Getting Your Clips

Our local actors group had an online discussion recently of ways to gather your clips together for your demo reel, a topic I’ve touched on before and worth repeating as young filmmakers especially frequently seem to have something “better to do” than get clips out to their cast.

If the film or TV project you appeared in is somewhere online, there are online services that can get the clip for you. Actors have used ripit.me or clipgrab.org, which has a program for both Mac and Windows. Expect to pay a small fee however.

If the project is posted to YouTube, you can easily download the whole thing to your desktop by simply replacing the “www.” in the url with “ss” (without the dot). This will redirect you to Savefrom.net, where you can click on "download video in browser" (look on the lower right third of the screen) and select the video quality you prefer. Done in less than a minute and free.

If the film/TV project itself isn’t posted to YouTube, see if you can at least find the trailer, which still gives you something to post on your websites. You can also use software (I use "Grab") to capture stills from the trailer, which are in the public domain since a trailer on YouTube is already public.

The best strategy is getting a clips commitment from the producer upfront, either when you sign the contract or during shooting, and establishing a time frame, as in "you will get HD clips within three months of shooting the film." Follow up after filming with a 'thank you' email reminding him/her of the conversation; say you just want raw footage (no music or effects), and ask when would be a good time to check in on the finished product. Then follow up at that time. If the clips aren’t forthcoming, keep emailing every few weeks until you get them. Persistence is usually successful.

With students, remind them that they can email the clips for free via WeTransfer (or other such sites) and provide the link. Be sure your deadline is before they graduate from film school, and start your time frame with the end of shooting. Don't say "three months from finishing the film."  I made that mistake with one student filmmaker and it's amazing how long it's taken him to "finish."

With student films and other low budget productions you can also do as one Los Angeles actor does: put it in your contract that you get useable HD clips within three (or six, you decide) months of shooting or the filmmaker agrees to pay an additional $400. This strategy reportedly has an amazing effect.

When you get into larger productions your agent may be able to help, although once you start appearing regularly at that level you won't need a reel because everyone will have seen you.

Actors live for that day.

Consider The Magic of Believing

An actor friend sent me an interview clip of comedienne Phyllis Diller recently where she mentions Claude Bristol's 1948 book The Magic of Believing. Miller said the book had completely changed her life by giving a suburban housewife and mother of five the courage and determination to try stand-up comedy, which is no easy road for anyone.

Here is an audio synopsis of the book from YouTube. It's a little "woo-woo" perhaps, like books on Nostrodamus, but I also found it interesting. I grew up hearing my father talk about the "power of positive thinking" and it also reminds me that those who succeed in this business aren't necessarily the ones who are most talented but those with the most desire. As author/screenwriter William Goldman put it, you have to want success more than anything in the world.

Here Bristol seems to be saying that wanting something, and having the confidence and unshakable belief that you will get it, makes it happen. Call it God, call it The Force or whatever, there is something that connects us all that we humans can tap into. Moreover if you can visualize what you want, what success looks like - and the greater detail in your vision the better - the more likely you are to achieve it.

He cautions, however, not to share your vision of success, because to do so opens you up to the naysayers who tell you it won't happen, it won't work, and you're silly to even want such a thing. Stay focused. Keep it in your heart.

As I said, it's a little "woo-woo," but I have also found that in times of crisis, when I am most focused on finding a solution, someone with the answer seems to appear out of nowhere. So maybe there is something to Mr. Bristol's book after all although, as a Catholic, when things work out I always remember to give a heartfelt "Thank God."