Heh... sorry for the lame title.

I just worked with a 17-year-old model who'd been through the Barbizon school, and while she seemed rather at ease and capable of coming up with poses, etc. on her own, she was also rather cold and perfunctory.  In other words: a lot of technical skill but not a lot of passion or fire coming across. 

Now, I'm perfectly willing to say that part of that may have had to do with me, and perhaps another photographer would have been more inspirational.  But I'm curious, both for models and photographers -- what has been your experience with modeling schools?  What do they teach?  Are the helpful in professional practice, or not?

I went to modeling school before I knew anything about the industry. I learned a lot I didn't know as far as the basics posing runway, etc. But I think either you got it or you don't. It was a good place to start but they give you a lot of false hope. For the most part it was the biggest rip off of my life when it came to getting any work after that I learned to not tell people I had been to modeling school. It seemed to turn people off. I did take away a lot of good information.

The preferred bastardization of the name is "Barbie-Zone".

Done that already:

https://www.modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=55876

From my website at http://www.datahero.com/stmarc/starting.html :

"What about modeling schools?

Now, I, personally, have never attended a modeling school. So this is just my opinion. But I have worked with a few models who have, and I have talked with many other models who have. So far as I can tell, what they do is try to turn you into a runway fashion model. Specifically, they teach you not to smile and to move in a certain highly controlled way. Runway fashion models are basically animated mannequins: the focus is supposed to be on the clothes, not the model, so it only makes sense that the model would try to make herself as unobtrusive as possible. And, if you want to be a runway fashion model and nothing else, that’s fine.

However, as we already saw, this is a pretty limited area of modeling. And for any other area, these are exactly the traits you do not want. It is very difficult to take a good casual or glamour shot of a model who will not smile and who does not look comfortable in her environment! Modeling schools, at least the ones I am familiar with, are not greatly helpful in becoming a general model who is attractive to photographers. If you really want to learn to move and to project different presences, take some acting classes or a dancing class. Some modeling schools also provide lessons on makeup and/or beauty regimens. You can learn all that from a good book much more cheaply, or go to a makeup class at a cosmetology school."

M

haha  sorry i just had to comment on how hilarous of a title this thread is.

oh man.....hoo....ok, I'm ok now...

p.s. barbizon sux. anyone who has to set up booths at local fairs/carnivals to get business?? thats a big red no sign if i ever heard of one.

i totaly agree although i have been through the dreadful task of going every saturday for 4 months  it is the biggest rip off ever invented, they take your money and teach you nothing only thing i got from there was hot guys numbers and a great runway coach whom i still speak to and get gigs from but other than that i want my money back, never go save your money, biggest mistake in my life