Phineas said:
...after this weekend, and the shoot I "suffered" through, I have to bob my head so enthusiastically here that I risk hurting myself. Here's a news flash: Models are damn difficult to work with!
Amen to that. It's kind of reassuring, even comforting to hear from someone who shares some of the negative aspects of my own experience. Not that I'm glad you have trouble with some of the models, of course. Quite the contrary. I just mean it's nice to be understood, and I do understand how you feel.
Models aren't all difficult, to be fair. Some are great. But in many cases there are problems that make the whole thing rather disappointing.
Say they're interested, without reading the supplied information about the shoot, then vanish once given it - or worse, ignore most of the information you post about the shoot, then get indignant or just disappear when reminded of it.
I go to great lengths to explain everything carefully, making sure they understand everything about the project, including the nature of the market. I know full well it's not for everybody, and I don't make a secret of it. If a candidate is still interested after getting all this information, she should be ok and go with it. But that's not always the case, far from it. I can't count the number of times I've gone to the meeting place and never heard from the girl again after spending a long time waiting for her like an idiot.
Sometimes, when I do manage to do a session, a model can start getting tired/bored/impatient well before the session is over. I'm sorry, but she knows what she's getting into, she's being paid decent money to do it, and she should do what I need her to do, within reason. It's basically a job, so while it can be fun she should also be prepared to go through less fun moments. It's part of the job. But some don't see it that way.
Make difficult scheduling demands, or even lead you on for a few weeks setting something up, then cancel and/or change their minds at the last minute.
I can't say I have much trouble with the schedules. I'm not especially busy right now, and most of the time I can easily accomodate the models. Besides, I can't really blame the models for not having much free time. They have lives to live, school to attend, jobs to go to.
However, cancelations are the bread and butter of my recruitment activities. It happens soooooo often. And often at the last minute, even getting the call while I'm already at the meeting place (way too late). No matter how enthusiastic and open-minded a candidate sounds, no matter how sure you are she's going to do it, there's always a chance she'll drop out like anyone else. One can never be 100% sure of a candidate's reliability.
In some cases their reasons are good. In others they're pretty dubious. I have to wonder what makes them change their minds between an info conversation and a meeting, since no additional info is provided in between to give them reason to change their minds. What is it that occurs to them that makes them change their minds? Sometimes they don't really grasp what the project is about at first, in spite of the detailed info, and then get it more fully at a bad moment. But what were they thinking before the revelation?
At other times they're fine with the project but tell a friend, boyfriend or family member, a person who has very little idea what the project is like and has never talked to me, and this person tells them that they shouldn't do it. They don't even give me the benefit of the doubt, at least accepting a first info meeting, even though there's no obligation and it's really the meeting that allows someone to decide if the project suits them or not. You can't tell before a meeting. This is understandable behavior, but frustrating nonetheless.
Decide the shoot isn't worth their time if it's too short - even though THEY contacted YOU through a post stating it was a short shoot.
I don't have that problem myself. My shoots tend to last a long time. With the exception of LLA, which was technically an audition session (albeit a long one) that became a commercial video, all my sessions have lasted at least 4 hours. A lot of time goes into getting everything set up, discussing what we're going to do, preparing models, taking breaks, changing clothes and whatnot. The actual filming action is what takes the least time.
Another reason why that problem doesn't apply to me is that I pay by the session (or rather by the video, which isn't always the same), not by the hour. I never know how long it will take, so I'm not comfortable with an hourly rate. I don't know if the models would like it either, as they also wouldn't know how long their session would last and how much money they'd be making.
Paying by the session may be a little subjective, as a session can last from 4 to 8 hours in my case and they get paid the same, but none of the models have complained about it. They understand that we need several hours to do a shoot and that they need to free a fair portion of a day. Basically, I tell them that we need to shoot about 1.5 hours of decent material so that I have enough to produce a good one-hour video. That's pretty much the only reference point we have for the duration of the session. Not an ideal situation, but it works well for me, and at least I know in advance how much I need to pay the models, since it's discussed in advance. Though I sometimes offer bonuses after a session is done.
Demand high hourly rates, even after being told it's a low-budget project.
Like I said, this doesn't apply to me, since I pay by the session. But I once had a model ask me for $1000, which was 3 to 4 times more than what I was offering her. And this was after we talked about the project a few times. She came out with this from out of nowhere and took me completely by surprise. She claimed that she was worth it. Not necessarily for her ticklishness, which we had never tested and which was supposed to be moderate. She just thought of herself as some kind of artist that deserved the big money, even though there was no indication that she had the credentials. I don't mean this in a pejorative way, but she was basically a nobody. She wasn't an especially expressive person either, which isn't good for such a video.
I know some producers have offered $1000 or more in some cases, but considering the size of my business and the size of the sub-market that my videos are aimed at (amateur, non-nude tickling videos with girl-next-door models), there's no way in hell I could offer such a huge amount of money to a single model. I could barely offer half of that to a trio of models posing together. What's strange is that the girl did realize that mine is a very small, low-budget project. How could she even consider asking me for such an amount? Outrageous. Needless to say, I told her she could look for work elsewhere.
what does all this result in? stress and time wasted for the producer...and sometimes not even that. Especially when the model is impatient to get finished and doesn't feel like following simple directions like "smile".
Usually my models are ok enough and are willing to cooperate until the job's done. They may be tired and maybe a little impatient near the end, but they hang in there. Some others remain enthusiastic until the end, even if they do get tired, and they'd even be willing to do another session. But a few other models more or less decide when a scene is over, and I find that quite insulting.
I mean, if it's because they really can't take it anymore, then ok, no problem. But during a recent session one of the models was more or less taking control over the session, suddenly deciding "ok, I think this is enough for this scene", and the scene just lasted 2-3 minutes, barely worth it. A couple of times she also kind of decided when we needed to change tickling targets, damaging scenes that could have been great if they had lasted a few more minutes (which the ticklee could obviously take). She had this kind of attitude for the second half of the session. Of course I was still basically in charge, but I also didn't want to cause a conflict and lose the models, so I had to go along to some extent.
Such behavior can ruin a scene, even a video, making it unusable. What's sad is that we got more than enough material for two videos, and I was ready to pay them for the equivalent of two videos (at a slight discount for me, since we were doing it all in one shot), but I realized that because of their annoying behavior I barely had enough for only one video. I ended up paying a lot for one video when I could have paid a decent amount for two, and by acting like this the girls screwed themselves out of a higher salary, since I couldn't pay them for two videos. If they had been more cooperative, we could have gotten good material for two vids and it wouldn't even have lasted longer than it did. Both parties lost because of it. The single video should still be pretty good, but it could have been better, and it could actually have been a duo of videos. Oh well. To be fair, one of the models was great, being fun, cooperative, enthusiastic, and easily the most ticklish. I have nothing negative to say about her. But that other model kind of ruined it for her, and I think it's sad.
In any case, I agree that what should be a fun experience is often ruined by the attitudes of the models. Cancelations, no-shows, lack or respect, lack of basic cooperation, lack of enthusiasm, lack of ticklishness, all things that damage my interest in this project. Of course, lack of ticklishness usually isn't the model's fault, but sometimes it's because she's uncomfortable and knows it, and if she knows she's uncomfortable with the project she should let me know instead of wasting my time with a bad session.
Recruitment is a very frustrating process, and even when I do an actual session it's not always that much fun, because there are so many thing to think about at the same time that I have no time to thing about anything else, especially not enjoying the experience. But I'll admit that sometimes things go well enough and it can be enjoyable, and overall the project isn't a disaster by any means.
I swear, after this weekend I was ready to cancel the whole damn project.
I understand. That happens to me from time to time. Right now things are going fairly well, but I often wonder why I'm hanging on. But I do. I don't know for how long, but I have no specific plans for ending my production efforts for some time. The positive feedback I get from people does a lot to keep me reasonably motivated.
Sorry for being so negative about my own project, and I know that it's not the first time I share my experience on the TMF. I must sound like a broken record. But it feels kinda good to get it out, venting my frustrastions, and it helps me regain enough of my motivation to go on. See it as a form of therapy.
