Acting Showreel Page 4

Quote: James Cotter @ March 3 2010, 3:56 PM GMT

I am trying to showcase my acting, mainly comic roles to people in the industry.

I am trying achieve more roles in more shows preferable on the television or radio.

This showreel will help a producer decide if I'm right for something he or she has in mind because before when producers asked I had to show them whole short films or sitcoms this is a quick and essay way of deciding whether I am right for them.

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Marc P beat me to it - this is not remotely of a high enough standard, either the acting or the film/video. It's not broadcast quality I'm afraid, so you'd be wasting your time and money, and possibly ruining future better chances, by sending out examples of your work when, by your own admission, the material is not you at your best (writing or acting). It's not an example of what you are offering people, therefore it does not work as a showreel. As you are still at college, why not wait? You always seem to be working on something new. Wait til you've got something which you know nails what what you have to offer.

This is not to say you will never achieve that, but, as even you recognise, you're nowhere near achieveing that yet. Why run before you can walk? Why burn a bridge now with someone who will see the name James Cotter on a DVD on his desk (or whatever) and will say, "not him again".

This business is hard enough. Don't become a nuisance before you become interesting.

It will not help you in the professional industry.

It will not help you get roles in TV or radio.

It will not convince a producer to cast you as something, because it doesn't show you doing anything for which you might be cast.

You asked for critique, so there it is. Now go and grow into yourself and come back as the best thing since sliced bread.

I'm a mere no-one, but my advice is free.

Hi James

Further to Empty's last point.
It might be a good idea to work on the spelling & grammar as well. Especially things like To & Too or There/Their/They're.
Mistakes you make on these threads don't matter that much, but I'd definitely get someone to check through your website at some stage if I were you.
I just had a quick glance through the Home page & Bio sections and spotted a few errors.

Quote: Steve Sunshine @ March 3 2010, 4:22 PM GMT

Hi James

Further to Empty's last point.
It might be a good idea to work on the spelling & grammar as well. Especially things like To & Too or There/Their/They're.
Mistakes you make on these threads don't matter that much, but I'd definitely get someone to check through your website at some stage if I were you.
I just had a quick glance through the Home page & Bio sections and spotted a few errors.

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That's true. I was reading something on your site the other day and you mentioned that you wanted Steve Coogan's "carer". I'm assuming that was a typo.

Quote: Marc P @ March 3 2010, 11:55 AM GMT

Hi James,

It's a good David Haig impersonation so you should just do it that way rather than putting it in to something else. Personally I'd wait until you have finished the course and got a bit more serious work under your belt before sending out a showreel, The actuality banging up against how you describe yourself won't help at this stage.

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For one character yes but for the rest, really?

I'm not sending out the showreel to anyone and I agree I should wait to sent it out when I have more serious roles under my belt.

"The actuality banging up against how you describe yourself won't help at this stage." - What do you mean by this?

Quote: sootyj @ March 3 2010, 12:01 PM GMT

Well your roles are a little bit samey...

So maybe showing us the breadth of your acting pallate?

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Maybe I haven't got a large acting palate saying that I think Jeremy Spicer is quite different to Mark Rodgers from example.

Quote: James Cotter @ March 3 2010, 4:52 PM GMT

Maybe I haven't got a large acting palate saying that I think Jeremy Spicer is quite different to Mark Rodgers from example.

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You don't have to have range. Look at your current avatar. But you do have to identify what it is you want/are - grow into yourself, even if that means perfecting one type of role.

Quote: Empty @ March 3 2010, 4:59 PM GMT

You don't have to have range. Look at your current avatar. But you do have to identify what it is you want/are - grow into yourself, even if that means perfecting one type of role.

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I am very glad you bought up my current avatar because he and character comedians like Tony Hancock have been praying on mind recently. I honestly didn't realise how much all of my characters were similar. I obviously knew they had similarities but when I watched the showreel back I released and you know what I thought? I thought I actually don't mind playing angry bloke, blokes and if I get typecast as that then why not. You wouldn't believe it but I often worry about people boxing me in one sort of role but I've sort of come to accept it now. If that is what keeps coming up every time I play a character why not harness it rather then try to hide it.

Quote: Empty @ March 3 2010, 12:16 PM GMT

Have you thought about getting into production rather than performing or writing?

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Well that is what I am trained in. I do enjoy directing but writing and performing far outweighs the directing to be honest with you.

Quote: James Cotter @ March 3 2010, 5:09 PM GMT

I am very glad you bought up my current avatar because he and character comedians like Tony Hancock have been praying on mind recently. I honestly didn't realise how much all of my characters were similar. I obviously knew they had similarities but when I watched the showreel back I released and you know what I thought? I thought I actually don't mind playing angry bloke, blokes and if I get typecast as that then why not. You wouldn't believe it but I often worry about people boxing me in one sort of role but I've sort of come to accept it now. If that is what keeps coming up every time I play a character why not harness it rather then try to hide it.

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Brilliant. Work on that - but remember, shouting isn't the same as anger.

"Full of sound and fury signifying nothing" - You know who.

And, if I may, "improvisation isn't the same as spontanaity" - plain old me.

Quote: Empty @ March 3 2010, 5:22 PM GMT

Brilliant. Work on that - but remember, shouting isn't the same as anger.

"Full of sound and fury signifying nothing" - You know who.

And, if I may, "improvisation isn't the same as spontanaity" - plain old me.

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Jeremy Spicer's angry but he doesn't shout. I'm properly better at pent up anger/frustration anyway it's just shouting is far more fun.

Quote: SlagA @ March 3 2010, 1:09 PM GMT

Yep, I think the general tone of the crits (being too young for the parts, same kind of character, possible lack of range etc) are something that has (rightly) been flagged up before and (if the new script turns out as good as it reads on here) these crits are currently being addressed by you and will result in another step up the ladder.

If only other comedians had the ability to absorb crit like you. Yes, you've got an ego (but we're all guilty of that) and yet yours is on the pleasantly inoffensive end of the spectrum, rather than the other extreme... where sadly most of us writers reside.

Keep listening to crit, keep improving. If so, then I'm rightly judging you on the forseen end product, and not as the current work-in-progress that you are.

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agreed.

Thanks

Quote: Marc P @ March 3 2010, 3:57 PM GMT

If you want to use it in a professional capacity James, I would strongly advise against it. It's a college pre media degree showreel at best. I don't mean to be harsh just giving you a heads up. You will do better and you only get a first chance to make a first impression.

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It did only take me two hours to make but I've been asked if I had a showreel before so that's why I made one.

Quote: James Cotter @ March 3 2010, 5:32 PM GMT

Jeremy Spicer's angry but he doesn't shout. I'm properly better at pent up anger/frustration anyway it's just shouting is far more fun.

agreed.

Thanks

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You little... I left work, but thought about this and had to come back to write it down...

I think there's a route for you to channel your own personality into the 'character' of "James Cotter" (you can change the name of that character later if you want).

Look at these characters:

Rigsby (lust, greed)
Steptoe (frustrated ambition way beyond his abilities)
Hancock (superiority in the face of conflicting evidence)
James (bit of a spiv, untrustworthy)
Brent (arrogant, less clever/talented/popular than he can accept, sexist)
Garnett (racist, bigotted, et al)

and lots more - the main characters in sitcoms are usually characters who are made from that dark part of ourselves.

Forgive me, but to me you frequently come across as arrogant, unwilling to truly accept criticism, precocious, precious, a young upstart, falsely wise, avaricious of fame rather than work, and others. Sorry, but sometimes you really do come across like that. That's not the real you, I'm sure. And I am all those things too, btw.

But how about if you channel those less attractive impressions you sometimes give off into a "character James Cotter" - Gervais did that on the 11 o'clock show, and Brent came out of that "creation".

The thing with these characters is they are different from most "normal" people in two ways:

1. They are possessed with thoughts we would deem shameful or poisonous (racism, sexism, avarice, homophobia, arrogance, whatever). We are all capable of those things, but we surpress them where possible and when we recognise them (or should!). These characters don't recognise them. They make them angry/frustrated the whole time.
2. Similarly unlike us, they never succeed in actually BEING angry (whereas we get angry and live with the, sometimes, terrible consequences). They are thwarted - that's make makes it funnier and more pathetic. If Steptoe's son finally erupts against his father, he is humiliated and forced to take back what he said, or live with it; If Brent tries to show people who's the boss, everyone makes it clear it isn't him, or he's made redundant. Ultimately, the character realises they are reliant on the thing which eats them alive.

When Gervais does his stand-up, he's not the real Gervais, he's a sort of dark version of what people easily believe him to be; ignorant, insensitive, sexist, disabled-ist, etc. When he makes comments about Stephen Hawkins, we laugh the harder, because he's saying something we wouldn't or couldn't, and also because we believe there's someone out there who really means what he says. Like a benign terrorist that we can safely watch in the zoo, and share a laugh about.

You often seem frustrated to me, and you say you feel at ease with angry characters.

So, with all best intentions, I say to you, push those things which are negative as far as they go and create the 'alternate' James Cotter. Change the name of the character later if you wish. Hancock was all the things Galton and Simpson wrote him as, but ramped up by a thousand. The real James can be the real James, quiet, unknown to all but those he shows himself to; and the character James can become a sitcom hero full of all the other stuff.

There I said it, watch me get booed...

Quote: Empty @ March 3 2010, 5:22 PM GMT

And, if I may, "improvisation isn't the same as spontanaity" - plain old me.

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That's incredibly true. As my love life can sadly bear witness.

I wouldn't worry about a showreel at this stage James - I think it's probably better not to have one if you haven't got a great one.

I think Marc P and Empty have given some good advice and they know what they're talking about a lot more than me, anyway.

I haven't come across Empty before - Hello there! Not sure who he /she is but seems to talk one hell of a lot of sense.

And I still don't like the jacket.

Quote: bigfella @ March 3 2010, 6:51 PM GMT

I haven't come across Empty before - Hello there! Not sure who he /she is but seems to talk one hell of a lot of sense.

And I still don't like the jacket.

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I actually like that jacket!

And, YES, Empty is an insightful, young man! Timbo now has a rival.