How to Film a Self Tape Audition that Lands the Role
Whether you’re a new actor or you’ve been in the audition game for years, you’ll have noticed that most auditions will now require actors to self-tape. In the past, actors usually went into a casting office for their first audition. Now, first round auditions have moved almost exclusively online! Callbacks still happen in person, but even that is getting rarer.
Producers, directors, and casting directors love self tapes. They can see more actors from a wider range of locations, save time in the room, and easily share their favourites.
Self tapes have totally changed the game. Casting used to see maybe 10 actors a day. Now they can double or triple that number. Double or triple the competition?! That’s enough to worry even the most confident actor. But don’t despair. So many actors have booked roles (including their first roles!) off a single self tape, and you can too.
The key is understanding the winning elements of a self tape, then honing your audition craft to produce your own excellent auditions.
You can love them or hate them, but self tapes are here to stay. So if you want to get ahead and find out how to film a successful self tape audition, read on!
What Does a Good Self Tape Audition Look Like?
Oh, boy! There it is, sitting in your inbox: New Audition Request. How exciting!
You open the email, read the sides, and think: “This part is totally me. It’s my destiny.”
You’re already planning how you’ll nail that joke in line three and what your character eats for breakfast. You’re practically writing your acceptance speech.
Then, you see it:
Please submit via self-tape in the next 48 hours.
All of a sudden, you start to doubt yourself: What if your interpretation is wrong? What if you totally blow your big chance? Who can I drag over here to read for me, and what if I look like a total fool in front of them? What on earth does a good self tape even look like?!
The problem for actors is that in a live room, casting directors will usually give you adjustments. They have knowledge of the project and understanding of the producers and director’s preferences, and can guide actors in the right direction.
With a self-tape, feedback on your work is incredibly rare.
That’s why it’s so valuable to study self tape auditions that booked the job and apply those lessons to your own work.
The good news here is that self tapes have now been around long enough that shows have started to release the auditions that landed the stars their roles! They’re fun to watch and fascinating to compare with the final scenes. Not to mention pure gold for working actors.
We’re in the fantastic position of getting to see exactly what worked. As students of acting (and, by extension, auditioning) we can analyse these tapes and figure out what made casting say “yes”! Let’s get into it.
The Elements of a Great Audition Self Tape
Trying to create a definitive list of ‘rules’ for what makes a great audition self tape is a self defeating task. As soon as you define a rule, bam! Some brilliant actors breaks it and books the job anyway.
There are general rules for how to film a self tape, but in the right circumstances breaking them creates a phenomenal tape that outshines the rest. The right choice in the right moment will always beat the rule. So, learn the rules but take them with a grain of salt.
The only real rule for a great audition self tape is that the acting must be great.
Below are real booking self-tapes and the specific elements that made them stand out. Try to watch them with your own critical eye, looking for the moments that make you connect. Developing this skill will help you select the best takes of your own self tapes, too!
Embodying the Character
In this excellent tape of David Coronswet for Superman, we see an incredible combination of confidence and vulnerability. This scene requires the actor to embody a character who is complex, someone with superhuman abilities but still grappling with the very human emotions of love and desire. This is a fantastic example of embodying the character.
Note in this scene the ease with which he seems to step into the character. The audience never feels that he’s pushing or trying to show us something about who Clark Kent/Superman is. His physical choices serve the embodiment of the character. His posture is proud, shoulders back and chest broad. His movements have the relaxed confidence you would expect of someone who can fly through the air and save the day. But, his choices are also grounded in the character’s reality. Notice how he shifts his performance at 1:41, when he leans in to speak with Lois Lane. The character is in love with her, and when he delicately pushes back against her probing interview questions, he is trying to defend himself while staying in her good graces. These choices suit the character perfectly, and his understanding of the character’s wants and needs help him to fully embody all parts of this complex character.
Genuine Listening and Response
There’s so much to love about this tape! Right from the start of the tape, she is fully in the world of the scene. Take note of her physicality, it is a total body commitment to the character’s emotional state. The crossed arms, tension in her body, and downcast eyes tell a story before we hear the first word. It’s a fantastic example of genuine listening and response. There are so many examples throughout, but one worth noticing is at 0:16. She responds with a small scoff when her reader says ‘I guess’, and follows that incredulousness through in her response.
From this tape we really get a clear example of processing the information we receive from a scene partner, and how to be responsive without rushing. Notice how she doesn’t have to look at her reader in order to listen to him (1:27) but is still fully engaged in the moment.
Embracing Your Individuality
What’s the one thing that you have as an actor that no other actor has? Yourself. That’s why it is so important to bring yourself to the role. In this self tape audition for Easy A, Emma Stone shows us that even the most lo-fi technical set up isn’t a barrier to booking a job if you’re right for the role.
In this tape, we can see how Stone’s personality influences her interpretation of the character. She doesn’t try to become someone she’s not in order to play the part, she embraces her own quirky humour and sarcastic wit. In doing so, she gives a performance that no one else can. Her charm is on full display at 1:03 in her final line of the piece, and we can see she is genuinely having fun with playing the role. Let this be a lesson to embrace what makes you unique, and to bring yourself to the character every time!
Specificity
In this tape Joe Hernandez-Kolski auditions for Dr. Maurice Acevedo in Law & Order. If you’re going out for any role, but especially a co-star or a guest star role, you’re going to want to find specificity in your acting choices, and in your grasp of any technical language. It’s a huge mistake to not spend the time detailing your acting in this way. Especially for scripts that require handling a lot of technical language (which you’ll often find for guest star roles and smaller parts in procedural shows, like this one).
Notice how Joe handles the technical language around 0:52, with the script requiring him to say things like “I administered the standardised assessments for malingering, including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.” In order for this to be believable and truthful in a performance, the actor must fully understand what is being said and what it means to the character in that moment. In this tape, you feel Joe’s competency and understanding of what he’s saying, which gives him credibility and authenticity. The final scene in the show just further showcases it!
Function of Character
Something to be aware of when preparing your self tape audition is the function that your character serves in the script. This is especially true for a guest star or a costar role, where you will more often than not be supporting the main character’s story. But what exactly does the function of character mean? It simply means the purpose your character serves in the story.
In this tape, Amy Parrish auditions for a role in Ozark. The audition is for a supporting role, where she will play opposite the main character, Ruth. When we watch the tape we can tell from the script that her function in this scene is to provide the oppositional force against the main character’s objective. This creates dramatic conflict and drives the plot forward. Therefore, it’s important that the actor portrays authority and holds her ground against the other character’s attempts to change her mind. There’s an excellent example of this at 1:33, and you can see why Amy booked the part when you watch through to the final scene!
Environment and Using the Frame
The ‘rules’ of self taping would say that Britt Lower, in her audition for Severance, is doing it wrong. The framing is odd, not a typical medium close-up. She’s on her kitchen floor. Sometimes her head even goes out of frame. That said, her performance is remarkable. And, of course, she booked the role.
This is an excellent example of how sometimes you need to throw the rulebook out the window. By thinking about the needs of this scene, which is highly physical by nature, Lower’s choice to film in situ was perfectly sensible. She keeps the frame on her legs so that when she crumples to the floor defeated at 1:06, the camera can capture her performance. Notice her choices, like hurting her leg as she struggles with the door, and how she handles it as she pulls it around after she falls to the floor. She even uses the whole space without moving her body. She harnesses the power of her eyes to take in the room as she becomes disoriented around 2:10. Her darting looks, searching to make sense of the environment, make the imaginary world feel completely real. Even though we can tell she’s on her kitchen floor at the beginning, we’re so engrossed that we’ve forgotten by the end.
Relationships
In Sam Heughan’s original audition for Outlander, we can see how powerful nailing the characters’ relationship can be in a performance. Though the audition is only one minute long, you get the sense that these characters have undeniable chemistry and are drawn towards each other in an incredibly powerful way. Just notice that head tilt and smile that comes when he teases her at 0:12. You know exactly how he feels about her from the very beginning.
In an interview about casting Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe in these roles, the director confirms:
We were looking for chemistry between the two characters.
To create an undeniable self tape audition, it’s so important to consider your character’s relationship to the other character in the scene. This doesn’t have to be a romantic relationship. What’s important is that you know with absolute clarity how your character feels about the other person or people in the scene with them.
Confidence and Relaxation
Possibly one of the most famous examples of a self tape that booked is Dacre Montgomery’s Stranger Things audition. There’s so much to love here. But the thing that oozes from him in this scene is his confidence and relaxation. It’s a journey to become a confident actor, but actors who achieve that confidence reach a level of professionalism that truly blows their audience away
One really important thing to note here is that he takes his time with the scene. In doing so, he makes us lean in and draws us into the story, rather than trying to push out and grab our attention. He doesn’t try to be interesting. He trusts that his presence is powerful enough on its own. He also has complete conviction in his choices, like the little mocking cry face he makes at 1:52 to bully his reader. That almost certainly wasn’t in the script but is such a special moment in the tape! Montgomery simply oozes confidence in this tape, and isn’t afraid to make a bold choice. A prime example being his cocky shirtless dance transition at 2:26. Talk about going for it!
How to Practice Self Taping Auditions
Now that you’ve got a clearer understanding of what makes a great self tape audition, you’re almost certainly going to want to try it for yourself!
Got an audition coming up? Take these principles and apply them to your next tape today.
No audition right now? Don’t wait! You can practice your acting any time. Grab any great scene, set up your phone, and start filming yourself. The actors who book the most are the ones who practised the most before the request ever landed. So don’t wait to get started, there’s so much to explore and your abilities and confidence will grow the more you practice
The key to booking audition self tapes is to spend time practicing before the audition request comes in.
Share your practice tapes with actor friends or your agent for feedback. Then do it again. And again.
Want expert eyes on your self-tapes? Come join us at StageMilk Drama Club. We give detailed, personalised feedback on your work to help you level up as an actor.
You’ve got this. Now go book the role!
