Vertical Filming for Self-Tapes
Most actors think they should never film vertically when creating self-taped auditions. While that’s mostly true, there is one exception: the full body slate. In this case, you can film vertically—as long as that vertical video (9:16) is exported inside a horizontal/wide (16:9) wrapper. Confused yet? Stick with me.
Today, I want to talk about why the full body shot can be tricky when taping at home, and give you a couple of workarounds so you can deliver exactly what casting is asking for.
For most commercial/corporate auditions, and some theatrical (film/TV) ones, you’ll be instructed to include a full body shot in your slate. If you’ve tried it, you know it’s not easy—especially if your smartphone doesn’t have a wide-angle lens. The main issue is space: to fit your whole body into a horizontal frame, you have to move your phone and tripod way back. The taller you are, the harder it gets. And the farther back you go, the more of your room creeps into the frame, which can distract from you—the actor they’re actually interested in.
Fortunately, there are a couple of simple solutions:
Shoot wide with a wide-angle lens. If your frame picks up too many distractions (furniture, wall art, etc.), crop the video in your Photos app before dropping it into your editing app (iMovie, etc.). When you export, you’ll see black bars on the sides where you cropped. That’s fine—it may look a little more square, but it still delivers the required shot without extra clutter.
Shoot vertically, then export horizontally. Record the shot in vertical orientation, then drop it into your editing app and export in a 16:9 aspect ratio. You’ll end up with black bars on the sides again, but the finished video will be horizontal. Yes, you filmed vertically (a supposed “no-no”), but the version casting sees will be properly formatted.
That’s it—two easy options to keep your full-body slate professional and on-spec.
Need more tips? Check out the video below.
If this article helped, share it with an actor friend. And if you need coaching on self-taping, auditioning, or the craft of acting in general, reach out—I teach privately on Zoom and in the studio (Georgetown, Seattle).
Thanks for reading, and break a leg at your next audition.
