On stage photos on Spotlight

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	Topic: On stage photos on Spotlight
Posted : 19/02/10 / Views : 645 / Replies : 4 /
SallyBeaumont1 845 posts last on: 20 hours send private reply	What's the general opinion about adding pictures of you in stage roles or TV stills to your portfolio on Spotlight? I was once told by an agent that it made me look "amateur", however the example on Spotlight has onstage pictures. I have a few on CCP, and I'm never sure whether they give a good impression- certainly employers will get a better idea of what I really look like in action! Thoughts?

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	Reply #1
Posted : 17/02/10
Mary6 225 posts last on: 2 hours send private reply	Possibly it depends on the quality of the photo, lighting, clearness etc. Casting Directors all have different opinion!

	Reply #2
Posted : 17/02/10
SallyBeaumont1 845 posts last on: 20 hours send private reply	Well, Spotlight has a fairly stringent policy on the quality and size of pictures, which helps. The pictures are mainly professionally taken, or good screen captures of TV, so look good. It's more whether it's useful/puts people off...

	Reply #3
Posted : 17/02/10
leeravitz 1543 posts last on: 20 hours send private reply	I have a few up that were taken to be used in explicit publicity work, or were sent to me by film editors who took the screen grabs from source, and the main reasons are simply that a) I like the pictures personally and b) I think they indicate more clearly than my actual headshot what my casting bracket is (this may, indeed, raise issues over whether or not I require a more explicit headshot, but that's another issue), and have the benefit of being in colour. I am not too bothered about whether or not they are there or otherwise, and I suspect neither are most casting directors, to be honest. If they are good quality photographs that show you are working on good projects, and can make a good aesthetic impression when someone points a camera at you, then I don't see what harm they can do, and I find the attitude that this is somehow amateur a little odd. Certainly, you do not wish to be represented by anything that suggests projects you have been involved with have been less than decent, but most good photographs might well appear in, let's say, a personal gallery on your own website, and should a casting director ever be induced to surf it they would see much the same material there. For me, the bottom line is actually what I was once told about showreels, which is not hugely optimistic or useful, but has, I think, some truth to it: a primary purpose served by these things (should anyone care to take the time to look in the first instance) is just to help confirm that you're doing what you say you are doing; in other words, it's a useful gauge to prove that, yes, indeed, the work you are producing has a budget behind it/is aesthetically pleasing/suits your casting type. That might matter to a few industry professionals; it is probably a matter of supreme indifference to the majority of them, who are trying to process vast numbers of near identical Spotlight entries every five minutes. They will judge first and foremost on the lead shot, and the credits (maybe the representation); they might, if interested, check the stills shot out to get a wider sense of 'you' if they have interest and time on their hands. One useful function I find CCP has is allowing you to track when users have called up portfolio pictures - it's not that uncommon, but nor is it generally the employers who bother to do this. I think if you could track the number of Spotlight views that portfolio material received in a similar way, you would see a similar result. On some highly reputable sites (like IMDB), the usage of stills material as advertising is actively encouraged. I think casting directors dismissing the use of additional photos is really a reflection of the fact that they don't personally have time to be bothered to look through them. I don't see how it can be constituted as 'unprofessional' (unless the pictures truly are terrible quality), but it may be unreasonable (in a sense) to assume anyone will have time to look at the additional pictures, and so sticking to the basic headshot is a more straighforward approach. Some might argue if you have a website, you can host a gallery there, and simply offer the link for those interested in investigating further; if you have no website, then maybe displaying the gallery on Spotlight until further notice is as useful as anything else should you wish to refer people to your Spotlight page.

Reply #3

Posted : 17/02/10

leeravitz
1543 posts
last on: 20 hours
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I have a few up that were taken to be used in explicit publicity work, or were sent to me by film editors who took the screen grabs from source, and the main reasons are simply that a) I like the pictures personally and b) I think they indicate more clearly than my actual headshot what my casting bracket is (this may, indeed, raise issues over whether or not I require a more explicit headshot, but that's another issue), and have the benefit of being in colour.

I am not too bothered about whether or not they are there or otherwise, and I suspect neither are most casting directors, to be honest. If they are good quality photographs that show you are working on good projects, and can make a good aesthetic impression when someone points a camera at you, then I don't see what harm they can do, and I find the attitude that this is somehow amateur a little odd. Certainly, you do not wish to be represented by anything that suggests projects you have been involved with have been less than decent, but most good photographs might well appear in, let's say, a personal gallery on your own website, and should a casting director ever be induced to surf it they would see much the same material there.

For me, the bottom line is actually what I was once told about showreels, which is not hugely optimistic or useful, but has, I think, some truth to it: a primary purpose served by these things (should anyone care to take the time to look in the first instance) is just to help confirm that you're doing what you say you are doing; in other words, it's a useful gauge to prove that, yes, indeed, the work you are producing has a budget behind it/is aesthetically pleasing/suits your casting type. That might matter to a few industry professionals; it is probably a matter of supreme indifference to the majority of them, who are trying to process vast numbers of near identical Spotlight entries every five minutes. They will judge first and foremost on the lead shot, and the credits (maybe the representation); they might, if interested, check the stills shot out to get a wider sense of 'you' if they have interest and time on their hands. One useful function I find CCP has is allowing you to track when users have called up portfolio pictures - it's not that uncommon, but nor is it generally the employers who bother to do this. I think if you could track the number of Spotlight views that portfolio material received in a similar way, you would see a similar result.

On some highly reputable sites (like IMDB), the usage of stills material as advertising is actively encouraged. I think casting directors dismissing the use of additional photos is really a reflection of the fact that they don't personally have time to be bothered to look through them. I don't see how it can be constituted as 'unprofessional' (unless the pictures truly are terrible quality), but it may be unreasonable (in a sense) to assume anyone will have time to look at the additional pictures, and so sticking to the basic headshot is a more straighforward approach. Some might argue if you have a website, you can host a gallery there, and simply offer the link for those interested in investigating further; if you have no website, then maybe displaying the gallery on Spotlight until further notice is as useful as anything else should *you* wish to refer people to your Spotlight page.

	Reply #4
Posted : 19/02/10
Edward.Llewelyn 81 posts last on: 15/12/11 send private reply	Completely agree with you Lee. I have a few on my Spotlight page, I can't see any harm unless the casting director then goes ('Oh I don't what parts he's /she's good for because he looks different in all of them') I'd say put them up, we're actors and we play characters at the end of the day & I think the more varied the better.

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