Justin Noto

I held an audition for a commercial I did that had no dialogue. Not knowing what to do I decided to stray from the situational specifics that we were going for in the piece and pay closer attention to the emotion that we needed to convey. This was my first venture into casting in the commercial world so I was nervous- not knowing if I was focusing on the right thing- not that there is a "right" way of doing it. To begin, I created a scene that had several simple elements for the actor- you just got home from work, it was a horrible day, you want to forget the stress of your job. I also gave her a prop- a painting that sat on the floor against the wall, waiting to be hung which was meant to facilitate a feeling of peace. Her action was to react to the prop upon entering her "apartment". After some discussion and doing a run through of this situation I introduced a new element that would change the scene a bit, creating a new emotion to convey- again, something simple like coming home from a lover after having a wonderful time and again reacting to the painting, but this time the painting was meant to induce stress. I wanted to see how she would convey her emotion and again make an adjustment through her interaction with the prop. I was always sure to keep the central emotion we were going for in the commercial a part of each scene in order to find the dimensions of the actor in respect to that emotion. This exercise was designed to find improvisational skills, emotional arc, versatility, ability to adapt and take direction. In the end I found someone who I thought was perfect... and then the client decided to hire a model instead of an actor because they were more concerned with her "look"... bah!

I agree with Sanjit and Brad. My belief, for a potential investor or any prospective cast or crew, is that it's most important for them to gain confidence that you are able to tell a story and create some sort of successful arc that reflects the overall idea or theme you are going for. Use a scene that embodies or alludes to what you want to say with your story which would be the most effective route in my mind. A self contained scene gives you more of an opportunity to build on a character, an important conflict or illustrate a style which will play into the bigger picture and hopefully spark more of an emotional connection to the piece. In short, I think a directors abilities and the storytelling potential are better conveyed in a stand alone scene than a trailer when looking for funding. No matter your choice, as long as you're behind it 100% with respect to the story you've done the right thing for yourself. Good luck!