- Hello, everybody, it's good to be back. It's Will, good to see you again. It's been a really busy summer. Andy and I have been remodeling the house, which is really exciting. And doing other projects
that are pretty fun that I can't really talk about just yet. So that's why I haven't been here. But I figured a good way
to break the silence, will be to show you how
I break down the script, going from breakdown to
actually reading the script, to filming the self tape. So here is what I do, it's a real script. This was on Actors Access. That's how I self submitted on this role, and that's how I booked it. The script and the breakdown I'm using, are in the description. So please feel free to click through and read along with me or, analyze the breakdown
in script on your own, and see what you can come up
with before watching the video. Either way, it's gonna be a good time and I'm excited to show you
my process, let's do it. So before we actually get to the script, I'm gonna show you guys the breakdown. A breakdown is, how do I explain this? A breakdown is like,
it's breaking it down. There's a log line or a story line, talking about what the show is about, as well as any other details
you might need to know. So over here, we can see that
it's SAG-AFTRA New Media, So it's a SAG-AFTRA New Media project. What production company is involved, who wrote it, who's directing
it, who's casting it the shoot dates, how much
you're gonna get paid, where it's shooting, very important stuff. So, off the bat, I'm
checking the shoot dates, and I'm making sure that I
can make those shoot dates because if I'm submitting on this role, I don't wanna submit on a role
that I can't possibly shoot 'cause I might be out of
town, that's very important. You really don't wanna get
into trouble like that. The next thing, rate of pay, deferred. This is a web series,
so, a lot of web series you're gonna see on
Actors Access, LA Casting, especially when you're starting out are gonna be deferred payment, meaning, if they make money, you'll make money. So, chances are, you're
probably not gonna make money on this web series. But, the good thing is,
you gotta do a lot of these to just practice, practice, practice and get better at your craft before you can do paid stuff. It's just paying your dues,
you'd have to do it in any job, and you have to do it in acting. All right, so, let's go over
the story line real quick. After nine years apart
and one failed marriage, Viv and Christina are reunited
as roommates in Los Angeles. When Christina's attempt at a
self-help seminar backfires, they and four of their
friends, form a group dedicated to turning their
vision boards into a reality, one dream at a time. The show is called "Manifesting Destiny". That's what it's all about, and we can see that Viv and
Christina are already cast, and then now we get into the rest of our character breakdowns. So chances are, you're gonna be given the actual role you're reading for. So I was looking at Jareth, for this one. So let's read for Jareth's part. Jareth says, 30s, male, all
ethnicities, a hot masseuse who lives in the apartment
above Viv and Christina. He's pansexual and is
attracted to people's souls more than their physical appearance. He's not the sharpest
knife in the drawer though, and his partners tend
to use him for his body. His huge social media following means he's always glued to his phone. The only labels he lives by
are hashtags... series regular. So, what can we learn from this? First of all, we learned
pretty much everything there is to know about the character. And a lot that we can do to
fill out that actual role, in the self tape and in the audition, that's super important,
also, series regular. So it means I'm gonna
be in a lot of episodes of this web series. So that's exciting too. If it was a co-star or guest star, or a one line guest star, co-star, that's a very quick one off, but series regular means you're
probably gonna be working a lot of these shoot dates. So, let's actually get
into the script now. First thing I do, when I get a script, is I highlight all of my lines. And if I have another script for a reader, which I do right here, babam! Then I would also highlight this for my reader, highlighting all the lines that aren't Jareth's lines, or all of the lines that
I'm not reading for. That way it's easy for
them to read with you. I like to staple them and I like to keep them single sided. Keeping the script single sided makes it super easy for you to read, when you're going through
the audition, just like that. Could you imagine if this
thing was double sided and I had to go like
(paper rustling) In my audition, that'll be horrible. It's not cool, so again, single sided, staple this bad boy,
and then highlight it. So let's highlight the script
and then get back into it. (slow instrumental music) So now that my script is highlighted, we'll get into the actual
structure of the script, and what we can learn
and take away from it. So our first goal when we're
dissecting a script is, trying to figure out what's happening, what my character is trying
to achieve, how that changes, and what's the relationship
between my character and the other characters and the things that are
happening in that scene. So, first thing, there's some
notes, read all the notes in every single script
that's given to you. So, on these notes, it says, "These scenes take place in Episode Two. In that episode, the group is helping Viv grow her Instagram following. Jerath, who's basically Insta-famous, is helping her with her
photoshoot and profile. In Scene Two, Jareth is
reveling in his newfound power. The episode includes an homage
to, "The Devil Wears Prada". So, if you ever have a situation where notes are talking about
referencing some other show, or movie, or something like that, watch that movie, watch that show, just to get an idea of
what they're talking about. If you don't have time
to watch the full movie, even though Meryl Streep is fantastic, and you should totally watch,
"The Devil Wears Prada", because it's a good movie, that's fine. Just watch a bunch of clips
of "The Devil Wears Prada", and get an idea of what
they're talking about. All right, let's get into it. So first thing on this first line. "OK, Instagram for dummies. "Hey, that'd be a cool name for a book, "I should tweet that." We have to pay attention to
the punctuation in a big way. If it's a good script, then chances are the writer has pored over
it for a very long time and chosen their
punctuation very carefully. So right here, this little dash right here indicates a moment to take a pause, and it's our first reversal of the scene. A reversal is, where a line is read, one way for one part of it and then completely different, a complete pivot for the
second part of the line. So he initially starts out saying, "okay, Instagram for dummies," and then he stops, has a
completely different thought, pivots to, "Hey, that'd
be a cool name for a book, "I should tweet that." So again, those are two
very different ideas in the same thing, and that is what we call a reversal. Also, it should be noted that Viv doesn't actually have a character description in the breakdowns. So what I have to do is
create my relationship to her. I'm gonna create that she's
just one of the people who's trying to help figure out their life in this little self-help
group that we have. So in this case, she's not
very Instagram literate, so I'm trying to help her
with that, that's my goal, that's my objective in this scene. All right, so, Viv's telling me to focus, Jareth is saying "Sorry, "Just so I know what we're working with, "how many Instagram
followers do you have now?" "96." "Okay, we can work with that." "96,000 isn't completely horrible." "No, 96." "As in 96...just?" "Is that bad?" "For an alive person,
yeah, can I see that?" We're playing with the fact that Jareth has a relationship with Instagram that is very different from Viv. And that is where the comedy comes from. So this would be a moment to remember that playing it sincerely and knowing that the difference between Jareth and Viv is very stark in their
Instagram knowledge. How you could apply this to other scripts is the fact that, basically,
their relationships with the thing that they're
doing are completely different. And that is where the funny
from the scene comes from. So really try to keep playing to that. At this point in the scene,
when Jareth is taking her phone and going through what
her Instagram looks like, it's very clear that
Jareth's goals have changed. At this point, he's just so
surprised by what is happening with Viv's Instagram, that
Jareth just needs to find out more about this horrible Instagram that he sees in front of him. "I'm instagramming it ,hashtag
real person, hashtag... "How do you spell depressing?" So again, notice these dot, dot, dot, that ellipses right there. So, that could be something
that you kind of either circle or you note to take some time
with the reading of that part. All right, so then the
next bit we have is, Viv tries to take her phone back, but he holds it out of her reach. So this I have starred here for a reason, because it's an action that can be done in the audition or in the self tape. Professionals write things down. So write it down. "Hang on, I wanna see what you post." So in this moment, we could assume that he has the phone in his hands and that he's scrolling through. So in this situation in a
self tape, in an audition, maybe have a phone with
you and scroll through just like that, and then stop. "Is that coleslaw?" So that is the second
reversal of the scene. See that coleslaw in
your mind, pick that out. So the next bit, she says, "Sauerkraut." He says, "Awesome." This is another situation where again, how you would read this is different than just being like, "Awesome!" There's no exclamation
point, it's just a period, which I think is more of
just another situation where he's just going "Awesome." Like, I can't believe you
put that on your Instagram. And then Viv saying, "Wait,
you don't follow me back?" "No, and I'm starting to remember why." So that makes total sense,
and that is the little button to the end of that scene. And again, this is just another situation where I'm just playing
it with that same realism of an influencer talking to
someone who just has no idea what they're talking
about with social media. That is the funny in the scene. I'm well aware that explaining jokes makes it way less funny. So, I'm sorry about that. All right, so for scene two, this scene was actually
not in the self tape, but it was still covered in the callback. So Jareth stands with Holly
studying a rack of clothing, picking out Viv's next outfit. Zachary sits on the couch
scrolling through his phone. So in this situation, we actually wanna go through
the characters in this scene. So we have Viv, Zachary and Holly. This is a moment to take some time and actually read who these people are, and what their relation
to Jerath might be. (slow instrumental music) All right, so now I've
read the two breakdowns, and in this situation we
know that Zachary and Holly, are both very different from Jareth. So the very first thing,
"What is this cerulean?" There's two things, one
is that she follows up and say "That's black." Black is a very different
color than cerulean and cerulean says something about Jareth. The fact that his speech is that specific, also the fact that it's so
far off of the color black shows that he is kind of a dumb ass. We can keep leaning into that. We know that from the breakdowns, so we can assume that
he is sincerely asking if that is cerulean, even though it is so far off of cerulean. So for the next bit, "You... writer." Dot, dot, dot, again, take that moment, notice the stage directions
that they're giving you. Turning to Zachary (mumbles) take a moment, take any other person. If you're in the room, if you're in an audition,
this is specific. And it means you should move
your eyeline to another person. All right, "Do you think you
can handle writing the Bio?" "Yes, I think I can." "No, no. That wasn't a question." So this is another situation where it helps to watch
that source material. That is actually a line in,
"The Devil Wears Prada", - And you have no style
or sense of fashion. - Well, I think that depends on what your- - No, no, that wasn't a question. - If there's a line right here it indicates that one
character is getting cut off. So that gives me the go
ahead to cut him off, interrupt him and just say, "No, no, that wasn't a question." Just like in, "The Devil Wears Prada." So again, this is another situation where you wanna read
the punctuation on this knowing that you can interrupt him, and that you should interrupt him and if that means you interrupt him on, "I think I can" that's fine. Wherever it is, just interrupt him, be quick about it. Don't let him run on because you're supposed to interrupt him. That's what that line means. Jareth is already done
with the conversation, he turns to Christina
who enters with a mug. So again, we don't have a ton
on Christina's relationship to Jareth from the breakdown,
but we do know that Christina was the one who
started the self-help group. So she's trying to lead the charge to get the rest of the characters
to fulfill their goals. "Sorry, we didn't have
stevia, so I used Splenda." And then Jareth said, "Details of your incontinence
do not interest me." Incontinence means loss
of bladder control, look stuff up in the
dictionary all the time. It's a quick Google search
away, it's totally fine. I think Jareth means to say incompetence, but again, because of the breakdown, all that stuff we know, he's kind of dumb, so we're gonna play it like
he's trying to say incompetence because it's more funny if
you're sincere about it. So Zachary stifles a laugh. In this situation, I think Jareth is just gonna
completely ignore that seeing as he is full "The
Devil Wears Prada" mode. So you can either choose
to hear him laugh, and take that in or not,
I chose to not do that. Whatever way you choose,
there's no wrong answer so long as you just
play it wholeheartedly. So then this final bit, "And Christina?" Then Jareth gives her a
slow up and down look, that's again another stage
direction right there, they are giving it to you. Jareth gives her a slow up and down look. That's all, boom, that's the button. That's another situation just
like, "The Devil Wears Prada" So, what have we learned? We've learned to watch
the source material a ton, and pay attention to
punctuation in a big way. Also, keeping in mind all of
those character breakdowns the entire time with everybody
that you're working with, will help you understand
your relationship to them, and how that can change your goals throughout the scene as they might change. All right, so you've done your research, you know what your motivations are, you know what your relationship
is with the characters and what's going on,
your script is marked up, and highlighted, and single
sided, and all that stuff, you're ready to go,
you're ready to audition, so go out there have fun, don't play the essay of all your research, of what you have in your head, just have fun, let go and be believable. If your character is asking a question, ask a genuine question. If they come up with a thought
off the top of their head, come up with that thought
off the top of your head. Just play the scene and have fun and listen, listen, listen
to your scene partners. So for all my notes on
how I break down a script, basically everything I've
covered in this video, please just click the link below. I have all the notes right there as well as links to the PDF of the script, and a PDF of the breakdown
that I used in this video. So, click the link in the description, and then you don't have to take notes. With all that out of the away, let's get into my self tape
for the role of Jareth. Okay, Instagram for Dummies. That's a great book name. I should tweet that. - [Lady] Hey, hey, hey, focus. - I'm sorry. Okay, so let me know what
we're working with here. How many Instagram
followers do you have now? - [Lady] 96. - Okay, we can work with that. 96,000 isn't completely horrible, so- - [Lady] No, 96. - 96, just? - [Lady] Is that bad? - For an alive person? Yeah. Let me see that. - [Lady] What are you doing? - I'm Instagramming, hashtag
real person, hashtag... how do you spell depressing? - [Lady] Give me that. - Hang on. I wanna see what you post. Is that coleslaw? - [Lady] Sauerkraut? - Awesome. - [Lady] Hey, wait, you
don't follow me back? No, and I'm starting to remember why. So, there were over 1000 men
submitted for these roles for an unpaid web series in Los Angeles. So, it's really tough out there. But if you do this kind of work
consistently and regularly, and you find roles that are fit for you, which in fairness, Jerath
really did fit me physically, and kind of the way I talk
and maybe the way I am. So don't take it too personally if you feel like you've been auditioning, auditioning,
auditioning and not booking because it's a numbers game. If some of this stuff is
really confusing to you and you haven't seen my "How to move to LA and
be an actor?" video, I strongly suggest watching that, as well as my "How to
find an agent?" video. All of this stuff is on my channel and I'll link it below. It should hopefully fill all
the questions you might have about breakdowns and how to self submit on some of these roles. If this is something you enjoyed, like, share, subscribe, all that stuff, comment if there was something
that I could do better or something that I
completely forgot to mention, and I'll try to include
that in another video. I'm excited for us to all
learn and grow together. Geez, and do I really sound like that? Anyway, whatever, it doesn't matter. Thanks again for watching
so much and best of luck. ♪ There's a sparkle in your eyes ♪ Oh, and you can call me Will, not Willy. I know my name is Willy Dubz, but just Will is fine. Thank you. ♪ A touch of your hand ♪ ♪ makes me tremble within. ♪
