Intro to Commercial Modeling

There are many different types of modeling. The type that most people think of when they hear “modeling” is fashion, and most specifically, runway modeling. It takes a very specific look and body type, usually very tall and thin, to make it as a runway model. If you don’t have a 6’2” size 3 body you can still model as a commercial model.

Commercial models come in many shapes and sizes and be of almost any age. They are used to promote products, portray lifestyles and show people doing things. Almost any advertisement you see that isn’t about clothing will have a

commercial model in it. They can be in magazines, newspapers or up on billboards. As a commercial model, you could portray a mother serving orange juice to her family one day and a trendy shopper on a spree the next. Every day is a new opportunity and adventure.

There are a few skills that a commercial model will need to have to get the best work in the field. It is important that you are able to show many different authentic emotions and expressions with your face and body language. Unlike a fashion model, who is less important than the clothes he or she is wearing, a commercial model’s look is essential to show how wonderful, important, or exciting a product or service is. The service may not be something that can be held or directly shown but the model still has to be able to portray the benefits of it to the camera and eventually to the potential customer. This takes acting skills.

Every model should practice in a mirror making their face portray as many different emotions as possible. Practice happy, sad, confused, shocked, amazed, sexy, angry, excited, friendly and any other emotion you can think of. Practice them until your own mother wouldn’t be able to tell if you were really feeling that way or not. The more natural you appear on camera, the more valuable you will be to the photographer and the agency that hired you.

Commercial models also find work at trade shows and doing other promotional work, demonstrating products and handing out information. These are usually great jobs for new models as they pay reasonably well and can get you used to working with people. Many of the jobs in a smaller city like Syracuse, NY are commercial modeling jobs, especially promotional work.

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