Model plot
Model focuses on the trade and walking of the New York modeling agency Zoli, which serves clients from Chanel to Bloomingdales. Frederick Wiseman captures the hectic pace in the office, intake interviews with potential models, views on 'looks' and portfolios and screen tests and photo shoots in studios or on location. Models act while photographers direct them: "a little less innocent, a little sexier, more provocative" or "fun, fun, fun!" Model shows how much the art of seduction relies on casting, outfits, make-up and staging. The film is about 'the gap between reality and illusion', as a male model puts it in a conversation with Andy Warhol, the promoter of the mass product. Wiseman dissects the artificiality of the ideal image by, among other things, paying a lot of attention to make-up. He intersects images of photo shoots with street scenes.