7:59 am - Sun 4/22/07
The Coldstone Shoot

I shot the Coldstone Creamery commercial on Friday, at a Coldstone in Covina.

All-in-all, it was pretty fun, much more than the Snickers shoot. And why wouldn't it have been, really? There were pretty girls to look at (the two "heiresses"--Abby, the blonde "hero", and Jada, her brunette nemesis), I kinda/sorta got to act...and there was ice cream.

It rained most of the day, and they didn't have trailers for the talent--I found that out when I said to the wardrobe person, "I'll be in my trailer if anyone needs me..."-- so when I wasn't on the set, or set-adjacent, I spent a good chunk of time in the leaky wardrobe trailer (Even though it really wasn't that big a deal, I felt the need to call SAG about it. Cause they're supposed to provide a "honey wagon" for principals on these things. And if I'm going to be famous one day in the not-so-distant future, I need to start working on my "demanding star" persona now. But anyway...).

There was a potential "issue" with the contract, when I saw they'd hand-written something in the "special provisions" section about using "alternate footage" (This was the same thing JS went round-and-round with the "Bahamvention" people about--they wanted to do "behind the scenes" stuff that they hadn't told him about. It really pisses him off, because he says it happens all the time). So I called him about it, he told me just to cross it out and initial it, and that was pretty much that.

Other than an Oatmeal-colored photographer's vest, a prop camera, and a couple of prop "press passes", I was wearing my own clothes for the shoot (The day of the fitting, I went wearing my ArcLight uniform--a short-sleeved, dark blue, collarless shirt , with black pants and black shoes. I had the shirt open, with a black tee underneath--because I thought I might have to go straight to work afterwards. But after having me try on one of the three outfits I'd brought, they said they liked what I had on. Which is not the first time that's happened; in my Gilmore Girls scene, I'm also wearing the clothes I'd worn to the fitting).

There were two other "paparazzi"--Alex and Mark--but they were extras; I was the principal (Since they were right next to me, they were directed to be looking down, fiddling with their camera, so you couldn't see their faces. Otherwise, they'd be principals too--in the center of the frame, reacting to the product--and the productions didn't want to pay for two more principals).

The "acting" part of my day was over by 11:30; I was stationed inside the Coldstone, by the window, my fellow paparazzi on either side of me, with a big ice cream cone in hand, as the director, outside by the camera, radioed his directions to me. I don't have lines in the spot--no one does (there's just a voiceover)--so he was just telling me what to do as I was doing it, like a modeling shoot ("Give her a challenging look", "Look at her like 'I've got the ice cream and you don't'", "Get some ice cream in your mustache...", "Look at your camera. Now look at the ice cream cone", etc.). And between takes, the "food prep" person would come out, make sure the ice cream still looked good, add more brownie pieces, etc.

(I don't think I've eaten on camera before, so I was a little concerned about that, wondering if there was any special "trick" to it. But I just kept my bites and licks small, unless directed otherwise, because I didn't want them to have to switch the cones out with every take. And I didn't want to make myself sick. In any case, it seemed to go well; I guess I'm just a natural when it comes to eating.)

It was much more fun than Snickers, even though I had lines on that one, because on that shoot--like with the "Bahamavention" shoot--I was supposed to be kind of dull and lifeless, and that's not much fun.

After that, I hung out till lunch (Shrimp risotto, beef tips, salad, and every dessert they were offering--other than the brownie--and a bottled water), and into the afternoon, when they called us back in for some wide shots (We wrapped a little after 7:00 p.m.).

I didn't know this before I got to the shoot, but this is actually one of three spots, all with the same premise--Our "hero" wants some Coldstone ice cream, but is confronted by their mortal enemies, already inside the store: "Will delicious Coldstone (insert the name of a flavor here) ice cream give them the strength to open the door...?"

They were shooting one of the other spots that day as well--It had a little boy confronted by "The Boogeyman", a "monster under the bed" (Which was a puppeteer manipulating some monster arms)...and a bunch of broccoli--which looked pretty cool (I don't remember what the other spot was like--that had shot the day before--but like I said, it was the same idea).

So that was that. A good day, rain and contract issues notwithstanding. I had fun, and now I get to have the fun of getting checks, and seeing the spot on tv at some point.

And I thought this was fun...

When I got home, there was a message on my land-line voicemail from Jen C.--She works in a production office as her "day job", they have a subscription to AdWeek magazine, and she was calling to tell me my "Bahamavention" spot was one of their "50 Best Commercials Of 2006".

Now granted, 50 commercials is a lot of commercials, but when you think about how many commercials got done in a year, that's still pretty cool.

Anyway, I was going to write about some other stuff--there's a lot going on in my giant head right now--but I think this is enough entry for one sitting, so I'm going to close it down for now, and go get me some groceries...

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