@el-cee having 3 teenage daughters ( 4 total) I can appreciate the fear factor of " F88ing it up" being the most powerful component LOL. Appreciate everyone weighing in for sure!!
My kid did his own prescreens. No professional help except regular voice lessons. Limited apps to 10. Attended one unified audition. No formal dance or acting but did every free thing available such as high school musicals, choir, etc and community theater. Can be done if there is a will there is a way. Planned on gap year if this didn’t work out. Thankfully that won’t be necessary.
My son recorded and rerecorded his prescreens on his phone. The first ones he sent in to the first two schools were rough and he sent different ones to later schools. He got better at recording them after a while. He’d open the blinds halfway, tape the phone to the window, stand about 5 feet or so away and record using natural light. Surprisingly, two out of three of his video auditions resulted in acceptances. Also, I took his headshots! I think they turned out great but that probably has more to do with his handsome face than my photography skills. 
We really had to save where we could and put what $ we had to go to Unifieds. Now, we are looking in the couch for change to arrange the campus visits for his top choices, lol.
Everyone has to do what they can with what they have and we all want to give our kids the best shot at their dreams. Go go go, Class of 2023 & 2024!!!
We hired one of Ds friends and high school classmates who was heading off to film school to film prescreens for her. He was able to make sure the light and sound were ok, edit where needed, add subtitles or titles and make sure all clips were in the formats that were needed. We paid him $100 total for all of his time before, during and after the actual shooting of the videos. It did provide me peace of mind as I’m not technologically savvy. I had fears of shooting them all and finding out later there was nothing on the camera! We used Ds dance studio to film hers - just found a time they had an empty room and they were very nice to allow her to do that at no cost. And had a friend accompany her. So although we had some cost, it was relatively low. And again, a lot less stress knowing someone who knew what he was doing was doing the actual filming.
I will say, since then, D has become quite expert at filming her own videos, having had to submit videos for a number of different casting processes. So kids do learn how to do this well on their own. But for our D, that is not a skill she learned until she was in college.
My D and I decided to do the prescreens ourselves. This was our 2nd time through the process and we had learned a lot. If editing is not something that you’re familiar with, then it would be best for someone else to help with that.
We hung a pretty curtain on the wall to film in front of, we tested the lighting and the sound quality (and the outfit! don’t let the first time they are seeing themselves on video on their audition videos be after everything has been filmed, or even after the first take on filming day. The outfit might be super awesome, but not translate well on film.) about a week before we were actually going to be shooting. (Whether they feel they’re ready to record or not, making sure that the space will work way ahead of time is hugely helpful.) If you’re having someone else edit, send them the test video and see if you need to adjust anything from their perspective. Also, having a very detailed, thorough list what each college wants, including how it should look (3/4 body shot, full body shot) is super important. There is nothing worse than being ready to edit and submit and finding out that 1 college wanted your monologue video with a full body shot, as opposed to a 3/4 body.
For the dance videos, we were able to use the dance studio where she takes lessons. Those were trickier, because the idea is to get the whole dance routine in the frame without panning the camera (so we were told). In that case, you’re angling the camera to film the student and their reflection in the mirror. This required more “takes” than the singing/monologue videos.
If a college allows a “Wild Card” video to show off your personality, definitely have them put some time and energy into this. A couple schools commented on how much they loved my daughter’s wild card video when she auditioned.
Whether or not to do this on your own depends so much on individual skill sets and comfort levels. In our case, my D is very good at editing video and I’m good with filming and being patient and have a very flexible schedule. Otherwise, I definitely would have opted for professional help. One way or another, the prescreens are an investment: of time, money, resources and each family has to determine what works best for them.
We recorded prescreens on cell phone. Quality was not great and I was worried that would be an issue. However, my son ended up passing 11 of 13 prescreens. He ended up with 16 acceptances and 4 waitlists so the amateur prescreen videos did not seem to be an issue, although I was concerned that the quality could have been better
Thank you for the separate email account suggestion! So helpful!
Appreciate the video discussion and comments- it’s one of the areas I’ve gotten most widely varying opinions- everything from you MUST have quality, professionally-done video to make your student stand out in a sea of videos to iphone video that is well-edited is completely suitable. So confusing! My gut tells me if the student’s talent can properly shine through and the audio on the recording is solid then iphone video might be ok.
You definitely do not “have to have” professional prescreen videos - any college faculty member and college audition coach will tell you this. Prescreens shot on a phone with a decent camera, like an iphone, will work. However, you do need to ensure that you have decent video and sound quality. Learning to shoot videos is essential for today’s MT performers - they will do this over and over in college for summer stock and in the professional world to submit auditions. Shooting mid-day in a carpeted room with some windows, using a cheap tripod and halfway-decent speaker against a blank wall opposite the windows can easily result in a very solid video.
Here are some tips:
- Allow sufficient time - this is the most important factor. In order to get a good video most people will need to take some time to setup, shoot, review, experiment, reshoot, edit, reshoot, edit, etc. Trying to rush through the process will likely result in poor quality results. Allow enough time to review the results with an uninvolved third party to get an impartial opinion on quality. The number one mistake in this process is failure to allow sufficient time, including the time to learn how to edit the videos (at a minimum, you will need to be able to trim the beginnings and ending of the videos). For example, a simple-but-common error is trying to shoot the video with the performer pressing the button on the accompaniment device using music with insufficient "lead-in" time, which results in the singer having to rush into position without a "moment before" to begin singing.
- Work to get good sound. Poor sound quality is the number one complaint from college faculty - they sometimes can barely hear the singer. A common mistake is recording at too low a sound level - test the results on a laptop computer with crummy speakers to make sure you can hear the vocals well. The mics on phones are omni-directional, this is, they pick up sound from all directions and this is sub-optimal for video production. Make sure that all ambient sound sources are minimized, like HVAC fans (turn off your a/c!), washing machines, small children, TV sets downstairs, etc. Using a "live" room with wooden floors and high ceilings may also be a problem for phone mics - recording studios are normally lined with foam to avoid the mic picking up sound bouncing around the room, creating a slight-but-noticeable echo effect on the recording. Experiment with placing the accompaniment source (usually a speaker) to get a good balance with the singer (normally slightly to the side and rear of the singer works best). If you use a live pianist, its best to use an electronic piano which can be lowered in volume easily. Using a real piano will require some diligent work to balance the sound. You may want to invest in a good, external, directional mic for your phone ($80-$150 - this is a good investment for the future) - Shure, Zoom, and Rode all make good ones. For more ideas on sound quality, see this post: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17085841#Comment_17085841.
- Shoot with enough light to avoid shadows and overall "dimness." At a minimum, make sure there are no shadows on the performer's face. Indirect, natural light is best - rooms with large, north-facing windows in mid-day are optimal, with most of the windows opposite the backdrop wall. However, several lamps with the shades off can work also, try to get them placed with the light source at head level and space them to eliminate background shadows. Once again, having time to experiment will pay off in better results.
- Shoot against a plain, light colored background (you can use a dark background, but you will need a lot of foreground light in that case). Hanging a sheet on the wall is ok (but try to drape it so that you minimize the fact that you are shooting against a sheet).
- Put the camera on a tripod or other good stand. A few dollars spent here are well worth the investment (once again, anything purchased will be reused a lot in future years). You can purchase nice little mounts that attach a phone to a tripod for less than $10, and a tripod can had for under $20.
There are lots of sources on the internet on how to shoot a decent video with a phone. There are several nice apps available at low cost to improve shooting videos on an iPhone. Allowing a couple of weekends to work on this will pay off in better results.
There are also free software packages available, like Audacity, which allow you to add or eliminate lead time on songs, as well as fully edit accompaniment to get to 16 bar cuts, etc.
Using a professional is great if you can afford it, and it certainly can save time and help eliminate a point of possible stress, but it does postpone the inevitable for your student, which is learning how to shoot decent audition videos.
Here’s an idea for prescreen videos that I wish that we had done when my d went through the process:
Spend a weekend over the summer preparing two or more 16 bar cuts of possible audition songs (the more, the better) for practice. Then, email them to a voice teacher, school music director, theatre director, etc. and ask for feedback on video and sound quality, material selection, acting-the-song, etc. This is good fundamental test for video format - if they can’t even play the videos, its a bad sign. It will also make your student think really seriously about their audition material if they haven’t started to finalize their selections. You can do the same thing for monologues.
Make this a priority equal to other senior year priorities like coming up with a list of schools, filling out applications, retaking the SAT, etc.
This will greatly aid in reducing stress and increasing quality of video prescreens prior to the craziness of the MT application process that begins in the fall.
@EmsDad - fantastic prescreen info!!! Something else to take into account - who will your S/D work best with when filming? We filmed our own for both Ds and they both passed all prescreens. D1’s were done in our living room on a small camera that shot video on a tripod (back when she auditioned she had no dance prescreens!). My husband filmed them. D2 (Acting) was better with parents NOT filming, although I tried! D1 was home between summer stock/moving to NYC, so she filmed them. It was a MUCH better dynamic. 
They did end up going to her acting coach’s studio because there was a good wall, but just used an iPhone on a tripod. The downside of that was that when she had changes to make, they had to go back to the studio so she had the same wall.
@EmsDad–thanks so much for the great in-depth info on pre-screens! This has been one of my big questions/concerns–though DD (current HS junior) seems to take these things more in stride… She filmed audition videos herself for the summer intensive she did last year, which she allowed me to see. IMHO there were some issues with filming & sound quality, but she was admitted, so she figured it worked out. This year she reapplied–and got in again-- but she didn’t let me the videos!
Your point about editing and timing really hits home! In one of her videos from last year, in order to get a certain-bar cut, she stopped the video a bit abruptly, and in another, with a friend playing piano accompaniment, the sound was echo-y and lighting poor in the friend’s living room… She’s now been thinking of asking her voice teacher to accompany her for pre-screens, but I’m not sure if the space (in a private home) would be appropriate, based on these do’s & don’ts. Gives us lots to think about!
I have been researching Ohio University, Kent State, and Ohio Northern University. Could anyone chime in on these programs? Compare and contrast perhaps? Thanks!
@GeddyMcNutty My D did a walk-in at NYC unifieds with Ohio University for their MT BFA. She has been waitlisted & we’ve emailed & called to express continued interest & find out if there’s anything else they need but we haven’t heard back from them. They were very generous with financial aid however. The campus looks beautiful on paper. The program will be new this fall which gives pause, but the director is coming from UWSP, a well-respected program, so it sounds very promising. Getting to campus from out of state seems a bit complicated so we we’re not going to visit unless my D moves off the waitlist as we have no idea how likely that could be.
It’ll be interesting to hear how this program develops. Sorry I don’t have any other info.
Good luck!
@GeddyMcNutty - My oldest daughter ( NOT MT) is going to Kent state starting this fall. we loved the campus and the surrounding area when we visited. the performing arts building was impressive.we spent most of our time with the costume & fashion departments who are involved with the theater department, but spent no time w the theater faculty. Ohio Northern i have only learned thru these boards, seems like a great program, in a fairly rural area & Ohio U is new as @NYart15 mentioned & we plan to research a bit more.
We had a friend who recently graduated from Ohio Northern. She currently works as an actor for a children’s theater group that tours regionally. She loved her time there. When we considered it we were impressed with its academics. The campus itself looked very pretty from pictures. But we never visited personally. And it is in a fairly rural part of the state. They were our Ds most generous financial offer.
We have a friend whose D is a freshman at Ohio University not in MT or theater of any sort. But in general, she has loved her time there and her pictures of campus are gorgeous.
I hear good things about Kent State but have no first hand knowledge.
If you are considering Ohio schools you may wish to investigate Xavier also. I have read about it on these boards this year. Of course Wright State, Baldwin Wallace, Otterbein and CCM are there. And you might check out Northern Kentucky University which is just across the river from CCM .
@GeddyMcNutty I am familiar with Ohio northern and Kent if you wish to message me. My D attends Kent
@GeddyMcNutty I’ll focus on Kent State because my D just chose the Golden Flashes. KSU and Ohio U are both large state universities. We never visited ONU, but it is a much smaller, private and rural.
My D absolutely loves the faculty and feeling of community she’s gotten from KSU. Ohio U probably has that potential, but it is just getting started. She also loves the KSU connection with the Porthouse Theatre nearby and opportunities to audition (if not cast on campus or during summer) for productions in Akron, Canton and even Cleveland (about an hour away and a huge theatre scene). Finally, while the MT community is tight nit, KSU offers all of the resources of a large public school, including Division 1 athletics (if that matters) and a wide range of courses, clubs and more. To top it off, out of state tuition at KSU is one of the best deals in the country.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/09/these-colleges-have-the-cheapest-out-of-state-tuition.html
Thanks everyone! I am wondering why Ohio seems to have more MT programs than other states.
@GeddyMcNutty - since I am from Ohio - I would say it because we are awesome…