Acting : My first demo reel. by Thomas Bailey

This is great. Made me laugh out loud. My one suggestion, is to cut it down. The guy in the library is hilarious but you could honestly just have one line from him (I like books) be in the middle and that's it. It's almost stronger that way if you cut it down, it will stick with people more, shorter I think. The singing over the scenes is great, I love it. Again, I would cut that down. Love the ending. The length of the last clip is perfect. Good luck!

Most people don't watch peoples' entire reel--the goal is to have every moment count so much that they can't look away. I think you have the content here to do that, just cut it.

Thanks for the notes Teri, I'll dig back into it a bit and try to trim it up a bit.

I agree about cutting. Is this a reel for acting?

Hey Adam, yeah, it's an acting reel... even though I shot / wrote two of the scenes in there, haha.

Hey Alle, I am always willing to take in some constructive criticism, but as two people who cast for projects you and I seem to have a different approach to what we look for in actors when casting. I will say though, and I mean no disrespect when I say it, but I find it a bit concerning that your first note as a "brutal casting director" takes issue with having my name and email as the first thing on the screen. Not only is it pretty much an industry standard but it makes it extremely easy to find out who the actor is / how to contact said actor if anything has become jumbled in transition, you literally have to go back to the start of the clip... I say this as someone who has cast people and had issues with resumes and as someone who refers a lot of actors to directors by demo reel only. I'm sorry to hear nothing "wow'd" you & made you "meh" after watching the first 8 seconds of my reel, thanks for the notes (thus far) though.

I agree with Alle about the confusion per the comedy bit. But respectfully disagree about not wanting to see more. I DID want to see more of you, though certain clips made me feel more that way than others. Feedback is tricky. I did a monologue once for a friend (working actor who has two MFAs) and he told me it was boring. I almost canned it, but in a weird moment did it for an agent and he loved it. Made him cry. Saying all this to say--don't let negative feedback stop you. Ever. Take what's helpful, make it stronger, and leave the rest. You're talented.

Teri, do you have footage of the monologue?! I would love to see it. I had a similar issue with a monologue I was doing for a while. To really get into it I would literally single out someone in the room and just lock eyes on them and essentially tell them off, it worked amazingly well on some people... and completely missed the mark on others. Feedback is tricky, both to give and receive. I've spent the better part of the last 10 years in the marketing world; hearing pitches, giving pitches, etc and not only has it given me a pretty thick skin, it also has taught me that feedback is all an opinion. The one thing I have found to be consistent though is how you deliver feedback for it to be most successful, and while I can't seem to put it in words at the moment, its along the lines of "If Paul Thomas Anderson we're critiquing a project, how would say it?"

I appreciate you wanting to see it. And yeah, feedback is a wild thing. You could write a whole book about it. If it lacks empathy and genuine encouragement, people shut down and can't even hear what will help them anyway. It's funny how I want to qualify this clip--it's not the full monologue and personally I feel like a lot is lost without hearing the entire "count", because I move through a more complete range of emotion--anger, indifference, sadness, empathy--and also because the viewer goes through their own, different range. I've also re-worked it a lot since this was shot, but I'll stop qualifying :) You can check it out here: http://vimeo.com/60768921

The only reason I posted that clip Alle, is because he asked to see it. I do appreciate receiving feedback but I wasn't looking for it in this case. I already know it's not a "great performance". But I'm not too hard on myself as it was the first work I've ever put on camera and the first monologue I've ever written. I took my first acting class a year and a half ago--getting into it primarily to understand the challenges my clients face more deeply. There wasn't a job category for what I do and performance coach is the closest. I'm actually a Mindset Repatterning Coach and have been practicing for 16 years. I did fall in love with the craft, but my true expertise is helping actors, writers and directors overcome internal obstacles to success--which can usually be traced back to negative things they've heard from their parents. One of the most common being: "You can't do that." (be an artist) I don't tell people "nice reel" to blow smoke up their ass and I get that they need the right, expert feedback on how to make it better, like the kind you can undoubtedly provide. But in my experience what's even more important (and this is why Stella Adler is so often quoted about the kind of work that is most important for the actor to do) is that they maintain the right state of mind for staying in the game. Which is why I always begin with positive feedback. No matter what. In my opinion they deserve encouragement for pursuing a dream that your average person on the street would call "impossible". Also, people are more receptive to constructive feedback when they've received positive feedback first. If you start with the negative, they will usually shut down and self-protect, even if only in subtle, internal ways, and not benefit as much from your expertise. As far as your claim that I didn't believe in the pain of the person I was talking about, you're incorrect. I get that what you most likely meant was that my performance was so poor that you didn't believe I believed in his pain. I can't fault you for that. But no one can really know what someone else is feeling. Some (like the top 20%) are better at letting others have a window into it, yes. But I've spent most of my life NOT letting others see what I'm feeling because I grew up in an abusive household where it was dangerous to let it show. It's taken a lot of work to let the walls down enough just to get as far as I did in this clip. I do believe the pain my dad felt was real. He died a few years ago from pain PTSD related alcoholism so thankfully he doesn't have to feel it anymore. Those weren't just words on a page, he really did take 69 lives. And this monologue allowed me to feel greater empathy for his pain than ever which also allowed me to feel greater forgiveness for him than ever, which was huge for me after spending most my life holding a grudge against him for all the ways he hurt me. As I mentioned, I've since re-worked it and when I delivered it for an agent who loved it, it was much more raw and convincing. And again, I'm under no illusions that this clip is great. He just asked to see it. I know we're here as professionals and I love what you said about the importance of pushing yourself to climb the next mountain. I'm confident you'll do that. And if you'd like any feedback from me, I'd be happy to give it. It's so important, as I know you know. It's important to remember too, that while your next mountain will likely be something bigger in the realm of features or shorts, others' mountains (that are no less big for them) can be something as seemingly small as positing a reel on stage32 for others to provide feedback on. We can never know what internal mountains someone might have had to climb just to get that far. Our challenges are always relative and while this is a site for industry professionals, many are still just taking those bold first baby steps.

Teri, I really enjoyed the clip. There are definitely moments that read a little bit more true and alive than others but I think it's a really great base to build from. As lame as it sounds, I think the one thing that is holding me back from really believing it is that I don't get to see the reaction of who you're talking to... and somehow that makes my mind feel like the environment you're in doesn't really exist... it's just you in front of a wall by yourself. I hope that makes sense? You do a great job of selling the tone and making me think you are really talking to someone, but to have a blank face looking back at you to cut to I feel would really enhance the believability of the scene. Honestly though, for a first thing but to tape, I think there are some great moments in it. I would love to see more.

Thank you Thomas. That is really helpful. When I delivered it to a group what was most fascinating to me was each different viewer's emotional state and response to hearing the counting. So it's good to hear you say that--I have envisioned a take where we go to the listener and perhaps even more than one. When you have to hear the whole thing you say to yourself: Is she really going to count all the way to 69? And then they get uncomfortable. And then they say to themselves, this guy I had to live with having taken that many lives every day of his life, I really can't sit through hearing each one counted? It's interesting. The note I got from the agent was that he wanted to know who I was talking to in the first 10 seconds but after that he didn't care because he was so sucked into it. I'm well aware this take didn't have that effect though. A director friend of mine is interested in playing with different ways to make it into a short and the setting would be really important as well as the context. I really appreciate your suggestions, they make total sense.

Thomas Bailey,very versatile Actor you are,your funny.I enjoyed it!

Funny stuff man!

Thanks Mercedes & Siamo.

What up Thomas... Here is my two cents: Cut out the comedy bit in the beginning. I feel your books bit is the strongest so that should lead off your reel. The reason being is in that segment it starts in a C/U of you and focuses the viewer on your face and your acting. Also, considering that this is "your" acting reel I want to see footage that focuses on you and your different levels of acting... that is unless you are just concentrating on comedy. In regards to your name and email at the beginning, leave it as not everyone always has your name and email in hand, in fact I would bookend it but remove the thanks for watching tag. I would also change up the images in the latter part of the reel where the singing is taking place for if I am looking at an actors reel I want to focus on the "ACTING" ability. That is just my two cents.

Tom tried to watch your video but vimeo is joining with stage 32 to make the slowest networks ever.;-) unless it is just an impressionistic piece with a pause icon a loading bar and black screen, in which case phenomenal :-) let me know if you want to share a different link.

@David. Thanks for the notes man, I will add these to the list (sort of compiling everything everyone is saying before I head back to edit anything). I like the idea of moving the books guy before anything, he's one of my favorite pieces. I'm not sure you fall into this category about the comedy bit in the beginning but a lot of people have been telling me they think its from a comedy show (and shouldn't be in my acting reel) but that is actually a scripted scene from a short film we did... granted it's comedy like much of the other stuff in the reel I feel like it's different enough of a character to include? Maybe just in a different place? As far as the singing, you have any suggestions on what else to go there. I know it's hard being that you haven't seen a lot of my material but the problem is that the shots that lay over it are from a music video (and I don't have much footage of me showing any love / hate with real dialogue to it). @robert, Finally! Someone gets it!.. It really is just an experimental art piece. Not sure why it's doing that for you, I'll try and get it up somewhere else so you can have a look.

Most likely browser and operating system. It as more fun to blame stage 32 and vimeo tho.:-) I have an idea for you to fill some space, which may or may not work for you. Youngmannsbrewery@gmail.com if you want to discuss it.

My first hunch with the comedy piece was that it was scripted acting, not footage of a comedy act, so I wouldn't necessarily cut it. Perhaps just putting it a bit deeper in would take care of the confusion and show versatility.