No its ok folks take your hands off the panic button i'm not getting my kit off just yet, although to be fair i have in the past and in the right role would again but whenever i have its been in paid professional and 'protected' circumstances.
I was just mulling over the amount of lo/no paid and student breakdowns out there that require nudity. i've seen a lot of 'topless zombie' and 'brief shower scene' and an awful lot of 'victims' these seemed to be advertisment mainly for women 18-25
I'm just wondering what people thoughts on this are - who's going for these roles, what peoples experiences of working nude with amature/student companies are.
Personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable performing nude for an unpaid, amateur production. It would have to be paid and professional, just for that reassurance that you're not going to be taken advantage of.
When it comes to student movies I have certain qualms as to how that kind of stuff would be used. As a performer I myself am more than happy to step outside my comfort zone if I know where it's going and how it'll be used but aside from that I'd consider it very carefully.
I was wondering the same.
I generally put down all offers from amateur productions. If you get your clothes off you want it at least to look professional and to be used in a professional way (not saying that all amateur productions can't shoot professional material).
A while ago I did get an offer from a professional company though asking me to be a body double for a famous actress in a Hollywood movie. It would have been a double job for a sex scene in a comedy film. I thought about it for a long time, the pay was great as well, but I did turn it down in the end because I didn't know if this would really help my career or not.
Would you have taken the job?
Clearly, the question of whether or not an actor should perform nude at all is very much a matter of personal choice (I have done so, both on stage and film - although I appreciate it is probably less contentious an issue for most male performers than female ones).
I would agree with most of the posters so far that, because student films are invariably not remunerative, often baldly scripted and frequently bad at offering proper forms of protection for the actor (ranging from insurance to keeping the actor warm and comfortable between takes), it would take some determination to want to do a nude scene for a student production!
In (partial) defence of most of the breakdowns you seem to be referring to, however, I think the issue is one of genre: the material concerned seems to be primarily geared at horror or suspense, and it is a long-standing tradition in those genres that victimised women appear scantily clad in order to emphasise their vulnerability. In that sense, I am not sure that the films in question are any more exploitative than their inspirations - they are simply working within the dictates of the genre. On the other hand, *who* they are getting to volunteer for the roles (or why they assume that trying to put together such material is really appropriate for student work) is another question.
Anything like this will come and bite you on your bare behinds one day...later on in your career! Especially if you get to be a very well known face. How many times have we seen the famous regret it too. The press, the internet …they just love to advertise this sort of thing. Handled well or not......I would not do it, because the press would make it look like something much worse in any case. !
Keep your pride and future careers intact is my advice!
the whole 18-25 year old female role rings my alarm bells already.
I think some guys just take a chance and know that some performers will take risks to get anywhere, and for them its a cheap thrill. A surface opinion.
I agree that when nudity is 'necessary' it is shown just as that and in a professional manner.
However, there are thousands of casting agents out there and someone, for some movie, is going to like your face.
For the record, I'm happy to get my kit off. Although now days I'm more likely to be paid to keep my kit on. Maybe it's because of my Moobs. However, I'm also happy to either lose the Moobs or make them bigger, for the right price.
Personally I would never do nudity for any unpaid work. And even if it was paid it would have to be essential to the scene. Many actors who are well known have not gotten naked completely and I think that a good thing. I know sex sells but sometimes all the nudity in films seems a bit too much to me.
I have done partial nudity (appearing in my underwear) for a professional production which was unpaid. Until that moment I had said I would not take my clothes off unless I was being paid to do so but with the case with this production I felt comfortable around the crew who where all very sensitive about the scene.
Because I have said I will do nudity unpaid I get a lot of messages in regards to student (mainly) and unpaid projects . 99.5% of these I turn down because the nudity is completely unjustified and a lot of the time when I have challenged the writer or director on why the nudity is required I have often recieved very weak answers along the lines of 'that was just my vision'.
A lot of young filmarkers or those starting out have had a revelation and realised how many young actresses there are out there and how many need video footage for showreels and naively think that we will do anything to get where we need to do, WRONG! I think that they all want to make and impact and think they way to do it is nudity rather then a brilliant script and cinematography- albeit there have been some films where nudity has been used powerfully.
In a nutshell I will only do nudity if it was justified for why the character is naked such as a romance scene and only if I know what will happen to the footage and if I feel comfortable with the cast and crew present on set during filming.
Liking the topic!! Personally, I think nudity if done in an artistic manner that works for the script and not just thrown in to appease the needs of the target audience (mostly 13-17yr adolescent boys) that most mainstream films seem to have, is ok in my book.
On the flip side however, I know of a few actresses that have been manipulated by so called 'up and coming' directors into doing nudity for indie films on the premise that it will show them in a different light, as well as challenging them intrinsically, artistically giving them a different casting versatility for their showreels. The end product nonetheless turning out to be a cheaper, lewd version of the Michael Winterbottom 9 songs film.
Well as Forbes said it could work against you later on in your career when you hit the high ground. Think it does apply more to women than men (im not being sexist here) as it didnt hamper the careers of Stallone, Duchovny and Costner. Hmmm
So on that note ***Shameless plug*** Im doing a one man show that involves nudity called Strip Search at the The Olde Rose and Crown, 53 Hoe St, Walthamstow, E17 4SA Tues-Thurs 9.15pm. Come and see it!!!I promise you its done tastefully ;-)
It is very difficult, I feel, as a male actor - or, you know, as a person - to comment definitively on such a potentially thorny topic.
If a part demands it, I'll disrobe quite happily, and I don't really make a distinction between paid and unpaid. Frankly, these days if I've taken an unpaid or low paid job, it's because the project was important to me, so that kind of levels the playing field.
But again, it does feel - frustratingly so - that female actors have to run the gauntlet of not becoming known for JUST taking their clothes off. Which is a bunch of rubbish, but the world has a surplus of idiots, alas...
To me, acting is acting with your whole self, body included, but I can completely understand how difficult it can be to ensure you are not being exploited in any way.
I just finished a feature, where the female actors weren't comfortable for a variety of reasons with nudity - as is their right - so they did implied and I went the whole hog (no horrific pun intended), so I am prepared to redress the balance with male nudity. For which I apologise to the cinema audiences of the world.
From my perspective there are a disappointing number of casting calls for women that are 'girlfriend' or 'victim' after-thought type roles. But the whole nudity issue further emphasises a very limited view of women and a serious lack of imagination.
Obviously I don't think nudity is a bad idea altogether, but there isn't always a point to it.
In response to Lee - I agree with you up to a point about genre but what about the evolution of that genre? It's a bit disappointing when young/new film makers seem to lack imagination. There are many many ways to portray vulnerability without involving nudity.
I don't tend to disagree with you, Sylvia, though, with that said, honouring and homaging a particular style *well* can be one way of ensuring a student project *does* serve as a solid journeyman piece, and if the film is intended to mirror an 'exploitation' style, then I suppose it is logical for it to follow the dictates of that aesthetic (Quentin Tarantino, for one, has never been afraid to parade that argument!). What is more interesting is, perhaps, how the training establishments react to such films: do they encourage the artistic expressiveness of said endeavours over against the fact that they are pushing the envelope 'too much'? Hard to say.
What does make student film work particularly galling in this respect is that, very often, the material at stake isn't itself good enough to make the story worthwhile, let alone make the nudity justifiable! - and you're correct that too large a lack of imagination is frequently shown.
Been Extremely busy both sides of camera hence not posting but on seeing this and msging Mr Kempner recently - I can't hold Back!!
Reputable Film Schools will pay actors Nude or not and have they will have industry "Vetted" decent Scripts with Known Industry mentors! Unreputable Won't and won't Pay!!
Be Pro only work For money!! Nude or not!! Student or Not!
However Nude is More Cash!!! Student or Not!!
ALL RECITE this Mantra - "I am an artist This does not mean I will work for free - I have bills just like You!!"
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