Step Five: Final Headshot Selection

Forewarning you! This is a lot of me!
You'll first see examples of THEATRICAL headshots (theater, film, television);
then COMMERCIAL headshots (just commercials). Then, you'll see my final selection of both!
[for better understanding of theatrical vs. commercial headshots, click here.]

You can do a few different things to get the best headshot. First, you narrow it down by your:

1) Look

• you want each look to be expressive, open, and clear. the goal here is to let casting directors see you, see into you. your eyes is one way you can tell if it's a good shot. do they say something to the viewer?

2) Composition

• once you have your favorite looks picked out (it could be 10 or 50), you can crop your pictures to your liking. headshot trends show that its now popular to have a "head and shoulders" image. the ratio is 8x10. color. and could be portrait or landscape view. 
• portrait is more traditional and is easy for casting directors to look through, but landscape has gotten popular because it previews film better. 
• for landscape: casting directors have to turn the picture while going through a pile, which could be a good thing or bad. Bad, because it could be considered an annoyance; ood, because they look longer at it.

3) Communicative Power

• many shots will appear to be the same, but don't be fooled. one slight degree of the corner mouth or eyebrow can change the whole look and feel.
• for example, the pictures to the right appear very similar, but they are very different: the one above communicates power, mystique, is almost villainous. the picture below communicates vulnerability, worry, doubt. you see the difference?
• choose images that communicate something important like: this is me and i'm proud of it or i know i am right for this role. the goal is to have it be communicative enough where casting directors will want to stop and look longer (even just a few milliseconds) at your headshot because it speaks more than just "this is a pretty picture."

4) Intent

• for what role do you want this headshot to be? do you want to spend time picking and printing different headshots or is the "money shot" the best option? I like to be prepared for both scenarios. the "money shot" would communicate what you want but it could be versatile for every role to which you apply. this is the most common. however, with the popular growth of online portfolios that allow many different headshots, be prepared to select other images that express something different.
• emotions that could be conveyed in my different headshots: confident, right, declarative, wild, sure, deviant, poised, suspect, whimsical, innocent, vulnerable, etc.

COMMERCIAL is similar in that you want to consider look, composition, communicative power, and intent. However, to me it is more basic, light, and fun. Wear light colors, have a happy and open expression as well as pose. If you have a nice smile, show it. These were my final choices:

NOTE: make sure your headshot looks like you! Casting directors hate it when they looked at your headshot and in walks someone who is completely different. It should look like you and capture your personality as well as your intent.

It is smart to ask family, friends, and strangers their opinions. Ask them which is their favorite and which really communicates something. It's also a hint if they end up looking at a particular one for even just a second longer than the others.

Finally, my current final picks are.... drumroll.... but you can already see them. So take back drumroll and instead... i'll just say....... BAM! what do you think? be honest. i want what works and it was a hard decision for me.