Drawn from what is actually said on camera, so you can decide whether to
spend the 2:56 watching it.
A cheap light does most of the job
The speaker's panel light cost about 15 pounds on Amazon, runs on rechargeable batteries and comes in packs of two. Add a small stand and the whole kit is 30 to 40 pounds. When a tape opens well lit, the viewer is not trying to work out what you look like, and that matters because your look is a large part of what gets bought.
Overlighting washes out the features casting needs to see. If you are up for an older character, they want to see the wrinkles. The goal is clear and visible, not airbrushed.
You do not need a great microphone. A small lavalier mic costs very little. The speaker's argument is that about a hundred pounds on light and sound changes the game, because famous actors can get away with poor tapes and you cannot yet.
Do not shoot a profile tape because the script says the character turns away. Unless the brief asks for something very specific, they want your face, framed head and shoulders, not too far, not too close, and not from a high or odd angle.
Casting is buying your instincts and needs to know you will deliver every time. A tape that is pushed beyond what you can sustain leads to the worst reaction in the room: their tape was so good, but they were not. Find the truth of the role and give that.
If your best performance has a small stumble that you styled out and kept going through, send it over a clean take that is flatter. If it is a single short scene, you can put both together.
For small parts it can help to send a couple of versions, but not a pile of them stitched together. Each version needs something unique. Two copies of the same read is worse than one great one.
The best thing for a self-tape, light it nice. You don't have to be amazing. It's like people go, oh, well, I don't know how to do it. It doesn't matter how old you are. YouTube is your friend. Work out where to position the light. Get a little cheap panel light. Literally, this is something that I got on Amazon for like, I think it was 15 quid. You get the batteries on the back, rechargeable batteries. You get, I think, a pack of two of them for 10. Usually they come with a charger. You spend in that and you get like a little light stand. If you spend them all 30, 40 quid, it's worth it. When you open that tape and it looks nice, you're like, oh, wow. Because you're not trying to decipher what the person looks like. Literally, it does a massive percentage of the job for you. Because ultimately, your look and what you give is what we're buying into. The difference between you getting the job is the look really, because that's just as important as the performance. Don't get me wrong, the performance still has to be great. Or it's like, that is what sells. It's a visual medium. So that's super, super important. It's not lighting yourself so you look flawless. Because I've seen it the other way where people have overlit it so you can't see the features. If you're an older character, if you want to see the wrinkles, because that's what we want to see. We don't want you to look like you're fucking airbrushed or whatever. Just light yourself so it's clear and we can see you. Make sure it sounds all right. You know, you don't have to have a great microphone, get a little lavalier mic or whatever. Again, it costs nothing on Amazon. As much as you think you don't want to make an expense for yourself, but I'm not joking. Investing a hundred pound in these little things is going to completely change the game of what you're doing. Because I've seen tapes from people who were really, really famous and they're not great. But you're not really, really famous yet. So you want to stand out. Spend that little bit of money on that. And then make sure that the camera's in the right position. Let me see your face. Don't do a fucking profile self-tape. Oh, but it says this, it says that. Oh, the character's doing this. I don't give a fuck. Just stand there. Let me see you head and shoulders. Unless it's something really, really, really specific. Just let me see you. You don't want to be miles away. You don't want to be super close. You don't want to be a funny angle. You don't want to be too high. And then when you're performing, just be true. Just play the truth of the role. Whatever your instincts are, we're buying that. We don't want to create something that you can't create on set. We need to make sure that you're going to deliver all the time. Also, you don't want to do a self-tape that you can't sustain. And then when you get in a room, you don't want someone to go, oh God, their tape was so good, but they weren't very good. People sometimes try and affect stuff too much. Just find the truth in it and give your truth of that. Because there's nothing that you can do that will guarantee that you get the job, other than be right for that job. If you've done an amazing performance and maybe you've had a little bit of a stumble or a fluff or whatever, as long as you've styled it out and you've gone with it. If that performance is great, but you've got another one that's word perfect, but the performance isn't as good, send the one that's great. Or if it's only one scene, put both of them together. I always think that, especially a lot of the time now we're auditioning for stuff, it's tiny little parts. So do a couple of versions. Don't do a million and stick them together and send them on. But if you're going to do two versions of something, make sure that each version has got something unique to it. Don't just send two versions of the same thing. If you're going to do that, just send the best something that's great.
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