I’m not sure if this has been asked before, but how did most people go about filming their pre-screens? (did they do it with a professional, at their own home, …?) Thank you!
We did ours in our living room. We did bring in an accompanist (we have a small upright piano), but just recorded on a regular video camera- no special equipment. D passed 8 out of 9 prescreens so hiring a professional isn’t really necessary. Hope this helps!
@stagedoormama yes! thank you! (And congratulations to your D!)
D filmed her own in our basement by herself, using a somewhat crappy Nikon (she hates Nikons, but it was the only thing we had) and a tripod. She passed all pre-screens. And has purchased a better camera of her own.
Good practice for learning framing!
@“Jamieand Winthrop” thank you! Amazing that she passed all her pre-screens!
Used my iPhone on a tripod length wise. Schools prefer home done, as professional could appear to be modified.
We used our Sony camera that takes video on a tripod at home against a neutral background. But, we did purchase (and then return) an external microphone from Amazon.
Thank you for the tips!
We used paid video place. My S sounded great, but passed none. (He doesn’t dance well - so that’s the most likely reason- but I often wonder whether the schools thought the sound was altered.) Do it at home if you can.
Our coach recorded the monologues in her home. I will add that certain schools will ask for video clips that are beyond the recorded monologues. Pace asks for a few items. Some schools want a separate introduction and a little story about this and that. The school that really stands out was TXST. Their questions were hysterical! So, finding the time to film these “extra” pieces became this big thing. It was very hard to find the time and the right time of the day to film(lighting issues). I ended up keeping my S home from school one November morning to get them all done!
Ugh. Prescreens - well, this is a the Drama forum so for those we did them on a home camera in our living room and they were fine. She only prescreened for Drama with Pace and she did pass that one. Musical Theater prescreens were another story - didn’t pass most of them - the vocal prescreens we did with her voice teacher in her studio, the dance prescreen was done with an iPhone filmed by a friend at her high school.
D did a mix of MT and Acting. Songs were recorded using an iPhone (on a tripod) and live accompaniment (with her voice instructor). Monologues were recorded with an IPhone at different times at different places at the same time she recorded her slates and/or her intros. Dances were recorded in a studio at her brother’s school using her brother’s camera equipment. D passed all but two (she didn’t hand in a complete artistic statement and one school wouldn’t look at the prescreen; at a second school she didn’t follow ALL the instructions - and this school is known for strict compliance). I would get these done early so your student doesn’t burn out and refuse to re-shoot - even when they didn’t follow direction @-)
LOL @artskids - the voice of experience there. I definitely think prescreens were way more stressful than auditions and they were all for naught here - D’s top schools after auditions were all the schools that didn’t require a pre-screen!
As I have read over the years - I have to say I have been VERY grateful that pre-screens were just getting started during D’s audition season. I totally get their purpose for both the college and the student - they can save time, $ etc… but it seems to add a BIG layer of pressure very early in the process.
Ditto, @toowonderful! Filming prescreens was MUCH harder this year than when D1 did MT & only had 2! I think every school wanted something SLIGHTLY different. Differences in intros, whether they wanted a close up or whole body shot (or both!), monologue lengths, comedic/dramatic/classical/modern, a personal statement, etc. And then there were various uploading instructions… (and yes, those Texas State questions, lol!) I had a separate spreadsheet just for prescreens. D started out filming at home, but ended up filming all 5 at her acting coach’s studio where there is a room set up for audition videos (the studio focuses on screen acting), so the lighting was right, and there was a solid blue wall behind her. She filmed with her iPhone on a tripod - didn’t use any special equipment.
Start them EARLY! Having a place to film was helpful, but once she decided to use the studio, she had to go back there to make changes. It would have been easier to be at home - we just didn’t have great lighting where we had blank walls. MT is definitely more complicated adding in songs and dance combinations.
@MTmom2017 - you are making me laugh at something I thought I’d never laugh about - lighting for prescreens! We moved every stick of furniture in the living room so there was a “blank wall” and then our overhead “can” lights cast weird shadows so I tried uplighting using a reading lamp but that was too glaring so I bounced it off the ceiling and brought in a bedroom lamp (but I had to take off the lampshade so it didn’t cast uneven light) on the other side to even things out. Our living room looked like a really low-rent modeling studio. Even then, filming at home was much easier than when we tried to do it in a rehearsal room with the voice coach playing piano too loudly for the camera and D getting tenser with every “not quite good enough” 16 bar cut of a song. OMG. Am I glad we’re done.
@CaMom13, YES! =)) I glossed over the real story of the lighting!!! I had a wall in my bedroom that we tried to use - it’s a very pale blue-green color. It’s really pretty, but NOT for my very pale blonde’s coloring. And we tried all the same things with lights, but nothing worked! The combo of the color and the lighting just didn’t work. It was awful at the time, which is why she ended up going to the studio, but now it’s funny!!!
Oh the crazy performing arts application “things” that no one else will ever understand! 
I also have a memory of being so exasperated and frazzled by it all that my S submitted the required “full body shot” introduction and only after it went in did I notice that he was not wearing shoes and had on bright white socks! I almost died. There he was looking great from the ankles up! He actually got into that school, so maybe it wasn’t a big deal, but at the time I was so stressed and embarrassed!
And, yeah I am laughing at the “lighting” and “furniture movement”. Filming pre-screens was the worst part of the fall!!!
I was so frustrated with the can lights in our basement that I ordered a $100 3-light photographers set from Amazon, which actually worked great.