you should still wear pants (& other useful tips for auditioning from home)
It’s crazy the things one can do with a webcam and the internet nowadays. You can talk face-to-face with family members overseas, baby talk to your cat while away at school (guilty), and interview for jobs. There’s even marriage via Skype! For actors, there’s something even more amazing you can do with these tools. Audition! That’s right, audition – from the comfort of your own home! (If you’re asked to, of course). Auditioning via video chat is increasingly common in this technological age; Skype, Google Hangout, and other video chat applications are amazing professional tools that you should be familiar with as an actor. It may seem overwhelming, but once you master the use of video chat, doors can open to a plethora of career opportunities. Here are a few general tips to make your audition fly off the screen (but not literally because that would be terrifying and not okay):
Location, location, location:
Choose an appropriate location for your online audition; an area that has good lighting and a quiet atmosphere is ideal. You want to be seen AND heard. Preferably without looking like a floating, severed head or having your voice overpowered by the construction team who is demolishing your house (or that conversation your cat is having…. no? Just my cat? Gotcha).
Location, location, location:
Did we also mention you want to place yourself in front of a plain colored wall? As cool as your ten-foot, psychedelic, black light, unicorn mural is, YOU should be what we’re paying attention to.
Can you hear me now?:
Solid internet connection is the most important thing when auditioning online. I’m sorry, did that break up? Solid internet connection is the most important thing when auditioning online.
Be prepared!:
Preparation with a capital “P,” and we don’t just mean knowing your lines – we mean all aspects of presenting yourself professionally. Make sure you have the username of the person / company you’ll be calling andfind them within the program, BEFORE your audition time. You should also familiarize yourself with the program you’ll utilize for your audition. Read a how-to! Watch a Youtube walk through! Withthe vast amounts of information on the internet you CAN make it happen!
Who’s awesome? Early people are awesome:
Be early for your audition time. It might seem simple, but guess what? It is a MUST. You should treat your online audition as if it were in-person, we KNOW you wouldn’t be late to the casting office! With online auditions there’s a lot that could go wrong, so minimize those chances and be online and ready to go AT LEAST five minutes before your scheduled time. Do that and you’ll be one step closer to being in everyone’s love books.
Be professional:
The bottom line is that video chat auditions are still auditions. Use appropriate discretion: you have just as much a chance to be hired from a Skype audition as you do an in-person one. From how prepared you are to how you communicate during your audition call, every aspect of your audition should show that you’re a professional and that you’re ready to do your job. Because really, how professional do you think that casting director or director will think you are if your video chat username is, “ChocoChunkLuver77?”
There you have it. A starting line for your video chat audition success! Oh, and one last little tip: even if you’re auditioning from home, you should still wear pants.
(cm)