A scene with no drama is boring. You have to identify the conflict in the scene and start it as soon as possible. Sometimes it’s obvious and you can see it’s written in a way that it start immediately. However, sometimes it’s not as obvious and you need to make sure that you start it as soon as possible.
This may seem basic, but since we’re talking about self tapes, make sure your audition looks and sounds professional. You don’t have to go somewhere and pay money for them to tape you (but you definitely can if you want to), however, your self tape needs to be professional. The market is too competitive for you to succeed without being a pro. Make sure your audition has a clear background without any distractions. Make sure your surrounding is quiet so the sound comes out good. Different casting directors have different preferences regarding shot sizes, but a medium or medium close up is how you want to frame yourself. There needs to be very little headroom in your shot, and if you’re filming on a phone, don’t forget to film horizontally.
3. Have A Strong Opening Image
When we’re acting on camera we’re telling a story in pictures. I’ve seen countless auditions of actors who just say the text and nothing interesting is happening visually. This happens with a lot of theatre trained actors who don’t know how to translate their skills to the camera. Here’s an example: let’s say the audition is for an interrogation scene, the kind you’d see on Law & Order or Criminal Minds. Let’s pretend the role you’re reading for is the one being interrogated. You could just sit there, and start your audition neutral. Or, you could sit there, with your arms crossed. Now that tells a story before you even open your mouth. That’s what we want for the beginning of the audition, and throughout the audition, as much as you can. Remember not to come up with random ideas, it needs to make sense with the script.
4. Find all the beats in the beginning of the scene before you even start talking
Don’t mistake a beat with a beat in theatre. When acting on camera a beat is a thought, or a change of thought. When you’re doing script analysis to your audition, you need to find all the beats in the scene. Often, there are beats in the beginning in the scene that a lot of other actors won’t play. Find them and play them.
5. Don’t play the text
If there’s something we actors love is text. Some actors love it so much it’s all they play. If you line of dialogue is “I love you” and you’re playing “I love you”, that’s a very boring performance. There are some cases where that’s the scene, somebody actually is telling someone that they love them. However, most of the times you need to find something deeper to play so you’re not just playing the text. That’s where actions come in. With the same line of dialogue, if my action is: Stop arguing with me, that’s way more interesting. Again, it has to make sense with the scene.
6. Hook them in
You have about ten seconds to hook whoever is viewing the self tape. You have to do something unforgettable and unexpected. Wait, before you go off and do something crazy. Like most of the advice here, it has to be grounded in the scene, and it has to not be crazy. It could be as small as having an interesting beat. Again, a beat is a thought or a change of thought. If you think it on camera, it will show. Let’s take the same interrogation scene we talked about before. You’re being interrogated by a cop. Imagine that somewhere in first ten seconds you had a beat in your head where you’re like “oh my god that cop is smoking hot”. Nobody else will have that moment, and people watching are going to get hooked in.
7. Think
We actors love words but acting on camera is all about thoughts. Anybody can say some text but the great actors are those who know how to think on camera. There’s a reason actors who come from the theatre struggle in the beginning to be good on camera. Ideally, your audition should include some time of you thinking and not talking. The camera loves when you think.
