ScopeMedia StudiosBook

Hire · SE5 9HW, South London · from £40 · open 7 days

Your scene, in a room that does not fight you.

A self-tape shot against a bedroom wall with the fridge running is a self-tape the casting director notices for the wrong reasons. The podcast room is camera-ready and treated at a flat £40 an hour; Studio B is the sound-treated room for a showreel scene whose dialogue comes back clean; and Studio A is the stage for the scene that needs a set and some distance. You bring the camera, the reader and the lines.

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Studio A rigged for a shoot with softboxes on stands and an overhead silk above the white infinity cove

How it works

  1. 01Say what you are tapingA self-tape, a monologue, a two-hander or a dressed scene — the answer picks between the podcast room, Studio B and Studio A, and we will say which.
  2. 02Book the hour or the blockThe podcast room is a flat £40 an hour. Studio B is £120 for two hours, £220 for a half day and £420 for a full day. Studio A is from £160 for two hours. Set-up and pack-down are inside the booked time, so allow for it.
  3. 03Bring the camera and the readerThe booking is the room: no reader, operator or camera is published as part of it, and we have not published an in-house kit list. Tell us what you are bringing and we will confirm what is on site.
  4. 04Quote the lightsLights are charged separately from the room rate in these rooms — please enquire about our lights and we will quote for a clean, even casting look or something more cinematic for the reel.

The rooms for it

The podcast room: four microphone booms around bouclé seating, under an arc lamp
Podcast RoomAcoustically treated and camera-ready, with professional microphones and audio interfaces in the room, at a flat £40 an hour with no block discount — one hour for one tape costs one hour. The quickest honest room for a self-tape.From £40Check Podcast Room availability
Studio B dressed with a pink sofa on the white cyclorama under a fresnel light
Studio BA room within a room, sound treated and blackout capable, with an adjustable backdrop system and a colour-washable cove: a showreel scene with two voices in it comes back clean, and the edit and playback area lets you watch the take before you leave.From £120Check Studio B availability
Studio A during a live shoot, seen wide across the white infinity cove with softboxes either side
Studio A1,200 sq ft with a white drive-in infinity cove and full blackout curtains, for the scene that wants a set, a wide, or a lit-from-black look. It is not sound treated, so a dialogue-heavy scene belongs in Studio B.From £160Check Studio A availability

Straight answers

What does showreel & self-tape studio london cost at Scope?
Podcast Room starts at £40. Studio B starts at £120. Studio A starts at £160. Set-up and pack-down are inside your booked time.
Can I book a studio for a self-tape by the hour?
Yes. The podcast room is a flat £40 an hour — camera-ready, acoustically treated, with microphones and audio interfaces in the room. Booking is by the hour, so a single tape does not have to buy a half day, and there is no block discount for a longer session either.
Do you provide a reader or someone to operate the camera for a self-tape?
No. The booking is the room, so bring your reader and your camera, or set the camera yourself. We have not published an in-house kit list, so tell us what you need when you enquire and we will confirm what is on site in writing.
Which room is best for a showreel scene with dialogue?
Studio B. It is built as a room within a room and sound treated, it blacks out, and its adjustable backdrop system and colour-washable cove give the scene a background that is not a wall. A two-hander recorded there comes back usable without a rescue in post.
Can we shoot a bigger showreel scene on a set?
Yes, in Studio A: 1,200 sq ft, a white drive-in infinity cove and full blackout curtains, with ground-level load-in from the yard for furniture or flats. It is not sound treated, so put the dialogue in Studio B or record it wild in the music studio's vocal booth.
Is a self-tape cheaper here than a showreel day?
Considerably. A self-tape in the podcast room is £40 an hour. A showreel half day in Studio B is £220 and a full day £420; Studio A is £320 and £620. Lights are charged separately in every room but the DJ room — please enquire about our lights.

More in the full FAQ.

Worth reading first

How to Film an Interview in a Studio: Sound First, Then Everything ElseHow to film an interview in a studio: sound first, then soft light that holds all day, a second camera on the right side of the line and a schedule that fits.Casting Calls and Edit Days: Using the WorkshopTwenty seats, ten iMacs and a door that closes: how the workshop room runs a casting call, an edit day or a production office — £120 a half day.Studio Portrait Lighting: Setups and Patterns ExplainedStudio portrait lighting is three lights at most, usually one. Key, fill and rim, one- to three-light setups, and the classic patterns from loop to split.Camera Settings for Studio Photography and VideoCamera settings for studio photography and video: sync speed, base ISO, aperture for the look, a flicker-safe shutter on UK mains, and white balance set early.Sound for Video in a Studio: Sync, Wild Tracks and ADRSound for video in a studio: sync sound in a treated room, planning dialogue around an untreated one, wild tracks, room tone, ADR and voiceover in the booth.Film Production Glossary: Studio Hire Terms ExplainedNinety-five film production terms — cove, blackout, key light, log, sync sound, ADR, buyout — defined plainly, with what each means for a shoot at Scope.Creator and UGC-style Ad Shoots in a StudioHow to shoot creator and UGC-style ads in a studio: dress a domestic corner, frame for the phone, light it to look natural and label paid content clearly.

In the building with every booking

  • Kitchen
  • Dressing and prep room
  • Client lounge
  • High-speed Wi-Fi
  • Parking

In every room but one, lights are charged separately from the room rate, so please enquire about our lights and we will quote for what your shoot needs. The exception is the DJ room, where the professional film lighting is rigged in the room and included in the rate.

Anything not listed — ceiling heights, cove dimensions, power, capacities — is on request rather than guessed at. Ask us and you will get an exact answer.

Other things this building does