The use of images and audio visual within our profession is extremely important. If you apply for a job the first thing you do is not only send your CV but also a headshot of yourself. I believe your headshot is as important as your CV if not more so! Companies know whether they want someone with brown hair or blonde hair, short or long, whether they want someone who's glamorous looking or a girl next door type. A good headshot should tell them a lot about you. This is why we have different headshots for different types of jobs too. If it's a serious play you're applying for you'd want a serious looking headshot that says I'm going to be able to portray this character. If it's a job as a children's entertainer you want, you're going to send a picture of you smiling or pulling a funny face, showing them your 'fun side'. For casting directors your headshot saves them a lot of time. If you didn't have one they may spend hours auditioning people that they know aren't right for the part as soon as they walk through the door.
The negative of this of course is that casting directors may think they know everything about you by your headshot but of course they don't. You may have talents perfect for what they're looking for, however they'll never see them because they chose not to ask you in for that audition. A good headshot is very important!
Audio visual is just as important as everyone in the performing world should have a showreel or voicereel. This is a chance for you to showcase the best of your abilities and prove to a casting director that you're the person for the job, without even having to see them in person. Again they save both you and a casting director hours of audition time as they may cast a job right from your showreel.
The problem here of course comes from copyright issues. Almost every production company won't allow any type of filming or photography of a production unless it's for promotional purposes. You can also lose your job if you put pictures of you in costume or of the sets on Facebook. After all, once you put any picture on Facebook you immediately lose the rights to it, as far as I'm aware. It also allows other companies to see them and steal ideas. For most performers though, getting these photos or videos is crucial for building your showreel.
YouTube has had a major effect on our career as performers. By posting videos of yourself singing or dancing you can become an internet sensation overnight! Just look at Justin Beiber or Jessie J, both who were 'found' and became huge successes because of their YouTube sites.
Although the positives of images and audio visual on social media are endless once you make that post how easy is it to keep ownership? I have a showreel on one of these sites and I just searched for it without being logged on as me. Worryingly, not only could I find it and watch it but I was able to download it, which means that anyone could have a copy of my showreel now! I have since been back to log on and change my privacy settings.
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