While it is universally accepted that each and every one of us are unique in our own ways, in fact what truly distinguishes us from each other is a factor of indefinable quantity of which we shall label as factor X.
Factor X is the subtle quality of which draws the distinctive border between each of us, also identified as our personal champion of individual expression. While these personal “Champions” may be especially important in art related professions or objectives for reasons being art by itself is ultimately a field which prioritizes expressionism, in fact factor it is also extremely important in our everyday living because as social beings, factor X is what captivates the attention of the people around us. It is generally accepted that socially successful people have an above average opportunity of success.
To phrase this alternatively, Factor X is a measure of effective communication to others the information of “WHO YOU ARE”.
But of course since this is a Modeling related article, we shall focus solely on the modeling aspects of factor X.
The reason why the development of factor X is of extreme importance in modeling is because in photography we are only dealing with a single plane of data ( Visual ), whereas in video we have three planes of data to work with ( Visual, Audio, Passage of Time ). Due to this limitation, the transmission of the idea of “YOU” through photo, we have to be as straightforward and as loud as possible because the photography audience will only afford us a very small attention span.
Effectively speaking, there are two strategies when it comes to the development of factor X
1 ) Create An Alter Ego ( Quick )
2 ) Self Identification & Acceptance ( Long Term )
The Creation Of An Alter Ego For The Purpose Of Art Expression
Before we begin to have a usable alter ego, we must first set the foundation by designing a “SWITCH”, of which we can use to “Switch On” our performance alter ego
However, the ease of utilizing this “SWITCH” will depend on your level of willpower which will be the medium where you will house your “SWITCH” in.
1 ) Honing & Developing Your Willpower
In the exercise of honing one’s willpower, it may be different for each of us, however for the purpose of example I shall share the method of which I use myself.
I personally favor the method revolving the conquest of our personal fears and anxiety because that it contributes to strategy 2 as well in ushering us towards self identification & self acceptance.
- I conquered my fear of snakes by visiting Snake farms frequently and forcing myself to have physical contact with snakes.
- I conquered my fear of public speaking by holding and participating in various social and business situations where public speaking is required.
- I am conquering my tendency to be possessive by teaching myself to let go.
The conquest of a fear and anxiety is no different from any activity which requires the conquest of anything, first you must have a war strategy.
This is the strategy of which I favor
A ) Identify the fear or anxiety and understand it completely ( Eg : Public Speaking )
B ) Identify the moveable levers in the fear or anxiety we can exploit and understand it completely ( Eg : Nervous when many eyes focus their attention on me, Afraid of making mistakes when delivering speech, Worried about tripping and falling while going on stage lol )
C ) Design a plan of action ( Eg : Try to focus on one spot while delivering speech without noticing the eyes on me, Practice my speech many times till I can recite it with my eyes closed, Join dancing lessons lol )
D ) Execute the plan & analyze the results ( Eg : Ok the focusing on one spot thing worked but its not really effective in bringing my point a across, Ok the practicing part worked, Ok joining dancing lessons improved my balance and confidence in my motor skills )
E ) Improvise & Conquer ( Eg : Try to look everyone in the eye alternatively for few seconds each while delivering my point across, Practice practice and more practice, Dance more plus join more sports coz its healthy anyways )
2 ) Designing Your Performance Alter Ego & Create The SWITCH for its activation
The designing part is rather limitless so we wont delve much into it. Marketing principles apply for career related alter egos though ;-)
A ) Character Design – Just like in a written story, every character has their “spine”. A spine is the core which represent the character in question, it is the ideal of which the character strongly believes in, it makes the character and all its peripheral features and decision making process will revolve around this spine.
The approach to character design in modeling is the more the more visually louder the better , the more realistic the better, the more complex the better. Visually this includes the visual styling of the character which includes make up, hair, clothing style and complementary accessories.
The intrinsic values to the character such as personality, strengths, preference and flaws may not appear directly on camera, however because you are the first audience for your character, the more convincing and realistic your character is for you, your grip and mastery of your character will improve hence enhancing your ability to wield the character effectively.
Plus since the character is your creation, if you believe it then it is true, if it is true then you will be able to reach your audience convince them to this truth.
This can be interesting because some people prefer to have an alter ego which symbolizes a personality or position of which they aspire and dream to be in their real life.
In other words, their alter ego is their personal hero of which they created for themselves.
Some interesting materials on this subject http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characterisation
B ) The SWITCH – A switch is a psychological lever that you use to turn on your alter ego. Ideally speaking, when your alter ego is active, your real ego should take the backseat and disappear completely from your conscious.
The switch must be something which is within your ability to summon at will in your mind, such as a collection of mental images or part of a song, or the values of which your character represent for you.
Self-Identification & Self-Acceptance
Now that you have had experience in designing your alter ego, now what comes into question is your true ego / social ego
True ego is the true definition of you and its on all the time, and since its on all the time then in theory the ease of using it in your performance takes minimal effort
There may be some people who prefer to use an alter ego for their performance, they may also be people who prefer to use their true ego for their performance. In theory both have the equal effective potential.
However, they all say the road to self-discovery is a lifetime process, in theory there may only be a small percentage of people who have the good fortune to discover and master their true ego within the timeframe of their modeling opportunity.
The Theory of The Mix Ego
Despite that, there are some aspects of true ego of which we can use to incorporate into our alter ego, creating a “mix ego” where we incorporate aspects of our true ego into our alter ego
The important aspects in true ego in relation to modeling is :
A ) Purpose – The discover of our true purpose in living, the knowledge of our place in the grand picture of society
B ) Aspiration or Ambition – The establishment of our life objective, the acknowledgement of the eventual position where we wish to place ourselves in the grand picture of society
Examples & Visual Identification Of Factor X
To illustrate the definition of factor X, this is the collection of models whom we have worked together with https://famecherry.com/category/models . If you take into consideration each and every collection featuring each different model, subtract their physical differences and theme differences, theoretically you shall be left with factor X.
Another practice to help you visually identify Factor X is by comparing my recent work with a top performance model overseas Rabbitluv You.
Rabbit recently shot 6 distinctive themes with us, if you take into account the data presented in each distinctive theme, you may be able to identify the highly developed and advanced MIX EGO utilized for her performance.
The aspects which is truly definitive for each theme is the alter ego where the elements which stays on throughout her performance of each theme is Rabbit’s true / social ego.
Once Upon A Time https://famecherry.com/ace-model-from-hong-kong-once-upon-a-time/
Angel Of Hearts https://famecherry.com/models/angel-of-your-heart/
Grand Piano Lakeside Virtuoso https://famecherry.com/models/lakeside-virtuoso/
Good Sunny Morning https://famecherry.com/models/good-sunny-morning-luv-you/
Wild Wild Yakuza Soldier https://famecherry.com/wild-wild-yakuza-soldier/
City Lights Fever https://famecherry.com/models/city-lights-fever/
Other examples of Factor X Presented On Video
Cover youtube artists are favored for our examples because the Factor X presented in their performance greatly highlights their distinctive individuality in comparison to their mainstream counterparts while performing the same song.
In my effort to better understand the human condition, I have spent 12 months gathering raw data in a standardized scientific manner.
The creation of this guide is one of the practical applications based on the analytical results from the data that I have collected.
Thank you for reading, if you find this guide to be useful, remember to share it out ! =)
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