Some thoughts on type casting; actually, probably more about “image casting” since my friend (below) does image consulting and I was referring to how people see someone else for the 1st time– what category they imagine them to be in, etc. While type casting might happen almost as fast, it (hopefully) combines both initial visual and personality impressions (well if it’s done in person via just headshots).
So from a cog sci [1] background, I personally believe that as people we are all constantly, quite naturally, and pretty much subconsciously trying to categorize our world… what’s good, bad, dangerous, useful, etc. In terms of society, and even primitive survival, it’s probably quite helpful to be able to quickly categorize something as bad or good, positive or negative, in order to promote faster exchange of the good stuff (to reduce energy expended) and protect ourselves from the “bad” (so we live longer). So IMO type casting is just a natural extension of that PLUS some of the business stuff mentioned below.
Possible CastingNotes ideas… do we all fit into a handful of basic “types” and, if so, would that be useful to know in terms of casting from headshots, where the agent/CD hasn’t met the talent yet? Would it be helpful or dangerous/limiting in terms of getting work? See something like Enneagram-based character generator at http://www.characterpro.com/characterpro/index.html [2]. Note part of a performer’s type essence might also be more intuitively gleaned from their body of work-history, specifically what genres they play (which is one of the uses for CastingNotes™), but to experiment maybe I’ll incorporate the enneagram idea as an optional part of user profiles here (just to see how/if it works or doesn’t, or does/doesn’t match what roles we actually end up choosing).
—–Original Message—–
From: Kris Van Nest
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 10:45 AM
To: Jessica M
Subject: …Types, Image Consulting Author…
Groovy, let’s def do the café thing and we can swap whats-the-meaning-of-life-anyway and where do we go from here type posers… Ha, sorta kidding (ok, so I actually would be up for that, but maybe a bit heavy :).
Thanks for film/type feedback. It’ll make a great breakup film like something I show a girl if I want to break up… Geez, I really hope he cuts me out or never shows it at a festival or whatever ;-). Anyway I think you did great and hope to see your red bus vid sometime, too.
Hey thank [name] for nice words. Ya know I often thought about types and type casting stuff ‘cause I almost always look for patterns in life (prob because I like to use and/or break out of them) and even though people give ‘em a bad name I think like most stereotypes typecasting started as something pretty useful, namely narrowing down 500 headshots for 2 roles in a day kinda stuff. Plus typecasting IMO can be really useful for audiences since it’s like any name “brand” out there, people sorta know what they’re getting/what to expect even before they buy a ticket, so it can help keep people loyal to an actor (or director or any creative typecast) in that sense. ‘course it can also be taken too far and pigeon-hole people, but IMO pigeonholing is really just a creative opportunity/challenge for creatives to challenge ourselves to break out of if we want, like it actually gives us motivation to try new stuff/roles… Anway back to types, I’ve [sometimes] wondered what my “type” is, or more spec what other people think my type is at first, ya know? Like most of us I’ve done so many diff things in my life (mine is computer programming, ed tech, cog sci, philosophy, linguistics, teaching, adventure racing, whitewater raft guiding, pro off-road driving, expedition travel, snowboarding, rugby, uncle, etc) that I sorta find it hard to define my OWN [real] life when people ask? Back in the day our parent’s would say “baker” or “lawyer” but IMO our generation(s) are doing so much it’s hard to define w/ a word. So once in a while I really wonder how other people might categorize me at first glance… I mean we all change our thoughts about people the more/better we get to know them but it’s that “first thought” that makes me curious ‘cause in our biz that often means so much in terms of getting work or what kind of work we get.
OK well my point is that the whole type thing sorta goes nicely with your image consulting stuff, and since I often hear undiscovered actors… Or I imagine even established actors who are up for a role and want to quickly “get” a type they’re going to audition for… wondering about the whole “what’s the essence of their own/another type” that I imagine there might be a big need for type evaluations (and/or maybe “how to be a type” for specific roles) out there…
Right, enough rambling and apologies for long messg; kinda get carried away sometimes. Gotta jet and you can tell me how your acting and life stuff is going when we café it.
Best,
KV
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Kris Van Nest
www.krisvannest.com
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