<p>Bumping for those who will be obsessing about this over the next six months. Any “elder statespeople” out there who have advice to add?</p>
<p>I’ll just add that video editing is a good skill to have. Encourage your kids to make YouTube videos to give them experience. If their audition is their first attempt, it will be a nightmare.</p>
<p>Bumping. Ditto what prodesse said.</p>
<p>It’s a great project for summer vacation.</p>
<p>Son was a YouTube contributor for years and his skills came in very handy.</p>
<p>Last season I heard that whereas some schools want to hear the same repertoire in the live audition as in the taped pre-screen, others want to hear different rep. So be aware of that from the start, and if they don’t specify, ask.</p>
<p>Good advice @prodesse. Also be on the lookout for the schools that require dance videos. Sometimes you can use something from a school performance. This was the case for one of my S’s programs, and even though we did not record it ourselves, we were able to get it from another parent at the school who videos everything - but it took some time for that parent to have the time to deal with getting it to us. If a program is requiring specific dance steps, or original choreography, summer is a great time to deal with that, too. Can’t say enough about trying to get a jump on all of this over the summer. Fall will be VERY busy.</p>
<p>Does anyone have specific recommendations for an external microphone? Thanks!!</p>
<p>Son used a speaker called “Blue Snowball”. We bought it at the Apple store, but I’m sure you could shop around on-line for a wider variety.</p>
<p>Microphone on iPad and DSLR are perfectly adequate for pre-screens, but we also used Rode Directional Video Condenser Microphone attached to DSLR an got great sound. Also had ZOOM digital Handy Recorder as backup, but then would have had to go through extra step to since up with video. Try not to obsess about quality too much 
It is a PRE-screen, not a final-production-quality film. There will be lots of other things to stress over- and spend money on - in this process. In the long run, I think the extra mics we used were overkill and added an extra unnecessary layer of stress for us amateur videographers. The batteries tend to to lose charge quickly and I had to remember to turn it on/off separately from the camera. Others may feel differently, but I think the pre-screen viewers really only want to get a gist of how the applicant looks/sings/moves, so they can decide whether or not to extend an invite for the “real” audition. I guess one advantage for getting a microphone now would be to have it on hand when the “future star” is auditioning for paying gigs, or launching a website. But sound/video technology advances so quickly, that what we had for pre-screens may be obsolete by then.</p>
<p>^ I agree with mom4bwayboy regarding the purpose of the pre-screen and to not obsess over the process, which is much easier for me to say now that it is history 
Son’s pre-screens were strictly amateur, but all 3 passed, and he was later accepted into the programs by two of the three.</p>
<p>It is a little different for us because we live on the West Coast and for some schools the prescreen will be the only audition we do (Marymount comes to mind). That said I think it makes sense to save money where I can and this seems like something we can do without.</p>
<p>We are using a Rode VideoMic Directional Condensor mic, like mom4bwayboy ($149 on Amazon), I got one a while back to video D’s appearances. The difference in sound quality vs. the on-board mic on my video cam is pretty large. D also has a Tascam DR-07 digital sound recorder ($149) that she uses for rehearsing which does a really nice job if you want to go through the post-production process of adding a separate audio track.</p>
<p>As noted by others, both of these are probably overkill for what is required, but they do greatly improve the sound quality and remove that as a variable in the process.</p>
<p>I am not very technologically confident. We paid a high school senior who is now a college film student $100 to record and edit all pre screens which he then provided digitally and on DVDs for each school. He used his own equipment. We made a spreadsheet which showed what each school wanted so we would know all the different things that needed to be recorded. We did also hire an accompanist. We filmed at a local dance studio. Relieved me of worrying about getting it filmed and edited properly. And sounds as if it were cheaper as well. Just a suggestion for those not wanting to invest in equipment. Or that may be wary of not getting it right if done by ourselves.</p>
<p>^ditto. Used the on camera mic on our sony digital video camera. Passed 8 prescreens. </p>
<p>LIke others here have mentioned, we got some surprises after we had recorded/edited everything and went to Acceptd to upload. Not sure how to solve for this, since in many cases you have to have a student ID number or active link from the school/program in order to start the upload of prescreen material. But we did encounter special instructions, extra personal statements, varying “slate” formatting during upload that were not mentioned on program/school website instructions. After we had recorded everything w/accompanist/coaches, S went and videoed personal statement w/o telling me he was doing it and decided to orient the camera vertically. The orientation could not be edited into horizontal, so that particular clip was teeny, tiny compared to others, LOL. Perhaps there is some editing software out there that can do that can change orientation, but S wasted a lot of time trying to do it with what we had available. Bottom line - DO NOT wait until last minute to upload to Accepted/Decision Desk.</p>
<p>On the timing of monologues etc. - we were given the advice by both S’s acting coach and voice teacher to “keep it short”. Both have been on the other side of the process and have had to sit through reviewing hundreds of videos. Their advice was that there is nothing wrong with submitting a 60-second (or 70-sec) monologue for a school that limits it to 90. If there’s a good edit that is LESS than the required time, the reviewers may be thankful for the shortened timeframe. S’s coaches said the reviewer can generally know what they’re in for in the first 10-20 seconds.</p>
<p>Did anyone else encounter prescreens that had to be saved to DVD and mailed? IU had very specific instructions for placing files on DVD and then snail-mailing to the school. If any programs are still doing this, be sure to play your DVD on several different kinds of players - car, computer, DVD player. First time S burned the DVD it would not play on other devices.</p>
<p>bumping</p>
<p>bumping again. Many of you will be needing this information VERY shortly.</p>
<p>bumping</p>
<p>It’s getting to be that time. . .</p>