Acting tips for an audition?

Wolf · #1 07-09-2011

Hey HF. I have an acting audition coming up in about 2-3 weeks for a haunted amusement park. I heard they hire around 400 people. I've done a home haunt for several years AND acted in it, but I have no clue what the professionals look for! I know the basic things like "be loud" and "come up with a character" and such. Any tips to completely nail the audition? I think they hire on the spot.

Wolf · #2 07-09-2011

Also, do haunt managers care what you physically look like? I'm pretty skinny with a bit of acne. I don't know if that gets in the way of make-up to pros, but it hasn't for me.

RoxyBlue · #3 07-09-2011

Take a look at this thread - pretty much the same question posed and lots of good suggestions:

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=26859

Wolf · #4 07-09-2011

Thanks, Roxy. The tips in there helped me a bit... Especially the one about not looking bored

Wolf · #5 07-09-2011

Still, I need to know if haunters mind if actor applicants are skinny and have a bit of acne... I have no clue if that affects hiring.

Dark Star · #6 07-10-2011

We hired lots of actors that were quite thin and the acne would not have been a problem either. We looked for enthusiasm over all, the ability to do a scare and if you can stay in character.

BioHazardCustoms · #7 07-10-2011

What we've always looked for in the past is not so much physical appearance, but the ability to stay in character, especially when someone is heckling you (my favorite part of auditions, lol) ability to carry off a character, as in make the character seem real and not just a guy in a costume, and mental intimidation factor. By mental intimidation factor, I mean your demeanor when in character. Is your character malevolent, or creepy, or downright disturbing?

Some good insights into this can be a few of Revenant's "theater of the mind" segment on Hauntcast. There's one where he tells a story of crashing someone else's haunt when he was a kid, and the guy ended up letting him stay for the rest of the night, because he was a natural actor. I can't remember which episode of Hauntcast it was on at the moment, but I'll try to look it up and post back here.

You have to make your character your own, all the way down to demeanor, mannerisms, speech patterns, any random twitches or oddities, etc. Believe it or not, some makeup artists can make use of your acne and turn you into a very disturbing leper or zombie.
Hope this helps!

Wolf · #8 07-10-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by BioHazardCustoms

What we've always looked for in the past is not so much physical appearance, but the ability to stay in character, especially when someone is heckling you (my favorite part of auditions, lol) ability to carry off a character, as in make the character seem real and not just a guy in a costume, and mental intimidation factor. By mental intimidation factor, I mean your demeanor when in character. Is your character malevolent, or creepy, or downright disturbing?

Some good insights into this can be a few of Revenant's "theater of the mind" segment on Hauntcast. There's one where he tells a story of crashing someone else's haunt when he was a kid, and the guy ended up letting him stay for the rest of the night, because he was a natural actor. I can't remember which episode of Hauntcast it was on at the moment, but I'll try to look it up and post back here.

You have to make your character your own, all the way down to demeanor, mannerisms, speech patterns, any random twitches or oddities, etc. Believe it or not, some makeup artists can make use of your acne and turn you into a very disturbing leper or zombie.
Hope this helps!

Thanks! I have a character I could audition as in mind. I'll be sure to add some random twitches in there as well. Seems like people like that kind of stuff.