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Whether it’s for a commercial, a TV show, or a film, self-taping is a reality. In every major market (New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago) and especially in the minor ones (Washington D.C., Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, etc.) self-taping has become a significant part of the audition process. Sometimes you’ll submit your auditions directly to a casting director who will then sift through the tapes and present what they consider the best of the best to the director, producer, ad agency, or whoever hired them. Other times, tapes will go directly to producers and they will winnow through the submissions to choose the actors they’ll bring in for a “live” callback. Either way, if you want to be seriously considered for the project, your work must stand out. In a good way.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO ENSURE YOUR SUBMISSIONS WILL STAND OUT?
This is where the work described in this book will really help you. Except for a brief overview of the project and an even briefer description of the character the only other information you’ll get will be your scene(s), if you’re doing a film or a TV show, or your lines, if you’re reading for a commercial. That’s it. Not very much to build a character on—unless you have a technique that allows you to mine that scant bit of information and turn it into something.
Everything we’ve talked about—from The Bones, to fleshing out the Relationships, to finding a Main Objective that will sustain you for the entire scene, to creating variety with Opposites, to using Discoveries/Emotions to fulfill the emotional needs of your character, to applying the principles of The Summary to identify the beats in a scene—all of these components will ensure that your work separates you from the rest of the actors who also submitted for the project.
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WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED?
It can be as simple as a smart phone or as elaborate as going to a professional studio. I have used both successfully. Much of it depends on the turnaround time and your finances. I would suggest, if you’re going to do a lot of self-submitting, you invest a few dollars and buy a basic lighting package and a tripod. You can find all of these online for just over 100 dollars. If money is tight, chip in with some other actors. The reality is a grainy, poorly lit tape is not going to get the same sort of attention as a tape with good production values. We, casting directors, producers, directors, and just regular folks, have been spoiled and have come to expect good production values. So while your work is the most important ingredient, it isn’t the only ingredient.
A few things you should be aware of if you’re doing this on your own: you should have a neutral background, for example a blue wall or a large piece of blue material pinned to a wall to shoot against. Not too dark but not too light either, a medium blue. Someone to read with, if you’re doing a scene. Please pick someone who knows a little bit about acting so that your “reader” doesn’t kill your audition. If you go to a professional studio make sure the person who is taping you knows what he/she is doing. Some are great. Some aren’t. Some will read with you, some won’t. Go on the Internet and check out their work.
WHERE DO I FIND THESE AUDITIONS?
Ask your friends, read the trades, go on the Internet. Go to Google and type in “casting websites” and you’ll get a myriad of choices. But, like everything on the Internet, be judicious. Some of these sites charge a fee, some don’t. Some are good, some aren’t. This will require your doing a little bit of homework. And as always, be careful what personal information you share until you’re sure the site is legit.
The great thing about self-submitting is you aren’t restricted to one physical location. Just last week one of my students asked me to coach her (in New York) for a film that was shooting in Oklahoma. We worked for an hour, went to the studio, rehearsed, and shot her scenes. She gave the engineer a link and less than an hour after we walked in the door her tape was in the producer’s office in Tulsa.