Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Day 8 - Being a Model Citizen

Models always say that being a model is hard work. That's bullshit.

(Kind of).

Okay, I was on site for 9 hours. But most of it was waiting around. Got well- fed, including booze for dinner.

3 boy models, 3 girls, and about 20 other people onsite, about 1/2 flown in from Shanghai.

The hard work part was acting like an energetic teenager, repeatedly swinging from the light system, climbing over shaky scaffolding, clamboring over rusty fences, or jumping off dangerously high speaker stacks. Now my thighs are sore, and i ripped a toenail somehow.

I dug how the first thing that happened for each shoot was someone would take the shiny shoes, take them outside, and return w/ dirt and grease all over them. Later they'd stomp on your feet a few times for good measure.

At one point, me and the girl model were sitting in a graffiti'd up van from the dump, and the producer, director, photographer and videographer were directing us. "Ok Kyla. Now get behind him. Look him in the eyes. Walk up. Good, now straddle him. Wil. Put your hands on her legs. No not her bum, her legs!" They all seemed to think that was pretty hilarious. Looking into my eyes, she said, "It's ok. Just pretend I'm your girlfriend." We both had a smoke after that shoot.

Many outfits later, and bearing freezing temperatures in t-shirts, me and everyone else was happy to call it a day. i got paid a lot more than i'd expected, which is great. Yes, you can make a living for looking pretty, but i sure as hell wouldn't want to do this regularly: having photographers ask you to look more excited, and then being told by producers to stop making faces, and then being told by photographers to look more excited again. And then the producers laughing at the faces you make when the chick is practically giving you a lap dance.

Apparently the footage may end up in videos shown in taxis across the country. If so, i'll post it for ya.

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