Zoom or online auditions are more and more common now. Here are some little pointers to ensure things go smoothly:
If you’re not already, get yourself familiar with Zoom; know how to turn your video on and off and be able to unmute quickly; know how to hide your video if you find it distracting; make sure wherever you are zooming from has a good internet connection, ensure that others in the house are aware that you are in a meeting and ask them to avoid coming into the room or making too much noise.
As with face-to-face auditions, you may find appointments run behind. When online, this feels odd because you can never be sure if they’ve seen you/if you’re in the right place. If the chat feature is available, try using that to get assurance. If you’re still waiting after 20 minutes it’s worth getting in touch with us and we can follow up, but before that be patient and grab a book. A lot of actors find it helpful to turn their camera off but leave the sound on, that way you can hear them when they are on screen and you can turn your camera on yourself so you don’t get caught picking your nose!
When reading the scene, feel free to ask about eye-line - do they want you to look into camera? Or off to one side? Make sure you don’t go too profile or look down too much - cheat it for camera just as you would a usual self-tape/recording casting.
Please also be aware that the casting dircetor/director may or may not be visible. Sometimes there may be one person on video telling you what to do and them the booming voice of the director sounds out Wizard of Oz style. Sometimes there may be a few black squares if there are a number of people watching without their camera on. It’s not ideal and we think rather disrespectful, but it does happen so try to just focus your attention on the casting director (usually they will be visible for you) or failing that just look at the camera and listen.
Have something to do afterwards - it’s always an odd feeling when the meeting is ended and you let out a sigh to a quiet empty room. Have something planned to work off the adrenaline as you would usually coming out of the casting and wandering around soho, for example.
Technical Checks before you start:
It’s worth testing your camera and microphone set up with a friend before your meeting. You can test your mic and increase or decrease your Input volume in Audio Settings by clicking on the little arrow next to the mute button.
Make sure your device is charged or plugged in and have another device nearby incase of failure.
Have your hotspot on your phone ready incase internet goes down and have the meeting link ready.
Just as you would for a self tape, make sure you have a good spot to film - plain, tidy background, away from any noises with good lighting.
Consider the angle, for example it might be worth putting your laptop on a pile of books to ensure you’re at eye-level.
If you’d prefer you can “Hide Self View” by clicking onto the 3 blue dots at the top left of your video.