Self Tape Framing: How to Frame Your Audition Properly
Sometimes the smallest technical details can be the hardest ones to master. After you’ve done all your acting prep, and set up your self tape equipment, just one thing remains: getting the shot!
How close should the camera be to your face? How can you use the frame to help you tell the story of the self tape? We’ve put together a guide that will help you frame up your next self tape perfectly, so you can focus on the acting instead of the technicalities!
Why is it Important to get the Framing Right in a Self Tape?
The essential nature of a self tape is that it’s one continuous shot, locked on a single frame with no editing. This means that technical precision is incredibly important, as what is present at the start is all that will be present throughout the tape to support your performance. Everything about the frame and everything you do in the frame is on full display 100% of the time. Because of this, a self tape audition demands technical precision to deliver the most powerful storytelling.
Standard Self Tape Framing Rules
While there are no hard and fast unbreakable rules in the world of self tapes (it is art, after all!) it is helpful to know the conventions so you can choose when to break them. The non-verbal aspect in a tape is very important, and part of the storytelling. Read on to learn how to master it!
Should Self Tapes be Filmed Horizontal or Vertical?
You should always film self tape auditions with the camera (especially if your camera is your phone) positioned horizontally. Capture the footage in landscape rather than portrait orientation. Think ‘cinema‘ not ‘TikTok‘!
How Close to the Camera Should the Actor be in a Self Tape?
For screen work, the standard shot size for a self tape is the ‘Medium Close Up’. This is a relatively tight shot, that goes from the middle of the actors chest, around mid-bicep, to just above the actor’s head.
Make sure you leave a little head room at the top of the frame. There should also be enough ‘head room’ above the head that it doesn’t feel as though the actor’s head is going to bump into the top of the frame. This can make your tape feel claustrophobic.
Indiana Kwong, one of our coaches, demonstrating a great Medium Close Up in a self tape.
What Eyeline Should I Use in a Self Tape?
When playing with the frame, remember that the ‘eyes are the window to the brain.’ We always want to have clear access to your eyes, so we have access to your thoughts. Position your eyeline as close to the camera as possible. Your eyeline should be slightly to the left or right of the lens. Avoid staring down the barrel of the camera.
Theatre Audition Framing for Self Tapes
Filming auditions for theatre as a self tape usually calls for a slightly wider framing. This allows casting to see your physicality and to adjust your performance to the shot size that will be consistent with a performance you would give in the theatre. When shooting a theatre self tape, frame the tape as a true midshot.
Cut the bottom of the frame around the actor’s waist level, and ensure that there is enough head room that they’re close to the top of the frame without bobbing out of shot or hitting their head on the top of the frame.
Patrick Cullen, another StageMilk coach, demonstrating a great Midshot for a theatre self tape.
What Level Should the Camera Be?
The standard advice is to place the camera just at eye level, not above or below. This is sound advice, however, it can be a little confusing!
What we really mean when we say ‘eye-level’ is that it should not look as if the camera is angled up or down at the actor. Placing the lens at approximately eye level usually achieves this, but you can use the rule of thirds to check your framing. Turn the grid line guides on in your camera settings to help with this!
Example of the rule-of-thirds in action, with the actor’s eyes on the upper third grid line.
To ensure the camera is at eye-level, make sure the eyes sit on approximately the upper third grid line in the ‘rule of thirds’. The body should be roughly centred in the frame.
If you want an easy way to frame up your audition without having to continually run back and forth between the camera and your mark, check out this article about how to frame a self tape when using a smart phone.
How to Play with the Frame in a Self Tape
Above, we discussed the standard conventions for framing a self tape. However, as an artist, you have freedom to play within the frame. This is part of the actor’s camera craft. Once you’re comfortable with standard framing you can further tell the story by adjusting the shot size with your body.
Your position within the frame also creates the shot size. By moving closer to the camera, you can give yourself a close-up. Be very specific with this. Stella Adler teaches that “any time an actor steps back, it’s a retreat.” So if you’re exploring giving a close up by adjusting your body position, don’t back down. Hold that power!
By moving further away you can also turn a medium close up into a midshot, or a midshot into a long shot.
Nailing the Self Tape Framing
Mastering the above rules you will be able to consistently deliver professional looking self tapes. In a self tape, there is no editing and no camera movement. This makes technical precision a requirement. With the above guidelines you’re on your way to nailing your next audition!
Check out our complete online crash course on self-taping! Available to members, join here.
