© 2016 Mark Westbrook

GUIDE TO SELF TAPING SUCCESS

This eBook may be shared in its original form, printed solely for personal use or
distributed directly via email.
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the express written permission of the author.
M D Westbrook
www.actingcoachscotland.co.uk
Twitter: @actingcoachmark
[email protected]
44 (0)800 756 9535
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
PART 1: SELF TAPING 5

PART 2: EQUIPMENT 7

LIGHTING 7

SOUND 9

CAMERA 11

TRIPODS/STICKS 12

BACKGROUNDS 13

PART 3: PREPARATION 14

PART 4: SLATING 21

PART 5: SHOOT TIPS 22

PART 6: EDIT & TRANSFER 26

PART SEVEN: SELF TEST 28

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page 4
PART 1: SELF TAPING
THE MISSION
My mission is to help reduce your stress, so that you can focus on performing your
absolute best in the audition. I will do this by first raising your self awareness
regarding self taping. I will ask you these same questions at the end of this eBook.

SELF TAPE SELF TEST

I AM CONFIDENT SETTING UP 3 POINT LIGHTING YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT RECORDING SOUND YES SOMEWHAT NO

I HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT I NEED TO RECORD MY SELF TAPE YES SOMEWHAT NO

I KNOW WHAT BACKGROUND I SHOULD USE FOR MY SELF TAPE YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT FRAMING MYSELF IN THE SHOT YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT SLATING/IDENTING MY SELF TAPE YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT WHAT TO WEAR AND USING PROPS YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT CHOOSING A READER YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT WHERE TO PLACE MY READER YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT EDITING MY OWN SELF TAPE YES SOMEWHAT NO

Mainly YES: An opportunity to confirm your existing knowledge of self-taping.

Mainly SOMEWHAT: An opportunity to add to your knowledge of self taping.

Mainly NO: An opportunity for you to build your knowledge about self taping.

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WHY DO WE SELF TAPE?
Self taping is far more efficient for Casting Directors. I once cast a short film in
Glasgow, while the director sat checking out the audition tapes on Vimeo from Las
Vegas. It means that Hollywood can begin its search for talent anywhere in the
world.

Long and expensive trips for CDs, Directors, Actors and Producers can be reduced
by self taping. This keeps casting costs lower. Then there’s the talent. If the self tape is
truly awful, they only have to watch 20 seconds of it. So the casting process speeds
up too.

WHY IS IT GOOD TO SELF TAPE?

Well, frankly, you can’t get around it. The industry wants you to self-tape more and
more. But there is one huge advantage compared to a traditional casting. You get to
have as many ‘takes’ as you like, and send the best one. This reduces audition stress
and increases the chances of doing your best. However, those without self taping
experience could be impeded by their lack of experience.

WHAT DOES THE QUALITY OF THE SELF TAPE MATTER?

It’s simple. Casting Directors are bombarded by requests for their time and
attention. So although Casting Directors are often very good people, they have to
make decisions about who or what gets their precious time, energy and focus. Their
main focus is to find the right actor for the role they are trying to cast.

Anything that represents an obstacle to this cannot be tolerated and the obstacle
will be overcome. A poorly produced self-tape looks like an obstacle. Follow the
logic.? Who is the kind of actor who produces a crappy self tape? What are the
chances that the actor who made the crappy self-tape is who we are looking for?

Don’t give them the opportunity to ask themselves that question. 


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PART 2: EQUIPMENT

LIGHTING

Typically, lighting and audio quality are considered more important than video quality.
Poor lighting and sound are a real turnoff for Casting Directors.

There are two potential light sources. Artificial and natural. Let’s deal with Artificial
First:

3 POINT LIGHTING
The basic lighting setup in film photography is called Three Point Lighting. Key Light,
Fill Light, and Backlight. Lighting for a Self-Tape should also use three points of
lighting. Natural light is wonderful as key light, but it's often difficult to get the right
levels if you don't include the other points of light.

Key Light illuminates the right side of your face. Fill light illuminates the left side of
the face. Backlight illuminates your outline, gently lifting you away from the
background.

The purpose of three point lighting, is to give your face and natural look and three-
dimensional depth.

KEY LIGHT
Key light is the brightest of all your lighting sources. And is usually positioned at a 45°
angle to your face. The light should also be raised so that it can point down on you
and a 45° angle.

Even though the light is positioned at a 45° angle, it should still hit your face from
the front and light both sides of your face.

FILL LIGHT
You will notice that the left side of the face is in shadow. To fill in this shadow side,
we use fill light. Fill lighting is never as bright as key lighting. Equal lighting from the

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front makes the human face seem very flat. Combining key and fill light creates
depth on the face, making it seem more natural.

BACK LIGHT
The final light in the three-point set up is called back light. as its name might suggest,
this light goes behind you. Generally, this light points at the camera. but take care that
it does not appear in the shot.

Back light is usually the dimmest of the three points. Its purpose is to give you a
warm glow on your hair and shoulders. Back light creates an noticeable separation
between you and your background.

Don’t have lighting equipment in the house? You could use three desk lamps
instead.

NATURAL LIGHT
Natural lighting is often the best choice. Being lit from the side is the best option.
Being lit from behind is a common mistake and should be avoided at all costs. Being
lit squarely and strongly from the front isn’t ideal, as previously stated, it creates a
flat dimension to your face.

PRO TIP: Once you’ve chosen you lighting source check that it isn’t too dim or too
hot (bright).

There is a diagram of this set up in Part 3


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SOUND

Earlier I said that sound and lighting are more important than picture. Well, if it’s a
battle between lighting and sound. Sound wins. If they can’t hear you properly, they
will just hit delete. Poor sound quality can ruin a self tape and waste a lot of your
hard work and time.

On all camera equipment, whether it's iPhone, camcorder, or a DSLR the sound is
never as good as the picture. It's vital when you Self Tape, that you have good audio
quality. This often means an external microphone. Most DSLRs will allow you to plug
straight into an Audio-In port, but iPhone and Camcorders don’t often have this
option.

You can purchase good quality external microphones for iPhone, so don’t head out
to buy professional filmmaking equipment just yet.

THE FIRST RULE OF SOUND

You must record somewhere quiet, or at least attempt to reduce background
sounds. Nothing spoils a good self tape like a dog barking in the background, or a bin
lorry going up the street.

If you must record it at home, consider turning off any electrical equipment that
might interfere with the sound. If you’re near the kitchen, turn off the refrigerator, its
background hum will be much louder on a recording.

THE SECOND RULE OF SOUND

Your Reader is much closer to the microphone that you are. This means they tend
to come over much louder than you do. They often want to do a great job for you,
so they are even louder, clearer and crisp than normal too. Make sure the your
Reader is softer in tone and quieter in volume, while still being heard.

THE THIRD RULE OF SOUND

The sound quality on most cameras is not great. So if possible, record the sound
separately. Recording on a separate device like a Zoom portable recorder with a
separate microphone is relatively simple. The sound quality will be MUCH MUCH
MUCH better. Later in the edit, you sync the audio and visual together, which is
much easier than it sounds.

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THE FOURTH RULE OF SOUND
The fourth rule of Sound for Self Tape is if you can’t record separately, at least use a
separate microphone. Most built-in microphones have poor audio quality and lots of
that horrible hissing noise. A shotgun mic which sits on the top of your camera is the
best choice.

PRO TIP: Test sound levels before you begin your recording. You don’t want to end
up with great picture and lighting, only to discover you sound like a tiny person or
there’s no sound at all.


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CAMERA

First off, you don’t need to be a Director of Photography to record your own Self
Tape. However, it would be useful to know some basics about framing and shots.
That will be covered in the section of Shooting Your Self Tape, and don’t worry, it
isn’t difficult.

You don’t need a super expensive camera. As previously discussed, an iPhone, a

camcorder or a DSLR will all work to produce HD quality Self Tape footage.
Whichever you choose, get a tripod to ensure stability of the images you record.

Don’t use a webcam. It isn’t designed for this purpose.

PRO TIP: An additional consideration with the camera is memory or storage space.

iPhone: High quality video footage can take up a huge amount of space on your
phone. And then getting it from your phone onto your computer is less than
straightforward.

Camcorder: Sometimes has memory cards, sometimes a cable to the computer.

Now, where did you put that cable?

DSLR: Massive files, saved on SD cards. Best to go for a high spec of card for
reliability. And something like 32GB to ensure you have plenty of space.

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TRIPODS/STICKS

For the love of all things holy, buy a tripod.

Why? Have you ever seen Breaking the Waves? I was nearly seasick. Or Blair Witch
Project? All that jerking about to make it look like amateur footage? Well guess how
that’s going to make your self tape look, yep seriously amateur.

It doesn’t need to be expensive, but when buying a tripod, it should be something

that is:

1. Solid and Stable.

2. Able to Pan (can move on a horizontal plane - side to side)
3. Able to Tilt (can move on a vertical plane - up and down)

You can buy tripods that sit on the kitchen counter. If you want to use your iPhone,
smart phone, or tablet, then buy yourself an attachment that allows you to connect
your phone or tablet to a tripod.

COMPUTER

If you’re going to edit and store your own self tape, it’s important to have a
computer.

As long as your computer has enough memory for high quality video files, any
computer will be good for editing. However, if memory is a problem, you’ll have
considerable trouble. Editing and rendering can be exhausting to your computer, and
it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen a computer die in the act of editing a Self-
Tape.

The Mac vs. PC conflict is irrelevant here, memory and processing speed will matter
more than the type of machine you’re running.

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BACKGROUNDS

First, do not go on location for your self tape. Shoot it in a studio or at least in your
home.

To do this, you will need some kind of background cloth. A background should be
plain and preferably solid white, green or blue. You really pop off those backgrounds
so they really help you come to life on the Casting Director’s screen.

Blue is the most popular colour with most American CDs, so if you can get blue, go
for blue. White is the most popular colour with British CDs, so make a strategic
choice.

Never use Black, it absorbs light, making lighting your self tape complicated and
awkward. Red, Shiny, Patterned and other distracting backgrounds are to be avoided.

Before you begin shooting, check yourself against the background. You may clash, and
if you do, it would give the CD another reason not to watch it.

A professional background isn’t expensive around £20-£30.

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PART 3: PREPARATION

REQUIREMENTS

Before you even begin setting up your equipment, take another look at the script
and any directions or requirements that came with it.

It’s amazing that in the years that I've been working with actors, just how many are
willing to ignore some instructions from the script, the CD or their agent. I
frequently discover that they’ve omitted some essential element and need to tape
again.

I assure you when you ignore these requirements, you look ignorant.

Casting Directors will go to great lengths to tell you exactly what they want and
how they want it. Read their lengthy description and abide by it. The CD will think
you’re ignorant if you’ve chosen to ignore their instructions.

It’s easier than ever to delete a Self Tape that has ignored the instructions.

TYPES OF INSTRUCTION
You may receive instructions relating to:

The Framing of the Shot

The Height of the Camera
The Eye-line
The Reader
The Accent
Your Outfit
The Background

And many other aspects and elements. Pay attention. Or it could cost you dearly.


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A QUICK CHECKLIST

Here’s a very simple checklist list to prepare for your shoot.

1. Are you camera batteries charged before the shoot?

2. Do you have a spare battery?
3. Do you have your SD card or memory?
4. Is it loaded in the camera?
5. Do you have spare memory/SD cards?
6. Are the bulbs in your lighting all working?
7. Do you have any spares?
8. Have you chosen a quiet time to shoot?
9. Is there any background noise that the mic will pick up?
10. Have you included a natural light source?
11. Is the lighting balance?
12. Does your background make you pop out from it?
13. Is the audio equipment picking you up clearly?
14. Do you have a clear and confident Reader?


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THE TECHNICAL SET UP:

BACKGROUND
LIG CK
HT
BA

YOU

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LI
LL
FI
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LI
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CAMERA

READER

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TRIPOD
THE READER:
You must have a reader.

You must have someone reading the other role. And it should be a person. (As
opposed to a computer voice, or your own voice recorded)

They should stand as close to the camera as they can. If the Reader is just behind
the camera to one side, you’ll still be face-on with the camera, but without spiking
the camera lens. Make eye contact with them during the scene, it lights you up
when you make contact with another person.

They should purposefully keep their volume lower, because being closer to the
camera means they are closer to the microphone than you are and this will be very
obvious on the self-tape.

The Casting Director doesn’t really want to listen to your reader. But they do want
to hear them! So they should be audible to the CD, but not dominating the audio.

CHOOSING A READER
Don’t choose someone who is going to do a wild and theatrical performance. They
should read confidently and with feeling, but they shouldn’t distract from your
performance. Keep it simple.

Don’t choose someone who is difficult to understand, or will distract from you in
any way.

Always have a reader. always.

HOW TO BE A GOOD READER

Stay off camera. Only the auditioning actor should be on camera.

Keep your volume low but clear and audible.

You must read with some feeling, but you should be muted. You’re not giving a
performance, but you must give the actor something to work from.

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CLOTHING
Bearing in mind the colour of your background, choose an outfit that really
accentuates your features. Nothing with a logo. Nothing flashy. Nothing sparkly.
Nothing shiny. What colours look great on you? Don’t know? You need to know!

Do not wear a costume. You might suggest the character through the costume. But
actors at the top of their game do NOT wear costume to auditions, so neither
should you.

MAKE UP
Be sensible. If you are shiny, you may need powder to reduce it. If the camera or
lighting makes you look washed out or your eyes sink into your skill, then by all
means, use make up. Remember, this is all about making you look appealing to the
CD. Make up by all means, but remember it isn’t Halloween.

Make up can help you look older or younger than you, it’s worth thinking about
using it for this purpose.

PROPS
The only props you need are ones that you cannot do the scene without.

The rule should be, if it distracts from your tape, you should lose it. If you can do
without it, lose it.

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CAMERA SET UP

FRAMING
Frame the shot so that you are in a medium shot. Your face is the main thing. Mid-
chest to upper torso at the bottom and a little space above your head. Like this:

It’s
personal enough to see your facial reactions and emotions through your eyes. But it

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isn’t so close that it’s a disembodied head.

If it’s a particularly emotional piece, you may want to use a wide close up. Like this:

HEIGHT OF CAMERA/EYE-LINE
Bring the tripod up to the level of your eyes. Now, it’s like we are standing opposite
you, looking from our eyes into yours. However, you should never SPIKE the camera.
Spiking is looking in the camera. Look directly at your reader.

CAMERA MOVEMENT
Do not zoom in, do not change the shot mid-tape, do not move the camera.

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PART 4: SLATING
PREPARING YOUR IDENT/SLATE

In the UK, we tend to call it an IDENT, but in both the US and the UK, it’s also
known as the Slate or Slating.

The slate/ident is saying your name, height and your representation at the beginning
of the self-tape. (Unless they want an end slate in the requirements)

Treat it like a greeting. Be warm, make ‘eye contact’ and smile naturally.

Be a person first and an actor second.

Keep it simple. Introduce yourself, as if you’re meeting the parents of a good friend
with:

WARMTH
FRIENDLINESS
RESPECT

“Hello, I’m Gregory McDonald. I’m 172cm. Represented by Joe Bloggs and Smith.”

Which would be a very odd way to meet someone’s parents, but the best way to
self-tape.

I suggest that you use a WIDER shot for the Slate piece. It allows the CD to see a
full body shot.

Don’t forget to return the camera to a Medium Shot once you’ve done.

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PART 5: SHOOT TIPS
SHOOTING THE SCENES

Shoot the scenes individually and stitch them together later.

Shoot each scene, decide on the Take that works for you and then move onto the
next one. Keep a notepad close by, so you know which Take you think worked.

You can change your mind, but it will save some time later.

Don’t delete anything in-camera until you’ve safely transferred it onto your computer (and
preferably made a back up).

MAKE A MARK

Just like in film, it can be handy to mark the floor where you are standing in shot.
This allows you the security of knowing you are definitely in shot while recording.
The very last thing you want to experience is a brilliant ‘take’ - only to discover you
were cutting off half your face.

This is particularly helpful if you want to be in slightly different places for different
scenes or your ident/slate.

CAINE IT

My favourite piece of advice on Michael Caine’s now famous recorded masterclass

‘Acting in Film’ is about how you talk to the Reader. He said that if someone
should come into the room while you were rehearsing or even shooting the scene,
they would probably interrupt you, because they wouldn’t guess that you were
acting.

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JOURNEY

From the beginning of your self-taped scene to the end, there should be a journey
from one emotional place to another. There’s a trick that I learned from teaching
presentation skills to business people. I call it:

Our minds search for novelty in our environment. It’s what keeps us safe. Our
brains go…

TREE
TREE
TREE
TIGER
TREE
RUN!
But in life today, the Novelty Awareness part of our brain doesn’t have much to do
when we are in safe environment. The CD is in a particularly safe environment
watching your self tape.

They start off watching your tape, and within a short time, the Novelty Awareness
centre realises there is no threat and switches off. And their attention goes with it.
They start thinking about something else and presume that’s because your
performance wasn’t up to much. But it’s simply that you didn’t provoke the Novelty
seeking part of their brain.

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In my studio, the most common problem professional actors have is creating a
dynamic in their work. They perform brilliantly, but their scene doesn’t contain
dynamic gear changes.

So most people’s scenes look like this:

FLAT: The first one is dynamically flat. There are no real changes of gear. The acting
is good, believable stuff, but the pace and energy are pretty much uniform.

TAKE OFF: The second example has a continuous pace and energy, like a rocket
taking off. Again, it suffers from this because dynamically, we need peaks and troughs
in size and speed.

CRASH: The third example starts with energy and pace and slowly drops in size
and speed until it crashes at the end of the scene.

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If you want to keep their attention, it’s time to Hack their need for novelty.

This is the shape (above) of a scene that’s been hacked. It creates bold choices by
installing dynamic gear changes. It acts like a director, giving you suggestions on pace
and intensity. It makes it infinitely more watchable.

a) Grab the Attention

b) Drop the intensity or pace
c) Raise the intensity or pace to the turning point of the scene
d) Briefly drop the intensity or pace
e) Build to the Climax
f) Release the tension

This can be applied to pretty much every scene or monologue you can find.

In my experience most actors probably believe they are already doing this. That
might be true, but what’s occurring in your mind is often not what’s occurring in
your performance.

When you watch the playback, you should see a significant change in pace or energy
at those key parts of the scene.

Remember: since you don’t have a director or another actor to work with, you
must make brave acting choices about how the scene will go. You can play with
different levels of intensity and speed until you feel you have made the right choice.

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PART 6: EDIT & TRANSFER
EDITING YOUR SELF TAPE
These days every computer comes with basic free video editing software. On PC it’s
called Window Live Movie Maker and on Apple Mac it’s called iMovie. If you really
want to move upmarket, there’s Final Cut Pro X, but you really don’t need this level
of software.

If you really feel like you don’t have the level of technical skill to do this, or if you
don’t want to do it, you could get a self taping studio, film making friend, or someone
else to do it for you.

If you do want to do it yourself, I suggest you follow this basic advice. Both Mac and
PC editing software are simple copy and paste, drag and drop style applications.
Both have good help tutorials too, and there are lots on YouTube.

iMovie Tutorial

Windows Movie Maker Tutorial

STEP 1: Import the Video and Sound Files from Camera or Card to the Computer.
STEP 2: Import them into the Editing Software
STEP 3: Match Up the Sound with the Pictures
STEP 4: Watch them through to decide which ‘Takes’ are best.
STEP 5: Paste the best takes together.
STEP 6: Paste the IDENT/SLATE to the beginning.
STEP 7: Paste the END SLATE onto the end.
STEP 8: Import the Sound
STEP 9: Do NOT add a nice title at the beginning. Add no titles. Start with your
Slate.

File Management:
When you have completed the edit, you should save the document first to your
DESKTOP and then export it. It’s best to export it as an MP4 file. Name your file:

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FULL NAME - THE TITLE OF THE PROJECT - CHARACTER NAME - SCENE NUMBERS

GETTING IT TO THEM:
You’ll either send the completed movie to your agent, management or directly to
the CD.

The files will almost definitely be too large to email.

First, check if they have sent you any transfer instructions. If they have provided no
instructions, then there are several options:

• Send them by WeTransfer if they are under 2GB. You can easily send a link to the
recipient, which will allow them to download it.

• Consider getting a paid WeTransfer account if you need to use larger files.
• Upload to Vimeo or YouTube but select the Private option and create a password.
Then you can send the video’s unique web address on YouTube or Vimeo, but
remember to send the password too. Never, and I mean never, post them openly
on YouTube or Vimeo.

• Create a folder on your computer and save a copy to that folder.

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PART SEVEN: SELF TEST
Now you’ve had a chance to read the guide, let’s see if your awareness has
improved:

SELF TAPE SELF TEST

I AM CONFIDENT SETTING UP 3 POINT LIGHTING YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT RECORDING SOUND YES SOMEWHAT NO

I HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT I NEED TO RECORD MY SELF TAPE YES SOMEWHAT NO

I KNOW WHAT BACKGROUND I SHOULD USE FOR MY SELF TAPE YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT FRAMING MYSELF IN THE SHOT YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT SLATING/IDENTING MY SELF TAPE YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT WHAT TO WEAR AND USING PROPS YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT CHOOSING A READER YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT ABOUT WHERE TO PLACE MY READER YES SOMEWHAT NO

I AM CONFIDENT EDITING MY OWN SELF TAPE YES SOMEWHAT NO

Mainly YES: You are ready to self tape.

Mainly SOMEWHAT: You may need some help with Self Taping.

Mainly NO: You will need some help with Self Taping.

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ABOUT MARK WESTBROOK

Mark studied at the universities of Kent, Utrecht, Nottingham and Glasgow

Caledonian. He trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Atlantic
Theater Company’s Acting School in New York City. He has written and directed
professionally for most of his adult life. In 2008, he founded Acting Coach Scotland in
Glasgow. He leads the full and part time programmes at ACS and coaches privately
in his studio and via Skype. His blog is read by over 30,000 people per month.

He is the author of Truth in Action, 12 Obstacles and the forthcoming The Fearless
Audition.

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