Want to audition but get freaked out by having to put yourself on tape? Never fear, The Times is here with experts to tell us what you’re doing wrong (and right) with your self-taped auditions! (Illustration by Juliette Toma / For The Times)
Your agent called, sent you sides and told you to submit a self-taped audition. You put your best version of the scene on camera and sent it to the casting directors. And what they can’t take their eyes off is an exclusive view of the inside of your nostrils.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person auditions were diminishing and self-tapes were on the rise. Since the shutdowns proved how safe and effective those prerecorded versions can be, allowing casting directors to see far more actors, including ones out of town, they’ve become the standard. Casting directors and actors interviewed by the Los Angeles Times believe the industry won’t be going back. Some say it has been two years or more since they’ve participated in in-person auditions.
“I saw that there were more self-tapes happening,” said Anna LaMadrid, actor, self-tape coach and co-founder of the New Triple Threat. “Then COVID just was like — this is the only way. So I think, eventually, we were going to get here.”
Unfortunately, even actors who study their craft often know little about the mechanics of filmmaking. So while they put thought and energy into their performance, they might not put the camera in the best position, light themselves properly or ensure they can be heard over the friendly Los Angeles drivers outside their windows.
Josh Ropiequet, CSA, of Lowry-Johnson/Goldstein Casting put it simply: “The most important things are: Can we hear you and can we see you?”
Here are some expert tips to make sure they can.
“The larger the light source, the closer to your face, the better,” said Seth Caskey, CSA, of Elizabeth Barnes Casting. And, he said, if you don’t have a fancy setup with softboxes and bounce cards, don’t worry about it: “Use natural, even lighting.”
Windows often work well, depending on the weather and time of day, but if you don’t have a usable one in the room where you want to shoot, those now-ubiquitous ring lights do the trick.
Ring lights
Ring lights with full-size stands can typically be found online for $22 to $30.
Ring lights with clips or desktop stands (often called “video conference lighting kits”) can be found in the $9-$20 range.
DaJuan Johnson, an actor, self-tape coach and founder of Think Bigger Coaching, uses a ring light that comes with its own stand and phone holder in the middle. When you’re done shooting, it folds down into a lightweight, compact, flat circle. “That’s perfect,” he said. “That’s all you need.”
Caskey said to avoid the little zombie circles ring lights can make in your eyes by turning the ring light away from you to use the wall behind the camera as a “bounce” — which can also help to make the light source seem larger. Of course, you’d need, ideally, a white or brightly colored wall to pull that off.
Just make sure the dominant light source is in front of you and behind the camera. If it’s a window, make sure most of the light isn’t coming from behind you.
It seems like the most basic advice possible, but find a quiet place to shoot. Both Ropiequet and Caskey say it’s something many actors don’t take into account.
Caskey tells of a major audition he arranged for an actor he wanted a show’s producers to see — only to receive a recording apparently shot in a bar bathroom, the actor’s lines competing with the noise of the customers and music outside.
“You can have a self-tape that doesn’t have amazing lighting, but if it has bad sound,” he says, “that’s going to be your Achilles’ heel. I’ve got to be able to hear you clearly.”
External mics for phones
Shotgun mics for phones often cost $25 to $50.
Lavalier mics for phones range from around $5 to $100.
If you don’t have a quiet place, you have options. These can include lavalier, or lav, mics, which are clipped to the actor’s clothing to get an up-close recording no matter how far from the camera the voice is coming from, or “shotgun,” or directional, mics that point at the actor from behind the camera and focus on the actor’s voice, reducing extraneous sound. In most cases, if the room is quiet enough, your phone’s on-board mic should work. But to ensure quality sound, you can get a kit for your phone.
“Everybody pretty much has a smartphone right now,” Johnson said. “Your smartphone has a camera, and you can use the microphone built in, but I recommend using an external mic.”
The experts advise against busy backgrounds — the focus should be on you, not your collection of Funkos or your awesome cat. Don’t give the viewer a reason to look at anything but you.
Backdrop options
Monochrome backdrops can be found in the $15-$40 range.
Backdrop frames are often around $40.
If you don’t have a suitable blank wall, one option is to purchase a backdrop and a frame to hold it up. Frames can be assembled and simple monochrome backdrops — or even bedsheets — can be pinned to them in minutes.
Though as LaMadrid says, not all monochrome backdrops are created equal: “No more blue in ‘22,” she said, agreeing with the other experts that “gray is a good, neutral color.”
As you deliver your beautifully crafted, in-the-moment performance, are casting directors captivated by the fire in your eyes or are they looking straight up your nose? All four experts advocated placing the camera lens at eye level and turning the phone horizontal. Except for slates (actor introductions) requiring full-body shots, always shoot horizontally.
“The more you can get the camera to eye level for you,” Caskey said, “the more it’s going to be like what we’d see on television or in a movie.”
Caskey refers to one of the basic tenets of cinematography: “The rule of thirds, which is where you divide the screen into thirds.” Place yourself not in the center of the frame but in the right or left third of it. Then: “As you’re doing your self-tape and setting up your camera, try to place your reader so that you’re looking across the camera toward this empty space,” he said, indicating about where the line dividing the opposite third would be, and around eye level.
“Their instinct is to stand in the middle of the frame and be very still,” LaMadrid said of the advice actors are often given to vary the size of their performance from stage to screen. Instead, she encourages actors to be aware of the limits of the frame but give fully realized performances that include movement when appropriate.
Ropiequet pointed out that direct address is very rarely called for: “Don’t do it straight to camera because unless you’re doing a reporting role, it doesn’t really make sense.”
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”The momentum or the energy of the scene starts before it fades in from black,” Caskey reminded actors.
LaMadrid said, “Every scene usually takes place in the middle of something. It’s a conversation that has already begun. Even your entry — how do you enter? Do you have a turn right at the beginning where you’re expecting something and you see it? It’s all crafted.”
Caskey added that a couple of minutes of improv before the scene begins can get the energy of the scene moving. Then, when the scene starts, “It’s not like, ‘I’m starting a scene now!’ It’s like, ‘I’m continuing talking.’”
While the experts agree that having a live human there to read lines opposite you is best, it doesn’t help if they don’t deliver. Ideally, you want an actor friend or someone you know from acting class.
Ropiequet tells the story of an actor who apparently enlisted his partner, who, as Jonathan Larson might put it, was “really not a theater person.” The game partner read everything that wasn’t the actor’s lines, including the stage directions. And the actor submitted that. Watching it, Ropiequet thought, “Oh, no, this is just going to keep going, isn’t it? And yes, she was reading every single line of stage direction and then the other roles’ lines obviously as well.”
Not everyone has the luxury of access to live humans to get in the room with them. Some resort to having someone else record the other lines of dialogue or even record those lines themselves, then play off the recording. Tricky, for sure. The casting directors recommend having someone Zoom or just call in to read with you while you record your audition.
“Think of it as how you would do it when you walked in the [audition] room,” Ropiequet said. “You’re connecting with the reader; you’re looking at the reader. So even if your reader is somebody recorded, or your own recording ... use that as [an off-camera] focal point.”
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Both casting directors interviewed for this story said excessive use of props and costumes can be distracting. However, if the scene calls for, say, a bottle, using one is fine and often less distracting than watching an actor drink the air.
As for costume, both advised against spending a lot of money for that cop outfit or cowboy gear — though Caskey urged actors to make some appropriate effort. “You’d be surprised how many guys auditioning for a lawyer role don’t dress the part,” he said, citing T-shirts and jeans as common errors in such a situation.
The goal, both said, is to make it easy for the casting directors to imagine you in the role.
Another thing the experts agreed on is the value of getting feedback on your tape before submitting.
It’s a business that’s about how you’re seen by others, so Johnson recommends bringing in someone you trust from an acting class or your acting coach “so that somebody besides [you] can look at it and say, ‘OK, let’s tweak this.’”
If that’s not an option, professional services include self-tape coaches or facilities such as Self Tape Studio @ Peter’s Place, where Johnson sometimes shoots his auditions, that charge about $1 per minute and can provide an outside eye.
Caskey noted that each casting office is unique, so, “My first recommendation to the actor is read the directions.”
That applies to everything, including how they want you to slate and the number of takes they want to see. Remember that casting directors are watching dozens or potentially hundreds of submissions; wading through those extra takes can shorten goodwill, especially if they’re not justified.
“A lot of times, I recommend that actors just go with one or two, the first two takes. Because it’s likely not going to get better,” Caskey said, as Stanley Kubrick turned in his grave. “If the casting director says, ‘Only send one take,’ then only send one take because that’s their process.”
And somewhere Clint Eastwood’s lip curls into a snarl that passes for his smile.
Ropiequet said: “I always recommend two takes at most — if you feel that they’re different enough and on an equal footing in your gut.”
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The late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman said of auditioning, “If you get a chance to act in a room that somebody else has paid rent for, then you’re given a free chance to practice your craft.” And that’s what self-tapes are — but without the stress of judgmental eyes watching you as you do it. You can screw up, go up on your lines, break, skip a section, whatever. There’s always Take 2 or 12 until you feel like you’ve got the right one to showcase what you can do in the role.
“It can be fun. If we stop thinking about all the exterior stuff ... ‘I don’t know how to be a director’ ... “ Johnson said. “Really just take it back and say, ‘I’m taking back control of the audition situation,’ which we never had before. Now we can literally submit our best take.”
LaMadrid added, “What I love about the self-taping and doing the Zoom calls and all that stuff is that it actually democratizes it for everyone, right?
“The industry is asking for us to shift our skills. ... Technology disrupts every aspect of every industry, and now it’s disrupted acting. ... Self-tapes have made me the most empowered.”
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