 Hi, my name is Velkika and I'm an actress beside of California and today we're going to talk about full body slates, full body shots because sometimes they're going to ask you to start or end with a slate of your full body. And sometimes they'll ask for photos of your full body if it's for a commercial or they want to see what you look like, what your body type is like. And I have struggled a lot in the past with figuring out how to make my body look like my body in photos or videos because sometimes if you film from too high or too low, awkward angle, it does not look like your body. And finally in the last, I would say six months because I've had to do it so much, I have figured out where exactly the camera needs to go, how far from me the camera needs to go for me, my body type, my height. So I'm going to tell you what works for me. So first of all, when should you do a slate? Should you do it at the beginning at the end? Should you do it every time? Only do it if they are asking you to slate. So when my agency sends me a self-tape audition request and they say slate at the top of the audition, your name, agency, and where you're located, then I do it as if right before I'm going to film. So if I'm going to film a monologue like this or a scene like this, I will start with, hi, my name is Belhika, I'm with Marla del Tallinn, et cetera. I'll do it like this. If they ask me for a full body shot slate, of course that's when I do it vertically. And usually my agents will let me know in the email every time that it's okay if it's vertical, but only for the slate, only for the full body shot. Sometimes for commercials, they don't want you to say anything, they just want a few seconds of a shot vertical of your full body. So if in the self-tape audition request that they sent you, if they doesn't say anything about slate, then don't do it. If it just says slate yourself, then you can decide what that means for you. People have all kinds of opinions. Usually it will be your name at the very, very minimum. I usually default to my name and location based on where I am submitting to. But I also have a video all about slates, all about all kinds of different slates because in theater, we would always slate with our name and what we're performing. So you can see that video for more information on different kinds of slates. As far as a setup for your full body slate, please have something plain. I like this paper backdrop just because it looks nice, it looks professional. As my backdrop, I have a gray paper from Savage and I will link everything that I use. I always link everything that I use in my description. But my backdrop setup is about $80 and you can also use a blank wall if you want to, if you would like, or if that's what you prefer. This to me just looks really clean, it doesn't make it feel like you're in your room even when you are in your room. Ideally, I would use this in my living room because we have hardwood floors over there and there's carpet here so that I can put the paper out and it would look like a seamless. But there's carpet in here and if I step on it, it's crunchy. And if I put it out there, there's no carpet. So it's really echo even with the microphone that I use. But this is my setup right here. For your full body shot, you just want to keep the attention on you. So if you can make it nice and clean and flat behind you, then do that. If you're having somebody else film this for you while you stand over there, make sure you have them go and slate. So just have them stand there and say their name and you film them so you can tell them exactly what it should look like. You know, like, oh, make sure you don't get any of the corners. Like if I was filming here, I wouldn't want them to get this bar on the side or any of the white wall. I just want the gray in the back. And then I would tell them, I don't want too much above me. See how I just left a tiny bit above you. That's what I want. I want to be able to see my feet. Make sure it's not from too high to low. I don't want it to be distorted. If you're using a tripod, that will be the easiest thing. And if you're an actor, that is the best investment that you can do right now is get a tripod because it is such a mess to try and film without a tripod. And make sure that it's one that is at least as high as your chin because for full body shots, you are going to need something that's a little bit taller. You're going to have to play around with this a little bit. But depending on your height, you might be able to use similar distances as I do. I'm 5'10 and the phone is about six and a half feet away from me. It's on a tripod and the camera lens is about halfway up my neck. So if I was to walk straight at you, the lens would be right here. And it is slightly tilted to the bottom so that you can see my feet and there's only a little bit of space above my head. And then this is how I would slate myself as a full body slate. Hi, my name is Belgica Rodriguez. Can you pan in order to get a full body shot? Usually no because you want to see what your body, your entire body looks like. So if you pan up and down, you're not showing very much what you look like as a whole. You're just doing part by part, but some people accept that. Some people are okay with that. So if, again, if in the email it says that you can pan, then that's okay. Then they're giving you permission. In general, if they're telling you something specifically for that audition, then follow their instructions because that's how they want it. There's really no one perfect, amazing way that will be able to make everybody happy. So make sure you are following the directions that they are giving you. Because I have seen YouTube videos of actors in different countries where they do entirely different things. So just make sure to read the description of your audition at least three times. And you should be filming your audition like this horizontally, also known as landscape. But a lot of people will allow you to do your full body shot vertical or portrait because it is so much easier to be able to capture just yourself and not get, you know, your entire living room. Because for me, I could not do a horizontal full body shot in my bedroom because there's not enough space. And if you're doing a full body slate, this is something that I've never heard good or bad things about. This is just something that I have done so that it doesn't look like a photo. But when you're slating full body vertically, you should be settled and not jumping around too much because I've noticed that about me that sometimes I say, hi, my name is Belgica Rodriguez and I maybe do like a little bounce, not consciously. But I, it just looks funny when I'm editing. So that's something I don't like. Now, when it's a commercial full body shot, sometimes my agents will ask me to put a few seconds of a full body shot vertically at the end. And so it doesn't look like a photo like that. Usually just a tiny, tiny bit. Let me know if you think that's weird or what, especially if you're an actor or a casting director or anything. I move ever so slightly. I'll show you guys an example. So it's not crazy. It's not like I'm going, you know, but it's just so I look like a human. So if you guys do that, let me know if anybody says yay or nay to you because that's something that I just, I did in my head. Thank you so much for watching at the end of every video. 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