Self-Tape QnA!

Hello everyone,

As I’m running a business which includes helping people with self tapes, I thought I’d make this article to

answer frequently asked questions!

What is a self-tape?

This is more for those people who aren’t actors, because if you are an actor and you don’t know what a self-tape is, you will. Oh, you will.

A self-tape is essentially a recorded audition. You could even see it as a one way job interview. A job interview being exactly how you should approach every audition and self-tape, but less on that in this article.

You begin a self-tape is begin by stating your name, your agency and sometimes your hands to the camera. They may even get you to show your profiles, which means you turn 90 degrees each way to reveal you’re not actually 2d. If the Casting Director wants more, they will typically state it in the email. You will then perform an extract from the script you are auditioning for.

What do I need for a self-tape?

You don’t need much, I promise. You can use the phone on your camera, a mini-tripod, or some books to hold said phone up, and natural lighting. If you don’t have access to natural lighting, you can get a ring light. Make sure you don’t set it so it flushes you out (makes you look like a ghost/me).

Make sure you have a neutral background. Don’t have something which may take focus away from the star (you). Paintings, figures, a dog gaffa-taped to the wall, all of these things will take the casting directors eye away from you.

You do not need to spend much at all on equipment for your self-tapes. It is completely unnecessary. I recently had someone tell me they have spent over £1000 on a camera, lens, lighting. I’ve had people tell me they have bought outfits just for the self-tape. You do not need to! I repeat. You do not need to!

Where should my eye line be?

This is something a lot of people overthink, should I look directly into the lens? Should I look off centre? If there is more than 1 character should I pretend they are next to me? What I recommend is looking straight into the lens for your introduction (hello my name is etc) and then slightly away from the lens for your performance.

Try to have it so you are looking at least 5 cms away from the lens, so that the casting director can still see your beautiful face fully, but you aren't staring into their soul while talking about your characters ailments. If there is more than one character, they can be on the opposite side of the lens/character, but not so far you are turning your head. The goal for the casting director is to see how you look and how you perform, make sure you are providing that!

Last one (an extra few will be on the Patreon) is -

Should I make my self-tapes more cinematic?

No.

But seriously though, you really don’t need to. I learned this the hard way. I was bored and I had time on my hands, so I set the shots up like it was a film, with close ups and wides and so on. I then edited it, spending hours perfecting what was essentially now a short film. Guess what happened next? F*** all. I sent it, my agent didn’t comment on it, she then sent it to the casting director. Did the CD congratulate me and call me the greatest of all time? No. Did they at least compliment me on my attempt to go above and beyond? No. Nothing. I also didn’t get the job. It took me nearly 12 hours to do, unpaid of course, and I didn’t have anything to show for it.

The self-tape really should have taken me an hour to record, half an hour to edit, bing bang boom. So no, it isn’t necessary, at all. Treasure the time you have, don’t waste it on something that will maybe increase your chances of getting noticed by 1% but not increase your chances of getting the role.

As I said earlier, I offer self-tape help from £25 and acting/directing/writing advice from £30!

BUT! CALL IT MARCH MADNESS, OTHERS CALL IT INFLUENZA. I am offering £10 a self-tape for the entirety of March! If you need anything of the sort, email me at sean@seanjyoung.com with the quote MARCH MADNESS AAAAHHH!

You can check the other deals I do over at seanjyoung.com/self-tape-help

Want to see if your question has been answered in the unabridged version of this post (answering questions about accents, learning lines and hearing back)?

Join the Patreon at only $1 (you can give more if you want to but no pressure!).

Have a lovely day!

Sean