Trudi: And the most important things about becoming a model are don't
assume you are one before you've gotten to be one. That's the first
thing, I think.
Do research. Find out what it takes to be a model. If you want to be a model, you need to meet the right people. You need to meet the right person. It might only be one person who actually expresses, tells you that you have potential.
You need someone to take your potential and kind of turn you into a model. It's kind of like taking a diamond in the rough and polishing it until it's a gem. Because most people, when you scout them and you find them the very first time, they don't look like a model. They are a teenage girl who has the potential to be a model.
So that means that you need to listen, learn, and I would say be aware of who you are. I think that when you're first starting out in modeling, it feels like you have no power, but really the power is within you.
I couldn't really narrow it down into a short form of what the tips are. I think that being physically ready, having the height, being in great shape, being confident, and meeting the right people.
Listen to yourself. If it's too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true. Don't let anybody exploit your dreams. Make sure that you're dealing with people who are actually legit, who are not going to try and sell you something that you don't need.
Britt: Right.
Trudi: That is where sort of the confusion comes in, because you do need to walk, but you need to learn to walk from somebody who actually knows how to walk, not somebody who's making money teaching you how to walk and that's the only thing they're ever doing is making money teaching you how to walk.
Britt: Yes.
Trudi: So it has to be someone who actually . . . and this is where scouts, mother agents -- in our business we call somebody the mother agent -- that's usually the scout or the very first person you come in contact with in this business, that would be someone like me, someone like your mother agent, Elmer Olsen in Toronto, those are the people in smaller areas of the United States who look for talent, groom talent, and basically guide you through, what we call, the development phase, which is the beginning of getting in shape, learning how to wear your hair, learning what to do, learning how to pose or not pose, learning how to walk; all those things.
That's what we do to get you ready to introduce you to an agent in a market like New York or Milan or Paris.
Most important, it's a business. There is something to learn. It's not just about how you look. You can be the prettiest girl in your high school, when you walk in to a casting in New York City, you're one of many pretty girls.
So it's competitive. It's tough. You have to find the confidence within yourself to stand out without having too much of an attitude of thinking that you deserve to stand out. I think that that's where the hard work comes in.
So the tips are: listen to the right people, research, find out research. Because we have the Internet, we have tons of information. That doesn't necessarily mean it's valid. Just because it's on the Internet, doesn't make it true.
But you can find out the right information if you go a little bit further and really dig in and read things, read the right websites and pay attention.
I don't know, really, what your tips would be. I mean, from 13 to now,
Do research. Find out what it takes to be a model. If you want to be a model, you need to meet the right people. You need to meet the right person. It might only be one person who actually expresses, tells you that you have potential.
You need someone to take your potential and kind of turn you into a model. It's kind of like taking a diamond in the rough and polishing it until it's a gem. Because most people, when you scout them and you find them the very first time, they don't look like a model. They are a teenage girl who has the potential to be a model.
So that means that you need to listen, learn, and I would say be aware of who you are. I think that when you're first starting out in modeling, it feels like you have no power, but really the power is within you.
I couldn't really narrow it down into a short form of what the tips are. I think that being physically ready, having the height, being in great shape, being confident, and meeting the right people.
Listen to yourself. If it's too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true. Don't let anybody exploit your dreams. Make sure that you're dealing with people who are actually legit, who are not going to try and sell you something that you don't need.
Britt: Right.
Trudi: That is where sort of the confusion comes in, because you do need to walk, but you need to learn to walk from somebody who actually knows how to walk, not somebody who's making money teaching you how to walk and that's the only thing they're ever doing is making money teaching you how to walk.
Britt: Yes.
Trudi: So it has to be someone who actually . . . and this is where scouts, mother agents -- in our business we call somebody the mother agent -- that's usually the scout or the very first person you come in contact with in this business, that would be someone like me, someone like your mother agent, Elmer Olsen in Toronto, those are the people in smaller areas of the United States who look for talent, groom talent, and basically guide you through, what we call, the development phase, which is the beginning of getting in shape, learning how to wear your hair, learning what to do, learning how to pose or not pose, learning how to walk; all those things.
That's what we do to get you ready to introduce you to an agent in a market like New York or Milan or Paris.
Most important, it's a business. There is something to learn. It's not just about how you look. You can be the prettiest girl in your high school, when you walk in to a casting in New York City, you're one of many pretty girls.
So it's competitive. It's tough. You have to find the confidence within yourself to stand out without having too much of an attitude of thinking that you deserve to stand out. I think that that's where the hard work comes in.
So the tips are: listen to the right people, research, find out research. Because we have the Internet, we have tons of information. That doesn't necessarily mean it's valid. Just because it's on the Internet, doesn't make it true.
But you can find out the right information if you go a little bit further and really dig in and read things, read the right websites and pay attention.
I don't know, really, what your tips would be. I mean, from 13 to now,
Modeling in the beginning when you get in front of the camera can be very nerve-wracking, and I think that, you see pictures of models and they look very comfortable and it's all easy and breezy, and it look's like anybody could do it. Here's the thing. The first questions are always, what do I do with my hands? What am I supposed to do with my arms? How should my legs be? And this is where if your practicing, you understand how it feels. If you're standing like this, and every limb of your body is stiff, it's going to look stiff. If you have a lot of pressure on your hand, if you're leaning in, and if you're really putting the pressure. Everything is very gentle and very light, and you're not actually putting the weight where you think you're putting the weight on your hand or on your feet. It's kind of an oddity, but I think that when the first time you get in front of a background like what is behind us and a photographer says, okay, do something. If you've never modeled or never practiced, you're going to freeze, it's like I have no idea. So that's why when you're testing, that's why you're learning your job when you're testing, and you're working with photographers who are sometimes learning their job too, they're practicing lighting, it's a collaboration. But you're actually learning what to do in front of the camera. And I think hands and head, like where you put your head, and what to do with your feet. Everything that is an extension of you, you have to learn what to do with it in front of a camera. Was that the hardest thing for you?
Yeah, definitely, I didn't even think of that for hands, it's a huge thing. If you're shooting in a background like this, the way you position your hands makes such a difference. It has to be very soft, that took me a long time to learn. You think it's just your face and your body, no, they can see your hands if they look stiff or tough, so you really have to model from your head to the tip of your toes, and know your angles, and I think another thing for me, I learned to give your photographer as many options as he can. If you go crazy, move, dance around, he'll capture a special moment. It's better to give him more options and have him tell you to hold back a bit than to just be cautious, so go full forward, practice beforehand, it's helpful to know which angles work better for you. Know your body, if you have bigger hips or bigger legs, position it in a way that you know will hopefully look the best and just know that the camera sees everything, so try to position it in a way that looks most natural and you may not feel natural, but I think that's yeah.
I think it's the freedom, the energy of the freedom. If someone says, you can be very shy, and someone says dance, and you're like oh my god. So if you practice dancing and you have a good time, because a great image is not necessarily what you think it is. It's exactly what Britt said in terms of it might feel a bit uncomfortable, and that's the picture is the picture of the whole day. So I think it's about allowing yourself to not worry about the end result of the picture. Let the photographer worry about the end result of the picture. Your job is to do exactly what Britt said, which is to give as much as you can, sometimes a little bit over the top, and let the photographer tell you to tone it down a bit, but you don't have to worry about whether they get the sh
It's also important to learn how to smile with your mouth closed. Because, sometimes, the clients won't want to see all your teeth. It's all about practicing in front of the mirror and even with your eyes, you can tell a picture from a model who's smiling, fake smiling, and then really engaging. Smiling with her eyes, she's happy to be there, she's selling the product. And you can really tell. So, just practice and try to be genuine with the camera.
Trudi Tapscott: No one really understands what you say when you say "Practice with it. You can learn how to smile." Because what's important is that you know how it feels when you're doing certain things. Like Britt said, her practicing was about her mouth and how her smile looked.
Some people, when they smile, you lose their eyes and their eyes get really tiny. But they're not aware of it. So, if you practice in front of the mirror, then you learn those things and you learn how it feels. So, when a client asks you to jump and smile, you can jump and laugh-smile, you know exactly what that's going to look like and you're comfortable doing it.
Don't assume that the way you smile naturally is the way you're going to smile in pictures. A great picture with a great smile, it's more than just what you're smiling. It's your eyes, it's the angle. This is why I practice in front of the mirror. That's why people say "I have a good angle if I look that way." Obviously, if you're a model, you have to have a lot of good angles. But you know when your head is like this what it looks like, if your head is like this. It's very subtle. You're not doing big movements when you're modeling and every single angle makes a difference.
By practicing, you get more comfortable and the more comfortable you get, chances are, the picture is going to get better. You can't walk in and say to a photographer "You can only shoot me from this side, because that's my good side." That's not really going to work. But you can know that in your head, because you've practiced, you know what it looks like. And I think that's what practicing is. And that goes with full-length as well. Where your body is and how your shoulders are and how your head is. It's very tiny, tiny movements, which I think in the beginning, you don't really understand that.
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