VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

When casting for "The Life of Pi", Ang Lee said that when he found the 17-year-old Sharma after 3,000 auditions, the movie finally seemed possible to make.

3000 auditions................................................ Mello

Chuck Davis · Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:25 pm Post subject:

Just slightly more auditions than the average Voices.com posting.
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Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 1:58 am Post subject:

But he listened to all 3000, not just the first 20.
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Moe Egan · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:31 am Post subject:

Chuck made me laugh.
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Eddie Eagle · M&M Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 2393

How long do ya figure it takes to do 3000 on camera auditions?
a year?

Deirdre · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:13 pm Post subject:

I've done theatrical castings where I've seen 300 live auditions in one weekend.
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Bish · Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 9:01 am Post subject:

... but at what point in the process do you lose all objectivity and go into saturation and audition fatigue? When does it become a lottery as to whether or not (in DB's example) the kid is in the first ten, or the last ten of that specific 300... and does that make a difference? I'm sure it's a cyclical thing with its own peaks and troughs.

Now, this guy has a pretty good track-record with his movies, so he must be doing something right... I have no experience making movies, so my opinion is worth nothing... however, as we recently saw with some well publicized VO auditions (for Detroit if I remember correctly), there is an "indulgence of choice" where if we can flex our muscles and exert our power... we do.

There are obviously far more elements that come into play when casting for a movie, but if the parameters for the role had been clearly defined (sex, age, race, size, type, ability, etc.), and proper triage had been carried out by associate casting staff, then it seems excessive to have 3000 paraded before the director himself (unless he's a total control-freak who doesn't trust his people and cannot delegate).

If he watched 3000 auditions, I'd like to know how many head-shots he went through Smile

Cheers
Bish (probably talkin' sh*te)
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Benjamin Stovall · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 12:47 pm Post subject:

Bish, this may be a case of, "I've got this specific voice/face in my head..." and she matched it perfectly.

In my imagination, just as Ang Lee was falling into a drooling stupor, he heard her delivery and snapped to. And more! She had the perfect look! Filled with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning, he knew he'd found "the one".

Aw, shucks. I'm a hopeless romantic.
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kkuhlken · Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 2:04 pm Post subject:

voicy1stef · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:14 am Post subject:

A perfectionist + being true to his vision + big money on the table = 3000 auddies!
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jsgilbert · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:15 pm Post subject:

I have cast and/ or otherwise assisted clients and friends in obtaining talent. With a few notable exceptions, I've never provided more than 10 referrals, auditions, names, etc. In most cases, the number has been 3, 4 or 5.

I simply told the client I would make their life easier and if they wanted to hear more, no problem.

And only twice did someone ask to hear more, and it wasn't 50 or 500 more.

Why did Ang listen to 2,000 auditions. Perhaps because he had the luxury of being able to. I am guessing on the first few films, it was "use however you can get", and he seemed to make it work. So now that he's a muckity muck, I guess it's act like a muckity muck.

I've been part of some exceptionally good and exceptionally bad products in my life and I am willing to admit, far more that weren't so good than good.

Whether I was the writer, actor or director, or playing more than one role, there could be many reasons why something may or may not turn out great or not. In my case, it often stemmed from poor client "insistence:, last minute script alterations, lousy direction or my having to direct the owner of the company.

I suspect however with all of the resources at Mr. Lee's disposal, he could probably have gotten what he needed from 10 auditions, or perhaps we're forgetting that his biggest "star" has been a character generated comic book figure. How many of those did he audition.
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