It’s time for actors and agents to take the lead and switch to colour headshots. That’s the argument I made in a recent piece for The Stage (full article here).
But this wasn’t just a flight of fancy or an attempt to generate business for myself. In researching the piece, I intervewed the head of Spotlight, Ben Seale, pored over editions of the directory from 1927 to the present day and spent hours on the phone taking the views of over 100 casting directors.
As a headshot photographer, I’ve always preferrred B&W for actors headshots, but what emerged certainly changed my mind. This is broadly what I found:
There are reasons why headshots have barely changed in a century.
- They are (relatively) cheap and cost-effective as a tool.
- They do the job they’re meant to do simply.
- They sit perfectly in the balance between an actor’s need to self-promote and casting professionals’ need for a resource that accurately previews the actor.
Michael Wharley Photography
After a hundred years’ service, they’re also as much a part of the business’ furniture as auditions themselves. So, it’s not surprising that 96% of the casting directors I interviewed said they believe headshots will remain central to the casting process.
But why do we continue to stick with B&W? Well, as far as my research revealed, unquestioned precedent and a little bit of vanity.
It must be, because these days photographers and printers can handle colour better than ever before, the majority of casting professionals spend their working days online where colour is hardly a problem, and over in the States colour headshots have been the norm for years.
True, it’s marginally easier to photoshop flaws away in a B&W photo, and who doesn’t secretly feel that they look better in monochrome?
But those are not compelling reasons to make a decision about the major weapon in an actor’s marketing arsenal. As I argue in the piece:
“…switching to colour could offer a competitive advantage… providing as it does a potentially more accurate preview of the actor. And clinical though it might be, what is an actor seeking the chance to audition if not a product? “
Importantly, my casting director research showed that while 48% still prefer B&W, a slight majority of 52% either prefer colour or have no preference.
So, even if B&W isn’t going to disappear soon, it’s clearly in the hands of agents and actors to decide that colour is in.
You can read, download and share a copy of the full article from The Stage here. Check back later in the week to read my companion The Stage piece about trends in online casting.
MW 27/09/2010
Loading tweets...