It was a pleasure to work with the other models on set, and Simon even invited my other half to pop down for a few photos – he always looks very dapper in suits!

Simon sells these pictures to stock photography sites and companies wanting to use his corporate images on their website or other media. By taking these neutral pictures he gives his clients a wide choice of corporate scenarios to pick from – and as you can see his pictures are extremely good! I look forward to working with Simon again and wish him all the luck with his new pictures.

The concept of the piece was that a young couple on a glamorous night out get invited one by one behind the bar to make their ‘perfect’ drink. The bar goes, so excited by the drinks thats the couple make decide that they also want the Martini experience and by the end of the evening everyone is drinking Martini.

Although a typical drinks commercial, with the emphasis on the products, it was important to capture the vibe and spirit of the evening, whilst still being true to the moment. Guilherme was easy to work with and gave me great reaction and attention during all my scenes. The lead couple playing the bar staff were also fun and well cast.

The only thing was, that the Martini representative was on set and he wanted us to really drink the drinks – so by the end of the day (having drunk Martini from 10am) I was feeling rather tipsy! I woke up with a headache the next day which was a first for after set experience!

Click on the picture below to watch the commercial – and let me know what you think!

We shot the video in a studio off Brick Lane (whee I had shot the Rimmel Commercial) and the stage consisted of a black backdrop, so quite simple. The band were styled in a surreal way, with blue lipstick, and I was given a 60s look with a sheen and glitter effect to my skin.

The concept was that I would do various actions that wouldn’t finish quite when the audience expected it to. So in one scene I was directed to pour champagne into a glass, whilst laughing, but instead of stopping when the liquid reached the top of the glass, I would continue to pour allowing it overflow and drench my hand! Whilst still laughing. These juxtapositions worked well on camera and gave a rather surreal and heightened state.

The director also asked members of the band to fall backwards onto a crash mat, which in post he reversed to create a rather cool effect! (You’ll get to see it in the video). It was a great day and the directors were really instructive and clear with what they wanted me to do. The band were all really lovely, and I got on really well with Abi Fry, the viola and keyboard player in the band.

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed shooting it!

Sadly I missed the Premier due to working on a shoot, but I was sent the final copy by the director – which I proudly can now show you.

Enjoy!

The final shot of the day was done on a balcony. This meant that if the heavens opened we could escape inside, but it meant that the five minutes of sun we did get we could use to our advantage! I was wearing a beautiful summer dress, and had braids in my hair to create a natural, free spirit look. The shots were stunning. They really captured the essence of nature, and the stunning views added to their feel. It wasn’t quite what we had set out to achieve, but I was so pleased with how they came out.

It was a great double day shoot. Elena as always was superb with the hair and makeup, and created each look with ease and talent. I had a great time working with Sam, not only is she an extremely talented photographer, she also made me feel really relaxed and comfortable with how she worked. I do hope I get to work with her again in the future to create some more stunning photos.

I loved her soft, gentle approach to her models and really felt that she would be able to capture my ‘girl next door’ look that I wanted to work towards. Being blonde had certainly opened doors in the industry, but it also stereotyped me into a certain area due to my rather large chest(!) so I wanted to focus on my English rose, innocence which I felt represented my style and acting ability much better.

We shot together over two days. Elena Diaz joined us on set as MUA, and as always her makeup and hair was incredible. Elena is a hugely talented artist, and I really enjoy working with her on every shoot I get the opportunity to!

Day 1 was a studio shoot and we worked with three looks. The first was a CK One advert style, and I was dressed in boyfriend jeans (literally!) and a baggy, but slightly fitted white t-shirt. My hair was styled straight but with a messy look, and during the shoot I played with it.

The next look was difficult to achieve. I wanted to have a corporate suit shot, as although its not a particularly inventive look to have, I often get requests for corporate work and would consider a role as an office worker – so it’s a base I needed to cover. I wore an extremely expensive suit, which helped create a really classy and simple picture. Slightly like a portrait, it was our least favourite one to shoot, as it was difficult to do anything interesting with the brief!

The final look of the studio shoot was evening wear, and I wore a funky evening dress. My hair was styled and my makeup suitable to a glamorous night on the town. Sam was brilliant to work with, very soft and gentle in the approach, I felt very relaxed and comfortable working with her. She asked me to do a variety of moves for the camera, and was extremely helpful to get me into the right positions to achieve good looks and expressions.

I was really impressed with how well the photos came out after Day 1, and I looked forward to the following day!

Si asked me to attend the castings to find the woman who would be acting opposite me, playing Angie, my mother. We held the castings in a small quirky studio in South London, and the day brought us a variety of great, and not so great (!) actresses. One woman who blew us away was a woman called Janice Pearson, and although she had less experience than others her natural talent and grasp of the character blew us both away.

After Si broke the news to Jancie that she would be working opposite me, I started learning my lines. Line learning can be quite daunting for new actors, but I always work line at a time, page at a time no matter how big the script is, so that I don’t get overwhelmed by the amount. After all if I can learn a lead in Shakespeare’s plays, then I can learn anything!

We filmed Angie over two days. The first day was the location shots of establishing my journey to the court house. Si wanted there to be ambiguity about who and where I was going. I could be a woman on her way to work, I could be a lawyer – he liked creating a mystery to where I was going, and who I was. We also filmed the flashback sequences, and Si and the crew were extremely sensitive to the disturbing subject matter that we were trying to capture.

The second day we met at The Bill studios where we were using Talk Back Thames court house set. It was a great place to film, as I immediately felt drawn into my character and her plight even more, as I stepped onto the set with my costume on. This day of filming went really well. It was a tough day, with high emotion on set from both Janice and myself – but the crew and Si were really supportive and we filmed a huge amount of footage. I got work again with Elena Diaz a super MUA and Dawn Bell, a talented stylist joined us today to help with costume and continuity.

At 6pm the wrap was called and we all had a few cast photos and expressed our delight at such a professional and wonderful shoot. Si has now sent me the finished film. I hope you like it, and I look forward to increasing my work in these heart-felt and powerful dramas.

Si asked me to attend the castings to find the woman who would be acting opposite me, playing Angie, my mother. We held the castings in a small quirky studio in South London, and the day brought us a variety of great, and not so great (!) actresses. One woman who blew us away was a woman called Janice Pearson, and although she had less experience than others her natural talent and grasp of the character blew us both away.

After Si broke the news to Jancie that she would be working opposite me, I started learning my lines. Line learning can be quite daunting for new actors, but I always work line at a time, page at a time no matter how big the script is, so that I don’t get overwhelmed by the amount. After all if I can learn a lead in Shakespeare’s plays, then I can learn anything!

We filmed Angie over two days. The first day was the location shots of establishing my journey to the court house. Si wanted there to be ambiguity about who and where I was going. I could be a woman on her way to work, I could be a lawyer – he liked creating a mystery to where I was going, and who I was. We also filmed the flashback sequences, and Si and the crew were extremely sensitive to the disturbing subject matter that we were trying to capture.

The second day we met at The Bill studios where we were using Talk Back Thames court house set. It was a great place to film, as I immediately felt drawn into my character and her plight even more, as I stepped onto the set with my costume on. This day of filming went really well. It was a tough day, with high emotion on set from both Janice and myself – but the crew and Si were really supportive and we filmed a huge amount of footage. I got work again with Elena Diaz a super MUA and Dawn Bell, a talented stylist joined us today to help with costume and continuity.

At 6pm the wrap was called and we all had a few cast photos and expressed our delight at such a professional and wonderful shoot. Si has now sent me the finished film. I hope you like it, and I look forward to increasing my work in these heart-felt and powerful dramas.

It was being directed by Nicholas Bentley, an up and coming director in the film and music video world.

Upon arrival we were explained that the entire shoot was based in a fantasy world which revolved around a giant octopus eating the lead member of the band! Myself and Sarah would be the tribal women who would dance around the men before killing them! So the subject matter was dark, but we were assured that it was a comic book/fantasy scene and our hair and makeup would reflect that. We were dressed in black dresses with fantastic makeup and huge hair with feather in it.

The choreographer Vikki Burns was a talented dancer who taught us her tribal choreography and helped us capture those ‘bird-like’ movements in our head and body. It was difficult as Nicholas was working with a slowed down version of the track, which he would then speed up at post production to create his desired effect. I felt sorry for Rachael (the lead singer of the band) as she was having to lip sync to her own voice slowed down – which was an interesting sound to hear on repeat! Never-the-less she did a brilliant job whilst being attacked by tentacles!

The day was an extremely long shoot, with working into the early hours of the morning. Still, I was very pleased with the end result of the shoot as it looks surreal and beautiful, which is what I hope the band and Nicholas wanted to capture.

I look forward to seeing the video on MTV!

It was being directed by Nicholas Bentley, an up and coming director in the film and music video world.

Upon arrival we were explained that the entire shoot was based in a fantasy world which revolved around a giant octopus eating the lead member of the band! Myself and Sarah would be the tribal women who would dance around the men before killing them! So the subject matter was dark, but we were assured that it was a comic book/fantasy scene and our hair and makeup would reflect that. We were dressed in black dresses with fantastic makeup and huge hair with feather in it.

The choreographer Vikki Burns was a talented dancer who taught us her tribal choreography and helped us capture those ‘bird-like’ movements in our head and body. It was difficult as Nicholas was working with a slowed down version of the track, which he would then speed up at post production to create his desired effect. I felt sorry for Rachael (the lead singer of the band) as she was having to lip sync to her own voice slowed down – which was an interesting sound to hear on repeat! Never-the-less she did a brilliant job whilst being attacked by tentacles!

The day was an extremely long shoot, with working into the early hours of the morning. Still, I was very pleased with the end result of the shoot as it looks surreal and beautiful, which is what I hope the band and Nicholas wanted to capture.

I look forward to seeing the video on MTV!