The company sells blackout curtains which are great for babies who need absolute darkness to sleep soundly. He booked the job via NY Castings where I submitted his photo and linked to his profile. I was surprised when he was cast from the photos alone which was great because it eliminated the actual casting call. Direct bookings are awesome!
No sleeping on the set
The shoot was held in the showroom where Lightcatcher curtains are sold on 5th avenue and 27th St. The original notes said that my son would be asleep for the photo shoot, so in order to ensure that he would be good and sleepy I kept him from taking his morning nap. I bathed him, fed him, and played with him and then hopped on the train (because my car broke down that morning) to the job. But when we arrived at the job, what did he do when he saw the lights, the cameras, the wires, and the other kids? He was wired…and WIDE AWAKE!!
I had them clear off a bed away from distractions, and I took his blanket, stuffed giraffe and pacifier and read him his nap book. I laid down with him but he wiggled right off the bed after all of my hard work. I was nervous because I knew they would want to shoot Caleb soon…and he was no closer to taking a nap then when we’d arrived 30 mins earlier!
When the director came to check on us – he asked if he could put Caleb on the bed for lighting purposes. But once they saw him awake on the bed in his onesie playing around with the blankets and stuffed animal they decided they wanted to shoot him awake so they scrambled to get the shot and keep him on the bed. After every 45 seconds or so, he climbed off the bed and I had to try to get him back on the bed and make him laugh.
Baby wrangler to the rescue
After about 20 mins of shooting Caleb was restless….and you guessed it – SLEEPY! He was fed up with my antics and was no longer responding to my cues. Just in time, in walks the stylist/baby wrangler extraordinaire. I don’t remember his name, but he was like a magician! In an instant he had Caleb laughing, giggling, playing peek-a-boo, and even laying down on the bed.
Before we knew it they had the shots they needed and our shoot was wrapped! Whew!
I quickly got Caleb dressed to leave, but not before he got his check! We strolled out of the building and before we turned the corner of the block…my little star was sound asleep.
