“I didn't think I'd ever be able to do movies. That was for serious actors.”- Steve Buscemi
“Movie stars have careers - actors work, and then they don't work, and then they work again.”- Frances McDormand
“We actors always say how difficult and physically demanding a role was. But give me a break, it's only a movie.”- Javier Bardem
“Most actors will read a script and think, that's an interesting part. That blinds them to the fact that the rest of it is pretentious nonsense.”- Hugh Grant
“It is all about marketing; that is where the real craft comes in. The best actors do not necessarily become the biggest stars. And vice versa.”- Dirk Benedict
“It is hard sometimes to see how other actors are working when you are working with them.”- Miranda Otto
“Comedians don't have the kind of narcissism that actors have. They're writers who perform their own material. They risk more than anyone.”- Rachel Weisz
“I always say if you've seen good acting on television, those actors are really good. Because you don't have any preparation.”- Sasha Alexander
“There's nothing more boring than unintelligent actors, because all they have to talk about is themselves and acting.”- Tim Robbins
“I just feel lucky to be employed when there are so many actors and actresses who are not. I sometimes feel desperate, in case I'm not cast again.”- Judi Dench
“A lot of actors get concerned about their own image, even going so far as to rewrite a movie to best serve that image. All I want to do is be in good movies”- Michael Douglas
“I'm always described as 'cocksure' or 'with a swagger,' and that bears no resemblance to who I feel like inside. I feel plagued by insecurity.”- Ben Affleck
“I used to google my name to see what came up - it hurt.”- Emilio Estevez
“Being an actor is the easiest job. Just say the lines.”- Jonathan Rhys Meyers
“I went to the audition for a laugh and got the part for the way I walked down the corridor. There's no justice is there?”- Ray Winstone
“I know very little about acting. I'm just an incredibly gifted faker.”- Robert Downey Jr.
“First of all, I choose the great roles, and if none of these come, I choose the mediocre ones, and if they don't come, I choose the ones that pay the rent.”- Michael Caine
“I'm an actor... I do a job and I go home. Why are you interested in me? You don't ask a truck driver about his job.”- James Gandolfini
“Every actor looks all his life for a part that will combine his talents with his personality.”- Walter Matthau
“A good actor with a good opportunity has a shot; without the opportunity it doesn't matter how good you are.”- Denzel Washington
“Acting is half shame, half glory. Shame at exhibiting yourself, glory when you can forget yourself.”- John Gielgud
“Everything must be as in real life.”- Anton Chekhov
As a new actor, it’s difficult to know what the hell you’re doing.
I don’t mean when it comes to acting — that, as you quickly figure out, is only one half of your job — but rather when it comes to working. Working and acting, you realize after some time in the trenches, are two completely different (and sometimes mutually exclusive) things.
I’ve always thought the solution to this problem is relatively simple: if you’re not sure about something, ask someone who knows. Getting conflicting opinions about what casting directors want you to wear to an audition? Ask one. Not sure whether a director wants a second audition take to be different from the first? Ask one. Wondering whether you should mail or email a solicitation to an agent? Ask one. Seems obvious, right?
As a new or emerging actor with questions about how something works, you typically have to make do with parsing conflicting opinions, showbiz folk wisdom, the occasional hard-bitten rant from an overworked industry vet, and various other forms of untrustworthy bullshit.
But like a lot of things in this business, common sense isn’t always common practise. Casting directors are busy, and easily put off by pushy actors, and agents can be notoriously thin-skinned if they feel your impatient curiosity might be criticism. The result is that information about things like etiquette and best practises doesn’t travel well between casting, agents and actors. Should you slate square to camera, or at an angle? Do casting directors like getting Christmas cards? Do agents want to see a demo reel? Can your headshot be black & white? Is doing commercials going to hurt your chances for principal roles?
As a new or emerging actor with questions about how something works, you typically have to make do with parsing conflicting opinions, showbiz folk wisdom, the occasional hard-bitten rant from an overworked industry vet, and various other forms of untrustworthy bullshit.
I’ve been hard at work putting together a new portfolio for my main photography website, www.chrisframpton.net, and it’s finally done. Have a look!
You might notice a few familiar faces in there, and I don’t just mean celebrities. Some of my favourite pictures are outtakes from shoots with actors, and several have made it into the portfolio. It’s this kind of creative, editorial-style photography that really informs my work with all of you, and I think actors who work with me are happy to know that I’m not just a “headshot factory.”
You’ll notice a Facebook “like” button in the bottom right corner of the new site. If you like my work, I’ve recently made an official Facebook page that you can like and join, at facebook.com/chrisframptonphotographer. Thanks!
(Like this?) 1 likes
Loading ...
Filed under: News. Comment on, continue reading or share Check out the new portfolio!. Subscribe to this blog via email or RSS to receive new posts as they're published.
I came across this great video from BackStage Casting that features acting coach Carolyne Barry giving tips to commercial actors on the audition process. Normally I think these things are bullshit, but Carolyne actually gives some great advice here, and offers some real insight into how commercial auditions function. Some of this is common sense and very basic from an experienced actor’s point of view, but it’s all stuff that’s easy to forget once you’re in the room.
Some of my favourite things Carolyne says:
Callbacks are 60% what you look like.
Know your type. Don’t try to be everything to everyone.
Don’t feel you have to “do more” than other actors.
Filed under: Links. Comment on, continue reading or share Commercial Audition Tips. Subscribe to this blog via email or RSS to receive new posts as they're published.
Some of us do, some of us don’t. I get asked about it all the time and people are often surprised to hear that I trust them to be professional enough to show up on the day of the shoot, when I have equipment set up, precious time set aside and my makeup artist booked.
Only about 7 times in the 7 years I’ve been shooting actors has someone simply not shown up. That’s pretty insignificant when you consider the hundreds of actors I’ve shot, but it still completely floors me when it happens.
It’s tremendously inconvenient, but that’s not the reason. The reason is that actors so frequently fail to see how they have a reputation for lack of professionalism, and that that reputation discourages casting directors from working with new actors as much or more than anything else.
“And don’t even think about feature films or episodic TV, where in addition to all of those factors you might also have a significant amount of actual acting to fuck up.”
Agents (and sometimes casting directors themselves) ask me for feedback on actors I work with all the time. Sometimes they’re concerned with their confidence or how they look on camera, but nine times out of ten they want to know about a new actor’s professionalism. Did they show up on time? Were they difficult to work with? Were they condescending or rude? How did they treat my makeup artist? Could they follow direction or did they think they knew better? Were they constantly distracted by their phones or Blackberries? Did they pay me promptly?
I’m patient and polite (among other wonderful qualities). Plus you’re my client, so it’s my job to be accommodating and manage the stress of a headshot session for you in order to get fantastic pictures and make the experience fun and rewarding. Whether it’s working out a payment plan or dealing with a little pre-shoot insecurity attack, I’m ultimately here to help you.
But consider for a moment how casting or production sees the issue.
Another year down. If you’re anything like me, New Year is a time to reflect on what you’ve been up to for the past 12 months, and to think about what your plans should be for the next 12.
2010 was a pretty unusual year for me. As with most creative industries (film & TV being no exception), photography has been in a tremendous state of flux and change. Digital imaging technology, the internet and mass amateurization have radically altered the business of photography. While there’s never been so many good images being produced, the professional value of photography has become pretty fraught.
Last March I was feeling a little burnt out from shooting hundreds of actors, arguing with old fashioned agents, and hustling for celebrity and editorial work that was paying less and less, and all the while seeing my headshot style ripped off left, right and centre.
So I shut the studio down and went on hiatus for a few months, looking for some inspiration.
Through the spring and summer I travelled to Barcelona, Greece, up the coast of Turkey to Istanbul, Bulgaria and through the countryside of Romania, to Budapest, Hungary; to the caribbean for a month to dive and write and lie on the beach, and more recently to Iceland, to spend time in the Westfjords, my ears ringing from the silence.
It’s impossible not to learn some things about yourself when you make this kind of radical change in how you spend your time. What I learned is that despite the success I had created, I had been coasting. I was doing a great job of the photography work that was coming to me regularly, but that’s all I was doing. It had become a job. I had become a craftsman, and stopped being an artist.
“Commissioned art has a way of sliding slowly and imperceptibly into commercial trade…. The challenge in such circumstances is to convince the patron that you alone know the right way to make the piece.”
- From Art & Fear, David Bayles & Ted Orland
Maybe, as an actor, you know what this feels like.
The commercial audition process can be addicting, and seeing yourself in a guest starring role in a Canadian TV show is definitely a thrill (believe me – the first job I ever had as an actor was on a cop show called Blue Murder as a former Olympic runner who gets gunned down in a case of mistaken identity. It was barely a role but it felt like I had won the lottery).
But is standing beside a Jetta with your arms crossed or playing a badly written stereotype what you picture when you think about what’s really satisfying about being an actor? When you first decided this is what you really want to do, did you envision shoring up your self esteem after losing an SOC commercial, or being afraid to call your agent even though you’re not sure what he does for you? For most actors in this city, the only really good, meaningful work they get to do is in an acting class. Is that what you thought it would be like?
Like I was, there’s a decent chance you’re been coasting too. It’s easy, in the assembly line visits to Powerhouse or the routine of your weekly scene study, to forget that you, too, are capable of and interested in making art. You are an artist. Your job, to a very large extent, is to communicate with others about your ideas, your experience and your point of view, in order for them to better understand the world they live in.
As many of you know I’ve been on professional hiatus the past few months. Frustrated with the state of editorial photography and a little burned out on actors and agents, I closed the studio, packed a small bag, and headed off to eastern and central Europe, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean for a few months. I didn’t even take a camera.
But now I’m back in Toronto, refreshed, with a new perspective and a ton of great new ideas.
In the past year I’ve seen my powerful, unique headshot style imitated by photographers all over the city, both old and new, but this year I’m going to take things a step further, with a new personal shooting space, an exclusive schedule, and a more versatile product that’s as at-home in the digital age as it is in the world of traditional casting. I’ll also be getting back to the blog, so if you haven’t subscribed to this site (via email or RSS, in the right-hand column), I suggest you take a second and do that now.
I should be set up and shooting by the second half of July. If you’d like to schedule a session or a meeting, get in touch via email at chris@chrisframpton.net or call me at (416) 834-0840.
-Chris
(Like this?) 2 likes
Loading ...
Filed under: News. Comment on, continue reading or share I’m back!. Subscribe to this blog via email or RSS to receive new posts as they're published.
January is usually a pretty quiet time for the film & TV industry, and I always expect that the month is going to be a dead one for me. Of course by the third week I’m booked up with shoots and meetings and loaded with print orders. Business as usual.
Not surprising, I suppose. January is definitely a time to take a step back and evaluate what you’ve been doing for the past twelve months of your life, and specifically to make some new decisions, start new projects, and make some kind of fresh start. For actors, this is a great time of year to take some anxiety-free downtime and make plans for March and April when the industry starts to come out of its post-holiday hibernation.
A lot happened in 2009. I think we saw the business of acting take its biggest steps away from the traditional structure of casting>agents>actors and features>TV>commercials, and toward something far more remixed. Actors, casting and production are speaking directly for the first time through sites like AACTION and Casting Workbook. TV, a medium that was once completely overshadowed by features, is in the middle of an incredible renaissance. And the web is almost overloaded with viral advertising and comedy projects, both low budget and high.
Filed under: News. Comment on, continue reading or share The business of acting, 2010. Subscribe to this blog via email or RSS to receive new posts as they're published.
F.A.Q.s (Frequently Asked Questions) about headshots are usually pretty boring and disingenuous (What should I wear? Something that brings out your eyes!). The cold fact is most headshot photographers are corny hacks who are more interested in getting you to stay behind to do “artistic nudes” than helping you forge relationships with casting directors. More interesting is this F.U.Q. — a list of fears, insecurities and gross misconceptions about the business of actors headshot photography. Unlike an F.A.Q. I’ll only list the questions. I think the answers are self evident. If you do too I just might be the photographer you’ve been looking for.
Chris Frampton’s Actors Headshot F.U.Q.
I hate the way I look. Will I like the way I look in pictures you take?
I think I have big gums/bad teeth/an unattractive smile. If I clamp my lips together though the whole shoot so that it doesn’t show, will it look funny?
Some actors friends in L.A./Vancouver/New York/Toronto say you’re the hot photographer to shoot with right now. I don’t like your pictures, and I don’t want my pictures to look like yours. Will I like pictures you take of me?
I’ve had my headshots done a million times. They’ve never made an ounce of difference for me with casting. I hear you do pictures that casting love, and that you have a collaborative approach that helps actors translate their skills and instincts for still photography. I want pictures like that, but I’m probably just going to ignore you during the shoot and pose or “make my face” like I always have. Is this going to work out?
By far the worst actors to photograph are film & TV veterans.
That may sound backwards, but generally speaking I will get more killer pictures out of a sweating, nervous newbie than I will out of someone who’s been on every Canadian TV show since Littlest Hobo. Do you know why? It’s because veteran film & TV actors develop a shtick – an act or routine that they can easily call up and deploy. It allows them to stop listening and concentrate on making it look a certain way. It allows them to control the performance.
In front of the camera a shticky actor might nod or laugh at a joke, but they’ll never break the pose or position they’ve put themselves into. They’re constantly working against you as a photographer because, hell, you’re only a photographer, right? They know what their “angles” are. They know how to “find the light”. They know they’ll look thinner on a 45 degree angle. To hell with the emotional language of the picture. They’re actors! They have a shtick for that! I’ve actually had actors drop to the floor for a few quick pushups when they’ve thought I was pausing to tell them a story.
You can’t blame them really. In film & television acting is usually competitive. You worry about how much coverage you’re getting, why you aren’t in more scenes or shots, whether your best take happened on your closeup, if the light’s better for you or the other person in the scene, if the director likes you, if you’re screwing things up for the continuity person, if your lines are going to be cut, and you worry about all this stuff compared to the other actors.
In an episode of Arrested Development, David Cross’s character, the speciously gay psychiatrist-turned-aspiring actor Tobias Funkë, has a series of desperate, over-literal and hilarious headshots done. In each of the four of them, Tobias stands in front of a mottled blue photo backdrop, eyebrows arched, head cocked in childish apology, alternately bedecked as an office worker clutching a green folder, a doctor complete with head mirror, a headband-sporting tennis player, and an S&M guy in a leather vest and ballgag.
It’s funny as hell, not just because of how David Cross is gamely holding his own leash as if he’s offering it to you, but because it’s only vaguely unrealistic. All over the world (but let’s be honest — mostly in L.A.), desperate actors and terrible photographers produce embarrassingly overstated headshots that are (bless their little cotton socks) more like car crashes than calling cards. From the transgressions of the 80s and 90s (leather jackets, bare chests and cycling shorts anyone?) to more modern Funkë-esque costume pictures (It’s my E.R. shot!), headshot photography can be long on irony and short on sense.
Last year comedian Patrick Borelli and photographer Douglas Gorenstein decided to exploit the unintentional hilarity of awful American-style headshot photography by publishing Holy Headshot, a so-called “celebration of America’s undiscovered talent”.
Subscribe and get updates to this site delivered to you via email or RSS.
Popular stuff
Art & Fear: An open letter to actors Another year down. If you're anything like me, New Year is a time to reflect on what you've been up to for the past... (8 likes)
Having a demo reel is no longer optional Sometimes it seems like video is taking over everything. Newspapers and magazines give way to video podcasts and lo... (4 likes)
The business of acting, 2010 January is usually a pretty quiet time for the film & TV industry, and I always expect that the month is going to b... (4 likes)
(Like this?) 1 likes
Loading ...
(Like this?) 0 likes