Back Casting Rooms: Bringing Realism Strategically to the Series

Behind every scene of a Netflix series or a movie we watch on Amazon Prime, there is an effort of hundreds of people other than the protagonists. They are extras or background cast who are handled in the back casting room.

The back casting room is more like an essence or significant part of the production side. It will define how much a series or movie would appear realistic and give a vibe that we all want. It is the busiest place during the shoot because main characters are few but extras are more than 100 in majority of the shows. In this article we will explore back casting rooms, its significance, key elements and others.

Definition of Back Casting Room

Back casting room, as the name says, is the place during shoot where background cast or extras are arranged, and prepared for the role. It is the place where they have auditions, practice sessions and makeovers. In most cases, they receive salary and communication process with their lead in the back casting room.

Although it seems a not-so-important place, the team at the back casting room handles more than a hundred people. Therefore, you will find audio specialists, makeup artists, mentors, social media managers and PR specialists there.

The bigger the cast of a series, the larger the back casting room will be.

Significance of Back Casting Room

There are two rooms at shoot: primary casting, and back casting. Primary casting prepares the main protagonist and antagonist for every scene but back casting creates the whole series with its effort and giving importance to every detail.

Create Background Environment

Because of dealing with extras, it creates theme and vibe of the series and show. It will decide how a specific theme will be followed and what needs to be done to make the extras align with primary casting people.

Adds Realism

Main leads’ dialogues and dressing won’t make a series realistic but background cast has the ability to add realism to it with its extras’ position, movement, makeup, dialogues, and expressions.

The background cover you see in school-based series is arranged by the back casting room and the people laughing on a nerdy boy is arranged by the back casting room to appeal to the audience with realistic ground, showing how things are happening.

Complete Important Tasks

From the lights that would be above the lead during the ending dialogue to the creative team, all these minute things hold the core plan in every series and the back casting room has a team to get them done easily.

Handle Logistics

From set visits to makeup arrangements, back casting elevates the process of accomplishing logistical operations via their resources, team members and smart hacks. Its extensive lists help the managers stay focused.

Streamline Production

Because of their ability to handle things that enhance shoots and having extensive operations or tasks in their list, a back casting room can pave the production process and ensure the work that has to be done before shoot is already completed.

Creative Vision

Producers and directors are heavily dependent on back casting room for bringing vibe to the scene and series with their creativity. The team in back casting ensures to use all means to add realism creatively with a detail-oriented mindset to make the visual form of content worth-watching.

The back casting room adds perfection to every movie and series with its ability to value every detail and ensuring it adds elements to it to make the scene aesthetically sound.

Functions of Back Casting Room

Back casting is used for multiple things that make the scene must-air in series. Here are a few important functions of this room:

Select Extras

The first and foremost function of a black casting room is to find and select extras. For this, you can post an ad on social media or on physical platforms to get resumes of different actors. Besides, you can visit different groups, pages and sites to find actors yourself.

Auditions

You have to take the selected actors a test in the form of an audition to determine their skills and evaluate their performance based on their acting skills, looks (it must align with the character they are playing) and their ability to meet the vision of a director.  

Makeup and Costume Fittings

After selection, the actors are prepared for the scenes with the help of scene-based costumes and makeup artists to blend them in the scene with the background bewitchingly. The artists ensure to give you a fresh look that suits your character and body size.

Schedule

The background cast is more than hundreds, and managing them is impossible if you do not have a schedule. You can use digital tools or applications to schedule their sessions and ensure they are at the right place at the right time during the shoot.

The back casting room ensures the cast is managed and prepared well with the above-mentioned functions it plays consistently.

Back Casting Room Work Flow

Like every office and in every corporate setting, the back casting room has a structured work process that results in a perfect series. Here are a few things that come into its usual daily work.  

Identify Requirements

Before the start of every project, the first task of the back casting room is to determine how many extras they need and what each extra has to do. For this, you need to enlist people that are going to be needed.

Besides, you have to sort out what things and props are required to shoot the series. Later, you need to follow these lists to get things done. You can use them to prepare a precise detailed plan and follow it religiously.

Casting Calls

According to the prepared lists, look for required background cast and conduct auditions. For this, you need to post ads and posts about casting calls on social media and different WhatsApp groups to aware actors of the role they can play.

You can organize auditions for a week so that you won’t have to work long hours to get the actors done. A week’s time will help you maintain work-life balance while getting main things done.

Selection

The criteria of selecting an actor varies with the kind of the project you are dealing with. Yet, in most cases, you to have a list where you would determine if the actors who gave audition are meeting the required criteria, such as

• Looks
• Acting skills
• Alignment with the vision of director
• Expressions / emoting abilities

The precise your list is to determine the actor’s abilities, the required people you will hire.

Management

On the set, there are so many things to manage, from make up to lighting. You need to have a team of at least 5 or 6 people who would help you manage the tasks.

To make work manageable, you can divide them among the team members and give them a checklist with KPIs to structure everything for them and for you, both.

Back casting workflow is manageable if you always list down everything and follow it religiously.

Required Elements in an Organized Back Casting Room

An organized and efficient back casting room does not rely on workflow and team size, it is dependent on numerous social skills which are the following:

Effective Communication

A gap in listening and understanding a message results in chaos which can only be compensated with well-crafted and concise communicative messages in which you would offer all required information.

For instance, you want to delegate a lighting task to team member A, so you have an option to write a text message in which you would explain to the member what colour, and size of the light is required. Besides, you need to explain the location where the light is required. Such information will help the member get the task done effortlessly.

Meaningful use of Digital Tools

Technology has enabled us to make most of the tasks doable. Instead of spending millions on tools, you can go with free apps and tracking software to enlist every task and align your team and actors on it to get them done at the right place and right time.

You can even go with multi-kind of apps which you and your team members can install and get aligned on one page. Besides, project management tools, such as Notion, Trello or slack, can make things quite easy for you.

Comprehensive Planning

If you know in your head and on your fingers every task you need to do with no plan in physical form, you are or will get directionless. A detailed plan with all steps or sub-plans will keep you focused, ensuring that you are moving upwards towards the completion.

To make such plans, you can use Trello and enlist all tasks you need to do. Later, divide them into sub tasks and delegate them. Set a deadline for each task and ensure your team member is working on it. For this, you can ask them to text you if they need help or upload files when they are done.

Adaptability

Chaotic weather, death of a person on set or any uncertain situation can make plans and lists disturbing. In such cases, you don’t need to panic or think of how it all would work. Instead you need to be flexible and change the plan when required by utilizing all your resources.

An adaptable approach will help you pave the way even in all situations effortlessly while ensuring perfection in your tasks. For this, you need to have ample resources and ability to some up with hacks.

Conclusion

A back casting room is a place where background cast or extras are selected, practiced, trained and prepared for the roles they are going to play. It is the room where workers and team members streamline the production by adding realism and creativity.

The team arranges everything that is required to elevate the background of the series, ensuring that it is aesthetically sound. A good back casting room has a team that ensures to communicate every message concisely and effectively. The team there utilizes a flexible approach to make use of their full potential in all kinds of situations.

FAQs:

What things are not handled in the back casting room?

Primary casting things are not handled in the back casting room because the latter ensures to elevate the series with its creativity.

How to get into the back casting team?

It is simple! You need to contact the creative head of a production house and they will add you in it if you have the potential.

What kind of tasks are in the list of a back casting team?

Usually they handle background cast, makeup, lighting, audio, production chores, and logistics because these are the things that can maximize the perfection of a show or series.

Are primary casting and back casting rooms connected with each other?

Of course! Two rooms of the same show are well connected because a primary casting team must know what theme is under preparation in the back casting room.

What resources are required in the back casting room?

First and foremost, there is a huge need for human resources there. Secondly, the team requires audio tools, lights, cameras, all kinds of makeup, technological tools and costumes other than some pieces of furniture.