Even with the return of in-person auditions, self-tapes continue to be a frequent requirement for singers. Whether it’s for a prescreen or the audition itself, learn more about how to put your best self forward for digital auditions.
Dave Secor has been an agent with Daniel Hoff Agency, helping his clients find work in TV, film, and theatre in LA and New York for nearly 20 years. I had the pleasure of picking Dave’s brain on effective self-tape auditions, as they are now the first step toward getting cast. “Obviously [this new standard] is because of COVID-19, but self-tapes have always been a part of the casting process, sometimes as live prescreenings. For us, it’s a wonderful way to get to know new people, and in a way, this is good for you: while you won’t always be face to face in a room, major casting offices on the East and West Coasts can get to know you while you’re in the comfort of your own home.”
In conversation, Secor generously outlined a DIY guide to self-taping auditions with joyous effervescence and Mel Brooks-style wit.
Preparation
“I’m sure you’ve been taught that you have to be prepared for your auditions—and now that’s ten-fold because of how easy and accessible self-tape auditions are to make and submit, they’re looking at a lot more people than they used to, and what was an A in the casting room is now a C+. So many factors are now judged above just the talent. The lighting, the sound, the background, the sound quality, etc. Don’t ‘throw it away’ and say, ‘It’s fine.” Fine just doesn’t cut it. Be prepared, and don’t make any excuses for doing it at home,” Secor admonishes.
When you’re doing these taped auditions and callbacks, everything should be memorized and word perfect. It used to be when you walked into a casting office, you’d hold the script—it would still be memorized but you could hold it, and if you got nervous you could look down and at least find your place and keep going. But there’s no longer a reason to be nervous anymore because you’re at home, so there should be no unpreparedness. Casting departments and agents don’t care if they gave you 27 pages two days before, you cannot hold the script. There will be someone worse than you who looked more prepared, and now they’re going to get the callback.
Don’t let the self-tape supersede your talent.
Here’s the best news: you have the opportunity to do this 1,000 times. You get to do it again…and again…and again. And the casting department knows that you’re doing it 1,000 times. Your agent knows you’re doing it 1,000 times. That self-tape can be perfect, so if you send it in and it sucks, you don’t have much of an excuse! The best actor might not get the part, but the best self-tape might!
Most importantly, treat it like a real audition. The deadline to submit is the deadline. Don’t submit your tape seconds before. Submit the day before if possible, especially if you have an agent. Your agent now acts as a first pair of eyes and can ask you to redo something to improve the tape if you get it in early enough.
Remember, the casting department may already have choices. If they see the first tape submitted and it’s perfect and what they were looking for, then your chances of getting your tape seen at the last second gets smaller and smaller. Whether you’re on camera or in the room, the better actor, singer, or dancer doesn’t always get the part—it’s the person that was liked the most and who casting feels they can work with the easiest.
Self-Tape Craft
It used to be that the prescreen was the first impression. It’s not anymore; now it’s your finalized product. What you send in should be better than ever. You’ve had time to prepare. You had angles to work with. You had outfits to try on. You had makeup tests. Your self-tape is a final product of a first impression.
A positive: you get to control your environment. The backdrop, the lighting, the accompaniment are all in your control. You can present yourself in the best ways, always. Know how to frame yourself. You should be standing with the shot framed horizontally, no closer than from head to mid-torso. You don’t want to be right up against the background; add a little distance, though be aware of shadows.
The background should be a clean wall; white or gray is best. A colored background is fine too, but preferably not black or anything like hot pink, unless it’s for “Mean Girls!” Don’t use your house as a set or we’ll be looking at how you decorate your apartment rather than what you’re doing on camera. We don’t want to see your kitchen or anything behind you, and if you take things off the wall, make sure you take the nails off the wall too. If there’s a random floating nail behind you, that’s all we’ll be able to focus on. If you don’t have a wall like that, hang up a sheet—but you have to make sure that sheet is tight because we don’t want to stare at your laundry!
Self-Tape Tech
The best thing you can do for lighting is natural light. An overhead light on you will make you look like you’re being interrogated by the FBI. Overhead lighting also widens your nose with shadows and creates dark circles under your eyes. If you can, get a ring light. If not, get some soft light bulbs for 50 or 60 cents and flood the room using the lamps you have.
Make sure you test your audio devices. If you’re using your phone it’s usually fine, but it can sometimes blow out the microphone, and you can’t be thinking, ‘I can’t belt because it’ll blow out my mic.’ If you’re a musical theatre performer, get an area microphone (not one for a recording studio); they want to hear the juicy note. Find a place to record that makes you sound vibrant, healthy, and voice forward. We want to hear the real quality of your voice. If you can’t find a spot that sounds great in your space, you need to invest in some studio space to rent.
Annie Gill
When you’re singing to tracks, the track needs to be as loud as your voice. We want to hear your voice but the music supports your voice, and your voice supports the music. It doesn’t sound right if the balance is off. Let it be as much like the real thing as possible. If you do get a mic, at no point in a self-tape should you be singing directly into it. Don’t filter your sound at all and don’t give any impression that might look like you filtered your sound. It has to be really you.
Self-Tape Art
Don’t look directly into the camera—it’s creepy! Look at the little record light next to the camera. The camera should be eye level to you, slightly angled down. Make sure you edit out the beginning and end of your takes. We don’t want to watch you pressing Record and getting into place or stopping the camera.
Moulan Bourke
Learn how to slate. The first chance they have to meet your needs to come across as genuine and warm. “I want to like you in your slate,” says Secor. Put your best foot forward at the beginning of the tape so they stay interested. And make sure the first thing you sing is the best thing you sing. Split the difference between what you’d do in a theatre and what looks good on camera. In a big audition room, they can’t see your eyes, but on camera they can. What’s hard to capture in a self-tape is the excitement that you feel in the room. To make it exciting, you have to prepare for your powerful moment visibly. In the room, we hear it and it’s perfect; on camera, we miss it every time. Big choices, but camera ready!
Most importantly, we need a sense of knowing who you are. Everything on camera needs an honest connection. That’s what we look for. Yes, it has to be framed well, but also you need to bring a piece of yourselves to it. Because people are doing so many of these, they’re losing that spark. Some are bitter that they have to pay for space, or they’ve done 10 self-tapes and haven’t heard anything back, and they’re losing that little piece of themselves that makes people say, “I like you.” You need to keep that for going on camera.
Moulan Bourke
Final Thoughts
Self-tapes will stay forever, but won’t stay as prevalent. There are some in-person auditions now. I asked Secor if he had any expectation or prediction for how self-tape auditions will continue to evolve, and his answer surprised me: “Something that helps the performer in some way,” he suggested, as he described how performers are paying out of their own pockets for studio space to produce high-quality self-tapes with no promise of employment. Before these COVID-related shifts in the auditioning procedures, casting offices would rent the space to hold auditions—why can’t they still?
