Here's how a contractor we know hires roofers: "Any guy can come into the office and talk a good game about all the wonderful work he's done, but me, I look at his tools."
Your agent (and yourself) uses two tools to sell you: your resume and your resume shots. If either is bad, you've tied one hand behind his (your) back.
Photos pour into the offices of casting directors, agents, producers, and directors. Some are good, others, fair. Many are atrocious. There are shots of actors taken with a Polaroid-type camera, half-naked Adonises, figures standing at a distance, waving languidly at the camera... And these are the people who will complain, "You just can't beat the system." Well, as theatrical agent David Westberg says, "We're dealing in a visual business. The first thing you need to get in the door is pictures. If your pictures are lousy you ain't gonna get in the door."
Unfortunately, putting together good pictures is like assembling a toy train on Christmas Eve - it's a pain in the neck. It's involved, time-consuming and filled with wonderful little aggravations and things to remember.
Take the time. Plow through it, step by step. Others will. Don't settle for pictures that are mediocre. Eventually, you'll have pictures you're proud to submit - shots that will pay you back in satisfaction and, more important, in income.
RESUME SHOTS: THE CARDINAL RULE
The days of the "Joan Crawford glamour picture" are long gone. Today, casting directors, etc., are turned off by photos of painted goddesses and costumed gods. What they want now is to see you - not how you'd like to look, but how you honestly do look, scars, moles, warts and all.
NOTE: For prices, fees, addresses, phone numbers of items mentioned throughout the book, see Appendix.
We can't emphasize this more strongly. Pictures that don't look like you are worthless. Never forget that. Now, when starting out, you will need:
- At least one good COMMERCIAL headshot;
- At least one good THEATRICAL headshot.
HEADSHOTS IN GENERAL (WHETHER "COMMERCIAL" OR "THEATRICAL")
A headshot, sometimes called an "eight-by-ten" (8x10), is a single black-and-white close-up of the actor's face and hair. (Color pictures are a waste of money.) It is eight inches wide by ten inches long, and there is nothing on the back of the photo.
A headshot, again, shows what you honestly look like in street garb. (No sequined evening gowns or Roman togas, and remember, as theatrical casting director Jerry Franks cautions, "Beefcake or cheesecake photos are very offensive.") Women should apply makeup slightly heavier than usual for the shoot, but the result should be a standard daytime look.
In a headshot, look directly at the viewer. Forget cloud-gazing or profile shots (you can get away with a bit of profile - a three-quarters view - but still look straight into the camera).
Don't try for the kind of photo a model would use. Avoid tricky lighting or "mists" around the face, and don't ask the photographer to airbrush out scars and wrinkles.
Be careful of background(s). You are not selling tree trunks.
And, if the headshot is good, it'll capture your special quality. Goldie Hawn bubbles. Robert De Niro smolders. As theatrical agent John Mekrut put it, "The overriding consideration is that the picture has to communicate to whoever is looking at it: this is somebody you want to meet."
THE COMMERCIAL HEADSHOT
This goes to anyone involved with the making of commercials (agents, casting directors, production houses, etc.).
On a commercial headshot, you should look straight out of a musical comedy, showing lots of teeth (they need to know you've got good ones) and gobs of happiness in a "Gosh, it's great to be alive" manner. (No smolder here, please.)
In short, look happy, warm, and perky - very happy, very warm and very perky. Happy, warm, perky people sell soap. And happy, warm, perky pictures sell people to the people who want happy, warm, perky people to sell soap.
THE THEATRICAL HEADSHOT
This goes to people involved with films, television and stage productions (agents, casting directors, producers, directors).
Here's where you sell your special quality as an actor, whether warm and happy or not. If you're a burly, villainous sort, project that. Don't lard it on to the point where you look like Jack the Ripper, but enough to suggest how you might be used. Ask yourself:
- How am I normally cast? Do I play a lot of calculating women? Weak little men? Villains? Moody young heroes?
- What have my friends told me about my acting personality? Do they talk about my warmth? My wit? My sensuality?
- Is there a known star I am often compared to? Comparisons to Burt Reynolds suggest a casual, rugged look; Vincent Price suggests a suit and tie. (We're nor talking about imitating anybody. The industry already has a Burt Reynolds; it doesn't, however, have you.)
- What roles on television/movies/stage/commercials could I have done without having to stretch at all?
One other note. Have at least two theatrical headshots - one for dramas, the other for comedies. Your commercial headshot can do double duty for the comedy.
BORDER(S) OR "BLEEDS"
Borders are the white spaces between the photo and the edge of the paper. You're not selling white space so keep borders narrow, say % of an inch (except for the border containing your name). "Bleeding" means the photo itself fills up (bleeds off) the paper, leaving no border at all. A variation is the "three-sided bleed" - one border (usually at the bottom) onto which your name is printed.
NAME LOCATION
Horrible thought of the day: A producer sits ruefully staring at your picture. He's dying to use you, but he lost your resume, and your name isn't on your photo. Skip all other information but put your name on your resume shots.
NAME APPEARANCE
If you have no border, your name is on the photo itself. You tell the printer where you want it, and he'll use one of three methods: "knockout," "overprint" (or "overlay") and "reverse."
- Knock-out: That's a small block of white space with your name printed in black letters within the block.
- Overprint or overlay: There's no white space around your name. It's directly on the photo, in black letters.
- Reverse: Same as above, in white letters.
Finally, there's the typeface you want (script, block letters, etc.). You'll have to choose from what your printer has available, but give some thought to what will compliment your image. Don't laugh - typefaces make statements. Corporations spend thousands finding just the right "T." (That doesn't mean your name should look like a marquee in heat. The photo's the star.)
