When I auditioned for this music video I had to cue up for over 1 hour in a studio in Old Street London. I knew the artist and loved his music so I really wanted to get the job. However, that day I had tonnes of appointments and they were running so late that I almost left. Thank goodness I didn't as otherwise I would have got this booking. They recalled me the same afternoon and I ran back from the other side of London and arrived looking totally dishevelled, covered in mud and wringing wet from the rain. I thought I had put them off me as at the first meeting I had tried to look as clean and tidy as possible. I didn't realise that the song was to be called 'Saltwater' and that they wanted to find a girl that was willing to get seriously wet, go surfing and run around. I got the job!
We drove to Cornwall in a van and booked into a b&b really close to the beach. As it was February it was totally out of season and no one else was around. We ran through the plans for the next day in the director's room with the team. When they told me what we were going to do I was excited but also pretty scared as I had never surfed before, or been in a helicopter. I knew they really needed to get their shots in super fast time as we would be fighting the winter light to get it all in the can in one day.
At about 5am I went into makeup. The makeup artist was the only other woman on the shoot and she was very friendly. They needed me to look as natural as possible, but obviously makeup was still vital, so we did everything in MAC waterproof. Then I put on the wetsuit which was pretty funny. Outside it was just coming to dawn and the temperature was beyond freezing and it was very windy. The helicopter arrived and the director and his brother and I got in, leaving the rest of the crew on the ground. Up in the air it was amazing, the views were spectacular and I could see why they had chosen that spot for the video - it was breathtaking. They hooked me up with a walki talkie in the back of my suit and dropped me on a faraway beach which could only be reached by air and then flew back in to the sky. To be honest, inside I was freaking about a bit being left on the beach alone. The helicopter had to keep on flying away to re-circle and at one point it went back to base miles away to refuel. There was nothing and no one except ocean and sand as far as the eye could see. It was also extremely windy as the helicopter kept on dipping really close to me to get close-ups and I was meant to 'look natural'. I got knocked over by the wind a couple of times. But, it was really amazing! The director was leaning out of the helicopter and I could hear their instructions shouting out from my back, 'go to the right, 'do that again' etc. It was so surreal, a bit like a dream. The best part was getting to make the first footprints in the untouched sand as this had always been one of my dreams.
Then came the 'surf shots'. There was a lot of paddling about in the icy English water. Thankfully, I was joined by the wicked surfers who were amazing. They were so excited to be in the video too. The rest of the crew huddled together on the beach with hot coffee and ski jackets to stay warm. The waves are really big down there so I had to really stay calm so we could get the shots.
As we were shooting, we didn't realise that the van with all the film equipment in it was sinking into the sand. We called the beach ranger and he told us it was 'sinking sand'!! I didn't realise it actually existed, but apparently that beach was famous for it. We all had to work together to save the equipment. However, I was rushed back into the sea as we only had about an hours worth of light left and we still needed more shots. By the time we had finished the van had been completely sunk and was covered by waves!
The next day, we shot the 'club scenes' in the same studios we had done the casting at in Old Street. There were loads of extras and a huge fish tank had been erected. I was then asked to go and swim in it fully clothed. Once again, it was freezing water, but I was more than used to that from the last few days. Amazingly, I didn't even get a cold, it must have been the adrenalin keeping me healthy. After each underwater swim, I had to come out, get my hair re-dried, makeup redone, and get into another set of identical dry clothes! We also did all the outside street shots here. There were actually two filmed endings for the video. One is seen in the released version. But, there was another version, where I was dressed as a nun! My mum liked that version best as she thought that it was dramatic. But, for some reason they cut that one!
I thought that was it, but there was more. A few days later I got a call saying they needed me to go to Gatecrasher in Sheffield, which is one of the top clubs in the UK. They needed more crowd shots. We drove up on a Saturday afternoon, got ready and headed down there. Everyone was freaking out that there was a film crew and was trying to get in the shot. I was supposed to look pretty messed up and into the music. It was pretty crazy. We shot for hours and hours before calling it a night and all of the crew continued the party.
Filming this video was a wonderful experience, and everyone was genuinely cool. We all worked together as a team and got the job done. There is no space for time wasting and diva demands when you are working to a tight schedule and I think that was appreciated. The overall result was superb. It was number one and I went to Top of the Pops, the biggest TV pop show in the UK. Since then loads of mad music lovers have tracked me down and told me how much they rate the video. And people as far as South Africa, New York and Sydney have recognised me which is bizarre. Sometimes it's like that with modelling. The shoots that you think will be everywhere you never see, and the ones you don't expect just keep on coming. I left the UK shortly after filming this video to pursue my dreams and I managed to make more new footprints during my own adventures!
