Modelling 101: How Important are Mood Boards for a Model? (Tailored Corp & TrendyRail Photo shoot)
Hey guys I'm back with another Modelling 101 post, bringing you some helpful tips and tricks I’ve picked up along my career. This post is about as a model, how to use a Mood Board to really bring the photo shoot to life.
So we all know what a mood board is, if you’re an experienced model you would have been given plenty for different photo shoots. These are the core vision of the photographer and the team - it helps them decide what the stylist chooses, the lighting the photographer uses, also who the casting team chooses in the first place.
You might be thinking - what does this have to do with me? Pretty much everything. The mood board is a guide to putting together the building blocks of a great shoot; what ties everything together is you, the model. A team can follow a mood board to the T but if you as a model, don’t deliver on set then the shoot is one big F.
So how can you use mood boards to your advantage? Here I’ll use an example of my own photo shoot where I received this mood board:
Depending on the team, you’ll receive a variety of different types some more detailed than others, as long as you have an eye for detail, you should be able to take something away from whatever is given to you.
1) Model the models
This would be an obvious one but it is so important to do. Pay close attention to the poses. sometimes photographers or art directors use images that reflect the exact ones they want you to replicate so if you can come to set being able to deliver that without any direction, that is an easy way to give a great first impression to the team. You want the photographer to say “That’s perfect don’t move!”.
2) Dress for the occasion:
As a model, it is important to capture the mood and attitudes of the reference photos you have been given. From this shoot, I could see they were looking for powerful and confident characteristics but how can you take on these behaviours? As well as looking at the poses of the models, do you see a theme in the clothes they are wearing? Do you own any? If so, try them on and see if that adopts a new attitude.
3) Practice Practice Practice
Now you’ve got the look and the attitude down. Practice your poses, in front of mirrors or cameras so it becomes almost muscle memory. One way you can do this is to get in front of a mirror, close your eyes, get into the pose and then open them to see if it’s right, correct each time you go along.
4) Prepare
Look at the images, does it look like you will be required to do something you haven’t done before? If you read my first Modelling 101 post about modelling in uncomfortable situations, you would already know how important it is to practice being in that environment or at least getting used to the idea of it.
From the mood board I noticed that it didn’t look like there was anything that I hadn’t done before and the setting looked pretty standard, comfortable clothes with a couple of other models. However, just as an example, it could be the case that as a first-time model, you have never worked with other models before. One way you could tackle this is to get to know them before the shoot, turn up early and break the ice. If the shoot requires some difficult poses maybe offer to practice with them to improve coordination on set.
5) Compare and keep improving
Once the images are back, compare them to the brief and the mood board. Ask yourself, did you follow the brief? Do the results look like the mood board? Would you change anything ? Here’s how the images turned out, compared to the mood board I think we all nailed it!
And that’s all my tips, don’t forget to like and share if you enjoyed, leave a comment to let me know what your tips are for following a brief / mood board.
Until next time guys 👋
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