Self-tape Audition Handy Tips

Self tape

I would say a third of auditions are now done by self tape. First of all the most important fact is what I say to my students you must be off page. (Meaning knowing your words by heart.) I will repeat this over and over again. One of the main reasons is that the dialogue will flow, you are not searching for words which would hold you back in your delivery and you can hold your head up high instead on looking down following a script.

Now I will give you a step by step guide.

1. Choose a well lit area.
2. A plain coloured wall. ( No Aunty Flo’ daisy and buttercup wall paper, pictures or windows can be distracting and doesn’t look professional). Do not sit in front of a window as we will only see your silhouette.
3. My advise is to get someone else to film you so you can concentrate on your acting. You can do this on a phone, small camera or a tablet as long as you know how to upload it and send it as a file to the casting director or production company. ALWAYS FILM LANDSCAPE.
4. Make sure you are in focus. Shoot from an angle that shows more of you, my preference is head and shoulders face front. We don’t need to see your full body. Keep your eyes level with the camera. Looking down on the floor or the script will kill the opportunity. Do not look directly at the camera though. Your reading partner should stand behind the camera just slightly to the left. You should look at the person reading in with you when speaking to them… just like you would in a normal conversation.
5. Make sure you can be heard. Best recorded in the quietest room you have. Not outside unless the piece lends itself to be outside or it is required but make sure there is no noise pollution. (ie lawn mowers., traffic, aeroplanes etc.)
6. You may need someone else to read for the other character. Make sure you can hear them. (I once had a boy reading for a part and his brother read from behind the camera (not seen) and the casting director offered the part to his brother.
7. Make sure you feel comfortable. If that means you are sitting down just do it. If you feel happy, confident and comfortable that will reflect in your audition. Unless you are specifically asked for something else ie stand up.
8. Remember before you begin you need to say your name, age and agency but only say the agency name if you have one. Introduce yourself looking straight down the camera lens.

Why? So you stay in the same place and not move out of focus.

9. Do a number of takes and choose the best one. Ask other people which they like best. Always good to get a second opinion. You may look better in one but your acting is not as good so better to ask someone else.
10. Do try and learn the lines before recording. You should allow at least one night to prepare.
11. Do not use too much make-up (unless requested!). Keep it natural, wear something simple, plain colours, no patterned tops. When choosing your outfit be careful not to wear colours that will make you blend into the background.

I need to cover character breakdown, plot and interpreting the script but this is for another day. So hope you have found this useful by the way and I will always say this, this is my opinion only based on my experiences.

Wish you all the luck in the world ?

Author: admin

I started out young in the film and TV industry, being cast in Dennis Fisher toy commercials at the age of 8-10 years. My mother enrolled me in dancing, ballet, tap, drama, singing, piano lessons and extremely busy after-school activities from the age of 4. But my main interest was acting and pursued in joining the West Riding Youth Theatre and Bradford Youth Players in my teens, which I enjoyed immensely. At the age of 18, I opened a performing arts school with my mother called Stage 84 and headed the drama department for 10 years, teaching speech and drama, Trinity Guild Hall exams and entering children for speech and drama festivals. During this time, I trained Amy Walsh, Kimberly Walsh, Sally Walsh, Lee Otway and many other students who successfully went on and had careers in the performing arts industry. In 1994, I opened my own school, Northern Film and Drama and the philosophy behind it was to make films and at the same time train children and teenagers to act in them. My first film, Victim, which was about school bullying won the Scarborough Film Festival for best newcomer and went on to be shown on Channel 4. My next film, Past Memoirs, with an appearance from Amy Walsh went on to Meridian TV. Many other films have followed. Becoming 8 was a final film selected for the London Short Film Festival. Julia Juliette, 2015, got to the final selection in the South Carolina Film Festival. My latest film is called Sweet Sam, and will be entered for numerous festival throughout the world. Other children trained by me to name a few include Jessica Barden (Mrs Radcliffe's Revolution, Coronation Street, The Lobster, Far From The Madding Crowd), Sam Jackson (Skins), Daniel Pearson (Vera, The Dumping Ground, Emmerdale) and most recent Colson Smith(Coronation Street). My teaching methods are completely the opposite to what you teach for the stage. They are loosely based on method acting, but with my own unique twist. I live for teaching and directing children and young teenagers, and enjoy seeing them grow into confident, talented young people of tomorrow. View all posts by admin