Five More Acting Tips for Great Audition Self Tapes
Agents and Casting Directors don’t mind you using a smartphone to do your self-tapes, but sometimes it doesn’t look or sound quite right. At ACS, we offer a self tape recording service - an actor can come into our studio and take advantage of a sound proof booth with good lighting and sound, and leave with a high quality recording.
They may have only had the email with the sides on the Wednesday afternoon, and have a 10am deadline on the Friday morning. Not much time to learn the lines, let alone any decent preparation.
ACS offers coaching for actors who are auditioning - from everything from BBC pilots to Netflix shows and Studio Feature Films. Here’s a bunch of tips we would go through with them to help them nail the scenes:
ONE - KNOW YOUR SCENE ANALYSIS
What is literally happening in the scene?
What does your character WANT from the other character?
What OBSTACLES are in the way?
TWO - FIND A ‘HOW’ TO PLAY IT
What MINDSET are you as an actor going to use to play the Scene?
What TACTICS are you going to use to get what you want?
What SUBTEXT can you use to bring the underlying meaning to life and make bold choices?
THREE - PLOT YOUR INTENSITY JOURNEY
What is the INCITING INCIDENT that drives the scene that you need to draw attention to?
What is the dramatic TURNING POINT point of the scene and how will you show it?
What is the dramatic CLIMAX of the scene and how will you show it?
FOUR - EXPLORE YOUR EMOTIONAL JOURNEY
So many Actors get stuck playing ONE emotional state from start to finish, so:
How would you describe your character’s EMOTION at the CLIMAX of the scene?
Where could you START emotionally that is markedly DIFFERENT to that?
Where MIGHT YOU HAVE GONE emotionally between those points?
FIVE - SHOW SOME RANGE
Often you’ll have more than one scene to shoot for your character so:
What’s DIFFERENT about your Character’s behaviour in this scene to the other?
What CONTRAST do you think the Casting Director might want to see?
Even the most experienced actors can find these questions hard or cumbersome when they’re working on their own. Sometimes they need experienced and objective advice to help them navigate the choppy waters of self-doubt, and plot a course to a more confident destination.
Instinct alone or ‘winging it’ isn’t likely to book the job. All too often the lone wolf actor will end up making vague and nonspecific choices which will result in a flat performance lacking dynamics. The fear of failure results in the lack of making bold choices - and this risk averse behaviour more often than not leads to continued unemployment.
Go bold, or stay home.
Nick J Field
Principal and Studio Producer
Professional Diploma Course Leader
