There are a couple of things that you need to know from the
casting director when performing your monologue on camera.
The first would be, where is your mark and how large is your
playing area. Typically, the camera will be “locked off” on top of a tripod so
camera movement will be limited, not a lot of panning, zooming, etc. It’s
likely that they will want you to stay close to the mark throughout your
performance. The mark is usually indicated by a short strip of masking tape
stuck to the floor. If you don’t see a mark or you see several marks ask the
casting director which mark they want you to use and then position yourself
toes to the mark.
The second question, if they haven’t already mentioned it,
is where do they want you to look, direct to lens or off lens. If they want you
off lens, pick an eye line that’s no more than a foot or so to one side and at
the same level as the camera. The actual mark your eye engages will likely be
well behind the camera. If they want you to go direct to lens, then the lens
becomes your visual mark. However, if you simply glue your eye to the center of
the lens then in a very short time you will look like a zombie. Your eyes like
to move and you need to let them do so but you don’t want it to look like
you’re drifting off lens, so here’s what you do. Though it’s highly unlikely
that the lens will be the size of a dinner plate, that’s how you want to play
it. Let your eyes move as they wish within the area of the imaginary dinner
plate. Your eye movement will look natural and you will look like your going
directly to the lens.
You might want to check out my previous posts Who am I
really talking to? and What am I looking at? in December 2011. The information
therein can help you to get the most out of visual contact in an on camera
audition.
Next… The frame is your performance area.