OCR superstar, American Ninja Warrior, Team Ninja Warrior, and Spartan Race elite competitor Rose Wetzel-Sinnett is featured in a new ad for Panasonic WINGS Wireless Sports Clip 3D Flex Headphones. Her husband, Tim “Race Sherpa” Sinnett sits down with our favorite superhero costume-wearing, ninja-crushing, obstacle-dominating, scene-stealing media darling, Rose.
Tim: Hi there! It’s nice to chat with you again….
Rose: Thanks! The pleasure is all mine.
Tim: I mean, I know that I’ve spoken to you a number of times today already, but it’s nice to just sit down with you and chat about two subjects we almost never talk about; obstacle course racing and sponsorships.
Rose: Haha. Yes, two subjects we NEVER ever talk about.
Tim: Yeah, so it will be nice to cover new territory, then. Ok, so Panasonic. That was a pretty cool ad you did for the WINGS headphones. Tell us a little about it.
Rose: Thanks, yeah, I had a blast. I mean, there were like twelve people there for the shoot; camera, lighting and production, and I just remember thinking, “Do not be late!”
Tim: And were you?
Rose: No, no! I was early! I’ve been partnered with Panasonic for almost a year, and even though I’ve done a couple of cool events with them already, this photo shoot was a whole different level. The shoot lasted twelve hours a day for two days in a row. In the morning a make-up artist put my makeup on…because you know, I always wear make-up when I run…and she touched up my make-up every ten to fifteen minutes, so that by the end of the long day, I had enough makeup on to compete with Lady Gaga.
Tim: And who was in charge of the actual shooting and production?
Rose: Andy Bell and Sweatpants Media. Andy was a motorcycle rider in Nitro Circus.
Tim: Oh my gosh, I love those guys. They are so crazy. Have you ever seen Nitro Circus?
Rose: Yeah, didn’t you have me watch those a couple of times?
Tim: I did! I was just testing your memory.
Rose: They do some crazy, awesome stuff! Very entertaining!
Tim: Yes they do! So, back to the commercial… In one of the shots, you were running in the pouring rain. I’m assuming that wasn’t real rain.
Rose: Nope. A huge semi full of water pulled up next to our photo shoot location, and someone got the fun job of spraying me in the face with fake rain…very cold fake rain, mind you…for hours. That particular shot took a long time to nail due to the complexity of getting me to run into fake rain without the camera in the golf cart that was four feet away from getting wet. After every take, a huge jacket got tossed on to me as I shivered, waiting for the next set-up. I felt committed to getting the shot done just right, so I endured the cold, and I’m glad I did because it’s my favorite shot.
Tim: Speaking of cold, I also noticed that at the end it was snowing outside. Seeing as how you were shooting this in LA, I’m guessing that wasn’t snow.
Rose: Nope, fake snow, too. I’m also glad that scene turned out as well as it did because the forty snowflakes that you see through the window took an hour and a half to get floating at just the right place, at the right pace, in the right direction, directly in front of that window.
Tim: A question that I’m sure we’ve all been wondering: was it difficult for you to shoot an entire commercial without smiling? Your trademark seems to be your almost constant smile.
Rose: (laughs and smiles) Everyone I worked with was so cool that I had plenty of smiles between takes, but yes, during the shots, the producer wanted a look of intensity and fierceness, so I had to wipe the grin off of my face and go into “beast mode” within seconds. The hardest things for me were running slowly, so that the side camera guys could keep up, and running without a smile.
Tim: I use a pair of Panasonic’s over the ear headphones at home, and they are amazing. How do the WINGS stack up against other “active” type of headphones?
Rose: After wearing the headphones for the better part of two back to back twelve hour days, I can attest that they are very flexible and comfortable. In fact, there were times when I forgot I had them on, and when people would give me a command from afar, like “Go!” or “Come back!” I would be like “Whaaaat?” before I remembered they were in my ears.
Tim: Hahaha. That’s awesome. Any final thoughts?
Rose: When I watch this video I think “Man if only I looked this cool when I ran.” Many thanks to the talented photographers, lighting crew, make up artists, and producers, for making me look…I’m Going to go ahead and say it…a lot cooler than I am. And a special shout-out to the guy whose sole purpose the entire shoot was to make sure nobody ran me over on the long bike path on the beach.
Tim: Cool, well thank you for the taking the time to talk about your experience. We look forward to seeing what is next.