Inexpensive Home Taping Setup
When it comes to self-taping auditions, it goes without saying that your performance MUST be compelling. You must also submit recorded auditions with AMAZING quality. Casting directors need to be able to SEE and HEAR you clearly without distractions. You are competing with dozens (hundreds!) of other actors for the same role, so your submission has to be ON POINT from both an acting and a technical standpoint. Sure, you could go to a taping service, but you can also create a very inexpensive home audition taping studio for under 200 that allow you to audition whenever you like and save big bucks in the long run!
Inexpensive Audition Taping Studio
As someone who used to own a professional taping audition taping service, it used to baffle me just how many people would pay me to tape their auditions. We’d have actors come in and spend a few hundred bucks taping auditions with us each month! Sure, part of what makes taping services great is that most of them have readers (who are likely also actors) and some offer coaching (which I always recommend for the big auditions). But, if you are an actor, chances are you have friends who are also actors so you can probably find someone to serve as your reader (chances are, they probably have auditions they need to tape, too). With that in mind, why not set up your own taping area at home!? If you have a spare room, great! If not, you can set it up in a the garage. Hell, I actually have mine set up in a section of my bedroom (separated by a $69 folding screen) — take a look at the the photo to the right! Very functional and somewhat unobtrusive! Although a guest once asked me if I did porn because of the lights and camera in the bedroom.
So, what kind of CAMERA do you need? None!!! If you have a good camcorder or DSLR (I use a Canon T4i), that’s great! But, for audition taping you can use your smartphone if it’s capable of recording high definition video. Most are these days! Simply pop it up on a tri-pod, and plug in a lavalier microphone and you’ll be amazed at the quality you can get from a newer smartphone. Smartphone cameras are so good these days, if you have the right lighting and sound and are working in a controlled environment like an office, you can get amazing results. One day at the studio, we had a camera malfunction and I had to use my iPhone to record an audition and nobody could tell it was shot using a phone. Now, don’t be a bonehead and tape an audition in “portrait” mode with your phone… turn it sideways and shoot in landscape.
For LIGHTING, you’ll want to go with a three point lighting system using soft boxes — two lights positioned in front of and to the side of the subject and then one overhead to highlight the hair and shoulders and make you stand out from the background. Good clean,white light will make you look great! It should be bright enough so the casting director can see your eyes and positioned so you can avoid shadows.
For SOUND, a good inexpensive lavalier microphone is a MUST. Simply plug it into your camera/phone and clip it onto your shirt (just out of frame). You’ll sound loud and clear and your reader will be more subtle — just the way it should be!
The BACKGROUND should be a medium neutral blue — it’s pretty much the industry standard. You can paint a wall, tack up a king size sheet (very inexpensive) or install a curtain (I like the curtain because it adds a bit of depth, while not being distracting).
And, of course, you need a FRIEND who can be your reader. An actor is preferable as they can give you some good stuff to feed off of, but you can also use a friend or family member. If you are in a “live” audition, chances are the casting director or their assistant will be reading for you and, more often than not, they are not actors.
You’ll also need a COMPUTER (which most of us have). Most Macs and PC come bundled with software that will allow you to edit your audition (e.g. trim off the the beginning and end) and export it to a file you can upload to Actor’s Access or send via WeTransfer or other file sharing services. I edit in Premiere Pro (because I often edit things more complicated than auditions), but the Mac comes standard with iMovie, which is super easy for editing an audition. I’m a Mac guy, so I’m not sure what the PC equivalent is, but I’m sure there has to be one!
With just a few basic, inexpensive things, you’re self-tapes can look just as good as the taping services and you get the convenience of being able to tape at home!
Here’s my setup:
Lavalier Microphone ($21.98) – This mic works with iPhones, but adapters can be purchased for use with DSLR and other 3mm jacks.
Fancierstudio 2400 Watt Lighting Kit With Boom ($99) – This includes THREE soft boxes (two for each side and one boom to serve as the overhead hair light). This is the best $99 you will ever spend!
72″ Tripod ($46) – This tripod can accommodate any height — from a standing audition for a tall guy to a seated audition. It will hold any camcorder or DSLR camera (or even your iPhone with a tripod mount for iPhone or Android). I shoot on a DSLR, but like I mentioned above our camera phone with the right lighting and sound will do quite nicely — plus, you already have one!
See, it’s pretty easy to set up an inexpensive home audition taping studio. If you want to see what this setup can produce, here’s a quick snippet from a slate for an audition I recorded in the home studio using the equipment above (actually, just moments before I typed this article):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cnoNJrNEkQ
