As promised, here's the inside story behind my recent trip working for JD Williams as a model. Just using the word model conjures up all sorts of emotions in me; disbelief, bemusement, surprise, delight, pride and even a faint sense of ridicule as I don't actually believe that my less than perfect features could make the grade. However, this surely is a good thing to say that you, me, in fact anyone can become a model in this day and age provided you find the right vehicle.
Talking of vehicles, I swapped boats for planes this summer as I became a jet setter for a few months travelling to and from Manchester for wardrobe fittings, photo shoots and filming of the TV commercial. I expect many of my readers will have had to or still do, commute in this way and I'm sure after the initial buzz it could become blah, but for me it was always an adventure to step away from my small island community and become absorbed into this frenetic pace.
The travel and accommodation is all organised by JD Williams so after a good night's sleep I was collected by my driver along with a few other artists (yes that's what we're referred to) to be delivered to a hotel somewhere in Manchester (that's ignorance not secrecy) which had been turned into operation central for the day. First stop is hair, nails and make-up. The tendency for my hair to be one way on one day and quite another the next, was treated as something to be tamed and calmed down into a repeatable style.
At the previous session we had been fitted for our outfits and from there are created story boards which are used to show hair styles and make up for each model. The processes of hair, nails and make-up multiplied by all of these ladies (at least 13 of us without including the extras) takes hours. There was an ever changing flow of ladies moving around the room, being beautified, giving me a chance to chat to someone new every half an hour or so as we rotated chairs and neighbours.
Gel nails - my first experience of this new fangled procedure.
Irish choreographer Johnnie waits patiently for his charges to be released for the next phase of wardrobe, then moving onto set for a refresher of the dance routine.
Between the nails shot and this one some twelve hours had elapsed, during which time I had been to wardrobe then chaperoned from hotel to warehouse where my scene for the commercial along with interviews for social media took place. I'd left my camera locked up in wardrobe meaning no more background shots from day one.
Day two and this was a different hotel, the venue for another lot of filming and stills. I gravitated to this corner which had become an impromptu waiting room. I love this crazy idea of a horse as a lamp. By this time I had got into the swing of things and realised that I was to be on call, primed and ready for most of the day, but that there was a lot of waiting involved. I'd brought a book with me and immersed myself in that rather than wonder when my turn would come.
Ladies in waiting.
The production team at the helm, orchestrating every scene until it's perfect.
Andrea's scene in the TV commercial where she appears in that wonderful turquoise lingerie was filmed as a closed set, just being tweaked here.
Watching you, watching me.
Annie and I stepped outside onto the stairwell to capture these dazzling chandeliers.
A dab of blusher here, a tweak of collars there and you're good to go. With cheekbones like those, Claudia needs the minimal of attention to look beautiful.
Decisions, decisions.
Annie and Paulina - "It's time to eat!"
Evon is an absolute natural in front of the camera. Watch out for her in the commercial in that silky orange dress. If you miss it on TV you can always catch it on my earlier post here.
This is where my memory lets me down. This lovely lady whose name I have forgotten (I want to call her Elizabeth, but think I may be just making that up), was the photographer who took the shots of me that you'll see in the Oct issue of Woman and Home. She was full of encouragement, telling me I could be likened to Twiggy or Mary Portas and then once she put round glasses on me, Annie Hall. I relaxed immediately with her, laughing as I do with Polly as she made lots of suggestions for poses.
End of day two of filming.
Day three was a different day altogether. Only five of us were kept on for this session - Annie, Paulina, Rachel, Savi and myself. Little did we know that we would be announced as the five stars of the I AM campaign when it went live.
Hair, make-up, wardrobe and the photo shoot all took place in the same studio space. Even lunch was served in the same building which all made for a very straight forward day.
Three days of hanging out together had created a bond between the five of us. We feel very at ease together and are now genuinely friends. This, I think, does come across when we're in front of the camera together. We certainly do have great fun.
The editing suite is a fascinating area of a shoot. The photos are processed immediately as the hundreds and hundreds of images flow through the system. It was amazing to see ourselves reproduced for the next phase so quickly.
Another day, another photo shoot and this time I know that my photographer is called Phil. His manner is warm and engaging, plus he plays some great sound tracks during the session.
Yep, that's me throwing some shapes, dancing without a care, call it what you like, but I'm having fun!
That's a wrap!
Some 24 hours later and I was on Truro station, wiping the stardust off my shoulders and heading back home. The day job beckoned, but that was no hardship at all. What felt like a dream lingered on in my head, especially as the campaign sound track had become part of those memories too. The film shoot took place on the 4th July and the TV advert went live on the 20th September. Somehow I managed to keep this wild adventure to myself for those long weeks.
Anna x
