Self-Tapes

HOW TO DO A SELF-TAPE AUDITION

FOR TAPINGS, PLEASE FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS TO  MAKE SURE YOUR TAPING IS OF THE UPMOST QUALITY AND GETS NOTICED…

•Hold the camera horizontal so there are no black bars. We cannot send tapings to casting directors with black bars or framed vertically. Must be framed like a film or TV screen.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A TRIPOD. You can get one cheap from Amazon .

•All tapings must be in one single file (unless otherwise noted).  Not separate files or links.   EVERYTHING MUST BE IN ONE FILE PROPERLY LABELED FULL NAME-PROJECT-ROLE, unless otherwise instructed by casting.

•Make sure there is a solid color wall behind you. Must be SOLID, no windows, doors, furniture.  Blue solid walls are preferable. We do not send tapings that are not in front of solid color walls.

•Make sure your tapings is clear, and in HD quality.

•Make sure the lighting is good and they can see you clearly. We cannot send tapings to casting directors if you cannot see the actor clearly. No shaky camerawork.

•For scenes, make sure they can see your face, shoot from mid chest up. No unnecessary headroom. Top of head at top of frame. (See below for example)

•Sometimes for slates, they ask for full body shots. If so, you would want to get closer in for the scene(s).  Use iMovie or some sort of simple editing app or software if you need to edit them together. We suggest to do slates at the end of the tape unless otherwise instructed.

•Make sure the camera is steady on a tripod, no hand held tapings. We do not send shaky tapes to casting directors.

•Name your taping in the file, video link and email address you send it in.  Do not send files such as this

“IMG_9830.mov” or “DSC_2398.mp4” (They must be labeled properly!)

CORRECT EXAMPLES:

File Name: “John Smith – Name of Film – Role.mp4”

File Name: “Joan Smith – Name of Pilot – Role.mov”

Email Subject Lines: “Taping for John Smith – Name of Film – Role”

•Do not send HUGE Files, do not email HUGE files.  Tapings should not be larger than 25MB to 100MB at most.

•Send the files on a www.dropbox.com link.  THE BEST THING TO DO IS COPY AND PASTE THE LINK TO YOUR FILE.  JUST RESPOND TO THE AUDITION EMAIL SENT TO YOU. Create an account on Dropbox and you can upload the files to your account.  Then email us the link for the file.  (Please ONLY send the LINK to the file. Do not ‘share folder’ or “send a folder”.  We only want the FILE, not a folder.

•Only send your best take. While you may of done multiple takes, show your confidence in your choice as an actor or actress and send the one you want them to see. Your talent representative will let you know if casting wants to see multiple takes.

•HAVE SOMEBODY READING WITH YOU. Have the reader reading with you right off camera. (not far over to the side) Have your focus be the reader for the scene.  You can slate right into camera, but for scenes, look at the reader.

NOTES: 
 
ACTIVE LISTENING – don’t just say lines and check out.  Listen to the other person, how they react to you.  How it makes you feel, what it does to you. Great actors communicate with their eyes & face (don’t go overboard, nothing exaggerated)  Listen, let it affect you.  TAKE IN what others say; what it means to you.  Acting is a mutual connection.  Communication is talking AND listening.
 
INNER WORK: It’s important to understand who your character is (based on YOUR IMAGINATION)  Why is he/she/they saying what he/she/they says? Objective? Try to know what you want from someone, so you have an agenda and know what you’re trying to get.  YOU DON’T KNOW BACKSTORY, but you’ll have a a stronger audition if you make a choice about the scene (your OWN choice; no right or wrong), so you have a feeling/opinion about what you’re saying (not just saying lines for no reason).  Understand WHY you’re saying it.  If you can bring that insight, it will add to your audition.  Identify what you want & how it makes you feel.

NOTE: Sometimes tapings have specific instructions for that particular project, if so, be able to adjust accordingly for what they want. Make sure to follow any specific instructions.

 HOW TO SEND SELF-TAPES VIA DROPBOX

  1. Go to www.dropbox.com or download the Dropbox App.
  2. Sign up for a free account.
  3. Edit your self-tape to how it needs to be, everything should be in ONE file, not separate.

*Acceptable file formats are .mov, .mp4, .avi, .mpg, .wmv.  (no .mts or any others)

  1. Save your file as ‘YOUR NAME’ – ‘PROJECT’ – ‘ROLE‘.  

Do not send files such as this “IMG_9830.mov” or “DSC_2398.mp4”  “yourname_projectname_role.mp3”

(They must be labeled!)

CORRECT EXAMPLES:

File Name: “John Smith – Name of Film – Role.mp4”

File Name: “Joan Smith – Name of Pilot – Role.mov”

*Once your file is in your Dropbox, you can rename the file if you need to do it that way.

  1. Email the link to your taping.  DO NOT ‘share folder’ or send files in a zip folder.  Just send the link to the video file itself.

*ONCE AGAIN….Do not SHARE FOLDER, only JUST COPY AND PASTE THE LINK TO FILE.

IMPORTANT: FILES CANNOT BE MORE THAN 500MB

CORRECT FRAMING EXAMPLE:

VIDEO REFERENCES:

More tips:

Here is a list of suggested coaches you can contact to coach and self-tape for your audition.