{"id":2402,"date":"2019-06-26T14:34:23","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T14:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/?p=2402"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T14:20:17","slug":"embracing-self-taping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/the-essentials\/embracing-self-taping\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Embrace the Self-Tape"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>A\u00a0performer-perspective on embracing the self-tape&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>For those who don\u2019t know: a \u2018self-tape\u2019 is a way of an actor being seen for a role. Despite being a fairly recent introduction, it has, in many cases, overtaken the conventional meet and greet. For casting directors, it saves money, time and space. It allows them to see a greater selection of performers for any given role. It gives them something to start, stop and re-watch. Seizing control of the process seems advantageous and necessary for our career as a performer. But many actors hold a great aversion to the process of taping, drastically preferring the traditional face to face audition\u2026<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why Don\u2019t We Like Self-Tapes?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Many actors feel overwhelmed with having to manage an entire other aspect of their audition: not just their performance, but also having to\u00a0<em>direct<\/em>\u00a0their performance and process the footage. Actors are now having to fumble around with cables, cameras and editing software. Having this level of control equates to fastidiously checking and re-taping readings. \u201cI blinked too much in that take, let me do it again,\u201d or \u201cthe lighting is better in this one but my accent wasn\u2019t as good as before,\u201d and \u201cthere was too much background noise in that recording,\u201d and so on, for hours on end!<\/p>\n<p>Due to the finite communication with the casting director we fuss over our ONE chance to present an interpretation of a character, meaning if we have misunderstood the piece we have \u2018blown\u2019 our chances. Additionally, the role is likely to be highly sought after as casting directors can see a greater variety and number of applicants for any given role. You will be \u2018in competition\u2019 with actors from all across the world in some instances.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why We Should Embrace the Self-Tape<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Whatever we feel about self-taping, it is definitely an important and useful skill to get a handle on. Reframing our perception of it could be radically transformative and liberating. There are benefits, after all: you don\u2019t have to deal with audition room nerves, so you can perform more calmly, at your pace, and access emotions which might have been otherwise more difficult. Having a window of time to prepare, record and submit a piece grants you the freedom to fit the audition into your life, allowing you to get along with your job\/day and record the piece when most \u2018mentally ready\u2019. You can get all your \u2018bad takes\u2019 and slip outs out of the way, giving you the ability to have complete control over how you want to be seen &#8211; extending this even more with your characters costume, makeup etc. And despite posing as a technological hurdle for many of us, you can learn some lighting and editing techniques to impress casting directors with. This also becomes more accessible from not having to spend time and money in not having to travel to and from an audition, too.<\/p>\n<h3>The Key Tips for Successful Self-Taping<\/h3>\n<p>You might be afraid of the expense of a fancy camera and recording equipment\u2026 but needing these in order to self-tape is a myth! You can just record on your phone. You don\u2019t need to buy any software either &#8211; there are reliable and simple apps available for you to download for free.<\/p>\n<p>The backdrop to your self-tape is also easy to set up and doesn\u2019t have to be expensive. Having a clear, clean, neutral background is vital. Ideally, it is best to have a plain coloured back drop which compliments your complexion and doesn\u2019t wash you out. This also means minimal distraction \u2013 the casting director is just focused on you and your performance. Once you find a good routine, it can become a much quicker process than traditional auditions.<\/p>\n<p>The reduced anxiety from not having to meet people and travel for an audition, gifts you a chance to become less attached and therefore less \u2018precious\u2019 about your performance. Use this your advantage.<\/p>\n<p>As actors we should relinquish any negativity towards self-taping and look at the positives. It\u2019s an opportunity to stand out and be seen for work we otherwise might not be seen for. Seize it as a chance to learn and showcase new abilities.<\/p>\n<p>Taking a step back and a better look at the whole concept allowed me to find how I could use this process to my advantage. After teaching and practising new methods, I\u2019ve got so much more confidence towards self-taping. Never thought I\u2019d say it, but I am actually welcoming the next self-tape that comes my way!<\/p>\n<p><em><span class=\"imgLeftSmall\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-replace hoverZoomLink\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/spotlightuk\/image\/fetch\/w_400,c_limit\/https:\/\/spotlight-cmsmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/2159\/laurenmccrostie4460web.jpeg\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/spotlightuk\/image\/fetch\/w_{width},c_limit\/https:\/\/spotlight-cmsmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/2159\/laurenmccrostie4460web.jpeg\" \/><\/span>Lauren McCrostie is an actress and writer based in London. Previous acting work includes Tim Burton\u2019s &#8216;Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children&#8217; and Carol Morley\u2019s \u2018The Falling\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Image credit: Ross Ferguson\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A\u00a0performer-perspective on embracing the self-tape&#8230; For those who don\u2019t know: a \u2018self-tape\u2019 is a way of an actor being seen for a role. Despite being a fairly recent introduction, it has, in many cases, overtaken the conventional meet and greet. For casting directors, it saves money, time and space. It allows them to see a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":3039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[82,133,71],"class_list":["post-2402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-essentials","tag-first-person","tag-lauren-mccrostie","tag-self-taping"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Embrace the Self-Tape | Spotlight<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to embrace self-taping and use it to your advantage. Discover tips for successful setup, reduced anxiety, and creative control.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/the-essentials\/embracing-self-taping\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Embrace the Self-Tape | Spotlight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how to embrace self-taping and use it to your advantage. Discover tips for successful setup, reduced anxiety, and creative control.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/the-essentials\/embracing-self-taping\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spotlight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-26T14:34:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-17T14:20:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/b07c0526-89ca-4a23-bf1e-a1ad56d411ad-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren McCrostie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lauren McCrostie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lauren McCrostie\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb58584af30a11f4b464655c631dc098\"},\"headline\":\"How to Embrace the Self-Tape\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-26T14:34:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T14:20:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":800,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/b07c0526-89ca-4a23-bf1e-a1ad56d411ad-scaled.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"first person\",\"lauren mccrostie\",\"self-taping\"],\"articleSection\":[\"The Essentials\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Embrace the Self-Tape | Spotlight\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/news-and-advice\\\/the-essentials\\\/embracing-self-taping\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/b07c0526-89ca-4a23-bf1e-a1ad56d411ad-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-26T14:34:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-17T14:20:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.spotlight.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb58584af30a11f4b464655c631dc098\"},\"description\":\"Learn how to embrace self-taping and use it to your advantage. 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