Actors Access, the casting section of Breakdown Services, has an important new feature for actors that is likely to fundamentally change the tools we make available for casting. Each headshot on your Actors Access profile can now include a 7-second clip of you slating to camera and in effect creating a "moving picture" of you for casting purposes.
Another option, however, and one that I've taken instead, is to take a 7-second clip from a past film and simply slate it on screen in print. You can actually grab quite a bit of dialogue and convey what you really look like in different roles and from moody interiors to sunny exteriors.
If you have a profile at Actors Access you should take advantage of this. They charge $5 per clip (first one is free) but you can upload but yourself, which is a big improvement over their arduous process for reels. (My Final Cut Pro X editing software is again proving invaluable.)
I wonder if the broader pool of actors available because of video audition capability means that casting directors have less time to look at reels (rats!) and at the same time are too wary of relying solely on stills, which are often overly photoshopped.
In any case, below is one of my drama clips so you can see what is possible in 7 seconds. I'm going to post one slate to camera just to have it available, but my other 5 "headshots" are going to be screen grabs illustrated with the 7-second clips.
I think this is an exciting development as I've always thought my headshots were attractive but too limiting. They never seem to fit the role I'm submitting for.
Have any of you already taken advantage of this new feature and posted clips? What is your view on this feature? Is this going to make $500-$700 headshot photos obsolete? We can only hope.
Another option, however, and one that I've taken instead, is to take a 7-second clip from a past film and simply slate it on screen in print. You can actually grab quite a bit of dialogue and convey what you really look like in different roles and from moody interiors to sunny exteriors.
If you have a profile at Actors Access you should take advantage of this. They charge $5 per clip (first one is free) but you can upload but yourself, which is a big improvement over their arduous process for reels. (My Final Cut Pro X editing software is again proving invaluable.)
I wonder if the broader pool of actors available because of video audition capability means that casting directors have less time to look at reels (rats!) and at the same time are too wary of relying solely on stills, which are often overly photoshopped.
In any case, below is one of my drama clips so you can see what is possible in 7 seconds. I'm going to post one slate to camera just to have it available, but my other 5 "headshots" are going to be screen grabs illustrated with the 7-second clips.
I think this is an exciting development as I've always thought my headshots were attractive but too limiting. They never seem to fit the role I'm submitting for.
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