A casting director can tell more about

you in the first five seconds of

yourself tape than most actors realize.

And it's not just about performance.

Today, on casting actors cast,

we're digging into what your self tape

set up is really saying about you.

Is it shouting

I'm ready

or whispering?

I'm not

serious?

Let's find out and fix it.

This is casting actor's castle.

Well, hello, and welcome to today's

episode of casting actors cast.

I'm casting director Geoffrey driesbach

with a mcorko group in New York and

listen.

This really does matter.

Why this matters.

It's because self tapes are not going

away.

They're going to be with us the rest of

our life.

And actors really need

to think about their process, to think

about their presentation skills.

We're going to dive into all of that in

just a minute.

But first, this is that moment of the

podcast.

I just want to say thank you for tuning

in to casting actors.

Cast.

It's been really fun bringing these

podcasts episodes to you.

And I'd love for you to consider giving

a like and a share and a thumbs up, of

course, after you've heard the episode,

of course.

But in addition to that, if you go to

the website, casting actress cast all

one word dot com, you're going to find

all kinds of cool stuff there.

I think that you might find very, very

useful.

One is a book that I wrote, which is

right there on the landing page, as

well as a course that is available

about auditioning.

You're going to really love this

course, by the way.

So many folks have enjoyed it, and I've

gotten such great feedback about it

it's worth looking into.

I think also.

There is a form that says, dive into

the talent pool.

And if you do that that's going to open

up a whole bunch of freebies for you.

One is a book that I wrote on doing

voice over work.

It's called conversation pieces out of

the studio.

The voice over workshop, four

professional actors, that's available

to you, as well as a free video.

It's a twenty minute video called

casting secrets.

What they don't tell you,

but I'm going to tell you in this free,

twenty minute video,

all of that on the websitecasting

actors cast, all one word dot com.

And here's my shout out to my friends

at actor's connection, actor's

connectiondot comor.

Thank you so much.

So self tape let me tell you that

casting prose,

they see hundreds of tapes weekly,

I can attest to this.

And subconscious

judgments are made very, very quickly.

We can't help it.

It's the nature of what it is

that we're giving our time and our

attention and our focus to you, showing

me how you're going to play the part.

So your framing, your lighting, your

background,

they aren't just visual elements.

They are

psychological

signals.

They really are.

You see, a great setup shows

professionalism, it shows confidence,

it shows preparedness.

We get that information even before you

speak.

So we need to talk about those kinds of

little mini adjustments

that can make a huge impact on your own

work.

So first impressions really do matter.

What your setup immediately tells us

is very, very valuable for you to know.

One, if you have a clean intentional

background

that you're really saying, I take this

seriously.

If I see neutral chaos, for example,

cluttered bed

books, maybe the small posters,

that's really saying, I didn't really

plan this.

If the camera height

and the angle are a little messed up or

not correct,

you're denying yourself

how I know I'm being seen

it's how I'm knowing being seen.

Versus.

I didn't test this beforehand.

Your eyeline

in control versus, uncertain

or disconnected.

See, you don't need fancy gear,

but you do need just,

you do need clear choices.

So here's what confidence looks like in

a setup.

First off,

be careful not to frame yourself dead

center.

Asymmetrical framing.

That means you're slightly off center,

looking in the direction of where

there's more space created when you are

asymmetrical.

That's creating a little bit of

breathing space.

That

really is valuable.

Because what happens is being

asymmetrical in the frame is

replicating how you're going to be

shot.

If it's a film or a television scene.

For theater, being asymmetrical in the

frame gives you a little more room, psychologically,

for gesture,

for movement, for energy in a

theatrical kind of setting,

a well lit face with no harsh shadows

or flicker

critical.

You know that

also, I've seen the opposite, where you

decide to turn on every light in the

room, and suddenly you are washed out

because there's so much light on you

that it just becomes too harsh to even

be able to distinguish

what you're doing as you're auditioning

I also want to encourage smooth sound,

that means no background noise and that

your volume

is consistent.

And I've talked about this many times.

A lavalier microphone

is so valuable, and it costs around

twenty dollars eclipse on your lapel.

It plugs directly into your cell phone.

You see, our cell phones were never

meant to pick you up from three feet

away, which is where you're putting

yourself on.

So therefore, a lavalier microphone

gives a cinema graphic quality to your

voice.

And we get to really hear what you

sound like, rather than bouncing or

echoing off of walls reverb.

A room that sounds like a bathroom, it

just doesn't help you.

So a lavalier microphone is an

important thing to consider, I think anyway.

The other thing that gets lost is the

eye contact that you're giving.

You must make sure that the eye contact

matches the tone of the scene that you

are.

In

all of that work

is showing me that you are just not

apologizing for being there.

There's no sense of being haphazard.

You're owning

your space.

That's the key, that's the key to all

of this information that I've given you today.

Owning the space is a confidence

builder.

And the intentional use

of that technology

is so incredibly helpful.

Now let's talk about some red flags

you might not realize that you're

sending when you send down yourself

tape.

I've seen a lot of crooked frames.

That just is saying, making a statement

about the lack of attention to detail.

Sometimes I see weird shadows or

flickering light.

That means that you haven't tested

I just talked about this sound quality

fan noise and echo.

That means that you didn't check the

playback

also in the frame, too close or too far

from the camera.

You're not thinking about your presence

in the frame or the medium in which you

are auditioning.

For film and television, you want the

frame to be from your chest up.

There's your chessbone right in the

middle.

That up

is where you want a film and television

audition asymmetrical.

And you only want a little bit of head

room.

And in other words, the head room is

the space between the top of your head

and the top of the frame.

So being aware of your framing says a

lot about your care and attention and

your focus.

See, these don't make you bad when

they're done wrong.

They just simply, they make you seem

rushed or just simply unready.

So

I believe this to be true.

Readiness equals respect.

A strong setup respects the viewer's

time.

We can see, we can hear you

when we can do those things clearly.

You have an excellent audition.

Also.

It really does respect your own

craft

and how you feel about yourself.

That value is demonstrated on how you

present yourself,

see your self.

Tape is equal to your personal

audition.

Studio,

we get a sense of your professionalism

with your setup.

What you record communicates as much

as how you perform.

We're going to cover more information

about this right after this.

Now I know that some of the things I've

been mentioning are challenging for

some.

For example, a clear background space

there's not enough room.

You live in a tiny apartment where

they've got cars racing by.

I understand about doing the best you

can.

But there are adjustments that you can

make for any budget or space that you

First of all, be careful.

Do not use a cheap

ring light

for your primary light source.

The reason for that is, many times

actors still put their cell phone in

the middle of the ringlight.

That only gives me circles around your

eyes.

Now, the ringlight can be used as a

primary light source, but consider

putting it on a 45 degree angle, almost

a profile to where your face is, so we

can see one side of your face.

Then there is the fill light, exactly

as the name implies.

That light is the overhead light in

your rooms when you flip on the switch

and there's light in the space.

Now you're giving me a lot of lot of

interest in your face.

Sometimes you don't even need more than

that, just two bulbs.

But here's the thing, you must get the

same kind of bulbs, please.

Yeah, you have to have the cfl bulbs.

The cfl, I don't even know what the

acronym is, but they're like the curly

looking.

Think of the old fashioned light bulb.

But think of it as a curly neon bulb.

Make sure you get outdoor white or

bright white.

The cfl bulb has lumens that replicate

the outdoor, natural lighting.

So when you look at the box, make sure

it says outdoor light or bright white.

You don't want reading light, you don't

want soft white.

You want the very whitest white light

that you can.

And then you need to cover those two

bulbs with parchment paper.

I'm saying two bulbs.

If you don't have a ring light, then

simply, two light sources will work.

Parch white, parchment paper, by the

way, is so incredible.

It's very cheap, and it's been

specially treated to not discolor with

the heat of the bulb, which is, you

know, pretty much a good thing, because

it's not going to kind of

self combust.

You're not going to have a fire issue.

Make sure you never leave lights on

when you're not in the room.

By the way, just that just cross my

mind.

I want to make sure that you are

absolutely safe.

But you know what the thing about

parchment paper is, it really does

diffuse the light.

It softens the light in a way that

doesn't make your skin look harsh or intense.

It really does give a natural sense of

how you look on camera, if you're

watching me on video right now, I got

parchment paper in all my devices.

So if you,

well, if you like the way I look,

consider parchment paper it's very

cheap.

And you can also bait cookies to reward

yourself after your audition.

Just sayin,

I think you should consider it a blank

wall.

If the space is tight and you're

confused about too much or too busy.

If you have to take some things off the

wall just because they're distracting,

or if they're not distracting, if it's

a comfortable looking background where

I'm not sort of taken out by watching

your poster on the wall, then leave it.

It's absolutely fine.

But more often than not, I'm going to

suggest a blank wall.

Now, as far as placement of your camera

is concerned,

I love the idea of a self standing

selfie stick that has a cell phone

holder on it.

What makes that really useful is it's

inexpensive.

But if you can't do that,

use the self standing selfie stick,

then just stack books under a tripod,

or just use a phone mount that you can

attach to a chair or a wall.

But frame yourself correctly.

Remember chest up, remember a little

bit of headroom number, slight asymmetry

in the frame.

Also, your eyeline literally is just

the same

parallel line as where your eyes are

too,

and relational

to the camera.

Lens.

That's.

It.

That's the eyeline it's, as a it's a

horizontal plane that is directly six

to eight inches away from the lens of

the camera.

That's the best bet.

Now, don't forget to test

fifteen seconds of tape is all you need

when you're recording.

Check for lighting, check for sound,

correct angle.

And then, of course, you

have to make sure that you take full

takes.

Full takes,

I still get submissions where we see an

edit taking place, as if the actor did

something wrong and just made a cut and

start it over again, or made a cut and

did a pickup.

That's not helpful, a full take.

But the big secret, as far as full

takes are concerned,

please

give yourself

the three take rule.

Now I understand, I know this is really

hard for some of you, because you

decide that you are going to keep on

doing this audition until you get it

right.

It's an hour and a half later, and now

you're hungry, you're angry.

You're lonely and you're tired.

That spell's halt

hungry.

Angry, lonely, dired.

Stop

don't do that to yourself.

The three take rule is this, I am going

to accomplish this audition in three takes

and then stick to it.

The value of that is so profound.

Literally got an email yesterday from

an actor who said, this has been life changing.

They've booked more.

They're booking more and it's because

you do the preparation,

you also put yourself psychologically

through that

rush of adrenaline and that kind of

nervous energy that we have in

auditions, because, you know, you're

only going to do it in three days,

but you're also conditioning yourself

for when you get the call back.

Because

that director is only going to give

you, perhaps,

at best, might even give you just three

takes.

When you show upon the set, because

you've booked the job,

you might only get three takes.

So my point is, endless takes serve you

not at all.

You've lost all objectivity on your

work, knowing you're going to do it in

three takes, and then making a decision

about which one of those three just

makes good sense on every level.

So replicate

in the professional world

when you do the three take rule.

So if nothing else,

if nothing else, a clean background,

a stable camera,

a natural light, those are things, if

you can do that, that

amount of care that you put into your

audition

is going to be making a statement about

how you feel about your work.

Now, if we were to take it to a

slightly more advanced level,

do what the casting director asks of

you when you submit a self tape

audition.

For example, if they want the slate at

the end, as opposed to at the

beginning, then honor that.

If they want the slate separate,

then do that.

I would never suggest you slate

directly into the camera and then start

acting only because you can use the

technology to your advantage by slating

and keeping that separate.

Now, the transition from the slate

into the audition itself

can be really effective if you do a

cross fade transition,

maybe on a three or a five count,

depending upon the energy of the scene,

what the scene is telling you.

But that cross fade it's a simple task,

it's very easy to do on any software

package of video editing.

If it freaks you out, I understand

meck.

Muck.

Muckara that's right.

Muck around

with a video editing program.

There are many free ones that are out

there, and just see what it looks like

to go from one video source to another

video source in the form of what's

called a cross fade.

It's so useful.

And then, of course, at the end of your

audition,

when you have a thank you for watching

end card,

you have the end beat of the audition,

and you do a slow cross fade into the

thank you for watching guess what?

That time

and attention

that you've given yourself tape

speaks

volumes to your professionalism,

speaks

just truck loads, just bucket loads of

how you feel about your own work.

And that, my friends,

is what garners more attention

from a casting director

hoof that was good.

I hope you found this useful to day.

I had so much fun bringing it to you.

If you have any comments or

suggestions, you can email me it's

really easy.

Casting actors cast all in word at

Gmail dot com.

Don't forget the website.

Casting actors cast dotcom again.

I would appreciate a review or thumbs

up letting others know about the

podcast because I'm going to continue

to grow my audience, because I think

the information is something that you

can literally

hang on to and use as you propel your

career forward.

I'm Geoffrey driesbach.

Thank you so much for taking the time

to listen and watch to day.

We'll see you next time on.

Oh, guess what I forgot.

I have to stop.

I have to stop.

I put together.

Thank you.

For those of you still listening to

this, you're going to really win out

here, because I have a self hape work

sheet I'm showing it in the gamma.

Now case you are hearing the

paper, flutter,

itself tape, set up, audit, work sheet.

It's a single page.

It's downloadable.

And I think you're going to really find

this valuable for every audition.

Just go through this little checklist,

literally, places where you can

just make sure you've accomplished the

things that we've talked about in to

day's podcast.

I think you're going to find that to be

so useful here's how you get it.

I'm going to put it in the same place

as when you fill in your name and your

email.

I'm going to put this self tape

checklist in that as well.

It's a pdf, easy to download.

And I think you're going to find that

helpful and valuable.

Gosh, I was going to,

I know that I was going to probably

mention this earlier, and I completely

forgot, but now, you know, that's the

important thing.

So check it out.

All right, I'm done talking.

Now

I'm Geoffrey drysback.

And this is fine.

After sketches,