David Bowie's Silhouette: My Day in a Bowie Music Video.

12 Hours To Make a Music Video?

It is true. This is roughly how long we had to shoot the music video. 5pm to 6am. Ouch. 

In 2014 I auditioned to play a character called Bowie's Silhouette. Whether or not this is exactly what I played in the music video, I am not entirely sure. I auditioned in London. In the audition room there was a screen set up with a light shining behind it. The casting team asked me to stand behind the screen. I created various poses before being asked to run backwards and forewards. A request I found odd at the time, but made sense on the day of shooting. Once the casting team had seen enough of my silhouette, I was sent home. A day or so later I receieved a call from my agent to say "You have the part!" I was going to play David Bowie's bastard silhouette. Me! My Mum, being a big Bowie fan, was chuffed and so was my Dad. I had heard that David Bowie had okayed me to be in the video himself, but I am not too sure how true this is. It is a warming thought though. I was hired due to my height, slim figure and pointed features. I suppose they wanted at least a passing resemblance too the legend himself. 

The song is called "Sue (Or In a Season of Crime)." You can click here to watch it, if you so wish. 

I am the figure you see throughout the video. I had no idea, until I arrived, exactly what the shoot would involve. I was handed, by a lovely lady in the costume department, various blazers, hats and shoes. The shoes were too large, and would eventually be my literal downfall later on. The props department also handed me a sword. I half remember someone telling me that David Bowie would like it in the video. I was also told that, under no circumstances was I to remove it from its sheath without say so and supervision. Nor was I to put it back in its sheath without supervision. And the sword was expensive. Great! I am clumsy at the best of times. I trip over myself and walk in circles without proper supervision. Here I am with a sword. And by now it is already getting dark. 

The Sword and the Shoes.

The issue with the large shoes first appeared when I began walking in them. I might as well have been wearing flippers. The second problem was when I was asked to run in them. For context, the entire shoot took place at some kind of brick building/warehouse in London. The area lent itself to the moody, film noir vibe of the music video. The scene in question was shot down what appeared to be an alley way. I had to run from one end to the other wearing flippers. Easy. I lost my shoe half way and we had to go again. By this point I am already overwhelmed. I am in a David Bowie video, I am the sole actor/model/whatever you want to call me, and I am amongst fourty plus crew members. And I lost my shoe. Nob. Head. Being the people pleaser I was, I said "everything is fine. I can go again." Luckily, the shoes stayed on...barely. By the time I reached the camera both shoes had more or less escaped from my feet. The problem was temporarily solved with tape. It was time to move on. 

You would be forgiven for thinking that this must have been a fun shoot. To be in a Bowie Video must have been incredible. At the time - no. I was made to feel welcome by all the runners, gaffers, costume, pretty much everyone I interacted with. The runners kept me going throughout the night and into the morning; asking if I was okay, if I wanted a coffee, they were there when action and cut was called. The assistant directors were under a lot of stress to get this thing complete in the limited time we had. I felt their stress because they barely said a word to me, unless it was a direction. The instructions were short, succinct and to the point. Sometimes I was physically moved or adjusted to make sure I was in the right place. A pet peeve of mine when I barely know the person handling me. Being my first experience on a big set like this, I took it all a little personally. I felt they were rude and abrupt. Now, of course, I understand the pressures of being in this environment and it wasn't personal at all. When you are hired as a model or an actor, you are expected to know how to take direction. How to do your job, basically. This frees them up to do theirs without any extra hiccups on top of the hiccups that inevitably happen during a shoot. Unfortunately they handed me a sword. 

"Can you take the sword out of the sheath, hold it up in the air and then put it back in, slowly." No. No, is the answer to that. But instead of saying no, I just showed them instead. The props department ran at me with the speed of a gazelle saying "No, no. Don't put it in that way. It'll scratch the blade." If you have watched the video, you will see that at no point does a sword make an appearence. I wonder why.

Lights, Camera, Projections.

The projections of the lyrics, and David Bowie Himself were actually projected on to the walls and we must have listened to that song 100+ times. After six hours I stopped hearing it. The song became a buzzing noise and I was mentally asleep, whilst simultaneously shitting myself whenever Action was called. 

Tom Hingston was the director of the shoot. We never spoke to each other, due to the million and one other things he was contending with. You will often find that your interaction on shoots like this is with the 1st or 2nd AD (Assistant Director). Tom's work is visually striking, and this video was no exception. I love the look of it. I particularly like how I appear in the odd puddle. The one and only interaction I had with Tom was during my final shot. Tom asked me to run through an alley way, stop in front of the camera, look left, then right, and then run off camera. I am pretty sure I nailed this the first time I did it. The next time, not so much. Action was called. I ran from the end of the alleyway, I stopped in front of the camera, I looked left, then right, and then fell flat on my arse. I tripped over the flippers I was wearing. Tom laughed, as did a few other crew members, before asking if I was okay. I stifled a laugh as well. If nothing else, my fall seemed to ease some of the tention of the night/morning shoot. Thankfully, this scene did not make it in either. 

Music videos are a lot of fun. The majority I have done are with a crew no bigger than five or six and no smaller than two. Fourty plus people is huge and I was overwhelmed to say the least. I have often found the runners, the costume and make up department to be the nices people and the best people to talk to if you are having feelings like this. These people have been on sets of all sizes, worked with actors of all ages, races, genders, levels of fame, all of it. I'm not saying spill your guts and turn your make up time in to a therapy session. Don't be afraid to ask question. More often than not, they will be the ones asking you questions and telling you stories. And then they will apologise for making you talk because they need you to be quiet so they can do your make up. 

If you take anything away from this, let it be that everyone has a job to do. Everyone has to play their part to keep the cogs turning. Don't take it personally that the director doesn't talk to you, or that you feel like a prop, rather than a person. Sometimes, that is what you are. It's not personal, it's just part of the job.