0
miller

skydiving commercial audition

Recommended Posts

So I got a call from a casting agent to audition for a commercial featuring "skydiving." Let me say that I'm not an actor, so this lady got my name from someone who got it from someone. They wanted a real skydiver because the actual filming requires some work in a suspended harness about 20 feet off of the ground and they figured a real skydiver wouldn't be scared of heights. Well, she also informed me that it paid $500, which wouldn't be a bad deal for hanging in harness for a few hours pretending to "skydive."

Well, I showed up and there's like 20 union actors trying out for that part and the part of the pilot (lots of navy blue pants, white shirts, and red ties...I've never seen too many jump pilots look like that...I tried to describe Truman Sparks, but the reference was lost on them). It was hilarious because a few of the guys trying out for the skydiving part were walking around in mechanics jumpsuits and motorcycle helmets. I put my jumpsuit and rig on, and one guy actually said "wow, cool, that's one of those cool bungie jumping set ups, isn't it?" Nooooo....

As could be expected, these people had no clue about skydiving or how to even come close to representing it even somewhat realistically. I was told over the phone that they were interested in help from a techincal standpoint, but that also turned out to be pretty untrue. They wanted my name, my height, and they taped me running around a room with my arms out to the side laughing, like a little kind playing airplane. I did this under protest. When the lady told me to pretend that I was jumping out of the plane and skydiving, of course I gave a door count, jumped, and arched. "NO, NO, NO, do it like a real skydiver, with your arms out to your sides, flying around the sky."

They also want a bunch of shots, like a round canopy opening from above and landing in a giant pile of money, but they don't want to film any actual jumping. I'm still shaking my head.

Anyway, just wanted to share a kind of funny story. I hope I don't hear back, and I see their horrible representation of our sport air in a few months, and just laugh.

"you know, like a real skydiver..."

Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

so, did you get paid?
or did you take money form the pile?



no, it was just an audition, the thing doesn't actually shoot for another few days

"no money will exchange hands, but on your death bed you will receive total consciousness," so I got that going for me, which is nice

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Did you whip out some vids of your jumps to show them that they're all fucking stupid?



Not that I'm the end all greatest video guy in the world,and in fact I'm just a nobody, but I've got over 1000 camer jumps and I have actually filmed for newscasts, commercials, local newspapers, and even once for CBS's show "48 hours", but they didn't really seem to care....those bastards

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
BWAHAHA!

Too silly!
"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

reminds me when i was a volunteer fireman.
we were asked to show in a children tv show doing our "thing"...

showed up with our big red truck, all geared up, ready to show off...

all they could come up with as a "fire" was something you won't even have to pee on in order to put out :S
but it was for the kids, so... :ph34r:
although we felt like setting the whole studio on fire, just for the fun of it...
O

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
People don't want to know about real life. They want stories. And shit blowing up. Never forget the shit blowing up.

-- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo
Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0