(no subject)
Hey!
First I want to say `Merry Christmas` to all my friends back a t home. I missed Thanksgiving and it looks like I will be missing Christmas as well. Ash is going back home to Australia, actually just about everyone is going back. I`m staying in Osaka, and well...I don`t really know anybody there. It kinda reminds me of when my family went to Florida for Christmas. I was about 8. Because my parents spent all their money getting our family down there, I only got one gift that morning...a puzzle. I remember being really disappointed at first, and to top it off there was no snow. But I remember realizating that day, that it didn`t matter, there were probably people around the world who didn`t get a Christmas every year, or people that didn`t really have anyone to spend it with. My father told me once that when he was little sometimes he got presents and sometimes he didn`t, as for my mother she never did. It will be strange not to have anyone to be with for Christmas. It will go by like a ho-hum birthday.I`ve even considered working, but when I caught myself doing this I thought...am I turning into a workacholic? I mean one of the most important family/ religious holidays of the year.
But enough about that. I actually wanted to write about what it was like to shoot a commercial. It was without a doubt one of the most interesting experiences I`ve ever had. I met Yamashita-san my agent at the train station. We then went to Nagoya via Shinkansen and I met my fellow models...all of which spoke fluent Japanese. One of them was Russian, but moved to Japan when she was 6. Anyway we headed down to the studio and I got to see the commercial script. Fairly simple really. All I had to do was put on a nineteen seventies dress and some make up and make poses in front of the camera, no lines...easier said than done of course. I was the oldest model (I had to lie and say I was 21 at the audition). So the stylists were constantly around me applying make up. At one point I had 4 people on me. One putting on nail polish another doing my makeup, one doing my hair and another putting on slippers. They then took me into the studio and put a veil on my head and I posed in front of the video camera. It was difficult because they wanted wind in the veil. I don`t know how many takes we did to get the right amount of wind for the veil to fall the `right way`. After that I did a photoshoot. I doubt I`ll ever see any of the pictures. Then we finally finished around 7 pm. My agent took me and Sasha (Russian model) back to our hotel. It was probably the classiest hotel in Nagoya (then again it`s Nagoya) I think it was called Miel Parque. We then went to dinner (free YES!)the restaurant had 3 different menus. A Japanese menu, European menu and a Chinese menu. I ordered some European food, it looked like something on Iron Chef. IT was one of the best meals I`ve ever had.
The next day only Sasha and I were on set. We outside of Nagoya to a beach in Shizuoka, apparently they shot movies there before. Sasha was my sister and we were on a deck. The idea was it was the morning of my wedding, and Sasha is brushing my hair. It was SO cold. The clothing we were wearing was French antique nineteen fifties dresses, and they were thin! Everytime they stopped shooting, all the crew would immediately come running to put coats and blankets around us. Then came the most exciting part...my close-up. I always have wondered what that is like to have a camera in you face like that, it was okay. But I and my agent were the only English speaking people there. So my agent had to translate what the director was saying. Ever seen `Lost in Translation`
DIRECTOR: Aprille-san watashi wa kkdfjhejfehskuu koshibiru dkjfkslkdikfjiejklekjde hanajdkfkdf.fjdfhjdfhjdfdfjd fekhjhfjdhjfhdjfhjarimasjhdjkfhjdhfjdkhkjf kdfjkdjfkdjfkd no dfkdijvkdkdlfkjjjjjjjjjldddddddddddddddddfga wakawakakkkkkkkkkkldfkj
fkdfkdf....
AGENT: Keep your eyes closed
APRILLE: I know he said more than that
Maybe my close up shooting took a little longer than it was suppose to I dunno. We finished shooting early though afterward I had another photoshoot (of which I will probably never see the pictures) then I went back to Osaka. Unfortunately they are only showing the commercial in Mie, Nagoya and Shizuoka area from December to August, so I may not get a copy of that either! I suppose if worse comes to worse I can always rent a hotel and record it. But it`ll cost SO much!...Oh well I really want to send this home.
First I want to say `Merry Christmas` to all my friends back a t home. I missed Thanksgiving and it looks like I will be missing Christmas as well. Ash is going back home to Australia, actually just about everyone is going back. I`m staying in Osaka, and well...I don`t really know anybody there. It kinda reminds me of when my family went to Florida for Christmas. I was about 8. Because my parents spent all their money getting our family down there, I only got one gift that morning...a puzzle. I remember being really disappointed at first, and to top it off there was no snow. But I remember realizating that day, that it didn`t matter, there were probably people around the world who didn`t get a Christmas every year, or people that didn`t really have anyone to spend it with. My father told me once that when he was little sometimes he got presents and sometimes he didn`t, as for my mother she never did. It will be strange not to have anyone to be with for Christmas. It will go by like a ho-hum birthday.I`ve even considered working, but when I caught myself doing this I thought...am I turning into a workacholic? I mean one of the most important family/ religious holidays of the year.
But enough about that. I actually wanted to write about what it was like to shoot a commercial. It was without a doubt one of the most interesting experiences I`ve ever had. I met Yamashita-san my agent at the train station. We then went to Nagoya via Shinkansen and I met my fellow models...all of which spoke fluent Japanese. One of them was Russian, but moved to Japan when she was 6. Anyway we headed down to the studio and I got to see the commercial script. Fairly simple really. All I had to do was put on a nineteen seventies dress and some make up and make poses in front of the camera, no lines...easier said than done of course. I was the oldest model (I had to lie and say I was 21 at the audition). So the stylists were constantly around me applying make up. At one point I had 4 people on me. One putting on nail polish another doing my makeup, one doing my hair and another putting on slippers. They then took me into the studio and put a veil on my head and I posed in front of the video camera. It was difficult because they wanted wind in the veil. I don`t know how many takes we did to get the right amount of wind for the veil to fall the `right way`. After that I did a photoshoot. I doubt I`ll ever see any of the pictures. Then we finally finished around 7 pm. My agent took me and Sasha (Russian model) back to our hotel. It was probably the classiest hotel in Nagoya (then again it`s Nagoya) I think it was called Miel Parque. We then went to dinner (free YES!)the restaurant had 3 different menus. A Japanese menu, European menu and a Chinese menu. I ordered some European food, it looked like something on Iron Chef. IT was one of the best meals I`ve ever had.
The next day only Sasha and I were on set. We outside of Nagoya to a beach in Shizuoka, apparently they shot movies there before. Sasha was my sister and we were on a deck. The idea was it was the morning of my wedding, and Sasha is brushing my hair. It was SO cold. The clothing we were wearing was French antique nineteen fifties dresses, and they were thin! Everytime they stopped shooting, all the crew would immediately come running to put coats and blankets around us. Then came the most exciting part...my close-up. I always have wondered what that is like to have a camera in you face like that, it was okay. But I and my agent were the only English speaking people there. So my agent had to translate what the director was saying. Ever seen `Lost in Translation`
DIRECTOR: Aprille-san watashi wa kkdfjhejfehskuu koshibiru dkjfkslkdikfjiejklekjde hanajdkfkdf.fjdfhjdfhjdfdfjd fekhjhfjdhjfhdjfhjarimasjhdjkfhjdhfjdkhkjf kdfjkdjfkdjfkd no dfkdijvkdkdlfkjjjjjjjjjldddddddddddddddddfga wakawakakkkkkkkkkkldfkj
fkdfkdf....
AGENT: Keep your eyes closed
APRILLE: I know he said more than that
Maybe my close up shooting took a little longer than it was suppose to I dunno. We finished shooting early though afterward I had another photoshoot (of which I will probably never see the pictures) then I went back to Osaka. Unfortunately they are only showing the commercial in Mie, Nagoya and Shizuoka area from December to August, so I may not get a copy of that either! I suppose if worse comes to worse I can always rent a hotel and record it. But it`ll cost SO much!...Oh well I really want to send this home.