I'm Gonna Be in a Commercial!

Disclaimer: Being in a commercial is not THAT big a deal in that (1) I have been in a few before; (2) it will be run locally where I am already known, not nationally where I could achieve some fame; (3) I'm not getting paid to do it (as far as I know); and (4) it's really an on-air public service announcement (PSA) rather than commercial advertising.

That said, I'm gonna be in a commercial! The UND Television Center contacted me a couple weeks ago wondering whether my family and I would be willing to be in a PSA for UND Athletics. They want to curb poor sportsmanship at UND athletic events, so they came up with an idea for a PSA: film a dad swearing in front of his child at a sporting event, then show that child repeating the obscene language at home, then emphasize that your inappropriate behavior at athletic events is being noticed by EVERYBODY in attendance. Point: Don't do it!

The filming is happening in two stages. Stage one was this past Tuesday night. My oldest daughter, seven-year-old Suzanna, accompanied me to the Ralph Engelstad Arena (REA). REA staff had assembled popcorn, candy, (empty) soda cups, green-and-white pom poms--stuff that spectators would normally have while watching a hockey game. The REA and Television Center had also arranged for a couple dozen people to be there to portray other spectators. They were all bedecked in the green and white clothing of UND fans. They were given food and directed, with Suzanna and me, to a section of the arena where filming was to take place.

Several minutes were spent arranging and rearranging spectators to make the section of the arena visible in the camera shots look as crowded as it would be at an actual hockey game. It was "open ice" time at the arena that night, so there were a handful of people skating; everyone was directed to watch one skater in particular so that we would all appear to be watching the same action of the fictional hockey game. They set up the camera for our first scene, and Suzanna and I had to walk into the camera shot, find our seats, sit down, watch the game, and appear excited.

Next shot: Suzanna thanks me for taking her to the game, and I say, "No problem!" Next shot: I see a fictional ref make a fictional call that I don't like, and I get up and swear at him. Next shot: I swear again and sit down, and now Suzanna is visible staring at me in shock, her mouth agape. They shot each scene two or three times so they will have options when editing the final cut later. They also changed the camera angles and reshot scenes, again for more options later; they got Suzanna's reaction from a couple different angles, and they shot me swearing from a couple different angles, too.

The swearing will be bleeped out of the actual PSA, but that didn't mean we wanted to do any actual swearing during the filming--not in front of my daughter or the other children portraying spectators there that night! So I shouted at the ref to open his "funny eyes," and I called him a "funny icepole." The people sitting in the farthest-back rows during shooting said that, from where they sat, they thought I was saying the actual naughty words! (Watching the monitor after shooting that night, I had to admit that it looked realistic, too!) Suzanna didn't seem fazed, though. Still, I reminded her that she oughtn't to go to school and call kids on the playground "funny icepoles"!

Next Tuesday night, the crew will come to our house to film the scenes at the home of the naughty UND athletic event spectator, where his wife asks how the game was, and the daughter says that it was okay but that the ref was a "funny icepole." Cut to the dad's mouth agape this time and the mom's shocked expression and the sound of silence broken only by the clink of a dropped fork! The PSA will then conclude with a message about watching what you say at the games you attend.

Suzanna was scheduled to have her long hair cut off tomorrow to donate to Locks of Love, but we had to cancel that appointment since she has to look the same in next Tuesday's scene as she did in this Tuesday's scene. She was disappointed about that; but otherwise she had a blast during the filming itself and did a great job. Afterward the director, his wife, a couple "spectators" from the PSA, and Suzanna and I went to Paulo's Restaurant in East Grand Forks for a snack. There we found out that the PSA will not run (as I had assumed) on local cable channel 3, home of UND's Studio One television program. No, instead, it will run . . . before every UND hockey and football game as an immediate reminder to spectators about their behavior!! I hope people are amused and don't think that I actually said such foul language in front of my little girl! Otherwise, I could get some dirty looks around the Grand Cities in the coming months!