Self-tape checklist: what to check before you press record
Most self-tape problems are not about acting. They are about a laptop camera left where it landed, a light behind you instead of in front of you, or a file nobody double-checked before it was sent. Run through this list before you hit record, and again before you hit send.
Framing
Set the camera so your eyes land about a third of the way down the frame, with room above your head but not a gap. Check the bottom of the frame too. Casting usually wants a medium close-up: roughly chest to just above the head.
Stand or sit where you will actually perform, then check the frame from that spot. A frame that looked right from across the room is not the same as the frame you get once you sit down.
Eyeline
Decide where your reader will stand before you set up the camera, then keep your eyeline just beside the lens, on that side, for the whole take. Do not look into the lens itself unless the scene specifically calls for direct address.
If you are working with no reader, pick a fixed mark near the lens and stay honest to it, rather than drifting toward the camera as the scene gets more intense.
Light
Face a window or a lamp; do not sit with either behind you. A single light in front of you, at roughly eye height, does more than a bright room lit from everywhere.
Look for a small bright point in each eye once you are lit. If your eyes look flat and dark, the light is probably behind or above you rather than in front.
Sound
Get a microphone closer to your mouth than a laptop can manage: a phone propped near the frame, or a headset mic just out of shot, both beat a built-in laptop mic.
Turn off anything that hums: a fridge, an air conditioner, a fan. Record ten seconds of silence first and listen back with headphones before you commit to a room.
Background
Pick a plain wall or a background with nothing that pulls focus: no posters, no doorways with people walking past, no bright colours competing with your face.
A closet with clothes pushed to the sides, or a plain wall with a lamp added, works for most self-tapes without buying anything.
Slate
Know your name, the role, and anything else the breakdown asked for, in that order, before you start recording. Say it plainly, in the light, with your eyes already placed where they need to be for the scene.
If the casting notice gives a specific slate format, follow that format over any general habit. See the slate guide below for the full order of information.
Reader
Whoever reads with you should stay close to the lens, keep their voice down so it does not compete with yours, and read at a normal pace rather than acting the part.
If nobody is available, a recorded reader track or a slower run with pauses you edit later both work better than aiming every line at an empty room.
File naming and format
Name the file the way the casting notice asks: usually your name and the role, nothing else. Export at a common format like MP4 so anyone can open it without special software.
Keep the file size reasonable. A tape that fails to upload or takes forever to load gets less attention than one that opens right away.
Watch it back once
Before you send anything, watch the whole tape once, at normal volume, on the device you would actually use to review it. Check the first three seconds and the last three seconds specifically, since those are what a viewer sees first and remembers last.
If something is wrong, it is almost always faster to fix the setup and record again than to hope nobody notices.
If you want a second, specific set of eyes on the tape itself once it is recorded, Plain Take writes notes on one self-tape for $12, delivered on a private page. See how it works.
These notes are produced by an AI system and checked automatically before delivery. No person reviews them. They are not from a casting director. They do not promise a booking.