Self-Tape Topics
The complete guide covers a self-tape end to end. These pages break out the ten things actors most often get asked about individually, so you can fix one problem without re-reading a chapter.
Each page is short on purpose. Where a topic needs the full treatment, it links straight to the chapter that gives it.
The guides
Start here
Self-Tape Lighting
What lighting a self-tape actually requires: a clear, evenly lit face, no colour clash, and no shadow across the eyes. Practical starting points for any room.
“Casting needs to read your face. That is the whole job of self-tape lighting, and it is why an expensive kit badly aimed loses to a window used well. Put your main light in front of you…”
Self-Tape Sound
Audio problems get tapes switched off faster than picture problems. How to reduce room echo, control noise and record dialogue that is easy to hear.
“Bad audio ends a tape earlier than bad picture does, because a reader can skim past a soft image but cannot skim past dialogue they have to strain for. Two things fix most home audio: get…”
Your Self-Tape Reader
Your reader shapes the scene as much as you do. What a good reader does, what a bad one costs you, and how to tape when nobody is available.
“A reader gives you something to act against and sets the rhythm you play. The common failures are a reader who performs over you, and a reader who is so flat that you end up acting alone…”
Self-Tape Eyeline
Where to place your eyeline for a self-tape, why it usually sits just beside the lens, and when looking down the barrel is the wrong choice.
“Your eyeline is where the other character lives. For almost every scripted self-tape it sits just to one side of the lens and close to it, so casting sees both of your eyes rather than a…”
The Self-Tape Slate
What belongs in a self-tape slate, how long it should run, and why you follow the production's instruction over any general rule.
“A slate identifies you. Unless the production says otherwise, that is your name and the role you are reading, delivered as yourself rather than in character, and kept short. Some notices…”
Self-Tape Framing
How to frame a self-tape: shot size, headroom, camera height and why the background matters less than the space around your head.
“Frame for the face. A chest-up or waist-up shot with a small amount of headroom, camera at your eye level, is the standard that casting reads fastest, and it stays readable on a phone…”
Self-Tape Wardrobe
Wardrobe for a self-tape should suggest the character, not costume it. What reads well on camera and what fights your background.
“Suggest the role; do not costume it. A solid colour that separates you from your background, in a shape the character would plausibly wear, does the job — full costume, uniforms and props…”
Self-Tape File Naming
How to name a self-tape file so it survives a casting inbox: the production's format first, otherwise name, role and project.
“If the notice specifies a filename format, use it exactly — that format usually exists because someone downstream is sorting hundreds of files. When nothing is specified, your name, the…”
Self-Tape Turnaround
Self-tape deadlines are short. How to plan a same-day turnaround without letting speed cost you the performance.
“Self-tape windows are short and the deadline in the notice is the one that counts. The practical answer is to keep your setup ready so that recording is the only new work on the day …”
Submitting Your Self-Tape
How to submit a self-tape: follow the route in the notice, check the link is viewable, and confirm the file plays before you send it.
“Submit the way the notice tells you to. A tape sent through a different route than the one requested often does not reach the person casting the role. Before you send, play the exported…”
