Other Modelling Opportunities

Part of being a model is recognizing that your career should not be strictly linear. That is, you should be looking for other opportunities all the time. Obviously the majority of modeling opportunities will be the traditional ones, such as print and television. Also, they tend to use the entire model, or at least a significant part of one. However, there are some interesting options out there that go disregarded a lot of the time.

An obvious overlooked gig is that of modeling specific body parts. The majority of work is for hand and foot models, but other body parts are in demand as well. It may not be as glamorous as full-body modeling, but those gigs can be just as rewarding. They also have one advantage over regular modeling; in that once you get in, and if you don't botch the job, it is likely that they will keep you on for other projects as well.

There is definitely a thin line between modeling and acting, and most models cross that line regularly. There are some jobs that combine the two, asking the model to take on a role even though the gig is looking more for the model's appearance than acting skills. The most example in this area is the so-called “booth babe” (more properly “exposition model”, but that sounds somehow worse), where a model is asked to dress as a specific character and take on well-known characteristics of that character. This is a little better than the generic, where the model is asked to merely smile and draw people to the booth, and can be a lot more fun.

As we move more and more towards digital effects, the body double concept has also evolved. Because of the physicality of modeling, in that models tend to be physically disciplined and have a bit more gracefulness than the average person, game design companies hire models to see how they move or to use to film for rendering for the actual events in their games. Live-motion capture can be fun, if demanding, and is a great way to take advantage of all that extra training you've been doing. It can also be fun to see yourself carrying a large-caliber weapon once your image has been properly rendered.

Just remember that you need to be able to link things back to your modeling career; taking a job that won't allow you to use pictures of what you are doing and pays little needs to be debated. Also, avoid gigs that will lock you into other gigs or otherwise limit you down the road; the obvious example is erotica, but that also applies to where you are become a spokes model for a product and become so linked to that product that no one else will even look at you when it comes to other jobs. Look at all gigs and how they will affect your career; even the slightest job may create problems down the line. Sometimes little ripples cause’s big waves, and those waves may crash your career.