, you can take care of yourself, and lack of experience makes them think that they have more important things to worry about.

I was once shooting a scene for a very low-budget video project with a friend of mine as the director. We were shooting in our apartment, and the cameraman was her ex-boyfriend. We had been shooting for over eight hours, and it was about two in the morning when they suddenly had a very bad disagreement about whether or not they needed more shots from a different angle. She wanted it, he thought it was unnecessary, and nobody was asking me my opinion, which was great, because I didn’t have one.

I was sitting in my position, in full costume and makeup, under the lights, while these two argued. Finally, I realized this was gonna take a while, and I got up to smoke a cigarette in the other room and get away from the heat of the lights. I fell asleep on some camera cases, woke up two hours later, and they were still arguing. Suddenly, they burst into the room and wanted to just pick up from where we left off, what was now two-and-a-half hours ago, without giving me any time to get ready for the camera again. I had to shake myself from my stupor, fix my hair, makeup, and costume, and somehow focus my numbed brain on what we had been doing. I could have chosen to start arguing with them, but that would have gotten us all nowhere. An actor cannot be simply turned on and off like a light switch. Unfortunately, many inexperienced directors seem to forget that.

The Inventiveness of Guerrilla Filmmaking

The absence of a big budget for a film should not represent a lack of creativity. In fact, some of the most exciting films have been shot for very little money. The restrictions caused by a low budget can inspire tremendous inventiveness in filmmakers, and the actor is very often part of that process. Because you are working with a small crew, you discuss things with one another and work things out together. Improvisations often arise as the solution to a scene that is not working. A suggestion from an actor about how to portray a certain aspect of his or her character often saves the day if it inspires the director’s vision. The human element portrayed by the actors is perhaps low-budget film’s best calling card.

It can be very exhilarating to be riding in a van, and the director spots something that he or she thinks is wonderful and, on the spur of the moment, decides, “Let’s shoot that scene here instead of where we were going to shoot it.” You all hop out, quickly decide where to take your places, and start doing the scene. It’s wonderful. This kind of spontaneous unplanned shooting is called “shooting wild.” Of course, if you haven’t prepared yourself properly as an actor, it could be your worst nightmare, but most actors adore the challenge of the moment and find it exciting and fun. Shooting wild isn’t really possible on a big-budget film, where everything has been carefully planned and organized. A director’s style may utilize such techniques to give the film a certain look and feel, but they are not spontaneous decisions that jump at you in a moment’s notice. A period of a spontaneous style of shooting is also planned in a big-budget movie.

The SAG-AFTRA Actor

If you are already a member of SAG-AFTRA, you can still work on many no-low-budget and student films. The union has many contracts that allow members to work on these projects. Most film schools have an agreement with SAG-AFTRA, and you can work under the Student Film contract. Some of the other agreements are the Experimental, the Limited Exhibition, the Low-Budget, the Affirmative Action Low-Budget, the Modified Low-Budget, and the New Media agreements. Each of these contracts is stipulated according to its production budgets and its potential distribution possibilities. A mixture of SAG-AFTRA and non-SAG-AFTRA actors is allowed, and the crews do not have to be union. The Modified Low-Budget Agreement, however, is very close to the full-scale contract. You can get all of the information about each contract from your local SAG-AFTRA office by asking for the Film Digest. This digest lists each contract in a simplified way that is easy to understand. If you are a Guild member, you can just pick one up. This information can also be found by doing a search for film contracts on the SAG-AFTRA website (www.sagaftra.org).

These contracts have opened up the playing field of opportunities for professional actors to do more diverse work. It also has enabled filmmakers, as well as makers of new media and gaming, to use a higher quality of actor where their budgets might have prohibited them from doing so in the past. If someone has promised you one of these agreements, then it must be signed before you go before the camera. Unfortunately, producers, particularly on the lower-budget end, will sometimes lie to you to get you to work for less or no money. If you have an agent, he should look out for you and take care of your contractual commitments. Actors need respect and confidence to work properly, and having the feeling that you are being taken advantage of does not foster those feelings.

THE ACTOR AND THE INTERNET

The film industry and the casting process have moved into the twenty-first century along with every other industry. The power and accessibility of the internet have created an explosion in the ways filmed content can be viewed. Once upon a time, every household had a television that the family gathered around; sometimes they would go out to a movie theater. Now, every household has a multitude of viewing devices—laptops, iPads, smartphones, and a television monitor—with each viewer watching their own content, mostly transmitted over Wi-Fi. Network television and movie theaters still exist, but their onetime heavy competitors, cable networks like HBO, are themselves competing with streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. And all of them are competing with online content to be streamed or downloaded onto almost any computer device, created not only by professionals, but also by any person in the world. The amount of productions that are launched to fill up this global viewing market is enormous. Films are being made on everything from astronomical budgets like the Star Wars franchise to the shoestring budgets of web series created by actors.

IMDb.com

If you would like to do some research on any director who has asked you to work on his film, the easiest way is on the internet. The best site is www.IMDb.com, the Internet Movie Database. This site has actors, directors, writers, producers, and crew members on pages that list all of their credits internationally. It covers all aspects of the film industry, including television, for any film that has been released theatrically or is or was readily available for view by the public. This database also has biographies, trivia, gossip, chat rooms, and film news. Most people in the business use it all the time, for fun and for research. Once you start appearing in films, you will be listed there, too. This site now has a service called IMDb PRO. For a fee, you can register and have access to all kinds of industry information that is not available on the public website. It has many features for actors to post pictures, demo reels, and clips of your work. It is widely used in the business as a casting and informative tool.

Episodics

One of the greatest booms in the industry is the stunning rise in the production of episodics. Based on network television’s nighttime dramas and comedy shows, these stories, told in a series of installments or episodes, have given rise to what many are calling the “Golden Age of Television.” There is a lot of work for actors of all kinds when they are hired as season regulars or day players. Shows like Mad Men (AMC), Game of Thrones (HBO), or Orange is the New Black and Stranger Things (Netflix), which can be viewed in separate episodes or binge-watched8 (when they become available for streaming), often develop cult followings and have become perhaps the most desired filmed content for the modern audience. Episodics also offer golden opportunities for actors to have steady work, create new characters, and develop them over a long period of time if they are a season regular. I think it’s the most exciting aspect of the business today. The variety of style, both in shooting and script, crosses all the genres of acting, screenwriting, and filmmaking. The casts are from every level of the acting business, and many of these shows, made in the United States, have become a beacon for filmmakers to emulate around the world.

Reality Television

It might seem strange to include this topic, but the reality is that the popularity of reality television has greatly influenced filmmaking. The voyeuristic thrill the viewers get from watching “real people” in “real situations” has created a thirst for what seems like unscripted, candid performances in lieu of the more traditional scripted formats. There are many categories to this genre, and it is not new to television or film, for that matter. Since the 1940s, there have been various popular shows and films on television that captured what they claimed to be real people in real situations—shows like Candid Camera (1948), which is part of the Hidden Camera program; Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom (1963), the adventure travel show; and The Dating Game (1965), the game show looking for love.

The shows often have on-camera interviews with the participants where they give their side of the story or have a confessional moment of great emotion. You will notice that this method of a character giving a revelatory, candid monologue directly to the camera has seeped into a lot of current films.

There are many other styles, for example:

• Docu soaps—Feature a melodramatic story line, often centered on a famous celebrity and their family. Often the camera follows them around in their daily activities and shows them dealing with difficult confrontations (e.g., Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Newlyweds).

• Subcultures—An inside look at groups that are not normally given the limelight and usually only known to members of that group. These shows often feature bizarre behavior of rituals particular to that group (e.g., The Jersey Shore, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills).

• Cop dramas—Real-life criminals and the law enforcement that pursues and captures them (e.g., Cops, Border Wars).

• Courtroom dramas—Cases brought before real judges and prosecuted (e.g., Judge Judy, The People’s Court).

• Competitions—These shows have contestants competing against one another in everything from survival to singing (e.g., American Ninja Warrior, The Voice, Project Runway).

Although all of these shows supposedly have no acting involved, there is a format that is followed. Most reality shows are soft scripted, manipulated, and driven by stories devised to make the show more interesting. They are also accused of exploiting the more unsavory sides of human behavior, creating an appetite in the viewers for more of the same in traditional acted films and television.

Many of the participants have become extremely popular and are now called “reality stars.” These stars make rampant use of social media to boost their stardom and, in some cases, have garnered global recognition. This phenomenon has affected the tastes of filmmakers and audiences alike. Many actors have made their way through a reality show to gain exposure and move into the more “legitimate” world of the business. All of these aspects have affected the way actors are expected to behave, as well.

The iconic film Chelsea Girls (1966), by Paul Morrissey and Andy Warhol, featured female residents of the Chelsea Hotel in New York City in unscripted, mostly unedited shots. The film has two projectors, and the screen is often split between different rooms. It is an early example of shooting people candidly and without a script. The film runs over three hours and is worth seeing if you want to see a true “reality” show.

Reality television and easy internet access have also encouraged an onslaught of all kinds of personal material and exhibitionism to be shot and posted by, well, everyone. Many people spend a lot of time scrolling through various apps watching personal, anecdotal, funny stuff people have posted. Everyone is courageously seeking his or her “fifteen minutes of fame.”9

Web Series

A web series is another avenue where many actors see hope for getting the exposure that they desire when they are not working in film or television. It can come in any form, scripted or improvised, drama or comedy. It follows the rule of the episodic, featuring usually fairly short segments called “webisodes.” Many actors are now creating their own material and putting it up to be streamed or downloaded on the internet. Actors get very excited about the possibility of having such wide exposure to an audience, but the drawback is that it seldom has any way of making money. Even big name writers and actors who have created web series are usually self-financing the project. On the positive side, it is a great way to open doors to the more lucrative aspects of film by getting exposure and having material to add to their demo reel.

All of this is possible because of the ever-expanding accessibility of the internet and the increasing speed of Wi-Fi. Many actors are now taking things into their own hands and creating their own content. All you need is a laptop computer and some sort of camera, even just a smartphone, and you can shoot and upload your own moving images onto the internet. Sites like YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, and countless others have made getting your product out there literally at the tips of your fingers. Small SD cards can carry enormous amounts of data, and movies can be passed around as easily and lightly as a thumb drive. Even without separate, physical storage devices, large amounts of visual data can now easily be transferred digitally over the internet to a global audience.

The problem that occurs for the professional actor is a misconception that making a spectacle of yourself on social media will garner fame and recognition. Actors today often spend much more time and energy on creating a cyber presence for themselves and forget to truly take care of their acting technique. In the end, when one is hired to work in film or television, all of the old rules still apply. You are still just an actor with a script standing in front of a camera, and you better be prepared.

Social media has changed the way that directors and casting agents can find the talent that they are looking for. Here is just one example.

The Sean Baker Story

Sean Baker graduated from NYU film school and created Greg the Bunny, first on public access television and then on Fox. He gained fame with his feature film Tangerine, which was completely shot on an iPhone 5S using filming apps that are available for the phone. He cast two transgender amateur actors whom he found at an LBGT center. Tangerine premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It picked up distribution with a limited release through Magnolia Pictures. His second feature, The Florida Project, upped the technical ante quite a bit by shooting in 35mm Kodak film. He cast his adult female lead, Bria Vinaite, from an Instagram post she made of herself talking to the camera. Baker was looking for what he calls “untapped talent” to cast in many of the parts. He said that he just kept scrolling through Instagram, when he happened upon Bria talking to the camera, off the cuff, self-deprecating, with a huge blunt in her hand. Bria was cast after an in-person interview and quickly went into preparations for the shoot. Since she had never acted before, she was given a professional acting coach who worked with her nonstop for a month. The coach was also on set at all times to help the actress with each shot.

The film sports some amazing work by many amateur actors, some of whom Baker found while walking around a Target in a shopping mall. It also stars the veteran film actor Willem Dafoe, in the male lead, who was willing to help and support his less experienced costars. The Florida Project has been very popular with audiences and critics alike.

The moving image has always inspired innovation, exploration, and the search for new talent. Many great directors have mixed amateurs with professional to great results. The emerging formats and internet access are making it easier to broaden the horizons of the search, making the film business a little bit more egalitarian.

THE BIG-BUDGET MOVIE

I’m not really sure what the money value of a big-budget movie is anymore, since the price tags on films keep skyrocketing, but a good way to judge one is that it will have the basic SAG contract, a well-known director, and name actors or stars in the lead roles. Any movie with these components has to have a sizeable budget. If the film involves violence, special effects, or amazing stunts, the price tag goes up. To suspend a car from a helicopter that crashes into a wall, where both burst into flames, costs a lot of money and expertise to do. Fights that involve stunts are very time-consuming to shoot and require special stunt coordinators, CGI, and skilled camera movements; this also costs a lot of money. Movies with sets that are expensive to create, like Titanic, Wonder Woman, or the Star Wars movies, come with a whole cadre of special needs and effects that send their budgets sailing through the roof.

If you work on a big-budget movie, there is one thing of which you can be sure—you will be treated very nicely while working. How nice it is to actually do the job will depend on your relationship to the director and your role, but all care will be taken to provide you with the amenities you need to be as comfortable as possible. First of all, you will be under the protection of the unions, with their meal regulations, rest periods, and time restrictions. If the filmmakers break any union rules, they must pay you penalties. There is overtime after eight hours of work. It may be the same grueling schedule of a low-budget film, but at day’s end, you’ve been paid handsomely for your labor.

If you are shooting on location, you will have a comfortable, if not luxurious, hotel, per diem, and be driven to and from the set. The meals range from good to fabulous, depending on the caterer. There will be top-notch professionals doing every job on and off the set. Your hair will be done, your makeup designed, applied, and touched up. There will be a costume designer and a wardrobe crew. Your props will be arranged by the prop master. You will have a comfortable place to rest between shots, like a trailer or a segment of a honeycomb. A honeycomb is a long trailer with little, separate private compartments. Basically, all you have to do is show up and act.

It sounds wonderful, but as I said before, all films are the same, so even though the conditions vastly surpass those on a low-budget set, the basic dilemmas of filmmaking are still encountered, only now with the extra, added attraction of enormous pressure. When great deals of money are at stake, there are great expectations, and as an actor, you will certainly feel that a lot is expected of you. Famous people have personal relationships, too, and these can explode under the close quarters of the set. Stars, by the way, are also human beings; they have bad habits, they oversleep; they get angry and exhausted just like everyone else.

Big-budget movies are meticulously planned, and there are a lot of people at work to buffer bruised egos and fix problems that arise, but it’s fascinating to see how the structure of filmmaking is so much the same at every level. The relationships of crew to talent (that’s the actors), director to crew, director to actors, etc., is eerily similar, no matter what the budget or the style of the film. However, on a big-budget film, your involvement greatly advances your exposure and career.

If we go from the premise that the nature of filmmaking dictates that there be similarities in the procedures no matter what the budget, content, or style, then we can explore what some of those procedures are and how they affect the actor.

In the next chapter, I will lay out an actor’s first day on the set of a medium- to big-budget film. It is a kind of template or example of the best-case scenario, the one that has been used for nearly a century around the world, wherever films are made. I guess it’s because it seems to work best for everyone involved.

8 Hours of watching several episodes of a show in one sitting.

9 The quote comes from none other than Andy Warhol, who in 1968 said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.“