Best Practices For Designing An Acting Comp Card

As a professional model or actor, you have to have proof that you are right for the parts you want. But how can you do this before you ever go on an audition?. It all comes down to a convincing resume, headshot, and comp card. Although comp cards are more popular for models, I think they can be a great tool for actors as well. A lot of commercial actors are seeing great results from using a comp card instead of the traditional headshot. The first step in making your own comp card is reading this article.

First, spend some time thinking about your type. Any actress or model is required to remember that there are actually specificparts you can convincingly play and many parts that would be a poor fit for you. It will be purely to do with your characteristic look. If you know that you happen to be 5'2" and you also are pudgy, you can expect to almost certainly never be getting hired to do any runway fashion modeling. On the other hand, you might very well end up being cast in commercials targeted at housewives. Which means that you're forced to figure out your unique assortment of archetypes that you know you'll be able to easily get hired to play. If you haven't thought about this yet, check with your acting or modeling coach.

The next thing you'll need is to get the single best photo to show off each of your most marketable roles. The largest photo on your comp card you think can speak for the main type of character that you tend to be cast for. The idea is to show casting directors straightaway that you are a perfect for that type of part. Around this, place smaller photos which show you in other types of parts. This way, you'll be able to show some of your other capabilities, so you can easily include a wide range of parts that you think you're good for. But keep in mind that you must remain realistic. Each photo should represent a role you could actually be hired for.

And lastly, an issue we should address is what size you want to make your comp cards. If you've been working as an actor already, a normal acting headshot is 8 1/2 x 11. Typically you'll staple your resume onto the back, which is a normal piece of paper.. There's no difference in size with a comp card. It is the industry standard. In the modeling world, people tend to mix things up a little more with sizes and shapes. In this case it's best to just do some research and to view modeling resumes that you think look good. This will help you understand the best way to put together a modeling resume and a comp card that will be effectively for you as an individual.