How to Film Audition

You’ve written your script and secured financing, or hopefully securing financing, for your film. Now comes the tedious act of finding the perfect actors for your audition. Filming an audition is not as simple as it may see;, however with several steps you can ensure a productive audition that is filmed perfectly so you’ll never review the audition tapes and think “She’s a great actress, I only wish I could see/hear her!”

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Camera
• Tape
• External Microphone
• Computer

Filming an Audition

1. Take the tape you have gathered and place it on the floor where you plan on having the actors stand. It’s a good idea to place this strip of tape at least seven feet away from the actual camera you will be using to film. When the actors arrive, tell them to stand on this strip of tape.

2. Test the camera focus by having one of your casting associates stand on the strip of tape and then focus the camera for this distance between camera and person. By doing this, you will not have to worry about re-focusing the camera every time a new actor comes in. The most you will have to do is readjust the camera height in case you have an actor that is really tall or shot come in to audition.

3. Connect an external microphone to your audition camera so you can make sure the camera accurately picks up his or her voice while auditioning. If you do not have an external microphone, you can rent them at various photography and camera stores. However, it is a good idea to invest in an external microphone for your actual movie shooting, and not just the audition.

4. Turn the camera off in-between each actor and then turn it back on when a new actor comes in to audition. This will allow you to easily create “scenes” for each actor, making the tape review extremely simple.

5. Organize the actors that come in by creating a spreadsheet on a computer. Write the actors name down and then beside them write down the time slate that is found on the camera. If you do not have a camera that performs this, simply write down the “scene number” those actors is featured in. An example of this would be when the 7th actor comes in to audition, write their name down and then write "Scene 7" next to his or her name, this way when you are reviewing the tape you know that the seventh scene is a certain actor.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure to always adjust the focus when needed when a new actor comes in to audition. The last thing you will need is to review the audition tapes only to find that the actors are out-of-focus.
• If possible, have a casting associate run the camera during the audition process.
• Always bring back-up tapes in case the auditions run longer.
• By not keeping a spreadsheet of actors that have auditioned in your computer, it will be difficult to remember who actors auditioned.

Resources

• Acting/Filmmaking Tips