The Modern Self-Tape Guide
Ten chapters on lighting, sound, framing and the read itself.
Get the guide · $15 (opens in new tab)PDF and EPUB, yours in about a minute
The Shop
Guides, shirts and other merch, plus the books and tools I keep pointing people toward.
Guides
The Free Shelf →
The Unwritten Rules
The etiquette of sets, rehearsal rooms and auditions, written down so you don't have to learn it by getting it wrong.
Get the guide · $12 (opens in new tab)PDF and EPUB, yours in about a minute
The library
The books and tools I keep pointing people toward.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. See full disclosure below.
Books
- Acting for the Camera: Revised Edition (Tony Barr) How acting changes when the camera is close: scale, eyelines and continuity. (opens in new tab)
- Actions: The Actors' Thesaurus A thesaurus of playable verbs, for actioning every line of a script. (opens in new tab)
- An Actor Prepares (Stanislavsky) The classic on the inner work behind a role, told as a drama student's diary. (opens in new tab)
- The Art of Acting (Stella Adler) Adler's class lectures on imagination, action and the play's given circumstances. (opens in new tab)
- A Challenge for the Actor (Uta Hagen) Hagen's later, deeper follow-up to Respect for Acting, built around her object exercises. (opens in new tab)
- A Dream of Passion: The Development of the Method Lee Strasberg's own account of the Method and where it came from. (opens in new tab)
- The Intent to Live: Achieving Your True Potential as an Actor Larry Moss on script analysis, emotional truth and keeping a role alive. (opens in new tab)
- Michael Caine: Acting in Film Plain-spoken, practical advice on screen acting from decades in front of the camera. (opens in new tab)
- Prudence Pickle Presents Etiquette for Professional Actors A guide to professional etiquette for working actors. (opens in new tab)
- Respect for Acting (Uta Hagen) Hagen's classic on building a role from your own life and observation. (opens in new tab)
- The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actor's Workbook Meisner's repetition exercise and what follows it, laid out as a workbook. (opens in new tab)
- Seven Pillars of Acting: A Comprehensive Technique One complete technique built from seven core skills. (opens in new tab)
- The Warner Loughlin Technique: An Acting Revolution Build a character's past through imagination instead of mining your own pain. (opens in new tab)
- The Way of Acting: The Theatre Writings of Tadashi Suzuki Suzuki's writings on his physical, grounded training for the stage. (opens in new tab)
Apps and sites
- Actor Trade (Facebook group) A community of actors who read for each other's self-tapes.
- Actor Trade (iOS) Find another actor to read with you for a self-tape. (opens in new tab)
- LineLearner (Android) Record your cue lines, then run the scene on your own with gaps to answer. (opens in new tab)
- LineLearner (iOS) Record your cue lines, then run the scene on your own with gaps to answer. (opens in new tab)
Disclosure
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Purchasing through these links helps support Augmented Actor at no additional cost to you.