Feedback should be given regularly throughout the shoot – at least every “pose” the model does, often more regularly. Ideally, feedback will be a constant stream, especially early in the shoot day, as the model and Shoot Producer align their interactions.
Check out this example;
❌ It’s the end of the Stills session. The first feedback of the day that the Shoot Producer gives the model is;
You did ok in the stills, but for video, please be more engaged.
This is bad for a few reasons: Only giving feedback at the end of Stills is not frequent enough; but also, saying someone did no better than “ok” is quite demotivating.
Here’s another example;
🤐 Those last few poses were good
Feedback after a few poses is better than only at the end of the Stills… but this is still not frequent enough. Also, this feedback is not specific enough (the model will be left wondering, “What about those poses were good? And what about the other poses I did?”).
The best approach is to ‘build’ a pose with the model, and give incremental feedback. For example;
✔️ Ok, sit with you back against the wall, yes, like that. Now, bring your right knee up, then lay it over – yes, perfect! I wonder if you can lay it over any more? Oh, that’s excellent – I did not think you could go THAT far! Now, turn your left foot out – perfect. Now, can you sort of roll your pelvis out to me a little. It’d be good if we could see your anus in this shot… YES, that’s great! Your flexibility is making this shot excellent! Ok, now I’m going to start recording, then ask a sexual question. Stroke your left thigh and look straight to the camera while answering – yes, just like that – ok. What do you think about when you masturbate?
By giving incremental feedback during the poses creation, the model knows she’s on the right track every step of the way, and is never left wondering if she’s doing the right thing (a concern for newer models).
Not every pose will need that much interaction, and different models will have different needs.
Continuing from the above example, once the pose and video segment is complete, a recap on what was good can help prepare for the next pose, for example;
✔️ Rolling your pelvis forward made a huge difference to that last shot! Keep it in mind for the next few shots – the Open Leg Posing Level is about being able to see your anus, so anything you can do to help is great!
When making multi-model shoots, positive feedback should be handed out to models in roughly equal amounts – even for models who “always” do the right thing… or for models who seldom do the right thing.