How a commercial is shot

Having 45 commercials under my belt now, I feel pretty comfortable on a commercial set.  I know what I’m doing, I know what to expect, and generally, the experiences are pretty sweet.  Good food, casual conversation, and a well oiled team that does all the work, then brings me in for my little bit of speaking to camera, then I’m done.  Pretty awesome gig.

The Dollar Shave Club commercial I shot last month was a bit different for me.  Though it was not the first time I’ve been fitted with a pregnant belly, it was the first giving birth in a hospital scene I’ve done.  I’ll do a quick rundown of what my experience is, from the POV of an actor, then you can watch for yourself.

Week one: audition on Monday, they had me wear a hospital gown and be partnered with a guy.  I was to give “the final push and scream”, then hold the fake baby in my arms and say a line to camera, then we switched where the male said the line to camera, and my reaction to it.

Friday, callback.  The director of the commercial is there as well as some of the production team.  Similar to last time- gown, no push and scream, just the line to camera for each of us and reactions.  Few redirects, and I’m done.  Find out that weekend I’m on avail (this means I’m in the top 3 or so, and I have to book out the dates for the shoot until I’m released from avail).

Following week- Find out I’m booked.  Friday I have a fitting in Marina del Rey.  This takes about an hour, trying on different hospital gowns over the rubber pregnant belly suit.  Pictures taken, wardrobe and some production people are there, as well as the creative team- director, marketing, etc.  Since we’re at Dollar Shave HQ, the owner is there as well and peeking in every once in awhile.

Monday- my call time is 6 am, for which I’m grateful, being the first shot of the day means I should get out of there at a reasonable time, which is good, because I’m driving to Boise right after we wrap.  I head to catering and order a breakfast burrito and scarf that with my coffee, because, as expected, the assistant director comes over and tells me to hurry over to hair and makeup. (this happens every single time, I’m used to it)

I head over to their trailer and they make me up and gossip about people on set and past jobs (this is makeup and her assistant, as well as wardrobe).  I always try to pick up a few makeup tips from the makeup people while I’m there.  Then wardrobe suits me up and we head over to the creative team, director, and CEO for approvals.  They take pictures, approve, and then I wait until I’m called on set.  I brush my teeth or have another cup of coffee and read my magazine until I’m beckoned.  (this exact chain of events is always exactly the same, no matter what set I’m on)

I get called over to set, which is a hospital room on a soundstage, completely decked out.  It looks like a soap opera set.  I hop up on the bed and get positioned.  The belly is around 10 lbs, so I’m grateful that I won’t be doing a lot of standing.  My costar comes on set and we chat and take pics.  Meanwhile, the set dresser is making minute changes to the set based on what the CEO and director are barking out from behind camera.

This goes on for around 40 minutes, then we start shooting.  My feet are in stirrups, I have glycerin sprayed all over my face and hair to mimic sweat and I’m “pushing and screaming”.  Bit awkward having your legs wide open before a crew of 20, but I’m wearing capris, so it’s not too bad.  We shoot that for a bit, then we shoot the husband saying the line to camera a few times.  Then my reactions and some lines on my part.  Then the fake rubber baby comes in and this thing looks so creepy.  On camera, completely realistic, but up close, like a molten child in a house fire.  We’re holding it and cooing, etc.  Then the real babies come on set.  There are newborn twins.  The mom is there in scrubs, just off camera.  The babies can only work for I think 10  minutes at a time per regulations, so we shoot with one in my arms, then mom takes them away.  Reset, then again with the baby.

We’re done shooting our scene after that, but the photographer comes in and takes stills for the website and twitter campaign.  I finally get to hop down and I go check out the spaceship set they’ve set up next door.  It looks really cool.  I’ve wrapped after 4 hours of “working”, so I head to wardrobe, change back in my clothes, then head to the production trailer to sign my contracts.  Grab some water and some snacks from craft services (this is the food that’s set out all day for snacking) and head out of there.

So, after all that, this 15 second spot is what was edited:

Crazy, huh?  So now you know what goes into my very simple overpaid job : )

Entitlement and Hard Work

2 weeks ago I was at a callback for a commercial and I waited as they brought in girl after girl before me, even though I had come in before them, and my call time was earlier.  I waited and watched as one girl came out, then they chased her down the street, and asked her to come in and read for another part, right when I was set to go in.  They did that again for another girl.  I listened as the casting assistant came out with the girl and stood and shot the breeze, exchanged contact info, and generally made best friends with her after her audition.  All while I was waiting to go in.

Finally he looks up and acknowledges me and has me come in, an hour after I’d arrived.  Clients were in the room, as well as the director, as is usual with a lot of commercial callbacks.  They laughed and liked what I did with the first take, then I received around 6 redirects, doing it slightly different each time.  They thanked me for my time, and I walked to the car a little miffed at the wait, how I didn’t “feel” the audition, and how clearly those other girls who were lavished with attention were the choices.  It didn’t help that a fedex truck driver felt it necessary to pull up next to me and whistle while I walked to my car.

Imagine my surprise when, a few days later, I found I booked the job and would be flying to Seattle 3 days later.  I started to feel pretty good about my abilities, assuming that I was so good in the room that I beat out even those other girls, who were clearly the favorites.  I was convinced that I had earned the job until sitting at drinks with the rest of the cast it was revealed that one of the actors was not an actor at all, but a writer, and another it was his first commercial to ever book.  <Cue sad trombone>  It was obvious to me that we were not the cream of the crop, we just happened to strike a chord with the director and clients.  I had not earned this job.

The day of the shoot I had spent the drive to set memorizing my 6 lines.  It was rather easy to just show up, and assume the work was done back when I auditioned and won them over.  After my 45 minutes of shooting was complete, I pondered the work I had just done.  It was not my best work, it wasn’t my most prepared work, and I felt I could’ve done a lot more.  If I had spent the night before running my lines and figuring out different takes.  If I had worked my expressions and variety of looks.  But I didn’t.  And I’m regretful about that.

Everything you do is an expression of your art.  And if just getting the job is the only excellence you strive for, you’re missing a vital component of excellence.  I want to be the actor that exceeds everyone’s expectations.  I want them to say “we knew we liked her in the room, but wow!  She’s even better than we hoped for.”  Because in the end, assuming you’re entitled to a job because you beat out everyone else only sets you up for laziness and mediocrity.  And that’s not what I want to be known for on a set.

Commercial Work

You can always identify a commercial actor by what they do at commercial break- turn the volume up and watch what types are being cast for different products, what the vibe is for different companies, and what’s popular right now.  I admit to getting a little annoyed when my husband presses mute at commercials, just when I’m starting to research!

Commercials offer little in the way of creative and character satisfaction, but offer a lot in regards to paycheck and as little time spent as possible.  With that in mind, I attended Chris Game’s SAG-AFTRA CAP workshop (they’re free!  Go to them!) this past Wednesday.  I’d love to share the knowledge goodies I acquired that night.

1. Give them a menu.  You know when they ask you to do that 5 second spot again?  Don’t do it exactly the same unless they ask you to.  Change your physical position, change your read, change something, so that when they’re looking at the menu of freeze frames, your reads don’t look identical.

2. Personalize the other characters.  Make them real in your head.  Then your responses, reactions, etc, will be much more real to the watchers.

3. Keep your eyes up!!  Most all of our group kept looking down in the spot, keeping our peepers from being seen by the camera.

4. Move backwards or forwards, but don’t move side to side.  You’ll go out of frame.

5. Red, Black, White and stripes are fine!  Digital photography picks up colors great and doesn’t have the same issues with stripes as old cameras did.

6. Put an arc in your read.

I can’t wait to put these to practice and see if it helps my booking ratio.  What are your tips?