SUPPLIES
- Photographs
- Model's composite
- Model's portfolio
- Representation
- Page layout or word processing software
Overview
Some say that no Super Bowl would be complete without the year's most outstanding commercials, and you'll likely find the Budweiser brand represented annually. Of course, the beer company tends to win awards for compelling spots featuring Clydesdales and Dalmatians, but if you research the brand, you'll discover that there have been plenty of broadcast and print ads featuring humans, too. While the St. Louis-based company leaves the work of recruiting models to their ad agencies, your best shot at landing on a magazine page or in a commercial shoot is to establish yourself as a popular model, then find representation that is connected to Budweiser's advertising agency. Here are the basics; the rest is up to you and your ingenuity.
Step 1
Assess your personality. Good cheekbones are great, but product models must share the stage with the client's goods because they're the stars of the ad. You'll need plenty of patience and stamina as it usually takes hours to get the type of shots the client has requested. It's not unusual to spend more time lighting the product than the person holding it, so exhibit your calm personality to show photographers and producers why you're the model they'll want to use frequently.
Step 2
Ask a professional photographer to shoot head and full-body photos for your model's composite. Request photos of yourself holding a variety of products, too. Commercial photographers can be expensive but you'll save a bundle if you book an appointment with a mall photographer. Bring with you magazine ads to show the photographer what you want to achieve. Come prepared with generic products and use them as props for some, but not all, of your shots. Have the images put on a disk in JPEG format.
Step 3
Make a model's composite. If you know your way around computer software, set up an 8.5-by-11 inch landscape (horizontal) document. Import or embed at least 5 photos from the disk to the composite layout. Ask friends to pick the most flattering shot in the bunch, and make it the largest on the page. Given today's technology, it's not hard to place photos of yourself holding Budweiser products into your composite, and then replace them with other shots for future modeling calls.
Step 4
Add vital data to the composite by dragging or inserting a text box into the layout and typing this information into the box: your modeling name, height, weight, shoe and clothing size. Add contact information such as a cell phone number. Once you land modeling representation, their contact information will appear on the sheet.
Step 5
Make a portfolio of enlarged prints. Any type of presentation portfolio with removable pages of protective acetate sleeves will do. This repository is the tool that sells clients, agents and others once they get past the composite. Include head shots showing you in different types of lighting. As your career grows, update the portfolio with tear sheets from publications in which you appear.
Step 6
Get an agent. As a rule of thumb, ignore agents making too many promises and those who ask for up-front money. Reputable modeling agencies don't charge pre-shoot fees to represent a model; they receive a 20 percent commission (on average) on per-booking earnings. Before you sign, let agents know that your goal is modeling for the Budweiser brand. If an agent has no contacts with the company's agency, you might want to take a pass.
Step 7
Find out what sort of services each agent offers before you make a choice. Some compile model portfolios or updated composites for their clients as part of their fee structure. Others leave the job to you. Your location may determine the universe of agents available to you, but big agencies have branches in major cities so don't dismiss them. Understand that an agent won't be interested in a one-product model, so you must assure them that while being a Bud model is your dream, you would be delighted to take other assignments.
Step 8
Prepare yourself for rejection. The glitz and glamor of being a professional model is almost always balanced by a huge amount of rejection. Going on auditions, sitting in a room with 40 other beauties--each one a head-turner--getting no callbacks after repeated modeling calls and other disappointments can't help but take a toll on one's self-esteem. Learning to live with rejection can be character building for some, but this is also most often the factor that pushes models into retirement.
TIPS AND WARNINGS
- WARNING : Understand that there are no guarantees. If anyone--client, modeling school, agency--guarantees to get you a job the moment you sign a contract, head for the door!
Avoid modeling schools. Many are expensive schemes established to exploit your desire to be in the spotlight. If you are tempted to enroll in one, check them out with the Better Business Bureau and your favorite Internet search engine.
Resources
