Aura Casting Guest Post | Nailing Your Self-Tape Auditions

A Casting Director’s Tips for Nailing Your Self-Tape Auditions

A big thank you to Taylor Lambert, Founder and Casting Director of Aura Casting, a virtual casting company, for this fantastic guest post.

Have you ever wanted to ask a casting director how to ace your self-tape audition? At Aura Casting, we cast commercials, print shoots, corporate videos, and films - all virtually. We’ve watched thousands of self-tapes and Zoom auditions. Here are our biggest suggestions for an amazing audition from home.

As an actor, your performance is the most important part of your audition. A truly great performance will override a less-than-perfect set up. We know you’re busy auditioning and filming for many gigs at once and maybe working other jobs or in school, but investing the time into giving a great performance is the absolute best way to nail your audition. 

A good technical set up is also important. At minimum, it’s important that we are able to hear you clearly, that there is adequate light to see you, and that the camera is in-focus and zoomed appropriately to clearly see your face. We need to be able to see and hear your performance to book you :) 

However, spending some time and energy on your home self-tape set up will make your self-tape look more professional.

At Aura Casting, our goal is to make auditioning accessible. While some actors will have the money and knowledge to create a fancy studio in their homes, you can still create a great home studio on a budget.

1. Lighting Setup: Studio-quality lighting is awesome, but if you’re just getting started, don’t feel like you need to invest in professional lights to nail your audition. Ring lights are a great option - get one or two, and look for adjustable color temperature. 

2. Filming Setup: Unless you have a professional camera and are comfortable using it (props to you!!), we recommend filming your auditions using the camera on your phone. Phones released in the last couple of years have high-quality cameras and built-in microphones, and most actors already own one. You can buy a phone tripod on Amazon, so that you can position your camera at eye-level. 

3. Set: Some actors purchase studio backdrops. If you don’t have one though, don’t worry. Simply find a blank wall or simple background in your home, and film there. If your background is very messy, that can be distracting, but otherwise just tidy up your home and focus on lighting yourself well. 

Having a great studio setup actually helps you perform better, because performance and technical setup influence each other. A high-quality tech setup will allow the casting team to see you clearly and will highlight the nuances in your performance. On your end, a comprehensive and professional setup will transform your home and make it feel more like you’re auditioning in a physical studio, like the old days.