Mastering filmed auditions is a core skill for any professional actor. While it can feel intimidating at first, if you make sure to follow some simple steps and practise the basics, you’ll be able to deliver outstanding performances that really set you apart from the crowd.

Setting Up Your Filmed Audition

It’s easy to stress over making sure you have the perfect camera setup but most casting directors aren’t judging you on your ability to film and light a scene. So long as you use a tripod and film in a well-lit space with a single colour backdrop, you’ll already be most of the way there.

It’s important to make sure you capture the whole of your performance, however. For monologues, a medium or medium close-up (showing the torso and head) will likely be enough. For full-body performances, such as those that involve dance too, you’ll need to place the camera further back to make sure you’re clearly in the frame.

Before filming your performance, make sure to carefully consider how much of your body should be in the frame, so you can set your camera up perfectly.

Performance Tips

At Italia Conti, our actors learn how to tailor their performance to the medium they’re working in. It can be tempting to treat filmed auditions as a medium of their own, matching your energy to the needs of a single camera in the same room as you. However, we strongly recommend that you resist this urge.

Casting directors know what they’re looking for. When casting for a stage performance they need to see that you can project your emotions to a room. When casting for film and television they’ll want to see that you’re familiar with the conventions and acting choices of the genre you’re working in, be it a laid-back, irreverent comedy or a serious drama.

How Italia Conti Prepare Students for Filmed Auditions

In a filmed audition of an actor, casting directors want to see deliberate, informed decisions. That’s why we focus so strongly on ensuring that our performers are versed in a wide range of acting styles.

To give our BA (Hons) Acting students the confidence they need to nail their filmed auditions we start by grounding them in the basic schools of acting through a series of both contemporary and classical projects. From Chekhov to Shakespeare – along with a healthy dose of 21st-century projects – we start with a broad foundation before moving on to more focused pieces.

Alongside their projects, second-year students learn a variety of camera and audio techniques, built around recorded media auditions specifically.

In the third year, we push our students to prepare for their careers with a real focus on all things professional. Italia Conti students get to learn directly from industry experts so that when they step into the professional space, they have the right foundation to progress with confidence.

With the perfect blend of skill, technique and presence, you can nail your filmed audition every time.