6 Ways to Kiss in a Self-Tape Audition

By Faith Hibbs-Clark, Founder of CMFA

“A kiss is just a kiss..." Right? This is a famous line from As Time Goes By, a song written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931. But in an audition, a kiss can be a disaster waiting to happen, and especially problematic when you are self-taping and alone.

Since the onset of the pandemic, most film and television auditions have become self-tape auditions. But even before the pandemic, most auditions were "off-camera reader" style which meant that you were alone on camera. Whether at home or at the casting office, there was no easy way to handle it.

So what can an actor do if a scene calls for a kiss? Before you start practicing the "air kiss" and risk making a complete fool of yourself, let's consider a good alternative:

Skip it altogether. Sometimes a kiss in a scene doesn't do anything to move the story along, so the easiest solution for an actor is to avoid that action altogether. 

You can communicate the intimacy of the scene without the physicality. There are many ways to convey affection in a scene without the need for an actual kiss. The writer might simply be wanting to show the connection that the characters have at that point in the story. 

Consider the following 6 possibilities:

1. Proxemics - In body language, we talk about proxemics which is the study of the human use of space. Less physical distance between people can indicate intimacy in the relationship. As an actor, you can try leaning in slightly to show intimacy.

2. Breathing - Our breathing becomes slower and heavier right before a kiss. We also tend to breathe through our noses in anticipation of locking lips. This type of breathing can help communicate the imminent kiss without the actor actually having to pucker up.

3. Tone of voice - We have all heard of the person with a voice like a "velvet glove." The sound of it can make us melt. Try using a softer, more intimate tone in your voice to show the scene's intimacy. Your voice will become slower, softer, and raspier.

4. Eyes - Humans seek mutual eye contact. We love to gaze into another's soul through their eyes. It is an instinct we are born with, so when someone temporarily denies gaze, it makes the on-looker want to get our attention again. If you intentionally don't look and then slowly look at the other person in the scene, the action can feel like a kiss.

5. Color of clothing - Wear red. Red is a primal color. It is the first color a baby sees when it is born. It is no surprise that it conjures up other primal feelings of sexuality as well. Before hi-def cameras, actors were told not to wear red in an audition, but that is no longer true, so turn the heat up and bust out your best reds.

6. Lighting. - One of the many benefits of self-tape auditions is that you are in complete control. If you want to communicate intimacy in an audition, try dimming the lights a little to create a softer glow. You can even experiment with some warmer tones in your lighting.

Remember that you are communicating a story. Not everything has to be shown to communicate the feeling of the story. Explore these possibilities to help you use the power of "acting science" to book more film and television roles.

Faith is a body language expert who specialized in deception detection before becoming a casting director and working in the film industry for over 25 years. She is the founder of the Communication Method for Actors, LLC & the creator of the Acting Science Method ™. www.cmfatraining.com 

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Unlock Your Potential: 3 Brain Hacks to Crush Your Actor Goals

By Faith Hibbs-Clark, CMFA Founder

If you’re like many actors, you have big dreams for your future. But how do you get there? Goal setting is scientifically proven to help actors achieve their goals when a science-based method is used. Though many of us are great at setting goals, most of us know that sometimes they don't work out despite our best efforts. When this happens, it can be a bit upsetting to our self-esteem and deter us from wanting to set any new goals. Likely, those goals didn't work out because you didn't know the science of goal setting.

Here are three important brain hacks to help you achieve your goals without failure.

Just do it! Goal setting for actors and motivation go hand in hand. The goal is your journey, and the motivation is your fuel to get there. You may have gallons and gallons of fuel but no journey to go on. You may have many goals but no motivation to get there. What can stop you from going on that journey? There are many more things holding you back than you realize. I have taught this a lot in my classes when I discuss the brain and how it affects your auditions, but I will say it again, your brain is designed to do two things very well: survive & evolve.

A big part of your survival is not to try anything new. From your brain's perspective, familiarity equals safety. The problem is that your brain also needs to evolve. Therefore, you are often at odds with yourself. Perhaps you overthink things? Overthinking is just your brain's way of stalling. The best way for you to move past survival and into evolution is just to do it. Don't allow yourself any time to think about it. Set an alarm and train yourself to work on your goals as soon as that alarm sounds. The moment you start to think about it, you will start convincing yourself not to do it.

Make it emotional! Your acting goals should be emotionally based. If they aren’t emotionally based, the subcortical circuit involving the amygdala will not prioritize the information in your brain. This is important because stimuli that are emotional are given prioritized access to certain areas of your brain needed for optimal performance. Namely, the amygdala in your frontal lobe regions can subconsciously break down your goals in order to solve obstacles, even when you are not consciously thinking about them. The strong emotional importance you have assigned to your acting goals makes the obstacles less significant in relation to the perceived benefit of obtaining your goals.

Make it visual! The brain associates visual stimulation with emotion because these two things are processed in the same portion of the brain. Prime your brain with external cues, such as images that trigger a subconscious memory in your mind that motivates you toward a goal without you even realizing what prompted you. It turns out, those cheesy vision boards, cutting out images from magazines to reflect what you want in life, might have been onto something. If you want to be a bit more academic about it, try color-coding or creating charts or graphics that reflect your materialized goal. Want to take it a step further? You could try some meditation and try to visualize your future in your mind’s eye, and then ask yourself to walk into that picture.

Congratulations – you now have 3 brain hacks to help you with your goal-setting! The next thing you need to do is take full action and join me for the "Science of Goal Setting Workshop & Program! Sign up now!

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© This information is copyrighted 2021 Communication Method for Actors, LLC

Why Actors Shouldn't Set Goals!

-- By Faith Hibbs-Clark - Casting Director, body language expert, Creator of the Acting Science Method™

You’ve probably been told that to be productive, you should set goals. Big goals. S.M.A.R.T. goals. Stretch goals. All these fancy goal-setting ideas are just that … ideas. They all have one important thing in common -- to cause you to fail at reaching your goals.

These goal-setting concepts all have one very important thing missing.

What is it?

It’s science!

Most goal-setting programs set you up for failure. Science can help you work with your brain, not against it. 🧠 If you don’t understand the science of your brain, then setting goals is just something fun to do while drinking champagne with your friends on New Year's. Without science, you are setting yourself up for failure. 

The thinking behind these other goal-setting programs is that to achieve anything meaningful, you need to turn it into a goal.

Well… maybe.

While goals can be really helpful, they aren’t always ideal.


Goals have one big problem: they have a termination point.

In other words, you’re not successful until you’ve reached your goal, and until this happens, you might feel like:

• You’re spinning your wheels, not going anywhere.

• You’re a failure.

• You haven’t achieved anything because the goal seems so distant.

Measuring your success this way can make you feel defeated, especially if you have big, ambitious goals.

For example, if you want to be an Academy Award-winning actor, nothing you do until you reach that goal will make you feel like you’re enough. You may make incredible strides in your acting career, but they will fall flat compared to your hard-to-achieve goal.

Since a goal has an “end," you will never feel like a success until you’ve achieved it. And even when you achieve your goal, you simply have to start all over again with the next one.

The reality is you might not even know what the “next” goal should be. I mean, what’s next after an Academy Award? Does that become your new bar?

So, you feel aimless. You know you should be seeking to accomplish something, but you’re not sure what that something should be.

Even worse, you might feel like since you have already accomplished your goal, you can go back to your old habits instead of pushing and growing. You could lose all the forward progress that you made.

It’s a setup to make you feel like a consistent failure. Our society and culture thrive on it because making you feel small keeps many other people rich and in power.

In my Science of Goal Setting Workshop and 28-day Actor Action Program, I will challenge you to rise above this dilemma. I will give you a goal-setting system that will work with your brain and not against it. I am going to help you REWIRE your brain for true actor success!
 You guessed it... using SCIENCE!

🎥 2-hour live kick-off workshop with me & a small group of dedicated actors

🎥 2-hour live wrap workshop with me & a small group of dedicated actors

🎥 An action-packed private portal program that you can access from anywhere, computer, iPad, iPhone where you can complete action steps and track your success.

🎥 Each day check off tasks and feel that sense of accomplishment in just 15 - 20 minutes each day. Plus earn stars and rewards as you complete tasks.

🎥 Best of all, join our active and motivated community for valuable networking because you are not alone in this adventure! Your future self is waiting for you! Join now!

Are you with me? Check it out now! Space is limited!

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Faith is a body language expert who specialized in deception detection before becoming a casting director and working in the film industry for over 25 years. She is the founder of the Communication Method for Actors, LLC & the creator of the Acting Science Method ™. www.cmfatraining.com 

© Copyrighted 2021 Communication Method for Actors, LLC