It all came about when I got a call from Barbie, an old friend who works at Davis Advertising, a longtime family-owned local company. She said that Davis was doing a new TV commercial for Honey Dew and asked if my wife Barbara and I would be interested in playing small back-up roles.
Millions of TV viewers with their eyes on me! Of course I said yes! Almost immediately, I felt myself being lifted up into the national limelight. Finally, at age -- cough, cough -- my time had come! Barbara agreed to go along with my latest escapade in delerium.
We showed up at Davis and met the other "actors" with background, non-speaking roles. We immediately clicked and I took a group selfie.
This was the first selfie I had ever taken. I think it came out great, but only because Barbie, shown in the bottom middle, was telling me how to do it and guiding my hand all the way. Barbara is in the center. Jeff and Lydia are at the top, and Allison beside Barbie.
As soon as we met, Jeff and I immediately started joshing each other. I made fun of his beard and he made fun of my bald head. Here is a photo of Jeff and me together.
We were ushered into the large room where the commercial would be filmed. The young director, also named Jeff, placed us in a scene depicting elders playing bingo and drinking coffee. While everybody else got just sitting roles, Jeff picked me to be the background Bingo Master. Aside from the main actors, I was the only one to be moving and in full view.
Jeff explained what he wanted me to do: point to winning numbers and then to winning players. Seeing the Bingo Master as a central character, I immediately gave him some life -- dancing around, shooting an invisible gun at numbers, then snapping an upraised palm at winners.
"Tone it down, George," Jeff said.
"Okay."
I tried to tone it down. But over and over, Jeff kept saying, "Tone it down." He said so matter-of-factly and without a touch of annoyance. In take after take, Jeff was the same way with the other actors. I was impressed. So this is how a professional director works, I thought. Cool.
Finally, Jeff came back to me and demonstrated exactly what he wanted me to do. Reluctantly, and seeing no other alternative, I did what I was told.
Here is a photo of me rehearsing my role:
In between takes, at the back of the room, I had a great inside view of the process of making a TV commercial. It was so interesting, so natural, so brimming with cooperative creativity. I couldn't help myself; I had my camera; I just had to take a video; and I did.
Jeff is a perfectionist. He knows what he wants and, doing take after take, he keeps going until he gets it. We arrived at 9 A.M. and didn't get out of there until about 2:30 P.M. But the time flew by because it was all so different, interesting, and fun. Yes, fun! We had a lot of laughs, caught in my video.
Now would you like to see the finished Honey Dew TV ad and my behind-the-scenes video of it being made? I thought so. Well, to make it easy for you, I have uploaded them both to my account on You Tube. Here is the link.
Thank you, Barbie, for asking us to play these little roles in the Honey Dew ad. It was a blast -- and educational. Thank you, Jeff, for your patience, determination, and great technical and creative skills in pulling this ad together. Watching you work was a privilege.
And now, with my Bingo Master character out there -- though toned down -- I know it's only a matter of time before I get a call for my next, bigger, untoned-down role.
Come on phone, ring!
So long and keep moving.
NOTE: Something Tells Her, my new e-book, is now available on Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Jane is abandoned as a baby and raised in multiple horrific foster homes. After her latest abuse, a sexual advance from her latest foster parent, she screams "NO!" and runs out the door. Twelve years old, on the street, alone, no family, nobody, no money, how can she possibly survive? She can't -- except that Jane is no ordinary foster kid. She doesn't understand "can't." Read excerpts.
Other Amazon E-Books by George Pollock
"State Kid: Hero of Literacy" is fiction based on his real-life experiences growing up in foster homes; "Last Laughs," is the true story of how five foster kids (he and four younger siblings) found their way in life and each other. "Killers: Surprises in a Maximum Security Prison," is the story of his being locked up for 23 hours with killers in a maximum security prison; "I, Cadaver" is about his postmortem adventures and mischief in the anatomy lab at UMass Medical School. “A Beautiful Story” demonstrates the art and process of creative writing as a 16-year-old boy goes all out to write a story that literally saves his life. "Unlove Story," is the true story of a husband -- writing anonymously as "Elvis" -- who is dumped after 38 years of marriage and lets it all out on love, marriage, life, everything. A guy doing this? It's unheard of.
Millions of TV viewers with their eyes on me! Of course I said yes! Almost immediately, I felt myself being lifted up into the national limelight. Finally, at age -- cough, cough -- my time had come! Barbara agreed to go along with my latest escapade in delerium.
We showed up at Davis and met the other "actors" with background, non-speaking roles. We immediately clicked and I took a group selfie.
This was the first selfie I had ever taken. I think it came out great, but only because Barbie, shown in the bottom middle, was telling me how to do it and guiding my hand all the way. Barbara is in the center. Jeff and Lydia are at the top, and Allison beside Barbie.
As soon as we met, Jeff and I immediately started joshing each other. I made fun of his beard and he made fun of my bald head. Here is a photo of Jeff and me together.
We were ushered into the large room where the commercial would be filmed. The young director, also named Jeff, placed us in a scene depicting elders playing bingo and drinking coffee. While everybody else got just sitting roles, Jeff picked me to be the background Bingo Master. Aside from the main actors, I was the only one to be moving and in full view.
Jeff explained what he wanted me to do: point to winning numbers and then to winning players. Seeing the Bingo Master as a central character, I immediately gave him some life -- dancing around, shooting an invisible gun at numbers, then snapping an upraised palm at winners.
"Tone it down, George," Jeff said.
"Okay."
I tried to tone it down. But over and over, Jeff kept saying, "Tone it down." He said so matter-of-factly and without a touch of annoyance. In take after take, Jeff was the same way with the other actors. I was impressed. So this is how a professional director works, I thought. Cool.
Finally, Jeff came back to me and demonstrated exactly what he wanted me to do. Reluctantly, and seeing no other alternative, I did what I was told.
Here is a photo of me rehearsing my role:
In between takes, at the back of the room, I had a great inside view of the process of making a TV commercial. It was so interesting, so natural, so brimming with cooperative creativity. I couldn't help myself; I had my camera; I just had to take a video; and I did.
Jeff is a perfectionist. He knows what he wants and, doing take after take, he keeps going until he gets it. We arrived at 9 A.M. and didn't get out of there until about 2:30 P.M. But the time flew by because it was all so different, interesting, and fun. Yes, fun! We had a lot of laughs, caught in my video.
Now would you like to see the finished Honey Dew TV ad and my behind-the-scenes video of it being made? I thought so. Well, to make it easy for you, I have uploaded them both to my account on You Tube. Here is the link.
Thank you, Barbie, for asking us to play these little roles in the Honey Dew ad. It was a blast -- and educational. Thank you, Jeff, for your patience, determination, and great technical and creative skills in pulling this ad together. Watching you work was a privilege.
And now, with my Bingo Master character out there -- though toned down -- I know it's only a matter of time before I get a call for my next, bigger, untoned-down role.
Come on phone, ring!
So long and keep moving.
NOTE: Something Tells Her, my new e-book, is now available on Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Jane is abandoned as a baby and raised in multiple horrific foster homes. After her latest abuse, a sexual advance from her latest foster parent, she screams "NO!" and runs out the door. Twelve years old, on the street, alone, no family, nobody, no money, how can she possibly survive? She can't -- except that Jane is no ordinary foster kid. She doesn't understand "can't." Read excerpts.
Other Amazon E-Books by George Pollock
"State Kid: Hero of Literacy" is fiction based on his real-life experiences growing up in foster homes; "Last Laughs," is the true story of how five foster kids (he and four younger siblings) found their way in life and each other. "Killers: Surprises in a Maximum Security Prison," is the story of his being locked up for 23 hours with killers in a maximum security prison; "I, Cadaver" is about his postmortem adventures and mischief in the anatomy lab at UMass Medical School. “A Beautiful Story” demonstrates the art and process of creative writing as a 16-year-old boy goes all out to write a story that literally saves his life. "Unlove Story," is the true story of a husband -- writing anonymously as "Elvis" -- who is dumped after 38 years of marriage and lets it all out on love, marriage, life, everything. A guy doing this? It's unheard of.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments welcome.