#ModelTips: Polaroid Videos
Hambjambo, all! (That, for the unititiated is a Swahili greeting. For those unitiated on what Swahili is...just go).. kidding, Google it and come back! :D
I think I can safely assume that at almost any place on earth these days, models are a dime a dozen. Well, at least people who call themselves models are. I'm sure the rest of the population is more than over it, actually :P
But in this time of quick, easy fame and self-promotion on social media and the likes, it's never been more important to stand out and show professionalism and seriousness in whatever you're trying to achieve.
For us struggling freelance model types, the portfolio is where standing out starts and is the very tool we use to market ourselves.
I've seen lots of people put their best photos with a cool transition and some background music on a slideshow, but when I saw this post of
RadekArt photography's Facebook page, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought how much you can push a video portfolio. Or as he called it, a polaroid video.
A portfolio that shows you talking, walking, posing in real time. OF COURSE! *facepalm* (happy facepalm)
As a model you likely will be expected to do any of these things to sell a product and if the client can already see all this in a quick video, they know there's little risk of a nasty surprise on shoot day and you have an edge over someone who just has photos.
I personally have been to very few in-person castings or go-sees; many times the instructions are to e-mail a z-card or some face and body shots for consideration (in the case of Kenya and South Africa, anyway).
So the next step here is deciding what to include in this portfolio. The one above of Joe Kisila is a good example, and so is this one I found on Youtube by Joe Edelman- I love the idea of filming the model posing and then showing the finished photograph too. Check the hairflip one around 5:35 ;)
noice
I'm on a mission now to set up my own 1-2 minute polaroid video that highlights important things one can't get from photos- speech, runway walk, ease in front of the camera and a little more versatility in movement and facial expressions.
#PSA if any photographers/videographers are keen to help me out with this, I'm in Nairobi at the moment, hopefully Johannesburg in the last 2 weeks of January and in Port Elizabeth thereafter so come at me!!
And for everyone else, what are your thoughts? What scenes and outfits would you go for to shoot your video? Maybe an ideas post for this will come soon ;)
Comment and tell me what your brains are saying!
Bisoux,
J.
xx