For parents and pupils! Put together by BANTS tutor and professional actor Martha Breen  

 

Especially since Covid, your child or you may be called to “self tape” – essentially a filmed audition for casting directors. This is just like a normal audition but there are also certain rules attached to self-tapes…. 

 

HOW TO PREPARE 

  • We will forward you on the email with all the relevant information. Make sure to read this carefully one or two times: it will have everything we know about the script, character, accent, requirements, dates of production, deadline, how to label your videos etc. ALL THE INFO YOU NEED WILL BE HERE. We swear! But of course if you have any questions and the original email definitely doesn’t answer them, let us know and we can get on to the casting director! 
  • If there is a script or summary available, read it a few times to get a feel for the project (ie comedy, history, emotional). 
  • You will get “sides” with your email – these are the lines you learn. You must learn these well enough and get confident enough to not need your script in your hand.  
  • If you have an accent to prepare, we recommend finding YouTube videos or using this site and search the accent you need. 

 

 

HOW TO SET UP 

  • A phone camera in landscape is usually perfect quality for a self tape. Make sure nothing is covering the mic or part of the camera, like a cover or sticker. 
  • If you can, find something to hold your camera steady: a pile of books on the table with the phone propped up, something it can lean against, or if you happen to have a tripod or selfie stick lying around, definitely use that! (Some people even tape their phones to a sweeping brush – but we wouldn’t necessarily recommend this unless you’re really desperate!) If you can’t find anything to prop it up with, don’t worry, just get someone to hold the camera as steadily as you can. 
  • You must film in landscape mode. (Sideways.) 
  • Your background should be a plain wall – white or cream are best. If you don’t have that, then just a block colour is the next best choice, but not too bright and not some patterned wallpaper – otherwise the eye is drawn to the wallpaper! 
  • Take down any pictures or move anything that is creeping into the frame – anything other than the plain wall can distract from the actor. 
  • If you have no plain walls, hang up a white sheet! 
  • Generally, a head and shoulders shot is required. The camera should be close enough to see those facial expressions! 
  • Also to see you properly, we need good lighting. Natural light is best, if you can be facing a window. It can be difficult if filming at night, but make sure you have plenty of lights around to brighten up the room. Bring lamps closer and try not to cast large shadows on the face. 
  • Wear neutral colours, and if you can, something relevant to the character. This can be a slight hint: a shirt if it’s historical, a hoodie if it’s more casual. NO logos, crazy patterns or luminous colours. Try and avoid black or white t-shirts – some colour is best.  
  • Some examples are below of good framing and good lighting: 

 

HOW TO FILM 

  • Practice a few times before you start filming within the setup – so that you can get used to the camera there, practice eyeline just off camera, run the lines, and make sure everything looks good before you do a take. 
  • The person reading with you is mostly responsible for how you look, so if they aren’t the person reading this – get them to read this section! 
  • Make sure we can hear clearly and don’t have your hand over the mic when you film or it’s a muffled sound. Also, stop filming if there’s background noise, they don’t want to hear siblings playing or dogs barking etc. 
  • Have the person reading the lines off camera – we shouldn’t see them. 
  • If possible, have them use a phone or ipad on mute – not paper, it would be rustling. 
  • The person reading off camera should speak a little quieter and with a little less “acting” than the person being filmed, so that the actor is the main focus. 
  • The person off camera should speak with their own accent, always. 
  • Look just off camera rather than directly at it. Don’t look left or right, have your face straight forward, but your eyes talking to a person as if they were just at the side of the camera. 
  • If props help, use them, but don’t make the focus the prop. They want to see YOU! 
  • Your self-tape should be filmed in one take and not lots of little ‘scenes’ cut together – unless of course, there is more than one scene. 
  • Don’t just do one take. Do a few and pick which is best! 

 

UPLOADING / SENDING TO THE CASTING AGENT

  • Label (rename) the video as the email specifies. This will very often be NAME, LOCATION, PART, PRODUCTION (and sometimes AGE or HEIGHT), but make sure to check your email for specific requirements. 
  • If there was more than one scene, label them SCENE 1 and SCENE 2 at the end. 
  • Send each scene as separate files – they don’t want one big video with both scenes. 
  • Tapes will usually be too large to send via email so they will usually be sent via WETRANSFER.com. 
  • Open the website and click the ‘+’ icon – you’ll be prompted to allow permissions to access your photos and then you’ll be able to choose the video or videos to upload. Select ‘share now’ and click to copy the link, you’ll then be able to paste this into an email to send us. Alternatively, select ‘mail’ or ’email’ and you’ll be able to type in the BANTS email and send a link from directly within the website. Once you’ve sent the link, you’re all done! 

 

EXTRA TIPS 

  • Learning lines in such a short time is always difficult, especially with young kids, but it’s so, so important for casting directors to not just see someone *trying to remember lines*, but acting. We recommend a few things: Recording yourself saying the lines and listening to it back and repeating them; printing out the lines and holding your hand over your next line to test yourself; but mostly, you learn by someone running it with you. Rope in your siblings, your parents, anyone, and have them read the other character’s lines over and over as you practice! 
  • It’s really important to think about a self-tape as if it is an official casting, so no pyjamas or school clothes (unless specified). As always, brushed hair, clean face, clean clothes etc.  
  • Sometimes you are asked to do something called an “ident”. This is where you must stand and introduce yourself, take a full-body shot, and turn from side to side (profile). These must also be filmed in landscape but it doesn’t matter so much if there isn’t a plain white wall etc. Try and be friendly in these – it’s the only time the director will get to see YOU! 
  • You also (usually for younger kids) may be asked to do some sort of informal chat on camera. This is another opportunity to show a director who you are! Try to come up with some interesting things to say beforehand, some facts about you, some interests, or a funny story when you talk about yourself!