TAMPA BAY MODELING ARTICLE
MODELING
COMPOSITE CARDS
By Tampa photographer
and designer C. A. Passinault
Tampa Bay
Modeling
Modeling Composite Cards
By C.
A. Passinault, lead Tampa
photographer and Tampa
graphic designer, Aurora
PhotoArts Tampa Bay photography and design.
Tampa Bay
Modeling has had many requests for an article about model composite cards
for the last four years. Although we are sure that unethical modeling
portfolio photographers, modeling consultants, model managers, and modeling
agency placement companies will be learning from us and this article,
plagiarizing it (passing the information off as their own without crediting
Tampa Bay Modeling so they can bait models into buying what they are selling),
this information needs to be out there for the good of professional models
everywhere.
Just remember where you saw it first. If any model obtains this information
from anyone but us, remember that if they rip us off that they will not
have a problem doing the same to you. Additionally, if they DO credit
us as the source, please remember that this, in no way, means that we
are affiliated with them in any way, and does not mean that they are legitimate
professionals.
If you have any questions about who we are affiliated with, please contact
us. We will confirm who we are affiliated with, and that's about it. We
will not confirm if someone is running a scam or if they are a legitimate
business, as models need to be smart enough to figure this out on their
own, and we have more than enough information on Tampa Bay Modeling to
educate them and teach them how to tell the difference between a modeling
scam and a legitimate business.
Another reason that we decided to do this modeling composite card article
is that a lot of self-proclaimed, so-called modeling professionals, comp
card printers, model consultants, model managers, modeling schools, modeling
agencies, and modeling portfolio photographers do not know what they are
doing. Sure, they will convince the naive, aspiring model that they can
help their career, but the only thing that they will succeed in doing
is taking money from the model. Their low-quality, poorly designed modeling
composite cards will sabotage the professional credibility of the model
and undermine any chance that they have of being taken seriously and booked
into a modeling job.
Modeling composite cards are the first impression that a model gives because
they are sent during the initial contact, regardless of if the model is
referred by a modeling agency or they do it independently. Models must
take the quality and the detail that goes into their composite cards very
seriously, or the composite cards will backfire and handicap their modeling
career!
With this said, we will now explore what a modeling composite card is,
how it should be put together, stock weight and quality, and many of the
common mistakes that we have endured over the years. Learn from the mistakes,
and the success, of others, and come out ahead in you modeling career.
Composite
Cards For Modeling
Basically, a composite card is the business card of a professional model,
containing a summary of their overall modeling portfolio. A good composite
card showcases a wide range of looks that a model can pull off. The wider
variety of modeling looks that a model can pull off increases the chance
that at least one look will be what an art director or casting professional
in charge of a modeling job is looking for. Even if one of those looks
is not what they have in mind, being able to demonstrate a wide range
of looks may interest them, and the chances improve that they will contact
the model and have them bring their full portfolio in for a go-see (interview
or audition).
An average modeling composite card shows about five looks. The model has
a modeling headshot (or a color version of their actor or talent headshot)
on the front of the card, and four more looks on the back of the card.
You wouldn't believe how many comp cards that we have seen where there
are supposed to be five looks and they only show two (!) or three. The
designer, or whatever so-called modeling professional that the model hires
for their comps, doesn't have enough looks to put on the card or doesn't
really know what they are doing. We've seen cards with a long-shot on
the front (we would show samples but we don't wish to embarrass any models),
a different picture of the same look on the back, and three more pictures
which are variations of one more look (the completely unprofessional and
unusable two look, five frame composite card which horrified us). It baffles
us why any model would accept a five look composite card which only shows
two looks and which makes them look like an amateur model. It mystifies
us why a model would send anyone such a composite card.
Modeling portfolio picture quality aside, an ideal composite card maximizes
that range of looks that a model demonstrates, enhances their marketability,
and builds their mainstream market appeal (unless the model specializes
in a certain modeling market). A five look card must show five looks.
Also, photographs which can be easily taken out of context, and which
may portray the model in a way which could be inappropriate for a mainstream
modeling job, should be avoided. While we are sure that an art director
and his coworkers may enjoy a composite card filled with sexy modeling
pictures in suggestive poses, it will hardly get the model the job or
a go-see, unless the client has additional motives in mind- subject material
beyond the scope of this article which will be explored in another Tampa
Bay Modeling article, for sure.
An actor headshot or talent headshot measures 8 X 10 inches, with the
headshot photograph and the name on the front and the talent resume on
the back. While most headshots are in the 8 X 10 format (which I know
all too well because I have done hundreds of them over the years; headshots
that have done exceptionally well in primary, competitive acting markets
such as Los Angeles), modeling composite cards are smaller, and the size
format can vary. Most modeling composite cards are 5 X 7 inches. I've
seen extremes, however, and it is now common to see some models utilize
business card-sized mini composite cards in addition to the traditional
ones. The business card comps can be carried with the models at all times,
and come in handy during business meetings, modeling networking events,
and given to art directors once a go-see has ended and the model wants
the art director to remember, and consider, them for the modeling job.
The standard modeling composite card has the name of the model on the
front of the card beneath the headshot, or cover modeling, picture. The
modeling stats, which include the model's measurements, height, dress
size, eye color, hair color, shoe size, etc., are usually on the back
of the card along with the assorted looks shown there, but there are no
hard rules and it is up to the model and the composite card designer (at
least it should be). Stats vary, too, and depend upon the modeling market
that the model works in. Some male model composite cards can contain even
more stats and measurements than that for a female model!
NEXT:
ZED CARDS
C.
A. Passinault, who writes the Tampa
Photography Blog, is a Tampa
photographer who is a modeling composite card and actor headshot expert,
and has done them for many years. These comp cards and headshots have
proven to be effective in large markets such as New York and Los Angeles.
This article may be read by professional
models free of charge. We retain ownership and copyright. Article cannot
be reposted on another site without the express written permission of
Tampa Bay Modeling and the author. Article cannot be sold or used outside
of this web site for any reason. If you see this article anywhere else,
or someone passes the information as their own knowledge without citing
the source, please contact Tampa Bay Modeling and let us know. If someone
steals this article and uses it to sell a service or a product, then they
will also scam their clients. This article is for the benefit of models,
and we have no intention of educating modeling scams with our articles
or anyone profiting from our content. For more, please read our Tampa
Bay Modeling Terms Of Use.
UPDATED 05/04/08
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2008 Tampa Bay Modeling. All rights reserved
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