He’s been a constant fixture on our screens for more than 20 years, but what is Osher Gunsberg really like behind the scenes?
A few months ago, I discovered the truth (I know that sounds sexy, but if you’re hoping for a hit piece, trust me, this is going to be the farthest thing from it).
Here’s the backstory … I work in the entertainment team at news.com.au and was invited by Channel 10 to feature in an episode of The Bachelor, which aired last night.
Basically, my role was to help set up a photo challenge by explaining to the Bachelorettes what makes for a “good photo” on news.com.au.
Obviously I jumped at the opportunity, not only because it meant half a day off work and not only because I was assured there would be some quality on-set catering, but because as a TV tragic it meant I’d finally get to witness ‘the Osh’ in action and find out once and for all what sort of bloke he really is.
Arriving at the Bachelor mansion
Everything was very secretive on the day of the shoot. I was picked up in a black van outside the news.com.au office by two Channel 10 publicists and driven to a “secret location” which turned out to be the outrageously OTT mansion based in Dural, about 36km northwest of the Sydney CBD.
I was guided through the maze of production vehicles and staffers talking into headsets and was taken to a large shed (or maybe it was a garage … who knows) near the tennis court out the back of the mansion.
I was shown to the catering table (they weren’t lying) and then mic’d up, made up and then pumped up by the show’s executive producer who gave me a quick rundown of how the scene would work.
RELATED: James Weir recaps The Bachelor – Read all the recaps here
Show time
After grazing the catering table and stuffing some packets of lollies into my bag (which made me feel like Uncle Frank from Home Alone), I overheard someone say into their headset, “Osher to the set.”
Osher walked past the shed/garage, gave me a quick nod and then walked up to where the scene was being filmed right near the back door of the mansion where an “umbrella assistant” greeted him to help block out the sun.
A whirr of activity followed as a chorus of “Bach to the set” was whispered into headsets by all the production staff around me.
Jimmy (and his personal umbrella assistant) walked past me and assumed a position next to Osher.
The women weren’t on the set yet, and a producer quickly explained to me that they wouldn’t actually be there when I delivered my lines. WTF?
Basically, they explained, the scene had to be filmed several times from three different angles: One without the girls on set with the cameras pointing at Osher, Jimmy and myself. One with the cameras behind us pointed at the girls, and one wide shot that featured everyone.
For the first scene, which is where I was to be filmed delivering my lines without the Bachelorettes present, I was told to stare at the feet of the production crew standing behind the cameras and pretend I was chatting to the girls. In school I spent many lonely nights in my bedroom pretending to chat to girls so I knew this wasn’t going to be an issue.
After one incredibly brief rehearsal, we were ready to shoot the scene.
RELATED: Check out the steamy pics from The Bachelor photo challenge
Osher introduced me to the invisible girls and asked me to explain what makes a good photo for news.com.au.
And I … I … well, I got two words out and froze. I completely shat my pants (not literally).
I was mortified.
But rather than let me drown in humiliation, Osher smiled at me and came to the rescue by asking me the question again.
We did the scene about seven times in total, and in between each take as the cameras moved around, Osher continually encouraged me and assured me I was doing well.
As I started to relax on set, I focused less on my own mediocre performance and turned my attention to Osher.
And I have to say, I was blown away.
Osher didn’t have an autocue yet managed to remember his lengthy script, take after take. He threw in different jokes each time and he remembered all of the Bachelorettes’ names (not an easy feat after this many seasons).
What struck me as I watched him was that Osher was very much in control of everything on set.
He made suggestions about how to improve the scene, he stopped filming when he saw a plane in the sky (which would have ruined the audio), he kept up the morale for both the cast and crew (all of whom seemed to adore him).
I’ve been lucky enough to see some of the greats of Australian TV at work, including Eddie McGuire, Andrew Denton and Sonia Kruger. They’re all natural performers who are completely in command when they’re on a TV set.
And after witnessing Osher at work, I’d have to say he’s pretty much at the top of the list.
You quite often hear complaints about the fact it’s the same people year in, year out who host or appear on TV shows in Australia.
But there’s a reason people like Osher keep getting the big gigs. It’s because they’re bloody pros who get the job done with a minimum of fuss.
And mostly importantly, unlike me, they don’t sh*t themselves when the camera’s on them!
The Bachelor continues on Wednesday night at 7.30pm on Channel 10
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiqgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L3R2L3JlYWxpdHktdHYvdGhlLWJhY2hlbG9yL3doYXQtb3NoZXItZ3Vuc2JlcmctaXMtcmVhbGx5LWxpa2Utb24tdGhlLXNldC1vZi10aGUtYmFjaGVsb3IvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS85MjUzYzRlZGRlY2M2ZWNhMTg5M2IyZjA5YWFiYTNiNNIBqgFodHRwczovL2FtcC5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L3R2L3JlYWxpdHktdHYvdGhlLWJhY2hlbG9yL3doYXQtb3NoZXItZ3Vuc2JlcmctaXMtcmVhbGx5LWxpa2Utb24tdGhlLXNldC1vZi10aGUtYmFjaGVsb3IvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS85MjUzYzRlZGRlY2M2ZWNhMTg5M2IyZjA5YWFiYTNiNA?oc=5
2021-07-22 21:33:45Z
CBMiqgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L3R2L3JlYWxpdHktdHYvdGhlLWJhY2hlbG9yL3doYXQtb3NoZXItZ3Vuc2JlcmctaXMtcmVhbGx5LWxpa2Utb24tdGhlLXNldC1vZi10aGUtYmFjaGVsb3IvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS85MjUzYzRlZGRlY2M2ZWNhMTg5M2IyZjA5YWFiYTNiNNIBqgFodHRwczovL2FtcC5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L3R2L3JlYWxpdHktdHYvdGhlLWJhY2hlbG9yL3doYXQtb3NoZXItZ3Vuc2JlcmctaXMtcmVhbGx5LWxpa2Utb24tdGhlLXNldC1vZi10aGUtYmFjaGVsb3IvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS85MjUzYzRlZGRlY2M2ZWNhMTg5M2IyZjA5YWFiYTNiNA
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar