Actors: You've Been SLATING All Wrong!

If you're new to acting or just getting started with self-tapes, there's one piece of the process you cannot afford to get wrong: the slate. In this episode of Take Fountain, talent agent Anthony Boyer and talent manager Jess Canty break down everything you need to know about slating: What it is, why casting directors ask for it, and exactly how to deliver a professional slate whether you're auditioning in person, via Zoom, or from your living room with a tripod and a phone.

We also dive into the difference between a front slate and a tail slate, and when it's smart to use each one. We'll also cover the often-confusing request for a full body slate - especially for actors who live alone or have limited space to film. You'll learn how to prepare clean, reusable full-body shots, how to present them professionally using split-screen edits, and why casting is more focused on your performance than your square footage. If you're building your audition toolkit or polishing your self-tape setup, this episode is packed with practical, beginner-friendly advice to help you stand out—and stay confident—every time you hit record.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello from Hollywood.
My name is Anthony Boyer.
And I'm Jess Canty.
And today on Take Fountain,
we're gonna talk about audition terminology.
So whether an audition is in person or self-taped,
or you know, even an ACO cast live
or a Zoom, one thing they're gonna ask you to do is slate.

(00:21):
Yeah. And a slate is a very utilitarian, uh, thing
that casting needs.
Can you talk a little bit about what
that might entail? Sure.
So most slates will be some really basic information.
They're gonna want you to say your name, your
height quite often, and also where you are based

(00:41):
and the location where you're filming,
if it's different than where you're based.
If you're a youth client, they will also ask
for your age if you're under 18, if you are an adult actor
and you get slate instructions that ask you
to slate your age,
they have probably accidentally copy pasted a youth slate

(01:02):
instruction for that role.
Do not answer the age question you are legally
not required to.
So just skip over that. If you are an adult actor,
If it is a teen role, you can say I'm over 18.
Yeah. Uh, but you do not actually have to.
Yeah. And you don't have to state once you turn 18,

(01:23):
you do not have to state your actual
age because it doesn't matter.
It only matters the age you can play. Yeah.
A lot of times actors kind of get worried about the slate
or think they have to do something extra in the slate
or perform Half the time, every casting director I've talked
to, they are literally filling out a Google sheet
or an Excel sheet with columns that have, you know,

(01:46):
acronym name, location, height.
So they're oftentimes not necessarily looking at the slate.
Um, but the reason why they need it is that they are going
to put together a package of six to 10 auditions
for each role to send to their producers
or send to the network.
And it's gonna be one long tape most of the time.

(02:10):
And so the slate actually is what goes in
between everybody's separate audition for that same role.
So that's why they wanna have that the same information
for each one so that when their producers are watching,
it's sort of, you know, name, height, location,
the audition, and then the next actors audition plays with

(02:30):
that slate in front of it.
Yeah. So it should go without saying,
but if they have specific instructions on it for your slate,
follow those instructions.
If they don't, um, then I think name, uh,
where you're based and it
representation is a good way to go.
Um, do you prefer without sans instructions? Yeah.

(02:51):
Do you prefer slating in the front or slating in the back?
What's called a tail slate?
Yeah, I mean, I think most, uh, most auditions ask
for the slate first.
If not, if they're not asking for it as a separate file, um,
tail slate can be cool though
because it kind of makes, if, so, if they don't ask,

(03:11):
it has them watch your audition first
before they see your slate.
Yeah. So if, if they don't have any instructions about
separating files and you know where they want the slate,
it can be fun to put the tail slate
because then the first thing they see
of you is actually in character versus,
versus you slate. Yeah. I feel

(03:33):
The same way. I think that, um,
I like a tail slate if they don't specify
otherwise, I like a tail slate
because you get right into the work, first of all,
they're gonna watch the first five seconds of,
you're not gonna be like, oh, he is not even in la.
Yeah. But also one thing I like is like,
say there's an accent.
Mm-hmm. Like you're doing it in Irish
and then you cut to the tail slate
and there's your American, your normal accent.
Yeah. I think that's really fun. I think it's really cool.

(03:53):
I agree. So yeah, it's like one of those,
you know, pro tip.
Yeah. Bonus tip if there's no bonus tip. Bonus tip.
If there's no, uh, instructions, then
maybe tail slate is a good idea.
Yeah. And another term,
Obviously. And
speaking of, uh,
sometimes they'll want a full body shot, a full body,
uh, slate.
There are a few, you can break the, uh,

(04:15):
horizontal only rule for instance.
But, uh, what up if you live alone?
How are you gonna film your full body slate?
Can you talk a little bit about full body slates? Yeah,
Absolutely. It's definitely
if you live alone
and you're, you know, recording your audition
with someone over zoom, which is totally fine.
Like they're reading with you over zoom
or even over the phone on speaker

(04:35):
and you've got your camera recording.
And so we're just hearing that reader, um,
We've all gotten real clever. Yeah.
Yeah. Exactly. And casting, you know, as long
as your performance is there
and they can hear the other lines
and they can see that you can interact with the other lines.
They, they truly, truly are focused on your performance.
If you are living alone, you're going to want

(04:55):
to record your slate in the normal self-tape framing,
looking straight into camera.
That's another thing. Slates are always straight to camera.
You're gonna wanna record that
and name, height, location, whatever they're asking
for in the instructions and slate.
And then find a full body photo of yourself,

(05:17):
even prepare ahead of time.
And when a friend is over,
have them snap a couple full body photos of you in an outfit
that you audition with often,
or an outfit that you think you look good in.
It doesn't matter if your full body matches the outfit from
the audition, it really, it probably won't.
It probably won't. But we'll put a link
to this in the description below.

(05:39):
You can actually edit that slate plus the full body shot
in a split side by screen.
Yeah. Side by side split screen, which kind
of looks really cool and is elegant
and it's an easy way for you to, you can reuse
that same full body photo over
and over again next to the video of you
fulfilling the slate instructions that you will do with each

(06:01):
Audition. And, and
to add to that, I think a lot
of my New York clients in particular,
they don't have a lot of space.
Yeah. They live in small apartments.
It's okay if that's done outdoors. It's okay.
I, I like your idea of having a few just sort of on hand,
um, for when you need them.
Maybe have an upscale, a downscale
and like you don't worry about the
outfit or anything, but you know Yeah.

(06:22):
Have something that shows your lines and, and,
and something that is just kind of like attractive.
Yeah. You know? Yeah. Thanks so much for watching.