Beyond the Brick Wall II

Once again it's time to see if we can take the next step in pushing the envelope in actors' headshots.

As part of an annual project, I work with several actors who are willing to work on creating marketing images that go beyond the brick wall headshot. Agents and casting directors say that as an actor you need a headshot that "looks like you." I believe that, at the very best, is only part of the story because if all they needed was a headshot that looked like you, all headshots would be mug shots. Actors would be stood up against a wall that had marking indicating height, there would be bright, flourescent light, no make up, and the shot would consist of a front and profile. I'd love to see an actor walk into an agent's office with something like that.

The fact is, the minute an actor decides between wearing a green shirt versus wearing a blue shirt for his headshot, he's making a decision that communicating with the viewer. The Archetype Images Headshot project is all about identifying the rhetorical choices that an actor makes and making a conscious decision on how to use those choices to communicate who the actor is, what type of work she's seeking, and the quality of the work she will deliver once cast.

For this project I've identified four actors. Yesterday I met with two of them, Franette Liebow and Dan Howard. Our conversation focused on headshots for theatrical work. While both actors want work that will pay the bills -- and then some. And we know how much stage work pays in Chicago, we also focused how we could communicate to agents about the types of roles and the segments of the industry where they felt they were the most marketable. It was a fascinating discussion and in the coming weeks you should see the images here and on the Archetype Images website.

Why am I passionate about this?

I truly am passionate about this because I feel that there is a lack of support for actors to feel empowered in the entertainment industry. Much of the support that is available is on the artistic aspect, with audition coaches, acting classes, and the like. On the rare occasion that there is something that focuses on the "business of acting," the information is couched in terms that underscore the subservient position of the actor. "Professional Survival," and such tell the actor that it's a jungle out there, and the odds are against him.

And that's absolutely true. With more than a hundred actors vying for one small role, there is probably not a more competitive industry. Yet accepting a passive role within the industry is NOT the way be successful. As an actor, it's YOUR career. Take charge of it.

Of course, it's very easy to get discouraged. There is an overwhelming amount of rejection as an actor, and it's difficult not to take that rejection personally. But it's not. It NEVER is personal. Not EVER. Even if an actor has a prior relationship with a director or producer and that relationship turned sour, the fact is professionals hire professionals who they think will make them money. Now, it doesn't hurt to have your boss like you, but at the end of the day that is a very small component of how a professional makes her decision.

Every actor needs to come to each audition, each meeting, with the knowledge that they have a commodity -- their skill, their talent, their training -- that is a valuable asset. That asset may not fit every job, but an actor has to present that asset, that commodity, in such a way that the director or producer can see the value. Does a picture "that looks like you," smiling and standing against a brick wall convey any value? Does it say anything about you except that you can smile? And in a stack of one hundred pictures, doesn't it make sense to try to communicate something beyond what a good person you are?

Part of the discussion yesterday focused on a famous Chicago actor I've worked with in the past. He will remain nameless here because he's not getting very good press at the moment. He has a reputation for being difficult, and the reputation is deserved. Still, twenty years ago that actor knew where is career was going. He knew when it would peak. He knew what he had to offer the market and he marketed those skills and talents. Today he's very, very successful.

But Franette pointed out that he's also not very well liked, and with his current run of bad press he has no one coming to his defense. She contended, and rightly so, that being arrogant and cocky and pushy may be a formula for success, but that it was no way to live a professional life.

I responded with there is a difference between being a confident professional, aware of your skills and how those skills work within the industry, and being arrogant and cocky. It just so happens that my famous actor friend is arrogant and cocky, he knows it, and that's what he marketed. And while he's exceedingly unpleasant to be around and I can't think of a single person who would switch places with him on a personal level, on a professional level I also can't think of a single actor who doesn't envy his career and his success.

His success did not come from being arrogant and cocky. It came from knowing he was arrogant and cocky, knowing what roles he could utilize those aspects of his character, and marketing those skills.

It's a formula that will work for any actor, and it's a formula that empowers the actor and makes her a driver in the creation of her career and a business partner with the people who hire her for a job. What's more it gives her a perspective to see that the rejection she faces is not personal. It's professional.

But above all that, I contend that a headshot that has a rhetorical purpose beyond just "capturing your essence," or showing that you can "play" in front of a camera is of infinite more value than a headshot taken in natural light against a brick wall. And in the coming weeks I intend to prove that here.

Happy New Year

Isn't the start of a new year exciting? There are certain milestones throughout the year where I feel as if I officially get a second wind, and January 1 is definitely one of them.

Over the holidays I did a lot of planning and there are some exciting things coming for Archetype Images, including our first exhibition, more weddings, and the annual headshot project. Details on all of those and more will be coming in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, have you kept your new year resolution? Is that agent mailing ready to go? Have you started reading that list of plays, looking for new audition material? Is that closet cleaned? Then what are you doing reading this blog?!?

Happy Holidays

Archetype Images is on holiday hiatus. See you after January 1.

Cut to the Quick

I'm in my second season of doing publicity shots for The Side Project. And the work that they do is an excellent example of the reasons that so many people do theatre in Chicago. There's no money in it. The personal sacrifices are enormous. Still, every now and then there is the opportunity to be part of something very special.

Cut to the Quick is a series of three collections of short plays. I haven't seen even one of them yet, only been invited to sit in some preliminary rehearsals and take pictures. This is unusual for my process because I'm very thorough in my preparation, usually reading the play and attending a run before doing the shoot. But this time around, Adam wanted something a little rougher, so we agreed that I was to capture moments and images that any actor might recognize as a rehearsal.

And what any actor will tell you is that the performances are great, especially when a production is working, but that the really transcendent moments happen in a bare room during a rehearsal. It's the moment when the text seems to melt away and the actor becomes the character for the first time that the real theater artists live for. The story comes to life, not in a figurative way, but literally, and there is nothing else in the world but that moment. People become actors for many reasons, but all of the acclaim, all of the money, everything else that comes with monumental success for an actor pales by comparison to the simple moment when the story comes to life.

As dollars become more scarce, everyone is becoming more selective with their entertainment budgets. Put live theater at the top of your lists. And not just the big-bang theatres. The real magic, the stuff that will stir your soul, is happening in the small theatres.

The Autumn Garden

Nathaniel Swift directs The Autumn Garden, opens this weekend at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse, and this is a theatrical opportunity that cannot -- CANNOT -- be missed.

Nearly every professional actor started out in a high-school drama department. And those drama departments tended to do large, complex scripts written in the thirties and forties because there were a lot of roles for the kids to play and the family closet provided plenty of costumes. I know that as an actor, I cut my teeth on those scripts.

But in the 1950's the political and economic climate began to change for the American theatre. Musicals began to generate more box-office revenue, and dramas started to shrink. By the 1970's and 80's, two- or three-character plays done on a black-box set were the norm, and in the Chicago store-front theatre, it was/is almost physically (not to mention financially) impossible to mount a script with more than four characters and two costume changes. Throughout the 1980's and 90's, whether from budgetary restrictions or artistic tastes, the scripts that I worked on in high school, and the playwrights who created them, were regarded as passe. At least by me, if no one else.

And still today, Tracy Letts notwithstanding, large, complex dramas aren't common on the Chicago stage. Even Shakespeare gets paired down to accommodate the 10x6 dressing rooms, and fifty-seat house. Therefore it's a real treat to see The Autumn Garden. Trite, but true, they simply don't make them like this anymore. In preparing for my shoot with Eclipse, I read the script twice and watched a late run thru. I've edited maybe twenty pictures from the two shoots, and even as I cropped the last shot, a new detail about the play sprang to mind and I was in awe all over again. And my friends, I'm not easily awed.

This play is not a theatrical hors d'oeurves. Going to see this production is a full, Mame-Dennis theatrical banquet. You won't realize just what you're missing from the theatre until you see this show. Magic!

Directed by Nathaniel Swift. Cast: Julie Daley, Seven Fedoruk, Dawn Alden, Stephen Dale, Geraldine Dulex, John Fenner Mays, Nora Fiffer, Judith Hoppe, Millicent Hurley, Raymond Jacquet, Julie Partyka, Chuck Spencer

Barrymore

Several years ago I had the great fortune of working at Circle Theatre on an original script that was loosely based upon the friendship that founded that little company. In that cast of four, was Michael Pacas. The production would probably best be described as an unappreciated gem. The cast delivered a fine performance, if I do say so myself.

Since that time Michael has gone on to work with just about every non-Equity company in the city. Now he's mounting a one-man show as a showcase to spring himself into the larger houses and get special notice from the area agents.

Michael is an actor after my own heart. I LOVE that moxy and drive. And it's that dedication and guts that produce results.

Barrymore will only be running a short time, but if you want to see the essence of Chicago theatre, if you want to see what it's really all about, you cannot miss this production!

Barrymore

Presented and Performed by Michael Pacas

with Scott Sumerak

November 3 & 5 - 19, 2008

Sunday thru Wednesday

8:00 pm.

The West Stage at

The Raven Theatre Complex

6157 N. Clark Street

Ray T. Ready

The exciting thing about working with actors is that nothing is really ever predictable. It takes a certain strength of character to be able to accept that and I admire the actors who can embrace the adventure of a life in the theatre. It's not an easy one, but with the right mindset it is rewarding.

Case in point is Ray Ready. Ray came to me for his headshots fresh from college. He was doing his first show in Chicago and needed new headshots. He had been using an artistic shot with some leaves superimposed over it. It was a beautiful picture, and it had helped him land the show he was doing, but he rightly felt that the picture he'd been using wasn't going to get him much further.

As with all actors I work with, my first question is about career goals. Ray wanted a life on the stage. Film would be acceptable, but he really wanted the great roles. Because it's my best frame of reference, particularly with male actors, I asked him which Shakespearean role he wanted to play. He was a little stumped, because he felt like he wasn't really old enough to play the great comedic roles, but that's sort of where he saw himself. Then we hit on Puck, and the picture began to take shape. Ray is a perfect Puck: impish, with just a hint of danger. So we came up with this shot that communicated his angular body.

It was weeks after the shoot and sending the proofs to Ray before I heard from him. I had begin to think he was somehow disappointed with the pictures. That was not the case. Somehow he'd found himself in London, and was getting work as an actor there. In his e-mail to me, he gave me a list of the shots he needed and asked me to translate them to black and white as well as color. The Brits are still doing black and white. The above shot is now making the audition rounds in London.

Archetype Images is now officially international!