What is a “moment before” and is it important?
A moment before is literally the moment before your scene starts. What you do to bring us into the world of the scene. It could be a gesture, a body turn, a look, discovering the other person you’re doing the scene with. It could be a million things.
Is it important? Yes. Super important. Especially in auditions. Why? Because it can be what hooks the casting director into watching the rest of your audition. Did you know that most casting directors will watch about five to ten seconds of your audition and then either discard it or if they like it, throw it into the “watch later” pile? It’s absolutely true. They don’t have time to watch every audition all the way through. And they can usually tell in those first few seconds if the actor is a fit for the role, if they can act, and what professional level they’re at. Having a strong moment before can put you into that top professional level. So don’t blow that super important opportunity of the moment before.
How do you do it?
It really depends on the script. Look at the stage directions at the beginning of the scene. Usually it will say something like:
“A BOOK slides off the shelf, revealing JUDITH behind Ben. He turns and whispers to her through the stacks.”
Ask yourself, how can I use that stage direction to craft a clear moment before? If you’re playing Ben maybe you could see the book slide and then discover Judith there, turn slightly toward her and start whispering your first line. You’ll need to consider your framing—where you are in the camera’s frame. Maybe start out looking camera right trying to find Judith, then “hear” the book sliding camera left, look over there, see it fall and then discover Judith also camera left. You could then angle your body to her and sat your line.
If you were to do something like that we’d get a sense from the start that you are looking for someone, then something happens (the book slides off) and then you discover the person you’re looking for. Boom! You’ve got a little preview of the scene. We’ll be instantly intrigued because we know this person you are looking for is important and we’ll be hooked into the story.
Here’s another example—
“The Bartender gestures to where Clover is, sitting at a dimly lit table in the back. Hunter nods in appreciation, heads back and slides into a seat.”
Here you could step just into frame, say camera right. Look around for Clover, spot her camera left, give a slight nod to the bartender (camera right) and take a step or so in so you’re in the center of the frame and then sit down on a raised stool (so whoever is filming you doesn’t have to pan down) and then start your lines to Clover.
This will give us a world of information too. You could start the scene just sitting and saying your first line to Clover. But if you have a strong moment before like above it really sets the mood. It intrigues us as viewers and we’re more likely to watch more of your scene because we can sense you are one of those rare actors that uses your creativity and sense of storytelling to really bring us in.
How long should a moment before be? I like to stick to the three second rule. Or three strong beats. Boom, boom, boom—and into the scene. Anything longer than that can get tedious, anything shorter feels incomplete.
Be super creative, but make sure your moment before makes sense with the scene.
You’ll need to practice this a lot at first. Figure out what you’re going to do. Tape it and then watch it back to see if it is working. Is it clear what you’re doing? Are you really seeing what you’re seeing? Does it look real? Are your eye lines working with the framing? With the camera? It may be awkward at first but as you do this more and more it will start to look really good.
Remember in this age of digital auditioning, great moments before can really set you apart from the barrage of submissions casting gets.
You can do this! It’s just a skill.
For a similar post watch our video on end of scene “buttons”. You can find it by clicking here: https://www.actorsinactionconservatory.com/put-a-button-on-it/