13133: Stop Bitching About Changes In How We Audition. Right Now.
Hey there, hero!
The complaints about on-camera self-tapes have got to stop. Like, now.
Yes, it’s different than it used to be.
But to rail against it is a super huge waste of time.
And you on-camera folk that are so pissed off that you have to do most of your auditions at home should take a page out of the voice over talent playbook. Because we’ve been auditioning at home for decades, and we’ve learned to leverage it to our advantage.
And you should do the same.
Yes, it’s different, and might be a bit more difficult the first few times you do it. But it really isn’t the onerous responsibility that some would have you believe.
And no, you shouldn’t be paid for it. There are advantages to home self-tapes that more than make up for the disadvantages. And there are millions of free tutorials on how to do a competitive on-camera self tape, even if all you have is a window with natural light and a mobile phone.
It is what it is. Stop bitching, grab a new skill and get back to acting.
Agree? Disagree? Sad that I’m not being more sensitive to your struggles with technology? Let me know in the comments below.
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Raw transcript:
Raw transcript:
listen I’m just gonna come out and say
it
some of you
some of you have an attitude problem and
some of you have forgotten the very
basics of what it means to be a working
adult
in the performance arts
and I’m about to engage in a few minutes
of tough love with those of you who have
forgotten that and we’ll do that in this
episode of the vo Heroes podcast
[Music]
so I was talking with an actor the other
day who was just going on and on and on
about how awful it was that we now are
predominantly
for on-camera work doing self tapes at
home uh and by the way just a little
side note I love that we still call them
self tapes because nobody’s used tape
for this ever
like it’s all been digital recording but
we still the Vestige of of videotape has
stayed with us for so long anyway I
digress uh here’s the thing
this notion of changing technology as we
do our jobs as actors is something that
I feel like I constantly have to remind
some people who are in this business
about
uh you get used to a particular State of
Affairs
uh in the early 2000s it was driving
around Los Angeles for me anyway driving
around Los Angeles with a Thomas guide
the Thomas guide was a book of maps that
that quadranted off the city in blocks
and you could find your way you had to
go from A6 to B17 and go down you know
Mulholland or whatever that was the way
we did it before Google Maps or you know
the notion of going to a casting office
as opposed to doing work at home where
you have a lot more control you can do
takes as often as you want as many times
as you want I don’t suggest you do that
but you can you can choose whatever you
want to do in terms of your approach
we have choices and sometimes those
choices are defined for us
you can either do this or this but I
want to remind you of something change
is inevitable
it’s going to happen you can’t stop it
I was recently in a session where uh I
reminded people that at one point in
time there was only the stage
in the 1800s and before there was only
the stage and then in the late 1800s
somebody Thomas Edison you you know
correct me if I’m wrong if you think it
wasn’t him but somebody
uh you know Maria somebody developed
film oh my gosh another option oh but I
gotta go audition for a film role darn
it you know and then oh my gosh they
invented radio and radio was an option
for performers and then Along Came
television and you had to do things with
different lights and with these cameras
that were moving and it was foisted upon
us this technology and then what
happened oh there was set top uh
networks like Apple TV and Amazon Prime
and Netflix and Hulu and and all these
other options that we now were forced to
audition for streaming YouTube Tick Tock
oh my gosh listen
we as performers don’t just get to do
the fun stuff the acting part we also
have to do the administration part the
grunt work part the part that isn’t so
much fun
uh a salesperson gets to sell somebody a
big contract but then they have to go
back to the office and sometimes do
their own uh print work and invoicing
work and billing work and they have to
do that if they want to get paid they
have to get the money to the company
that they’re selling for it’s it’s the
side of that job that isn’t all that
much fun
but it’s part of what we do and when
people complain about on-camera self
tapes I’m reminded of the fact that as a
voice Talent we’ve been doing self tapes
for decades for I remember the day very
clearly that I convinced my agent in
2004 that I wanted to do a self tape let
me just record this for you and send you
the end oh no no no no we have a studio
here at the agency we have an engineer
that works for us
and I couldn’t get there and I sent I I
convinced her to let me do it and then
she called me she goes how do you get
your mic to sound like that at home
that’s great you know so
Time Marches On
things are going to change the way
things are today might be different in a
year or two who knows
but
raising your fist to the heavens and
screaming that you’re under attack by
the industry or by casting people or by
directors or networks or Studios it’s
convenient to do that
but it is entirely unproductive
the better thing to do I kid you not
is to have a generous and open approach
with yourself and your own well-being
and know that you’re not going to change
these rules you’re not
you’re not going to get paid for doing
auditions you’re not going to avoid
doing auditions at home it’s not
happening just like all those
opportunities aren’t going away for now
but I want you to give me a comment
below this video tell me what your
thoughts are when you’re being forced to
do things that you hadn’t planned on
when you decided to become an actor way
back when
or when you decided to become a voice
Talent way back when
tell me how awful this is for you and
tell me that the joy that you have when
you get to do the audition when you even
get to do something where you get booked
on it tell me that doesn’t make up for
it
tell me that they don’t messenger
scripts over to you anymore they don’t
send cars for you anymore there’s a
whole lot of things that have changed
they also give you gluten-free options
at the crafts table
so a lot of things have changed are you
happy about it or are you just railing
against the heavens I I had to get that
off my chest you get your comment off
your chest tell me in in the comments
below and by that I mean on veoheros.com
where the conversation hopefully is calm
and sane and and and polite with each
other generous with each other hit that
like button if what you’re hearing
resonates with you you can subscribe to
the channel if you want to you can hit
the notification Bell for when new
episodes come out I’d love it if you do
that and pass this on to that actor or
voice talent that decided to take you
out to lunch and complain to you for an
hour that to take advantage of
opportunities in our business they have
to change how they do their grunt work
how they do their Administration work
okay I’m David H Lawrence the 17th I
thank you so much for watching and for
listening and I will see you in the next
episode of the vo Heroes podcast
[Music]
(from YouTube)
My response to this is: be like Bruce Springsteen. Back in the day, it was thought that the only way to get a decent sound for a record was to use a fancy studio. Home studios were just for producing demo recordings. Some were good (witness “McCartney”), some were really bad. It wasn’t until Tascam came out with the 144 Portastudio, and Bruce used it to record his greatest album, “Nebraska”, that musicians said, “Wow, you CAN get great results at home and not spend a fortune to do so!” I myself got the next generation, a 244, and spent a lot of time playing with it for my own songs and learning about mic placement, room noises, etc. My setup for recording audiobooks is the natural evolution from the Portastudio. As I see it, you have two options: 1) kvetch about how things have changed, or 2) embrace the change, have fun with it and generate some work for yourself. Guess which one I prefer?
I began doing self-tapes for on-camera YEARS before my agent started encouraging it. I consider my time too valuable to get in the car, wait in their lobby, do my audition, then get back in my car to go home. My agent actually bristled at me being “the only talent who doesn’t come into the office.” Now, of course, they don’t even DO on-camera auditions at their office.
To be fair, I’ve also been on the production side for nearly five decades, so self-taping was no big deal. But now with technology, and as you said, the ability to step in front of a cell phone near a window and “just get it done,” nobody should be complaining about this at all.
It’s the price of admission to the business, IMO.
OMG!
Thomas Bros. Maps. That brings me back.
I know! How did we do it? I remember driving my old Volvo around the Hollywood Hills trying to find a manger’s home office while glancing down at a map and trying to navigate twists and turns.
Oh, I love you!! Thank you for this! Tough love is so needed and rare these days. I 💯 agree with all of this.
I love self-tapes! They allow me to audition while being a stay-at-home dad. They allow me to have a career as an actor that I wouldn’t have otherwise. They’re fun, easy, and convenient. I can’t say enough good things about them. Yay self-tapes!
This is so true. I don’t like to talk about it that much because it’s been a sea change for me. I was booking audiobooks this way for years and years and now that self-tape became the dominant model I’ve never booked more on-camera work. You control the environment, the time to record, and get to pick your best take. What’s not to like? For me it creates so much less anxiety and I feel confident in what I submit. In person auditions meant commuting, waiting with other under-pressure artists, and reading with someone who may be exhausted or distracted and you’re lucky to get more than one take. That’s really tough under the best of circumstances. So- yeah, David, I agree. Quit the bitching.
I’m with Chris B—I LOVE self-tapes and all the changes technology has brought to the industry. There’s never been a better time to be a storyteller. There’s more opportunity than ever, and a direct connection to clients and audiences who want to hear, see, and pay for our work and contributions.
And as a brand new stay-at-home-dad, self-tapes are a very welcome new normal. Auditions that would have taken half a day now take me an hour or so, and almost always when baby is napping.
Thank you for reminder to stay positive, to keep things in perspective, and to embrace the ever-evolving nature of our work.
Thank you, David, for this spot-on “tough love.”
Self taping became a positive challenge before the pandemic, and then quarantine gave us the time to up our game. It was now a new, exciting challenge – seeking out new equipment, new systems, new methods of filming, editing. Establishing those systems and methods, so that we then could do our acting work unencumbered by worrying about the tech.
It’s a shift in how we do business and, as you say here, we need to embrace the change and meet it.
The complaining is a distraction. The joy is in the work.
Thanks for the giggle! I love that I don’t have to make multiple cassettes (video or audio) or even mini audio reels to send out for auditions. Yeah, I am that old, uh, I mean vintage. How cool that I can slip into my home studio, record, edit (without a razor), and then click my audition up to the Great Decider. There’s no crying in Voice Over! (Unless it is scripted.)
“The only constant is life is change.” – Heraclitus.