How to Nail Your Self-Tape Audition

In today’s digital age, casting rooms have evolved. What used to be a long process of in-person auditions, callbacks, studio sessions, and so on, has now become more digitized. This means that if you are trying to win your next role, you will most likely be asked to record your audition to send to casting teams before you even meet the people who will be choosing who plays the role. While some people negatively reflect on the shift to self-tapes, missing the vibes of in-person auditions, it is important to learn how to do a good self-tape to give yourself the best chance at getting the role. Whether you are acting for television, film, or even theater, self-tapes have become a universal step in the casting process.

What is a Self-Tape?

If you have done a few auditions before, you might be familiar with a “self-tape” or filming your audition for casting teams to view. Often a self-tape is one of the first few steps in the audition process. When a casting call is put out, casting directors will typically ask people who are interested to submit for the role with a headshot, their reel, and/or a clip of them performing. If they like what they see and want to see how you fit in the role, they will ask you for a self-tape. Sometimes, like in the case of open calls, casting teams will skip the initial submission of the headshot and reel, and instead lump that in with the submission of your self-tape.

When you are asked to do a self-tape, you will be given sides, which are specific portions of the script that the casting and creative team want to see you perform. You then record yourself reading and acting out those lines and submit it to the casting team to review and decide whether you are fit for the role or not. 

Steps to Complete a Self-Tape Audition

Understanding the process of self-taping will help make the process seem less daunting and help you submit a better self-tape. Here are the common steps to complete a self-tape:

1. Receive a casting call or request from the casting team to submit a self-tape: Make sure you read through all the instructions that you are sent, as not every self-tape request will be the same. You might be asked to submit a certain way or include a slate, among other specifications. 

2. Review your sides: Make sure you understand the material, practice, and have a plan for how you will perform the character. 

3. Film your audition: Film yourself giving the best performance of the material that you can. See the next section below for how you should be recording your self-tapes.

4. Send it to the casting team: Once you have your recordings, choose the best one or two takes to send to the casting team according to their direction. 

5. After submitting: After submitting, you might be asked to do another take of the material with adjustments, or you might be called to do an audition in person or some other type of session with the casting team. This could include a variety of things like Zoom sessions, pre-read sessions with just the casting director, and chemistry reads. They could also offer you the role after only seeing your self-tape. It really depends on the casting team and what they need to see.

How to Film the Best Self-Tape

Many factors need to be considered when you are recording a self-tape. Let’s take a look at what will make your self-tape the best that it can be:

1. The Setup

Your setup can make or break your self-tape video. It is all too easy for something in the video to become a distraction and take the casting director’s attention away from your performance. 

• Background: You want something plain. You can use a plain white wall or a green or blue screen if you have one. You don’t want decorations, objects, or anything else that might make the casting director think about something other than your performance. It is usually safest to do a neutral, one-tone background.

• Lighting: Make sure you are well-lit. Any strong shadows will distract from your performance and if the casting director can’t see you, they won’t be able to tell if you are good for the role. Focus especially on your face; as the saying goes, “The eyes are the window to your soul,” which becomes especially true in casting. Favor plain, all-over lighting to artsy mood lighting. Having a ring light or some kind of soft directed lighting on your face is perfect.

• Sound: Background noise can be a big distraction so make sure to find a space that will not have too much ambient noise, or make sure you have a good microphone that will only pick up your dialogue and noises you purposely make for the audition. 

•  Frame: Framing is very important. If your frame is off, you might get cut off at some point during the take, or casting directors may be focused on a part of your movement that you don’t want them to focus on. Unless otherwise specified by the self-tape request, to have good framing, make sure to film your self-tape horizontally, with the camera placed at eye level, and with headroom. To have proper headroom, you want to give a bit of space between the top of the video and the top of your head so that if you have some movement in your video, your head won’t be cut off. You also want to do a medium close-up, typically from your chest up, to let the casting director see your facial expressions. 

• Your Outfit: While it might not seem natural, you typically do not want to try to dress like the role you are auditioning for. Instead pick something plainer, without large logos or patterns that could be distracting. It does help some actors perform more in character if they put on shoes that the character might wear, but you don’t want to try to assume you know what direction the creative team wants to go in terms of how the character will be dressed. 

• Reader: Picking a good reader, or the person reading the lines you will not be performing, is also essential. You want to find someone reliable and invested in seeing you succeed. When you are performing the scene, you will be performing and conversing with the reader, so you want to make sure that they understand what you are doing and what the scene is about. You want them to give you the right amount of energy so that you can perform at your best, but make sure that they are not overdoing it and becoming a distraction. You want your reader to understand that they are there to help you, not get the role themself. 

1. Taping

Here are some important things to keep in mind when recording your self-tape.

• Slate: Only slate, or say your name and pertinent information, if you are asked to in the self-tape instructions. If you aren’t asked to, just start the recording with your audition. 

• The Lines: You will never be required to memorize your lines for an audition as that is unlawful; however, you should do what you think will let you have the best performance. If you can perform well with a script in hand, do that. If it helps more to memorize, you can do that. Do what you think will give you the best shot at getting the job but don’t feel obligated to memorize the script. 

• Eye-Line: Never look directly into the camera lens. You should place your eye line slightly off, to the right or left of the camera. This is a good place to have your reader stand so you can look at them while you are doing the scene. Make sure you are not in profile, though; a good rule of thumb is to look about six inches to the side of your camera lens. 

• Practice: Make sure to go over the sides and practice a bit before you record your audition. The amount of practice you will need to do before taping will vary between actors, but you will always have to make sure you have a good understanding of what the scene is about and the emotions of the role you are reading for to perform the best that you can. 

1. After Taping

After you record yourself performing the scene a few times, you can pick your best takes to submit. Unless otherwise instructed, you can submit two separate takes of each scene you record. Label them as Take 1 and Take 2 for the casting team and make sure there is something different in the way you performed, be it more energy, different intonation, or slightly different movements so that the casting team isn’t watching two identical takes. However, keep in mind not to be too overly drastic with the difference that you lose the character. Finally, submit as early as you can. Don’t wait until the last moment to submit your self-tape and have your audition lost in the fray. The earlier you can submit the better. 

Final Things to Keep in Mind

While it might be difficult when you are wrapped up in an audition, consider what the casting director is looking for. Casting directors want to see you be believable in the character, make strong choices, and have confidence. Having confidence and making strong choices don’t always have to be big gestures of bravado; it can simply be committing to characteristics or emotions that you think the character would have or the way you move. Consider these 12 Rules for the Perfect Self-Tape from casting director Caroline Liem.

If you are looking for feedback, remember that it is not the casting team’s job or responsibility to give you feedback, so do not bother them for that after your self-tape. Use your acting coaches and trusted collaborators to help you improve. You can find trusted collaborators in a variety of ways, like Auteurnet’s creative networking platforms. Often actors will send in a self-tape and not hear back from the casting team. This does not mean you are a bad actor, simply that you were not the right fit or someone else was a better fit for the production and role. Don’t let this discourage you. 

Finally, try to look at it from a casting director’s perspective! Casting directors are on your side; they want to see you succeed. They must go through hundreds, if not thousands, of tapes to find the right person to fit the director’s, producers’, and entire creative team’s visions– it is not an easy task. It is important to understand what a director looks for in your self-tapes, like etiquette and objectives, so that you can better cater to what they are looking for. Keeping this in mind might help you catch a casting director’s attention and lessen the pressures of performing the perfect take because you will never know exactly what the casting team is looking for. 

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