While I haven’t had a lot of self-tape auditions, I have had enough that I feel pretty good about my setup. There are still a few things that I want to get to make my self-tape auditions better, but nothing is desperately needed. But I have a feeling that even when auditions can be held in-person again, there will still be more self-tape auditions than there were before the pandemic. And I’m ok with this because I’m happy for any auditions I can get!
All of my self-tape auditions have been on video. Some have been for tv shows and some for commercials. I don’t think I’ve had a movie self-tape yet, but it’s the same idea as tv and commercial auditions. They are filmed and it’s on-camera. I have a place in my house that I use for recording these because the light is the best and I have a way to set up my tripod and everything else I need to look the best I can. And I know I have to look good when I do them. I might wear sweats on the bottom with a nice top or dress on top, but I look presentable and have my hair and makeup done.
But not all auditions are on video. Voiceover auditions are just sound recordings. I rarely audition for voiceovers, but I have had them in the past. But those auditions were all done at a casting office or recording studio where they had a sound booth to do the audition in. I know that recording voiceover auditions (and even some jobs) at home has been common for a long time, but it’s not something I had any experience in.
Until this past weekend.
I got an audition notice from my commercial agent about a voiceover commercial audition. It was pretty simple, only 2 lines, but it needed to be done at home. I guess I could have rented a recording studio for my audition, but that would have cost money and I knew it wasn’t necessary. My audition didn’t have to be perfect, but I needed to find a way to make things as clear sounding as possible.
I knew using my external mic on my phone was going to be the best option. I guess I could have tried my headphones, but I know that things usually sound better on the mic than when I use my headphones. And I also knew that clothing and fabric are great for soundproofing and muffling other noises so a lot of people recommend recording in your closet. But my closet is a weird shape where it’s almost like a little hallway with the handing rods in the back. I did try doing one take in there, but it was very echoey and you could hear some ambient noise.
So I did some research online for other options and one that kept coming up was recording under a blanket. Covering yourself with a blanket is the same idea as being in a closet. You have fabric all around you and have a good chance to not have any echoes. I don’t own a ton of blankets, but I figured the comforter on my bed would work. And I didn’t have to sit up to do this, so I got back into bed with my phone in front of me to have the script up and my mic near my face.
I still did a few different takes to make sure I had a take that I liked. There were a few where it didn’t sound the way I wanted it to, but that was about my performance and not any outside noise coming in. It didn’t take too long, but I still took my time doing this. And after doing a little bit of editing to cut out the dead air at the beginning and end, my audition was done and ready to be submitted!
I don’t know if I want to try to pursue more voiceover work. There are a lot of things I don’t know about doing voiceovers that I should learn if I want to do it more often. But it was fun to play with it this time and it would be really cool if I booked it! I don’t expect to since I know some of the other women who auditioned for this part are very experienced in voiceover. But no matter what, it was another day to audition and have fun. And anything that makes me happy and brings joy into my life these days is amazing!
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