# How to Self-Tape Alone: Reader, Eyeline, and Sound Without a Partner

> How to self-tape alone and still look like someone is reading with you: reader options, eyeline, framing, sound balance, and slates.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-self-tape-alone
- Published: 2025-03-15
- Last updated: 2026-10-07

It's 11 p.m. The tape is due at ten tomorrow morning. Your roommate is asleep, the two actor friends you texted haven't answered, and the scene has a second character who talks a lot.

You can still make a good tape tonight. What gives a solo tape away is rarely the missing person. It's the actor looking at the wrong spot, a reader track that's louder than the actor, and pauses that land in the wrong places. All three are fixable with what you already own.

The short version: get the other lines into the room in a way that respects your timing, put that voice right beside the lens, keep it quieter than you, and frame yourself chest-up at eye level. Then slate, name, and send the tape exactly the way the instructions ask. Here's how to do each part when nobody else is in the room.

## Start with what casting actually asked for

Before you move a single lamp, read the casting instructions twice. Casting director Nicole Arbusto told [Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/sag-aftra-self-tape-regulations-explained-76781/) that the most important thing is to read the instructions very carefully, and that if something is unclear, you should ask. Framing, slate content, the number of takes, and how to name files all vary from office to office.

It also helps to know what the industry's own rules say about readers, because many actors assume a solo tape is a strike against them. In the UK, the self-tape code of practice agreed by the Casting Directors' Guild, the actors' union Equity, and two agents' associations says a reader can be in person, on a call, or a **pre-recorded app**, doesn't need to be an actor, and shouldn't be an absolute requirement. It also says actors aren't expected to pay for readers. [Backstage UK quotes the relevant sections of the guidelines](https://www.backstage.com/uk/magazine/article/casting-directors-equity-best-practice-self-tapes-73820/).

In the US, SAG-AFTRA's 2023 TV/Theatrical agreement added self-tape rules for union projects: sides at least 48 hours before the deadline (72 for minors), no more than 8 pages for a first tape and 12 for a callback, no requirement to memorize, and no required software or equipment. You can check the list in [SAG-AFTRA's summary of the contract changes](https://www.sagindie.org/sagaftra/contract-changes-2023/). Non-union projects aren't bound by it, but it tells you what a reasonable request looks like.

"Not required" doesn't mean "not noticed," though. Marci Liroff, who cast *E.T.* and *Mean Girls*, still lists not being off-book among the [most common self-tape mistakes](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/self-tape-mistakes-casting-director-advice-68376/) she sees. She says using your sides is OK, but you need to be as off-book as possible so the camera catches every reaction. If you do need the page, casting director Caroline Liem suggests unstapling the sides and posting them near the camera, never showing them on screen. If you would rather see the words on a screen, compare the [best teleprompter apps for self-tapes](https://www.offbook.com/blog/best-teleprompter-apps-for-self-tapes).

## Three ways to get the other lines into the room

A reader does two jobs. They give you something real to react to, and they let casting follow the scene. Whatever you use has to do both. Here are the options when no one can be there in person. If you would rather find a live reader first, see our guide to [finding a self-tape reader](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-find-a-self-tape-reader).

| Reader | Best for | Watch out for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A friend on a phone or video call | Natural timing and real reactions | Call audio can drop or lag; put the phone on speaker beside the lens |
| A reader track you record yourself | Taping at 2 a.m. with full control of the read | The gaps are fixed, so the track won't wait if you take a longer pause |
| A reader app that waits for you | Solo tapes where your timing changes take to take | Voice quality varies; check how it handles stage directions |

The call is underrated. A friend in another time zone may be wide awake, and they don't need to be in the room to give you a real person to answer. Arbusto's long-term fix is a reader swap: start a group of actors who sign up to read for each other, so the 11 p.m. problem has a list of names next time. Send them our guide to [being a good self-tape reader](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-be-a-good-self-tape-reader) before their first read.

### If you record your own reader track

Read the other character's lines in your normal voice, clear and engaged. Acting coach Joseph Pearlman warns readers away from [robotic monotone and near-whispers](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/reader-can-make-break-self-tape-auditions-333/), because producers end up straining to follow the scene. He's even firmer about doing a different voice for each character: don't. Those rules apply when the reader is you.

Getting the gaps right is the hard part. While you record the track, mouth your own lines silently at performance speed, so each gap is as long as your line really takes. Then add a beat, because a slightly late cue reads as a pause, while an early one talks over your best moment. Leave out stage directions entirely.

Play the track from a speaker or phone placed beside the lens, not through an earbud. Casting needs to hear the cue to follow the scene, and on tape, an actor reacting to silence looks exactly like what it is.

### If you use an app

Apps that read the other parts differ in voices, price, and whether they wait for you or play on a timer. Rather than repeat the list here, see our comparison of the [best self-tape apps and readers](https://www.offbook.com/blog/best-self-tape-apps). Whatever you choose, the placement and sound rules below still apply. To try a reader first, our free [run lines online](https://www.offbook.com/tools/run-lines-online) tool lets you rehearse a classic scene: it reads the other parts and waits for your line. For one that uses realistic voices and listens for the end of your line, see our [line reader app](https://www.offbook.com/line-reader-app).

## Put the voice where your eyes go

Eyeline is one of the first things Liroff notices on a tape. She calls it the one thing she sees [consistently wrong in self-tapes](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/easy-fix-mistake-make-self-taping-8065/). Her fix is to put the reader right next to the camera, almost straddling the tripod, but clear of the lens. In her words, "the key to a good audition is your eyes. I need to see 'em!"

Alone, you build that reader out of two things. Put a small piece of tape or a sticky note right beside the lens at your eye height, on the side you'll play to. Then set the phone or speaker that plays the reader directly under or behind that mark. Now the voice comes from the spot you're looking at, which is the closest thing to a person you can get. If the piece is a monologue with no reader at all, see [how to self-tape a monologue](https://www.offbook.com/blog/monologue-self-tape).

- Pick one side of the lens and keep it for the whole scene. If a third character speaks, put their eyeline a few inches to the other side of the camera, not so far that you turn into profile.
- If the scene has you looking down at someone (a person in a hospital bed, a child), Liroff's advice is to cheat the look up toward the camera but not into the lens, or all casting sees is your eyelids.
- Keep the lens itself for the slate. During the scene, you're talking to the mark.

## Frame and light it without a camera operator

Unless the instructions say otherwise, Liroff's standard is a medium close-up: from your chest up to the top of your head, with the phone in landscape. The camera goes at your eye level or very slightly above, on a tripod or a stack of books, never below your chin. Liem adds that waist-up is fine if the scene has movement, one of [her 12 self-tape rules](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/self-tape-rules-from-casting-director-65931/). To play to that frame, see our guide to [acting for shot sizes](https://www.offbook.com/blog/acting-for-shot-sizes).

With no one behind the camera, you need a quick test. Stand on your spot and record ten seconds, including one line that makes you lean or turn. Watch it full-screen on a laptop, not on the phone. Check that your head isn't cut off, that you don't drift out of frame, and that your eyes land on the mark. Put a strip of tape on the floor so you return to the same place every take.

For the background, a plain wall or a hung sheet works. Liem's rule of thumb: a blue background makes everyone pop, white is fine, and black risks making you look like a floating head. Face your light source, such as a window or a lamp behind the camera, so nothing bright sits behind you.

## Get the sound balance right

This is where solo tapes most often go wrong. Your reader device sits next to the camera's microphone, and you stand several feet away, so the track can easily come out louder than you. Liem's advice for live readers is the same principle: since they're closer to the microphone, they should speak more quietly than you.

Set the device volume low, record a short test with one cue and one of your lines, and listen back on headphones. Your voice should clearly lead. Every cue should still be easy to understand, because a reader casting can't hear is Pearlman's warning in another form. Adjust and test again; it takes two minutes and saves the whole tape.

Then hunt down noise. Liroff singles out the overhead fan running above your head. Switch both devices to Do Not Disturb, so a notification doesn't land mid-take or come through the reader's speaker. Liem notes that a phone's built-in microphone is usually enough, and that free editors such as iMovie or Audacity can reduce a steady buzz afterward.

## Slate, takes, and sending it

Slate only if asked, and say only what's requested. Under the SAG-AFTRA agreement, a slate for union work is limited to basics such as name, height, city, and location. Liem asks for a slate delivered with an energy that's "half you and half the character," since it's casting's first impression of you for the role. Her own preference is the slate at the end of the read unless directed otherwise, which is exactly why you follow each office's instructions. For word-for-word examples by request type, see our guide to [how to slate for a self-tape](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-slate-for-a-self-tape).

On takes, send what's asked for. If the request doesn't say, UK agent Alice Currey suggests sending two or three takes with different interpretations, in [Spotlight's guide to audition sides](https://www.spotlight.com/news-and-advice/the-essentials/audition-sides-and-how-to-prepare-them/). Make the takes truly different; three versions of the same read just cost casting time.

Name the files so a busy office can sort them. New York casting director Michael Cassara's rule, shared with [Actor Aesthetic](https://www.actoraesthetic.com/blog/casting-director-tips), is your first and last name plus the role on every file, and separate takes in separate files unless told otherwise. Liem adds two practical points: shrink large files before upload, and if you send a link, make sure the video is downloadable.

Finally, send it early. Liem notes that some offices watch tapes as they arrive, and if there's time before the deadline, they may come back with a redirect. A tape sent at 8 a.m. can get a note; one sent at 9:59 can't. Watch the whole exported file before you submit, too. The Eco Cast help pages for agents warn that once a video is submitted, [there's no opportunity to make changes](https://casting.breakdownexpress.com/help/ecocast/Responding_to_a_self-taped_invitation.htm). Once it's sent, log the tape in an [audition tracker](https://www.offbook.com/tools/audition-tracker) so you can see which submissions lead to callbacks.

## A run sheet for tonight

Here's the whole night in order. With two pages and a recorded reader, it fits in about an hour, but don't rush the test take.

1. Read the instructions and write down the framing, slate, number of takes, file naming, and deadline.
2. Choose your reader. If it's a recorded track, record it now, mouthing your lines in the gaps.
3. Set the camera at eye level in landscape, put the tape mark beside the lens, and place the reader's speaker on that mark.
4. Record a ten-second test with one cue. Check framing, eyeline, and sound balance on headphones.
5. Run the scene twice off camera with your reader, so the first recorded take isn't your first full run.
6. Record your takes, changing one clear choice between them rather than everything at once.
7. Pick the best, trim the start and end, name the files, and watch each export all the way through.
8. Submit, then go to bed.

If you're still shaky on the words, fix that before you set up the camera, not between takes. Our guide on [how to memorize lines quickly](https://www.offbook.com/blog/how-to-memorize-lines-quickly) covers cue drills you can do in twenty minutes.

## Where a reader app fits

A recorded track has one weakness you can't fully fix: it won't wait. If your timing changes from take to take, an app that listens and waits for you can solve that. Our guide to [using an AI voice as your self-tape reader](https://www.offbook.com/blog/ai-voice-as-self-tape-reader) compares the options.

Offbook makes the reader problem go away. Upload the sides and pick your role; realistic voices read the other characters, and it listens through your microphone and plays the next cue when you finish your line, with the same steady read on take ten as on take one. Set your laptop beside the lens as your reader and record on your phone or camera as usual. The setup steps are on our [self-tape without a reader](https://www.offbook.com/self-tape-without-reader) page.

Video: [Upload a script and rehearse](https://www.offbook.com/learn/upload-and-rehearse) (1:03)

The free routes work too: a friend on speakerphone, a voice memo track, a reader swap with your class. Casting won't book you for your reader. They'll watch your eyes, hear your voice over the cue, and see whether you're listening. Get those three right, and nobody watching will wonder who else was in the room.