3 Things I Love About Self-Tapes & Virtual Auditions
It’s the new way of doing the old business of auditioning
(By Javier Guerra)
(Photo: Anete Lusina | Pexels)
So, I used to own this flip phone. And I thought it was just the coolest thing in the world. Especially when the man at the store that I bought it from said that I could rotate the camera to film myself without having to physically turn the phone around.
Today, I wouldn’t be caught dead holding a flip phone. It’s a relic of the past. It’s a junk object that you store in your attic and pull out every once in a while, to remember the good ole days.
That may soon be the fate of the in-person audition. It, too, may soon be an old relic; an activity as outdated as renting DVDs from Blockbuster.
Virtual auditions, and especially virtual callbacks, just seem to be the “it” thing, now. It’s the new way of doing the old business of auditioning. It offers many advantages that I love! But, let me zero in on the three things I appreciate the most about virtual auditions.
#1: No Logistical Nightmares
Before Covid, when in-person auditions were the norm, I would receive my breakdown, read over the details and come to an unsettling realization:
I don’t know where the hell my audition location is!
If the location was in an unfamiliar part of LA, I would get nervous because I knew it would be a challenge trying to get to my destination.
With virtual auditions, I’ve got no worries. I already know the location of my audition. It’s in the spare bedroom of my apartment. How cool is that!
#2: No parking issues
(Photo: Anete Lusina | Pexels)
Parking in Los Angeles is a nightmare also. With in-person auditions, parking was half the battle. Or at least 25% of it.
For real! If you could just win the battle to find a parking space that was close to the audition room, you were winning! Because finding decent parking is always a challenge in LA.
With virtual auditions, I ain’t gotta worry about parking. The only thing I park is my lazy butt on a chair before I turn on my device and prepare for my audition.
#3: No unfamiliar audition rooms
Another thing I like about virtual auditions is that I don’t have to go to an unfamiliar audition room. Looking back on it, actors were really at a disadvantage when it came to in-person auditions.
We had to perform an unfamiliar role in an unfamiliar place. You never knew if the room would be cold or warm, big or intimate, cluttered or empty. You didn’t know where your mark would be or where the camera would be positioned. These variables put actors at a disadvantage because you had to adjust to external factors that sometimes distracted you from your acting work.
Virtual auditions give actors more control over some of these variables. We don’t need to go in an “own” the room. We literally own the room! We don’t have to adjust to our surroundings because we have complete control over them. We can adjust them however we see fit.
By the way, if you have a flip phone, don’t be dumb enough to throw it away. That thing will be worth millions in about 50 years!
But for now, leave it in the attic and be glad for l-phones and virtual auditions.
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