Student Blog: Learning to Love the Self-Tape Era

I never dreamt that being an actor meant being on my phone or laptop every single day. But... it does. I live on Actors Access and now take my classes on Zoom. I've done virtual live callbacks, and countless self-tapes. Ever since signing to an agency, I've learned even more about how engaged you must be to respond to the emails just in time to confirm availabilities or submit that special audition. I don't even remember to wear my blue light glasses anymore - it's past saving the eyes at this point. But, I have found some silver lining in this virtual world of theatre/auditioning. It took a lot of time to get to where I am now, and not without a fight, either.

Setting Up Your Space: I fought buying a ring light and a tripod for years. I had decided that, for just a short while, a lamp without a shade propped up on a bed side table would be good enough. And then, propping my IPhone on top of the bare-naked lightbulb for the actually video-taping. Chaos! This mess made the process of self-taping absolutely infuriating. I battled the shadows that showed up behind me in every video, and the tumbling cell phone mid-climax of my song. So, my first piece of advice is... cough up the coin. Once I spent a good $100 on a tripod and ring light, and set aside a special room for my taping, it made everything so much easier. That way, I could focus on the material and the objectives I wanted to accomplish within them. Instead of spending hours on one audition, I could knock it out as quickly as I wanted.

Learning How To Self Assess: I've grown to love watching back my self-tapes. It's a private and peaceful way to see where I am and where I want to be. In a lot of my classes, before receiving any kind of feedback, I am first asked how I thought I did. I feel like I can always give a good and thorough answer to that question because I am so used to analyzing my work on my own time. My Youtube page is three movie's worth of songs and monologues (unlisted, of course), that I can go back on and see how much I've grown. With all the free time we have being virtual for classes, I often record songs and monologues for no reason other than testing my ability. It's become a fun way to practice without any stakes at all. Lean into that and you might start realizing that you have more potential than you ever thought!

Finding the Comfort: So, you've got a callback for a summer stock, and they want you to log into a Zoom meeting at 12:15pm on a Friday. You roll out of bed, take a shower, get all dolled up, and set up your space like we talked about. Yes, it's weird that you are screlting "Get Out and Stay Out," in your bedroom while your roommate listens across the hall. But, let that be a calming factor for you. Instead of going to an open call with 50 strangers listening through the door, you are in the comfort of your own room with your loving friends giggling downstairs. Appreciate that you don't have to drive down a cluttered highway for miles and miles but instead just walked from your bathroom to your desk. It's been an adjustment - slowly starting to sing on stages in our masks versus free in our rooms. Life is full of adjustments. So, for now, settle in the normality of those virtual callbacks and enjoy the ease of it all. Fix that wifi and drop in!

As crazy as it sounds, a set-up can really make or break an audition. So can your mindset. Find the specific things that you as an individual must do to be completely relaxed and prepared for a virtual endeavor. Then, after you press submit, re-watch your audition with an open mind and heart. Take something away from that video that you can use to improve upon the next one. It doesn't have to be all bad, and let's face it, this is our reality now. I've submitted more self-tapes in the past six months than I probably ever will in such a short span of time. But I've grown immeasurably and learned countless lessons. One day, you will be comparing that self-tape to your exact performance of it on the stage or screen. Keep plugging along... pun intended.

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