{"id":1129,"date":"2020-05-27T01:47:30","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T01:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/?p=1129"},"modified":"2020-06-07T16:08:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T16:08:00","slug":"how-to-avoid-the-cutting-room-floor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/industry-advice\/how-to-avoid-the-cutting-room-floor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to avoid the cutting room floor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Guest Post by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0325813\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jordan Goldman A.C.E.<\/a> &#8211; EMMY-winning Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>When I\u2019m editing a TV show or movie, I see actors do a lot of wonderful things.&nbsp; Unfortunately, I sometimes see them do some less-than-wonderful things that result in them being cut out of the show.&nbsp; So I wrote a book to tell actors what I know in the hopes of keeping them onscreen.&nbsp; Here\u2019s my top 5 tips from \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.editorsadviceforactors.com\">How to Avoid the Cutting Room Floor<\/a>&#8220;.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><strong>Jordan\u2019s top 5 tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1.&nbsp;&nbsp; Your 5 primary tasks:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The primary tasks of the actor (as awful as this may sound) are to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>&#8211; stand in the right places <\/li><li>&#8211; say the right words <\/li><li>&#8211; be directable<\/li><li>&#8211; convince the audience that you are the person the story claims you to be&#8230;<\/li><li>&#8211; &#8230;experiencing the events and emotions that the story claims you are experiencing.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you can do those five things, then you\u2019re doing exactly what\u2019s expected of you. You are fulfilling your part in the storytelling machine and you\u2019re not sticking out as something that doesn\u2019t fit with everything else on screen. Good job!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you can\u2019t accomplish those basic goals, then you\u2019re not doing what you were hired for, and you become a problem that needs to be edited around. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Show a point of view<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t be a body in some clothes standing mindlessly as the life of the scene goes on around you. Your character has an opinion and an attitude about every person they encounter. Maybe your character hates the other person, maybe they love the other person, maybe they are annoyed by the other person, maybe they\u2019re trying to ignore the other person. Those are all distinct points-of-view that can be played. Over the course of the scene, your attitude about the other characters will likely change. That\u2019s interesting to watch too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having a strong point-of-view will naturally create interesting behavior. As an actor, knowing your character\u2019s attitude about the people surrounding you and the situation you are in will help you figure out how to play the scene.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What\u2019s your expectation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Know where your character is coming from and what they have experienced. You never walk into a place without some sort of expectation, even if it\u2019s as simple as \u201cI\u2019m going to walk to the counter and they\u2019re going to take my order for a burger and fries.\u201d&nbsp; We need to see that expectation in you from the very first second of your arrival. What was happening to you before you walked through this door? What do you expect to happen (or expect to find) when you get here? I\u2019m asking myself these questions about the character before I start cutting the scene, so I\u2019m looking for the answers on the actors\u2019 faces when I start watching takes.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Show your moment of decision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When cutting a scene, I am always very interested in seeing the beat where the character decides to do something. I call this the \u201cmoment of decision.\u201d The script presents the character with a choice or opportunity, and the character decides what to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, you\u2019re a cop and the District Attorney wants you to lie on the stand to save the case. I want to see you <strong>decide <\/strong>to do the DA\u2019s bidding, instead of seeing you simply <strong>agreeing <\/strong>to do his bidding. This makes your character\u2019s actions seem like choices made in the moment, rather than pre-ordained outcomes from the script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The moment of decision could also be for something much smaller \u2014 such as deciding to finally answer that phone which has been ringing during your conversation. It doesn\u2019t have to be a world-changing moment. What\u2019s important is that we see the beat of deciding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m always looking for this moment because it answers the audience\u2019s question \u201cWhy did they do that?\u201d I like to see you come to an internal conclusion about what you\u2019re going to do. Otherwise, your character seems to change their mind and act for no honest reason.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Know when to restart if you flub your line<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you mess up a line in the middle of a take, that\u2019s OK. It happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When flubbing, many actors will immediately correct themselves by repeating the right scripted word, and then press on. Unfortunately, that doesn\u2019t help me much, because they\u2019ve restarted in the middle of a sentence. I want to keep your complete thought and action on camera \u2014 ideally including the emotional moment that led your character to say the dialogue \u2014 so I\u2019d like you to start from the beginning of the sentence, or maybe even the beginning of that block of dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On set, the director will usually yell out where to restart from if they see you are having trouble, but if you are restarting yourself, then please remember \u2014 start back at the emotion that led to this beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope these tips can help you sharpen your game, and make it easier for your editor to keep you off the cutting room floor.&nbsp; We love to watch actors act \u2013 so please help us by mastering these skills!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn many more helpful tips, check out Jordan\u2019s book \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.editorsadviceforactors.com\">How to Avoid the Cutting Room Floor:&nbsp; An Editor\u2019s Advice for on-Camera Actors<\/a>\u201d, available in print, Kindle, iBooks, and Nook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tv\/CAqlyMBp3yx\/\">Click here to see our Instagram Live chat with Jordan!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tv\/CAqlyMBp3yx\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"12\" style=\" background:#FFF; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\"> View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a> <p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tv\/CAqlyMBp3yx\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">We chat with Emmy-winning Editor Jordan Goldman (Homeland, 24, The Shield) about his book How To Avoid The Cutting Room Floor &#8211; www.editorsadviceforactors.com @editors_advice_for_actors<\/a><\/p> <p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\">A post shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/weaudition\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WeAudition<\/a> (@weaudition) on <time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2020-05-26T21:04:58+00:00\">May 26, 2020 at 2:04pm PDT<\/time><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Guest Post by Jordan Goldman A.C.E. &#8211; EMMY-winning Editor When I\u2019m editing a TV show or movie, I see actors do a lot of wonderful things.&nbsp; Unfortunately, I sometimes see them do some less-than-wonderful things that result in them being cut out of the show.&nbsp; So I wrote a book to tell actors what I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[8,42,77,78],"class_list":["post-1129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-advice","tag-acting","tag-advice","tag-editing","tag-emmy-winner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1129"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1144,"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129\/revisions\/1144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weaudition.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}