SELF-

TAPI
Ng101Arti
cleby:Fi
lippaKaye

Incaseyoumi ssedthememo,thedaysofcountlessrecalls
andoldschoolaudi tionsarelonggone.Most“firstrounds”
forTV&fi lm castings,aswellassomebooki ngs,happen
wi
thoutyouevermeeti ngthecasti
ngteam facetoface.

Thi
sisduetothetechnologi
caladvancements,butalso
costandti
merestri
ctionswithinthi
sbusyindustry.So,get
i
tright,andgogetthatj ob!

T
her
ear
ece
rta
ing
old
enr
ule
sab
out
sel
fta
pi
ngt
hat
wil
lma
key
ourl
i
fee
asi
er
;

1. Practi
ce.Getused to
seei
ngyourselfin frontof
thecamera!

2. Bespeci fi
cwi th the
directionsthey giveyouand
stick tothescri pt.

3. Bequi ck.Self-tapescan
getyouj obsbuti t’sa fast
process.Doi tstraightaway
ifpossibleorsomeoneelse
will.Noroom for
procrastination!
Techni
calthi
ngstokeepi
nmi
nd
Self-Tapi
ng101

Ensuregoodli
ghti
ngandgoodaudi
o
Lightsarei mportant;Invest
inagoodli ghtforfilming
from amazon,orhaveagood
spoti nyourhouse,ago- to
locati onthatyouknow has
goodli ghti
ng.Iftheycan’t
hearyouproperly,i t’
sgame
over.GetaCli p-onmic-as
cheapas£9. 50onamazon-or
fi
ndaroom wi thgood
acoustics.

NOTE:I
fyouthi
nkyoucan’ tcreatetheseconditi
onson
yourown,youwillfindsomehelpfulcompani
esatthe
bottom ofthi
sarticle

Whi
te,plai
nbackground
UNLESSotherwisespeci
fied,evenifyourscriptissetinan
officeoroutdoors,orinabed,youdonottakei tliterally.
Allself-tapesshouldbedoneagai nstaplainbackgroundto
elimi
natedistractions.

Ifnotwhite,useotherneutralcolourslikecream orli
ght
grey,astheyoftenputself- tapessi
debysidetoseeifyou
wouldfi
twithdifferentactors,andthemoreunifiedthey
look,thebetter.
Techni
calthi
ngstokeepi
nmi
nd
Self-Tapi
ng101

Know YourShots
Therei
sFullshot(fullbody)
,MidShot(
betweenbelly
buttonandlowerchestandabove)
,andCloseup(collar
boneandabove)
.Unlesstheyaskforanythi
ngelse,
alwaysgoforacloseup.

CloseUp Mi
dShot

ScrapDi
stracti
ngTakes

Ifsomethinghappensduri ngatakethatwasnotyour
choi
ce(anddi dn’tmiraculouslyinspi
reyoui ntoa
marvelousimprovisation)
,scrapthetake.Aphoneri ngi
ng,
thecameragoi nginandoutoffocusalltheti me,oryour
brastrap(unwi lli
ngly)showing,areallvalidreasons.No
matterhow goodthebegi nni
ngmightbe,

i
fthereareHundredsofsubmissions,theywillbelooki
ng
forreasonstomoveon.Makesurewhatyousenddoesn’ t
havemistakesthatcouldhavebeenavoidedwithanew
take.
Techni
calthi
ngstokeepi
nmi
nd
Self-Tapi
ng101

Clari
ty

Yourvoiceneedstobe
thedomi nantvoice.I
f
yourreadersounds
louder,makethem sit
further.

Maketheirli feeasier.I
f
yourtapei snot
formatted,labelled,
detailedproperly,they
aresimplynotgoi ngto
watchi t.

Slates

Know i
fyouneedtostartwithaSlate.I t’sthefirstthi
ng
theysee,andyouarebeingyourself.Film i
tintheend,
whenyouaremostrelaxedandhavealreadydonethe
takes,andthenedi
titatthebeginningofyourscene.

Standfacingthecameraandgi vethem yourName,Agent,

Profi
les,Hands,Hei
ght&anyconfli cti
ngwork(rival
productsetc.
).
Techni
calThi
ngstoKeepi
nMi
nd
Self-Tapi
ng101

Li
ttleTi
psThatGoALongWAy

1. Know whatyouareaudi
tioni
ngfor.Watchanepi
sodeor
thetrailer.Trytogetafeeloftherhythm.

2. Youcangi vethem asecondoptionofami d-shot,ora

thematicshotifyouwi shto,butmakesurei tcounts.This
isanopportunitytoshow somedi fferentactingchoices
andinterpretati
on.Givethem whattheywanti n1take
andthengi vethem yourideas.

3. Havego- topeoplethatcouldreadwi thyou,sui

table
fordi fferentoccasi
ons:Male,Female,vari
ousagesand
castingtypes.Parentsandfri endsaregood,butyour
self-tapewi llbemuchmorei nteresti
ngtowatchifthe
personreadi ngwithyouknowshow togi veyouthelines.

4. Eliminateunnecessaryfidgeti
ng.Watchbackyourtakes
andnoti ceiffilmingmakesyouswayandmovewi thout
realisingandpracti ce.Movementinyourself-
tapeisof
courseperfectlyfi ne,aslongasi t'
sacharacterchoice
 RecommendedServi
ces
Self-Tapi
ng101

Feeli
ngabi
toverwhelmed,stressedorconfused?

Therearecompaniesthatspeci alizei
nselftapes.It’
snot
aluxury;it’saninvestmentthatcouldbookyouagreat
job.Thesepeoplehavetheperfectequi pmentandarealso
veryfami li
arwiththerequi rements.Theywilltakesome
ofthewei ghtoffyourshoulderssothatyoucanfocuson
theacting:

Ubi-SelfTapes:£40perhour( Hoxton,London) *Pri

ce
includespreparation,Scenereader,Di
rectionifrequired,
multiplecopies,etc

STACProSelfTapeRecordi
ng:£35perhour(
Blackheath,
London)

SelfTapeClapham:£20perhour(
Clapham Common,London)

Finally,agoodself- tapecanbeyourtickettoareally
goodj ob.Soputthatli ttlebi
tofextraeffortinandgive
yourselfthebestpossi
blechance!

HAPPY&STRESS-
FREESELFTAPI
NG!