Sample notes for an imaginary tape

At three seconds the top of the head is cut off. By twenty seconds you have stepped back, so there is a wide gap above the hair, and the counter cuts across the chest.

One fix: raise the laptop on the books and tilt it until your eyes sit about a third of the way down the picture. Mark that spot with a piece of tape so the next take starts there.

The window is behind you, so the face is darker than the fridge. The face is readable, but the eyes have no small bright spot in them.

One fix: turn to face the window, or hold a white card on the fridge side, close enough that you can see a small bright spot in each eye.

The room is quiet, but the laptop mic is far from your mouth and the fridge hum sits under every line. The reader is louder than you.

One fix: lean a phone at arm's length, just above the laptop, and record on that. Clap once at the start so the tracks are easy to line up.

You say your name after the scene, not before, and you never say the role. When you lean in for the name, you also go soft and out of the light.

One fix: before any line, hold still and say your name, the role Alex, and "take two". Take one breath. Then start the scene.

The reader is off camera left. Three times you look straight into the lens, including the last line, "then don't."

One fix: put a sticky note just beside the lens, on the reader's side, and aim every line at that note. Do not aim at the camera.

The first four lines are rushed. Then you stop for a long beat before "I already told you." The stop is the best timing in the tape. The rush before it throws the stop away.

One fix: say the first two lines at the speed of that stop, not at the speed of getting through the page.

You play the whole scene as angry. The line "take the plant" can be a plea. It hurts more if the anger arrives only on the last sentence.

One fix: play "take the plant" as a request you already expect to be refused. Let the anger land only on "then don't."

• The swallow before "I already told you", around 31 seconds.
• The hand staying on the mug when the reader shouts, around 38 seconds.
• The quieter volume on "take the plant". It is the most controlled sound in the tape, even though the choice is still anger.

One fix: keep these three, and do not add a new face on top of them. They work because the rest of you stays still.

A casting assistant sees a dark face and a cut-off forehead, and hears the scene start with no slate. They do not know your name yet.

One fix: slate first, in the light, with the eyes placed, before any line of the scene.