Breaking into Acting For Dummies. Larry Garrison

how to market your appearance and your talent to an agent or casting director.

      Figure out the ins and outs of using head shots and video clips to present yourself in the best way possible to help you get the roles you want.

      Understand how to create a resume that stands out, no matter what kind of acting experience you have.

      Find out how you can improve your acting skills.

      Make relationships on the Internet with professionals in the industry.

      Be careful what you post on the Internet.

Chapter 4

      Making a Great First Impression with a Head Shot and Samples of Your Work

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Understanding the purpose of a head shot or samples of your work

      

Taking a look at different head shot styles

      

Shooting your head shot

      

Pinpointing head shot problems

      As an actor, you’re in business for yourself, and your product is you. What you’re selling is your acting ability, but what you’re advertising is your look and appearance. Of course, to get potential buyers interested in hiring your services as an actor, you need to catch their interest first.

      Sean Garrison, international commercial photographer and producer who has worked on some of the largest advertising campaigns of the last decade said, “It’s important to be yourself. Let your personality shine. When we cast for a campaign or film, we look for the person who genuinely fits the part. Your best chance at landing the role is when you’re already the character we’re looking to cast.”

In this chapter, you discover the characteristics of a good head shot as well as how to use your head shot as a marketing tool to procure representation or a casting director’s attention.

Introducing the Head Shot: An Actor’s Calling Card

      Ideally, you want to meet casting directors and agents face-to-face like a door-to-door salesman, but that isn’t always possible. So until cloning becomes feasible, the next best solution is to rely on head shots.

      

A head shot is a close-up photograph of yourself that you submit along with your resume to agents and casting directors, so they can evaluate you in your absence. (Find more info on putting together a five-star resume in Chapter 5.) Essentially, your head shot is an advertisement that shows the best features of you as the product.

      The photograph should focus on your face and hair, reflecting what you honestly look like. A good head shot

       Makes you look natural. (Deliberate posing can make you look phony.)

       Shows you looking directly at the camera.

       Shows you smiling (for comedy), relaxed, and friendly. Furthermore, head shots can also show your serious side (for drama), your business look, and any other role you’re able to portray. For instance, you may have a gang member/biker look that may get you in for that particular role.

       Makes casting directors say to themselves, “I’d like to meet that person, or that’s who we want for the role!”

      

Make sure your head shot looks like you.

      

We suggest you update your head shot during your acting career to reflect the way you look now (as opposed to three years ago when you might have gotten your last head shot taken). Also, every time you make a major change in your appearance, such as cutting considerable length from your hair or dying your brown hair blonde, you should get new head shots to reflect your new look.

A head shot serves two main purposes:

       To get an agent interested in representing you. As a beginner, this is the main purpose of your head shot. A good head shot can attract the attention of an agent and make him or her want to sign you on as a client.

       To get a casting director interested in calling you in to an audition. After you audition, your head shot also helps the casting director remember what you looked like and what he liked about the way you acted and looked.

The most common head shot captures your face and part of your shoulders, as shown in Figure 4-1. The actor isn’t wearing distracting jewelry, and her makeup is conservative and flattering. (Note: You should apply makeup sparingly. You want to look natural in your head shot, so makeup shouldn’t be obvious, unless you’re pursuing a particular role.) She’s looking directly at the camera, and her hands aren’t covering or obscuring her face. In she appears relaxed and looks natural. Figure 4-2 is another example of an effective head shot.

      Source: Dellon Thomas/Pexels

      FIGURE 4-1: A standard head shot.

      Photo by Sean Garrison

FIGURE 4-2: Another standard head shot.

Examining Variations on the Standard

      Not all head shots are equal. Depending on what type of acting you want to pursue — for instance, commercials, theater, or film — you may need a different type of head shot for each market (or multiple head shots for a single market). For example, one head shot may show a glamorous view of yourself for theater auditions, whereas a second head shot may show a simpler yet bubblier version of yourself for commercial auditions.

      You may also want to get different head shots to project different looks when targeting the same markets. For example, you may have a nerdy look, a business look, and a tough-guy look in three different head shots all targeted for the television commercial market. You can improve your chances of landing a role by submitting the head shot that best matches the type of person casting directors need for a certain role.

As an actor, you should show you versatility in head shots. Personally (Larry) has a business head shot, a smiling comedy head shot, a dramatic head shot, and others for appropriate roles that may show up in the breakdowns. This gives your representation the ability to submit you for numerous projects. The following sections discuss two types of head shots you need.

      The commercial head shot

      Commercial head shots especially need to emphasize your smile and show your personality.

      As a result, the perkier, happier, and more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed you can appear in a commercial head shot, the better. Your commercial head