selftape guidelines

While in-person auditions remain pivotal, self-taping serves as a crucial tool in any actor's toolkit. That’s why we believe self tapes offer a win-win for all parties involved.

For actors, it represents an opportunity to audition without the constraints of location or travel costs, the flexibility to schedule self-tapes at one's convenience and the option to redo auditions. For casting directors self-taping is valuable for taking calculated risks on unfamiliar talents and presenting diverse options to directors. For directors and producers self-taping brings efficiency to the casting process, making face-to-face auditions more purposeful, as inviting actors to the room indicates a positive impression based on their self-taped performance.

This guide outlines each step, providing clarity amid the possible technical complexity. Practice these steps until they become second nature, especially before that potential life-changing self-tape.

With technology advancing rapidly, the quality of home-shot footage is seldom a concern these days. The majority of smartphones boast fantastic cameras that do the job effortlessly. Alternatively, you can opt for a camera with video recording capabilities or even the built-in webcam on your computer. The key is ensuring that you can transfer your images to software for editing and exporting to a more compressed and manageable format. As long as that capability is in place, you're good to go.

WHAT CAMERA TO USE
LOCATION, LIGHTNING & FRAME

Creating an ideal audition setting involves replicating a standard audition room with a plain background, preferably pale-colored walls—consider gray for a clean look. Avoid distracting patterns, clocks, posters, or items hanging behind you to prevent visual interference. For a quiet environment with reasonable acoustics, steer clear of echoes. Special microphones are usually unnecessary; built-in ones suffice since the camera will be relatively close.

While lighting is important, it need not be overly complex. Natural light from a window often suffices, but watch out for shadows. For a more elaborate setup, consider a classic configuration with one strong light source on one side and a smaller diffuse light on the opposite side. Experiment until you achieve satisfactory lighting conditions. Always prioritize visibility.

Ensure you're recording in Landscape format, not Portrait. Focus primarily on your face, with just the tops of your shoulders and your entire head visible (mid-shot), unless directed otherwise. Steady filming is crucial, so use a tripod or place your device on a secure surface—no handheld footage, please. Position the camera at your eye-line to avoid unflattering angles. Many people make the mistake of placing the camera too low, so be mindful of this.

Once you've established your ideal setup, it becomes your go-to audition studio for consistent quality.

FILMING RESOLUTION

Many contemporary phones, tablets, and cameras boast exceptionally high-resolution footage, suitable for display on large screens without any loss of image quality. However, for self-tapes, such high resolution is unnecessary. The initial step should be to reduce your camera's resolution. Shooting in anything beyond 720p HD is overkill, so refrain from opting for 1080p HD or, heaven forbid, 4K filming.

Using an iPhone or iPad? Click Settings > Navigate to Photos & Camera > Go to Record Video > Choose resolution: 720p at 30fps.

For Android phones or tablets, the process may vary, but generally, you can adjust settings within the Video Camera app.

If you're using a stand-alone camera or video camera, the process is slightly more straightforward. Since you'll be manipulating the image on a computer, there's no need to choose the highest resolution setting, even if your camera supports 1080p HD, 2K, or 4K. Standard HD resolution is more than sufficient and can save you time.

Just because it's a self-tape doesn't mean you can be less prepared as you would for an in-person audition. Learn those lines (please don't just read them off the screen— we can tell, and it doesn't look good), make bold choices, create compelling characters, dress appropriately, and steer clear of props. Sure, you get to be choosy about which takes to submit, but that doesn't mean you should get too comfortable. Thirty or forty takes are not the goal.

Set a schedule for your home audition. This helps maintain focus. Plan backward from any deadlines, leaving enough time for editing, compressing, and uploading. Nothing's worse than dealing with tech stress and a dodgy internet connection after nailing a great self-tape.

GETTING READY TO AUDITION

If possible, enlist the help of an actor friend to read opposite you. Position them next to the camera so your eyeline aligns with the lens. If you're flying solo, leave gaps for the other dialogue. Some opt to record the other lines themselves, but timing issues may arise. Do not look directly into the camera, unless explicitly instructed to do so.

If your preparation is solid, it should only take three or four takes, if that. Any more might mean you're being too meticulous or haven't prepared enough. Keep in mind that your self-tape may lead to a live audition or even the role itself. If it takes all day to warm up for a usable take, it won't go unnoticed.

Your goal is one solid interpretation of the role in a single unbroken take, without director or casting director guidance. We're looking for that one standout performance. If we like what we see, expect a callback for a more in-depth exploration.

Before or after your main audition, film an introduction or slate. State your name and location, you agent's name (if applicable), and the role you're auditioning for. Information about recent work or major credits and relevant skills is useful. You do not need to say your age. Keep it professional and bear in mind that is the only time when we see the person behind the actor. Do not underestimate the importance of being you as much as possible.

FILMING THE AUDITION

If you're using a smartphone or tablet, you'll likely be able to edit the footage directly on the device using an editing app. iMovie is a popular choice for trimming and editing. When using an Android phone or tablet, there are several good editing apps, for example AndroVid (a straightforward and free option). When you are editing on a computer, your software is often bundled free with your device. On a Mac, iMovie is available, and on a PC, you can use Windows Movie Maker. If you lack these, a quick Google search for "free editing software" will present various options.

Trim the beginning and end of a take, especially if you're self-operating the camera and need to dash in and out of the frame to start and stop recording. Select your best take for each scene—we typically prefer one take unless specified otherwise.

Once your self-tape is edited, the next crucial step, for a stress-free submission experience, is compression.

EDITING YOUR SELFTAPE
COMPRESSING & LABELING YOUR SELFTAPE

Even if you've adjusted your camera's resolution, chances are your self-tape file is still unnecessarily large. Compressing the file is a crucial step in the self-taping process, so don't overlook it. Casting directors appreciate small yet perfectly formed files—saving them time and hard drive space. Preferably the size of your takes does not exceed 25MB per file.

You can find an array of software online. Wondershare UniConverter is paid, but it is very efficient.

Labeling is crucial, do not overlook this detail. Once you have a beautifully edited, compressed self-tape file, it's imperative to label it correctly. When we request self-tapes, we adhere to this convention: “CHARACTER NAME – Firstname Surname”

Given that we sometimes receive 200 self-tapes in a day, especially on 'deadline day,' for various roles in different projects, a correctly labeled self-tape is crucial. Without the right label, it becomes challenging for us to identify you. All your hard work could go to waste! By starting with the character name in capitals, we immediately know the project the self-tape is for, enabling us to organize it into the correct folder.

Submitting a self-tape is mostly done through services like WeTransfer. Please do not submit self tapes via YouTube or Vimeo links or send files as an email attachment. Most email programs, yours or ours, may not accept large files, and it can clog up our system.

At the moment we are looking into utilizing the excellent service provided by Filmmakers EU for self-tapes. Instructions will be included when we send an invitation to self-tape.

SENDING YOUR SELFTAPE