I Am An Actor?

Dear Readers,

There's something I would like to share with you today.  Once again it's something you never knew you wanted to know in the first place.

I am an actor.  Ok, no, I am not.  I am however available on Wednesday mornings from 8am-noon...which is probably why I ended up in this Credit Union commercial recently.

Please take a look at my work.  You can view my mad acting skills from the 9-15 second mark.

This thing was shot this spring and came out in the fall...just in time for football season.

You may be asking yourself:  "How does one get involved in shooting a credit union commercial??"  Answer:  I received an email from a friend of a friend of a friend.  Word on the street is that I will do just about anything.  People who have ever had the un-pleasure of meeting me, know this.  So a friend of mine knows that I am:  Waking-Up-To-Nothing-But-Saturdays/Not-Currently-Working...Apparently this friend told a friend who told another friend...Whatever, I ended up in this commercial.

The email said the producers were looking for "Young, Fun, 20-Somethings" to be in a tailgating scene for a Credit Union.  At the time, I was 29...and I'm sometimes fun.  So I told them I was in.  Additionally, someone said there would be food and that basically solidified my decision.  

We were to meet at the stadium at a local high school bright and early at 8am on the next day.  

I studied for my role thoroughly...By going out the night before and waking up late...which resulted in me not taking a shower or combing my hair before I went off to shoot the commercial of a lifetime.

I got there and to my surprise...The whole thing was a legit.  There was a production agency, a director, a crew of cameramen, and even a person that entire job consisted of spraying the food to make sure it looked fresh.

When I get there I meet the other "Young, Fun, 20-Somethings".  And again, to my surprise...everyone was legit.  And by "legit" I mean that everyone else was an actual actor.  That knew what they were doing.

One of the girls asked me how my "audition went"??  I was confused.  I started to laugh...But then I realized she was totally serious.  I then stopped laughing and told her that I got an email the day before telling me where to be and what time.  Of course another one of the actors heard this and was promptly all over my case.  

At any rate, everyone there except me and another girl were actual actors.  She too has a friend of a friend that knew she was also free on Wednesday's from 8-noon.

Apparently, these actors had just gotten done shooting an Iowa Lottery commercial and knew each other.  They also for some reason had their head shots with them.

The same actor asked me about my head shots.  Again, I told her I just got an email the day before and this is my first commercial.  She responded by rolling her eyes. 

At any rate, I learned there is A LOT more that goes into a commercial than what you think:

First of all, it was freezing out.  It was the end of spring...and the commercial was to come out in the fall. So we had to pretend it was nice outside.  When in actuality, it was so cold we could see our breaths.  For most of the shoot I couldn't feel my hands.  In between takes we huddled together in someone's trunk for warmth.  It was a bonding experience for sure.

Second of all, for some reason the stadium's bathrooms where the commercial was being shot at were locked and so we had to change outside.  So here I am...freezing...Changing outside...in front of a bunch of complete strangers.  Awesome.  

Third...If one person messes up a shot...You have to keep re-doing that shot over and over...There was probably eight of us there...And in any given shot...One of us was doing something that the producer would rather not have us doing.  We did many many re-takes.  Did I mention it was freezing??

Fourth...the producers get one shot at this thing...So they need enough material to work with.  This ends up with them taking multiple shots of the same scene...so they can adjust the lighting, angles, and many other variables...We took shots of probably ten different scenes...However, as you can see by the commercial...I am not in 10 scenes.  **Side note** The whole commercial that you saw above took three eight hour days to shoot.  The commercial was broken down into six parts...My four hour block of time was just one of the six parts of that particular shoot...And that doesn't even account for the time they had to put into editing...My point here is that the making of commercials is hard work and I'll never again be able to look at one the same way.

Fifth...APPARENTLY THE FOOD IS A PROP AND NOT THERE FOR YOU TO EAT.  So I might have gotten into a bag of Doritos and a cupcake or two??  So what??!!  Luckily, the Producer had a sense of humor and found my antics semi-endearing.  How was I supposed to know a tray of delicious cupcakes weren't just there for us to eat???!!  Being the curious cat that I am...I got into the cupcakes.  I guess I wasn't supposed to.  However, the Director felt that this was "natural behavior" and decided to make it part of the shoot.  I got to eat the cupcake and everyone ended up happy.  

Sixth...Being an actor PAYS CHEDDAR.  This fool made $50.  And got some cupcakes.  

Let's Reflect:  What Did We Learn?

• I'm available on Wednesday mornings.  Apparently, this means I'm also available to shoot commercials.
• Making a commercial is hard work.
• Don't ever eat the food.  It's probably a prop.
• I made $50.

So, Let Me Ask You?

What do you think of my acting skills??  Do you think I have what it takes to make it big??  If you had Wednesday mornings free...Would you or would you not...Shoot a commercial for $50 and some cupcakes??

Forever, Blogging About Things You Never Knew You Wanted To Know,

Miss Oakley

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