for the good things of this earth: my friend the bull

I've been working on a lot of commercials this year and right after I got back from Puerto Rico I was called to stand in on this ad for the girl in the hot tub. A stand in is someone who has a similar hair color and is usually the same height and physical build as the principal actor they are doubling for. The stand in is typically used before the first shot of the day and in between takes to literally stand in where the actor would and run through the motions (and dialogue if there is any) so the crew can set the lighting and figure out the camera blocking. Meanwhile the actor is usually off set changing wardrobe or working on lines or something.

We filmed at this gorgeous mansion and the spot was supposed to spoof 'The Bachelor' reality show, which is funny to me because one of my roommates is a huge fan and is watching 'The Bachelorette' as I type this. :) Whoever owned this house had three pet ducks running around playing fetch with a tennis ball on the lawn. Who knew ducks could play fetch??

Typically I get very little information about a shoot before I arrive to set. So here I am, a totally unsuspecting person just doing my job and getting paid to hang out in a very nice hot tub when I look up and see this GIGANTIC bull hovering over my shoulder, inches from my face. I was not expecting that ha! This bull had it's own entourage, too. There were four or five people wrangling it, feeding it, and one person who's sole job was to stand nearby with a shovel (just in case). The director decided to change the blocking so the bull was on the other side of the hot tub, but for the short while it was standing right over me I was a little on the nervous side!