My main idea of the present film project process is getting out of my comfort zone. To find actors, we used to simply ask one of our friends to join us and she has performed lots of times. I don’t mean that it is not good but just not professional. At this time, I have tried the process of finding suitable actors. I post the information on different platforms of websites or social media, such as Starnow, Facebook, Instagram, and Wechat. Hopefully, we got some response from people. Different platforms have different functions.
(Figure 1: the screenshot of the Wechat page about the recruiting of actors, source by Zhen)
For example, Wechat is more like a private platform. In other words, all actors I can get from we chat are my friends or friends of my friends, especially Chinese.
(Figure 2: the screenshot of the Instagram page about the recruiting of actors, source by Zhen)
Instagram has kind of the same situation as Wechat. Mine is quite a private account. Comparing with Wechat, I get more international friends on it.
Thus, the copywriting I write is more informal and lively. I try to make it easy to understand and make it look fun. I focus on introducing it as an interesting experience and a significant challenge. It may can inspire more people to have a try.
(Figure 3: the screenshot of the Facebook page about the recruiting of actors, source by Zhen)
On Facebook, I only put on the group page named Screen and Sense. I didn’t really mean to find an actor from it. It is just a backup plan. The main idea I put it on is looking for a place for shooting and tell everyone what we are doing right now.
(Figure 4: the screenshot of the Starnow page about the recruiting of actors, source by Zhen)
Starnow is the most professional way to find actors of these platforms. It is not hard for people to join in. After creating an account and signing in, it required me to provide the photos of passport to identify. It has kept the safe for both actors and me. Then it asks me to fill the form of the information about finding actors, such as the genre of the film, the number of actors, the requirement of the characters, the time period we gonna film, and etc. As more as we provide about our film, the possibility gonna be higher for us to find the suitable actors.
After I upload the information, the stuff of Starnow contact with me by email on time. There are more limitation if I want to find a minor actor. They have more protection for minor actors. I need to provide more information about the characters and our filming plan. Because the minor actor is not necessary for us, I just email them and change the age requirement of the actor. Then everything is done. I get about 20 applications from them. After that, all I need to do is contacting with actors to check if they can match the time with us.
