How to Record a Self-Tape for an Audition: Step-by-Step Guide

Step 2. Put together the minimum gear

A phone, a steady support, even light, a plain background, and a room with no echo are enough.

Phone horizontal and steady

Record horizontally, unless the instructions ask for vertical, with the phone on a tripod or on something that doesn’t move. Clean the lens, turn on do not disturb, and check the battery and the free space. The rear camera usually records better than the front one, and 1080p is enough: 4K makes much heavier files. Avoid digital zoom, which lowers the quality.

Light in front and even

The light has to reach you from the front. The simplest option is a window in daytime: face it, with the phone in the middle. With your back to the window you’re backlit, and from the side, half of your face is in shadow. A ring light goes behind the phone, at the height of your face; if you wear glasses, raise it a little to avoid reflections. Avoid relying on the ceiling light, which creates dark circles under your eyes.

Plain background

Look for a plain wall in a neutral color, such as gray, light blue, or beige, with no pictures, doors, or mirrors in view. Stand a little away from the wall so your shadow doesn’t show.

Sound with no echo

Choose the room with the most soft things, like curtains, a rug, or couches, and avoid bathrooms and empty rooms, where the voice bounces. Turn off fans and air conditioning, and let people at home know you’re recording. A lavalier microphone is optional: clipped to your clothes, it picks up your voice louder than your reader’s. Record a test and listen to it with headphones. With this same gear you can record the scenes for your acting reel if you don’t have footage from sets yet.

On a low budget

• Tripod: a stack of books or a shelf at the right height.
• Ring light: a window in daytime and a white poster board on the shadow side to bounce the light.
• Background: a plain sheet, ironed and pulled tight.
• Echo: blankets or pillows out of frame.

Tip: Mark with masking tape where the support goes and where you stand. Next time you’ll set up your self-tape in minutes.

Step 3. Frame the shot at eye level

If the instructions don’t ask for something else, use a medium close-up, with the lens at your eye level.

A medium close-up runs from mid-chest to a little above your head. If they ask for a medium shot, from the waist up, or a close-up, use that. Center yourself in the frame, without cutting off your forehead. The camera stays fixed, with no zoom or movement, at the level of your eyes: lower or higher, the angle distracts from the scene. If you act seated, lower the camera to your height.

Where to look

During the scene, look at your reader, placed right next to the lens and always on the same side. That way both of your eyes show. You look into the camera only during your slate, unless the instructions ask otherwise, as happens in some commercials. And if you record with the front camera, avoid watching yourself on the screen.

Step 4. Choose your reader well

Your reader has to give you your cues, not steal the scene. A classmate from your acting class or anyone who reads clearly will do.

• Off camera: next to the lens, at your eye level, with no shadow or reflection sneaking into the frame.
• At a lower volume: they’re closer to the phone’s microphone than you are, and if they speak loudly, they cover your voice.
• Without overacting: with intention, but without competing with your scene or reading the stage directions.

If you record with nobody

Ask someone to read to you over a video call, with the device next to the lens, the volume low, and no headphones, so the cues get recorded. Another option is to record the other character’s lines as audio, with silences as long as your speeches, and play it quietly. As a last resort, perform leaving those silences and listening as if someone were really speaking to you. If the instructions ask for a monologue, you don’t need a reader: in monologues for auditions you’ll find how to choose one and where to put your eyeline.

Step 5. Record your slate

The slate is the moment when you look into the camera and say who you are, in a few seconds and out of character.

Say your first and last name and the role you’re auditioning for. Add your age, height, city, or representative only if they ask for them, and avoid details such as your phone number or your address. Record it in a medium close-up or close-up, looking into the lens and with your everyday energy. If the instructions don’t say where it goes, put it at the start. Careful: it’s different from an intro video, the longer introduction of about a minute that some calls ask for (see what a slate is).

Profiles and full body

For profiles, turn your whole body to one side, looking forward, hold for a couple of seconds, and repeat toward the other side. For full body, step back until you fit in the frame from head to toe. If they ask for hands, as in some commercials, show your palms and the backs of your hands. You can record these shots separately and join them in editing.

Step 6. Act, repeat, and choose the best take

Record several takes, choose the most alive one, and send only what they ask for.

Warm up your body and voice, and do a test take to check the light, the sound, and the framing. Then record several takes, changing something specific in each one, like an intention or the pace, and stop when you feel you’re repeating the same thing. If you stumble over a word and the scene stays alive, keep going.

To choose, watch the two or three best with headphones and keep the truest one, the one that listens and reacts, even if it has a minor technical flaw. Send the takes the instructions ask for and, if they don’t specify, one per scene: sending several just in case hands the casting director a choice that’s yours to make.

Step 7. Edit with no effects and send it on time

Trim it, name the file, upload it with link access, and send it before the deadline.

Trim it with no effects

Your phone’s editor is enough: cut the beginning and the end, and leave out music, filters, transitions, and title cards, unless they ask for them. If no format is indicated, export as MP4.

Name the file

Use the name the casting notice indicates or, if it says nothing, FirstName_LastName_Role_Project.mp4, with no accents, special characters, or spaces. In our guide to preparing your audition materials you’ll find how to name the rest and how to write the email.

Upload it and share the link

• YouTube: as “unlisted,” which can be watched with the link but doesn’t show up in searches or on your channel. Avoid “private,” which only the accounts you invite can see.
• Drive or Vimeo: with access for anyone who has the link. Wait for it to finish processing.
• The casting’s own upload: if the call has its own way to submit, use it. That includes platforms such as Actors Access or Casting Networks when the notice sends you there.

Important: Test the link in an incognito window before you send it. If it asks you to sign in or request access, it will ask whoever opens it too.

Keep the video available until the process ends, because they may watch it again if you get a callback.

Respect the deadline

Send it with time to spare, because uploading a video can take a while. If you truly can’t make it, say so before the deadline passes, and if you sent a wrong link, fix it right away in the same thread.

Common mistakes when recording a self-tape

• Backlight: the window behind you leaves you in the dark.
• A reader louder than you: they cover your voice.
• Looking into the lens during the scene: it breaks the illusion that you’re talking to someone.
• A camera too low or too high.
• A long slate, or one done in character.
• Running over the length the instructions ask for.
• Adding music, filters, or title cards that nobody asked for.
• Sending every take instead of choosing.
• A private or expired link: if it doesn’t open, for the casting team that video doesn’t exist.
• Sending it at the last minute: any problem with the upload leaves you out.

Final checklist before you send

• Instructions reread and every point met.
• Scene rehearsed with your reader.
• Phone horizontal, steady, and at eye level.
• Light in front, plain background, and sound with no echo.
• Eyeline beside the lens, and into the camera only for the slate.
• Slate with the details they asked for.
• The best take, trimmed and with no effects.
• File well named and link tested in incognito.
• Sent before the deadline.

With your corner set up, each self-tape will take you less time. Look at the active castings and apply to the ones that fit your profile. Break a leg!

Frequently asked questions

How long should a self-tape be?

As long as the instructions say. If they set no maximum, the length of the scene, with no dead time, plus a slate of a few seconds.

Do I have to memorize the lines?

It’s better if you do: with the lines learned, you listen to your reader instead of reading the paper. If the scene reaches you with very little notice, having the text nearby can save you, as long as it doesn’t cover your face.

What do I do if I have nobody to read with?

Ask someone to read to you over a video call, or record the other lines as audio, with silences as long as your speeches, and play it quietly from another device.

How many takes should I send?

The number the instructions ask for. If they don’t specify, one per scene: the one you chose as the best.

Should I upload my self-tape to YouTube, Drive, or Vimeo?

Any of them works if the link opens without asking for permission: on YouTube, as “unlisted”; on Drive or Vimeo, with access for anyone who has the link. If the call points to a specific route, use that one.