Date: February 1, 2006
Show: Pepper Dennis
Episode: Frat Boys May Loose Manhood, Film at Eleven
Location: 20th Century Fox
The set of Pepper Dennis has all the offices of the Channel 4 -WEIE News station. The bull pen, the conference room, News Directors office, Lobby, tape library, break room, News Set, and the room where all of todays filming took place. The make-up room. About the size you would expect for a make-up room, most of the day actors, cameras and crew filled the small space.
The make-up room has only two outside views, one being a door into a hallway, and one through a door and window into the bull pit. Our crosses were either right next to the doors, or were further into the bull pit. Not a lot of variety in action here, and there were quite a few of us to do crosses, so the AD's kept switching us out.
Here are some observations of the day.
1. Rebecca Romijn is 5'11'' and wears 2” heels on set. That's 6'1” and you just don't expect to have to look that far up to make eye contact with a woman.
2. Have you ever noticed that many of the Editors/News Managers on T.V. and in movies share the same qualities as Perry White of DC's Superman? That rough, gruff tough as nails boss who really had a soft spot for his favorite reporters was played by John Hamilton in the Adventures of Superman (1952), Lane Smith in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (tv – 1993-97) and Jackie Cooper in Superman: The Movie (1978). Seems to be the case with the news director on this show.
3. There is a news reel that runs on the news room monitors (located all around the set) that loops, showing the same stories over and over all day. For some reason, every time I looked up at one of the monitors, I saw the same shot. A Coroner is looking over the scene of an accident, and steps over to another member of the coroners office. Times like this, one must not read too much into the notion of coincidence, or one would get very nervous.
4. Somewhere in directing school, directors are taught to say, “Annnnnnnnnd..........ACTION!” Sometimes it seems like a race to see how close the director can say “ACTION” after the AD yells BACKGROUND. Often coming out like “BACKGROUNDACTION!” Occasionally it comes out as “BACKGROUND” “AnnnnnnnnnnnnD........(long pause-did he fall asleep?)....ACTION!”
5. One background fellow (new to the job) made his cross passed the bull pit entrance of the Make-up room, entered the hallway, and stopped to unwrap his candy bar...right next to the open door to the Make-up room hallway door and the microphones recording the shot. Another BG tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the open door.
6. Our 2nd 2nd AD (Paula) is a traffic cop type director. BG were set in four corners of the set for the crosses she was directing. She would point at a BG actor and draw her two fingers in a diagram of the path she wanted them to take and where she wanted them to end up. She would get your attention by pointing at you, turning her hand palm out in the universal hold sign, and then flip it over looking like a teacher crooking her finger to you. After a little while, she had us all pretty well trained.
7. And it looks like a Texas Hold 'em game is going to develop on set. As it is likely to involve money, I will continue to read in my down time.
Date: February 2, 2006
Show: Ghost Whisperer
Episode: Miss Fortune
Location: Universal Studios City Walk Park
It's been a while since I was last on Ghost Whisperer, and now I remember that this show beats them all for crossing and walking. Arrg...I am sore. Though it is not entirely Ghost Whisperers fault.
 This episode deals with Melinda Gordon's (Jennifer Love Hewitt) adventures at a carnival, and the BG played the carnival goers and carnies. I was a carnival goer, and you will be able to pick me out by looking for my partner for the day. I did not go anywhere without this fish out of water.
There were many interesting things for BG to do today, one being riding the ferris wheel for an hour with occasional stops during filming and in between filming. One gal brought her book with her and read while on the wheel. The 2nd AD (Dan) warned BG that one should be sure that they wanted to ride the ferris wheel, because yesterday one rider finally could take no more and puked on the ride. Another ride was the carousel (or merry-go-round), which was made with the bottoms of children in mind (a sign read, “No one over 48” on this ride”) but was populated by adults who later regretted being so ready to volunteer. Some were on there for more than an hour.
Ghost Whisperer is one of the shows that does not stress over continuity. If a shot matches fine, and if not they really don't worry much. Makes the whole process easier.
 I started out by standing next to the “Shoot out the star” game, with the BB guns and the little red stars. My job was to pretend to shoot the targets, and I would move from gun to gun doing the same thing over and over. That took an hour and was less stressful than what I did next.
One of the PA's placed me by the bean bag toss game, and during the wait for the scene to start filming, I picked up three bean bags and started juggling them. When the first take came up, I just kept juggling, and didn't stop until the last take, about an hour and a half later. While I got pretty good at juggling the bean bags, the result was that my arms (from juggling) and my thighs (from stooping to pick up dropped bean bags) were very sore and stiff that night. Never the less, keep an eye out for two jugglers, one being me and the other being a little person (who was much better then I).
 The thing that tickled me today was what happened because of the need for a few extra bodies and just the desire to have some fun. The AD's and PA's kept their radios hidden and enjoyed the chance to be in the picture with the BG actors. One regular PA I've worked with before became a Funnel Cake booth operator. In one scene, the 1st Assistant Director, and the prop man joined a scene near the Illusionist's tent with BG that were meant to look like carnies. These two fit in just fine. They really looked like they belonged at that carnival.
My favorite BG artist of the day was Crystal, who was put into a clown outfit last minute and spent the day doing the job as if she had been born to it.
Over all, this shoot will stay with me for at least a few days while I recover from sunburn and very sore muscles. Thankfully my fingers still work and I can get this log typed.
Later.
Date: February 6, 2006
Show: The Suite Life
Episode: “That's So Suite Life of Hanna Montana”
Location: Hollywood Center Studios
As I arrived at stage 11 for The Suite Life, I noticed a red sports car that pulled up. This was a really nice car. The kind that I couldn't afford to pay insurance on, much less buy, and the owner turned out to be Raven (think The Bill Cosby Show, and That's so Raven on Disney Channel). She was one of the guest stars on the show today.
 When I got to the set, I was the first BG actor there. Two mothers and their four daughters were being given a VIP tour of the set and would be allowed to watch the show as it taped. The girls were thrilled to be there and were given packages that included a script of the first episode of the show signed by all the actors as well as photographs that were also signed by all the stars of the show. Talk about happy. At one point one of the younger ones asked for the autograph of the production assistant who had been showing them around. As she signed the autograph book, she pointed out that if she wanted an actors autograph, she should get mine, because I would be working on set with the actors later. So I have now signed my first autograph on set.
This episode is about the kids (Zack and Cody) celebrating their mother's birthday with a surprise party. They spend much of the episode teasing mother for being so old. When the cake came out the actor playing the mother notes the fact that her age is iced on the cake along with her name, and tastes the frosting, obliterating the age. After the take, the actor (Kim Rhodes) looked at the cake and said, “How should I feel when they tease me for being old and my fake age is three years younger than my real age?”
 The hotel janitor/inventor on the show (Arwin played by Brian Stepanek) builds a robot babysitter for the mother (who's boys are twins). The robot was manned by a dwarf who operated the one working arm, and made it go where it was supposed to go. The face plate on the robot was a dark see through plastic that allowed him to see where he was going.
Raven enters the party scene and the crowd of people waiting to surprise the mother all jump up and yell surprise to her. On seeing that she is not the mother, they all groan an turn away from Raven. On one of these takes, Raven just waved her hand at he crowd and said, “Fine, I'm not even supposed to be here. My show was canceled.” Her show just recently stopped taping after a four year run on the Disney Channel.
The fun part of the taping was watching 13 year old twin Dylan Sprouse do a face dive into the cake rolled out for the party. Dylan was ready for the take. He would get one shot at it, and was totally stoked. A brake-away table was brought out and padding was put down for Dylan and the table to land on. Several practice moves were done and then the take was shot. Dylan did a perfect pratfall into the cake, with the proper slow lifting of the head and cake encrusted face. They made Dylan do the slow head lift several more times just to make sure that they had it right, resulting in his having to replant his face in the cake more than one.
Date: February 7, 2006
Show: ER
Episode: Lost in America
Location: L.A. Marriot Hotel
Most days as a background artist start out the same. You get up, dress, grab your wardrobe, and head for the studio or location for the show your doing. Today that is the Los Angeles Marriot Hotel for ER. I have not yet worked on the set of ER at their studio, and given that I don't fit the usual category for their show, I am not likely to any time soon. But as long as they go on location to ice rinks and hotels, I will get the chance to work the show. I will not, however, be easily seen in this episode, through no fault of my own.
 On arriving at the Marriot, I found check in, got my voucher, toddled off to holding (outside by the pool), set up my folding chair (for maximum comfort during the day) and grabbed breakfast. Shortly after eating, the AD took us to wardrobe, and I was approved and sent on my way; that is to say, back to holding, where I would wait to be taken with some 400+ others to the set when needed.
This was one of those days when I didn't see everyone who was there until the last scene we were filming because there were four holding areas for the background. One whole heck of a lot of bodies.
At a point not too long before shooting the first scene we were doing at the hotel, one of the AD's came out to give us “The speech”, often delivered before going to set reminding us of the things most of us should know without thinking, like no asking for autographs. You would think this would be unneccisary, but when I was doing Spiderman III, the AD while reminding us of the “No Autographs” thing, pointed out that a BG actor had indeed asked for one. It was the only time in the day that the BG responded with a negative, and that was to boo the BG actor (whose identity was unknown to us). That is just plain unprofessional behavior. Any way, at this point my day changed from what it should have been. Another AD had been walking around and looking at BG. She picked out three of us and told us to follow her onto the set.
We were taken to the set, near the Video Village (the directors array of monitors), and had three actors pointed out to us. For the rest of the day, we were going to be their seconds. Or to put it in other words, the stand-ins. My actor was Mark Bramhall, who's roll was Dr. Weismer, one of the attendees of the conference at the hotel. Being a stand-in is cool on several levels. First is the fact that my pay scale went up $20.00 for the first eight hours, and the per hour amount increased for overtime. Second is the fact that Stand-ins have that automatic increase in status, as well.
Mark, my actor, has been doing T.V. for many years. He has appeared on Star Trek: TNG, Babylon 5, Alias, X-files, and other shows over the years and was kind enough to give me the name of an acting coach in Burbank during one of our conversations. Never the less, I did have to train my actor in the proper uses of his Stand-in. Mark was inclined to stay on his mark, and my job is to step in and give him a chance to walk away and relax while my presence keeps camera and lighting people happy.
When we were shooting the second scene upstairs in the conference room, the AD called for second team (my cue to move in and stand at the actors mark and the actors cue to leave the set). When I got to the seat Mark occupied, he didn't seem like he was ready to leave. I verified that he was happy where he was and was already leaving when the AD called again, louder, for the second team. Mark turned in his seat, and I caught his eye and we understood that the AD really wanted us to switch places. We did. After that, Mark found that the use of his stand-in allowed him time to study his script (for another part) and relax off set, so I got to stand-in more often during the rest of the shoot.
Some things of note:
There were quite a few “Dealer” booths with various medical equipment on set, and each of these were manned by the representatives of the companies who provided all of it. We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of high tech toys. Some of it is pretty neat.
This was the second show this week with a robot on it. Only difference is the robot was radio controlled. If you watch the episode, you will see the robot being pushed across the screen. The director could not get the shot he wanted, with the robot passing the principal actor and looking back as she passed. At least we don't have to worry about that robot taking an actors part. He-he.
The “Rat Activists” in this episode throw a balloon full of red paint at the podium where one of the principals (Parminder Nagra who plays Neela) is speaking. In almost all the takes, the Rat Activist who throws the balloon, Chris Mendoza, pretends to throw the balloon. In the shot where they really want him to throw it, he had a sand filled balloon that he threw to a crew member who was wearing a baseball mitt. The crew member was standing right next to the camera. The AD pointed out that Chris should try to miss the camera when he threw the balloon. Good advise. How would you like that high ticket item take out of your paycheck?
Finally, Neela, at whom the balloon is aimed is called on to faint. To get the shot, the actor, Parminder, had to fall over and over again, first from standing positions at the podium, and then to get the head hitting the floor shot, they put down a padded “floor” and she toppled over from a kneeling position, often having to re-shoot the fall because she fell out of frame. The scene was shot from front and back, close-up and far, and from several other points of view. Guess the budget didn't include a stunt double.
Date: February 9, 2006
Show: West Wing
Episode: (Leo's Funeral)
Location: First Congregational Church of Los Angeles
For those of you who don't watch West Wing, or don't keep up on the live and deaths of actors in Hollywood, I remind you that John Spencer (who played Leo McGarry ) died December 16, 2005 of a heart attack. His character on the show has been featured recently as the VP candidate running with Santos, who is played by Jimmy Smitts. Today, we film Leo's funeral service in the old First Congregational Church in Los Angeles.
The First Congregational Church in L.A. is the oldest Protestant church of continuous operation in the city of Los Angeles, founded in 1867. This church has two pipe organs, the larger of the two by the Schlicker Organ Company. The pipes take up the entire back wall above the sanctuary. More on the pipe organ later.
 I was not sure what the set would be like today, because the scene is the funeral for a character played by a long time member of the cast (and from what I've heard, also one of the best loved actors on the show). It was relaxed and filled with humor (off camera) and still you could tell that many of the actors had moments of remembering why this scene had to be filmed.
There are several ways to go to set, especially when there are three hundred and fifty BG actors in holding all going the same way. One is to take your time and end up where ever you end up, and the other is to follow close to the AD or move to the front of the line. I stayed near the front of the line and was picked to sit in the third pew from the front and three seats in on the right side of the center aisle While sitting there, I began to realize that I was surrounded by stand-ins. When the principals came on set, the seating arrangement ended up as follows:
Martin Sheen in the front row aisle seat and a few seats to his right was Elisabeth Moss (daughter Zoey).
Row two was Bradley Whitford (Josh Lyman) and Allison Janney (CJ) and further down that row was Gary Cole (VP Robert Russell).
Row three was Dole' Hill (Charlie Young), Janel Moloney (Donna Moss), Phil Moon (Me)
Row Four toward the outside end was Joshua Malina (Will Bailey), Nicole Robinson (Margaret, who was Leo's assistant) and several other actors who play assistants to west wing staff.
On the other side of the aisle were Tim Matheson (John Hoynes), Jimmy Smitts (Matthew Santos), Timothy Busfield (Danny Concannon), and Marlee Matlin (Joey Lucas) among others. They pulled out all the stops to get so many of these actors on set for one scene. Not so many stops to get me, of course.
But there I was sitting in the mist of the principals, and unless the film editor takes a dislike to me, there is almost no way I won't be seen, at least briefly.
After we had been filming for several hours, and BG had been up and down the stairs (that lead to the basement holding area for background) we were in the sanctuary waiting for things to start when the pipe organ piped up and the first cords played were those played by Phantom of the Opera in the old movie versions. They shook the house, silencing every voice and turning every head. The sound of the music vibrated in the fillings of teeth and deep in the bones as the organist, who was a member of the crew, never missed a note in the opening movement of the song that we all recognize as that played by the Phantom himself. When the organist finished the opening of the piece, he received a standing ovation. Totally unexpected, and totally appreciated.
One of the actors on set was the man playing the priest who is leading the service, and his job was to stand there and deliver the prayer which was either Catholic or Episcopalian in nature. This poor guy had a time of it, trying to mouth this segment of the service for the dead without missing a beat. And, alas, beats were missed. After more than a few tries to get this thing done, Martin Sheen turned around and noted to his fellow cast members that in the real ceremony, the priest would have had an alter boy holding the prayer book and he would have been reading it, which would have saved the actor time and us suffering while we tried to get through this scene.
There was one thing that happened that I would be remiss in not relating. Bradley Whitford (sitting on the aisle in pew two) had to move to let one of the actors pass by on his way out of the row. Had I not seen this with my own eyes, I would have had trouble believing it. As others in the pew stood or turned to get their knees out of the way, Bradley reached down and grabbed his ankle, where upon he lifted his left foot straight above his head, keeping the leg unbent. Several of the cast sitting around him ignored the action, but some of us in the background had no choice but to squirm in discomfort. I was never that flexible. Not even as a baby.
Date: February 2, 2006
Show: Courting Alex
Episode: Big Client
Location: CBS Radford
You will likely remember Jenna Elfman from the comedy Dharma and Greg, and I suspect more than a few of you will remember Dabney Coleman (9 to 5, You've Got Mail, Jumanji, and Cloak & Dagger). These are the stars of Courting Alex.
 When I got there I was a Law Firm BG, and shortly before we started I became a Tavern Customer. Seems they over ordered law firm but were able to use us for the tavern. I ended up sitting by the door of the tavern, where Jenna enters and exits the tavern, and with luck puts me on camera.
Courting Alex is shot before an audience (I refuse to use the phrase “Shot before a live audience” which suggests to me that some shows are shot before a dead audience.) I didn't realize this at the time I showed up, but it definitely meant a long day.
Dabney Coleman was fun to watch, both in rehearsal and during the shoot. Jenna Elfman is an actor who interacts with the director a lot. Asking questions or making suggestions, she was always going to Video Village.
 There are always things that are worth keeping an eye open for. In different shows, little inside humor turns up. On Star Trek:TNG, plaques on the bridges of ships would often list the names of the shows crews, like the guy in charge of creating the sets, or the props man. As a result of these kinds of things, I keep my eyes open for similar stuff on other shows. On this one, there was a sign by the door which listed the entertainment at the tavern for the night. The line-up for tonight was: Kermit, Muppet Labs, Gonzo's Brick Wrestling, Fozzie's stand up, and Pigs in space. If you weren't standing next to the door, (or in my case sitting next to the door) you would never see the sign.
Once the audience was in place, we began taping. A thirty minute sitcom takes about five hours to shoot. By 10:15 PM, my scenes were done and my work was over. The AD sent us into the stands to watch the show and help with the laughter. There we were singled out by the comedian who helps entertain the audience in between takes and scenes. No autographs this time, but the recognition was kinda cool.
Date: February, 13 2006
Show: Without a Trace
Episode: The Road Home
Location: Downtown LA - 5th and Spring
Because W/O a Trace has been airing for several seasons, they have all the BG actors they need for the FBI office scenes. Their core BG will be called in whenever they film on the sets of their offices, thus giving the illusion that the same FBI agents work there. But when the production is going to be shooting on location, they need new background to represent the streets of New York city.
 We were working 5th and Spring st.'s in LA. All that was needed to make them into NY streets was to put NY street signs over the LA signs, thus turning them into W53rd St. and 10th Ave, and to some extent confusing local traffic.
Todays location brought me back to a spot I've worked before and that is the Alexandria Hotel (where I worked Cold Case – 12-15-2005). What you will find if you have kept the past newsletters is that I misnamed the hotel in my previous story. I changed the gender calling it the Alexander Hotel. I've included a picture of the Alexandria as it was in 1919.
 We are actually shooting only one scene today, though it may run a little longer than some because this is the disappearing scene where at the opening of the show, the missing person of the episode vanishes into the crowd only to be seen again when the FBI finds him at the end of the show. This weeks missing person is played by a 19 year old actor who is getting an opportunity to relish, as this show is all about the missing person. His picture will pop up through out the episode, and his scenes will put his face on camera enough to help with the being seen thing actors are so often looking for. I had a chance to chat with him for just a minute, and I could tell he was exited as he reminded me to watch the episode.
The missing person he plays is a bicycle riding message delivery kid who races through traffic like a maniac on wheels. Quite a few shots were made of him riding through busy New York traffic (provided by BG actors in their cars sitting very still so as not to endanger the actor or his stunt double). On a vehicle that looked a lot like a four wheel off road cart, the camera races down the street to keep up with the bike as it whizzed past cars. We background actors kept walking up and down the street to make it look like NY. (“Remember, your in New York! Walk faster” was the ever present yell of the AD).
 To get the shots that make it clear he is in some kind of trouble, they close off the intersection at 5th and Spring and allow only stunt cars and BG cars to pass as “traffic”. During a short brake in shooting, the director, Director of Photography and the stunt coordinator cluster on a corner and draw a chock outline of the street, place little toy matchbox cars and map out the stunt that will sell the urgency of the kids ride. They used both the actor and the stunt double to do these shots. The camera followed the biker on the cart and for some shots was rigged to the bike itself, in what had to be a distracting piece of hardware for the actor.
In a few takes, the kid rides in front of traffic, narrowly missing collision with a NY Taxi. These shots were done by the stunt double and stunt driver, while all other traffic, including BG drivers, were held back until the shot was over. To get these shots, each time “cut” was called, all the cars would have to cycle around the block in real time L.A. traffic, jockeying for position so that they would end up back in the queue of cars used in the shot. I admit to being torn. Would I have been better off driving my car in that mess, or were the pains in my feet from ten hours of walking up and down L.A. streets worth the peace of mind for the safety of my car? Maybe I can answer the question when I'm done soaking my dogs.
Date: February 14, 2006
Show: Related
Episode: His Name is Ruth
Location: Warner Brothers Studios
Well here goes another day of walking, walking, walking, broken only by a few hours as a jeweler in a small store front where the odds of seeing me are somewhere between nil and none. But, that's O.K., because I am in a very special place today.
Related tends to call about forty BG for its calls on the streets of New York. New York, in this case, is located on the back lot of the WB. Nearly every time I have worked the WB lot, I have walked down this street, so trust me when I tell you I had to be really tired not to realize were I was for the first few hours of my day. One of the building segments of the street that we were walking was repainted black to serve as an animal shelter that shows up in the episode we are filming, and at the start of the day, it had a wall of poster pasted plywood blocking it off so the street could be used for several streets.
Later in the day, that is exactly what happened on one street we shot on. Right next to the WB commissary, where everyone from BG to stars eat, is a street with brownstones on one side and the WB theater on the other. The brownstones looked very New Yorkish, while the theater is very L.A. studio.
 The scene was shot at the corner of the brownstone side with cameras aimed almost straight on at the buildings. The actors are standing on the sidewalk in front of the corner brownstone, and the cameras are in the street facing them. On finishing that shot, the cameras were moved down and across the street, aimed at the same side of the street at the brownstones, and the actors were put right in front (and on the same side of the street as) the cameras. Now the cameras are against the theater shooting over the actors shoulders picking up the background walking on the sidewalk across the street in front of the same row of brownstones that the actors were in front of only moments before. The result is the appearance of a street with brownstones on both sides, when in reality you see only one side of the street.
Now I said earlier that I should have recognized the street we were shooting on in the first part of the day. It was not until I had started to get my barrings and was standing next to a subway entrance that I realized that I was standing in front of the building used for The Daily Planet in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Not only that, but the Jewelery store that I stood in while they shot that part of the scene was located on the side of the building, putting me inside what was the lobby of The Daily Planet. Being as I am as big a Superman fan as I am a Star Trek fan, I have to admit to having another major Fan moment. I was in Metropolis, home city of Superman, the man of steel. I know, geek geek, but paint me happy and content, sore feet and all.
Date: February 15/16 2006
Show: George Lopez
Episode: (The Wedding Planer)
Location: Warner Brothers Studios
One of the nice things about shooting on the George Lopez set is that stage four is located close enough to the front gate to make getting back to my car a cake walk., unlike working West Wing, which is near the back of the studio.
Today I get to play a very different BG role. Today I am a laugher. As a laugher, I get paid more to do less. My job is to sit in the bleachers, listen to the actors, and at the appropriate moments, laugh. I'm not to be one of those really distinctive laughs, just one of many laughs that join together to create a whole audience laugh. George Lopez show does not usually use laughers. In fact, this is only the second time this season that laughers are being used, and that's because they are shooting an episode that can't be shot in one night with an audience. And trust me when I tell you that the George Lopez show does not want to use canned laughter.
Our handler on this show is Ada. Her job is to keep the laughers in their seats so that when action is called, there are people there to do their job. There are a number of lines that get repeated, not without justification.
“NO CELL PHONES USED ON THIS SET! THEY MUST BE SHUT OFF!”
“Please be in your seats when they are shooting. The production has paid for fifty laughers, not forty-nine.”
“NO CELL PHONES USED ON THIS SET!”
“When you hear a laugh line, laugh. That's what your paid for. Don't wait to be asked.”
“NO CELL PHONES USED ON THIS SET!”
“Everybody laughs. Your all paid the same to laugh. Don't sit there snickering. The mics don't pick up snickers.”
“NO CELL PHONES USED ON THIS SET!”
“Don't hang around the ER set (next to stage 4). They really don't want you there.”
“NO CELL PHONES USED ON THIS SET!”
Poor Ada had to repeat the “NO CELL PHONES USED ON THIS SET!” statement many times over the two days that we shot this episode, and I still saw people sneaking Cell phones out of purses and pockets to check messages, or even make phone calls. Two background actors who were working BG on the set had left their phones on vibrate, so that when they received calls, the phones vibrated loud enough to be picked up by the sound system. That was almost as irritating as the laughers who sat there and snickered or sat quietly while scenes were being shot, thus failing to do their jobs. I gotta tell you, there is not a job much easier than sitting and laughing at a sit-com taping, so I have to think maybe some of these folks are seriously impaired in the thinking department.
Now having gotten my little rant out of the way, I have to admit that there is still the element of work involved in this job. Boy that line was funny, the first time. The second time still funny, but maybe not as much. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth times, it ain't nearly as much the knee slapper it was the first time. But...I still have to laugh.
Sometimes we are told that the oh's we injected into our laughter should be dropped, or we're told to hold our laughter on one line and to laugh on the next line instead. Even though the guest star on this show (Eva Longoria of Desperate Housewives) had been seen by us in other shots, when we shot the scene where she first appears (shot out of order) we were instructed to applaud when she entered.
The writers and actors, as well as the crew work to keep the set light and to introduce new laughs. The writers, actors and director will suggest changes in lines, looking for new laughs. The sound man would often comment on what was happening on set by using recorded bits of George Lopez lines said during past tapings. The comment that lines were supposed to be learned at home (something the brave sound man would play even if George was the one who forgot the line), was use several times during the two days when an actor was stumbling over their lines. George broke into an impromptu stand-up routine that had the crew, cast and laughers in stitches.
The most interesting thing to watch was on day one, when the background actors, cast and crew were going to be in a sudden downpour on the inside set. A six inch trench was erected around the area where the water was going to drench the people working on the wedding shot that takes place in a park (constructed on one corner of the set, where the garage is usually located). The water pipes were placed above the set, and the cameras were covered in plastic trash bags, while small canvas rigs were placed above the camera to allow them to have water “rain” down in front of the camera only, giving the impression of it raining without the actors getting wet. This was used in shots where they wanted the actors pretending to get wet, while they really stayed dry. Once they were wet, the day was over. BG and actors would go dry off and the laughers would go home as well, so they shot several takes with the fake rain to get reactions on as many takes as possible before using the big rain effect.
We knew when the time came for the real downpour, because when the camera went live and the clapper operator (the clapper being that black and white striped noise maker used at the top of the scene) was standing there with a shower cap and poncho saying “Wedding scene, Cameras A, B, C, and X, take one” Clap. That was when we noticed that all crew members, (and no actors) were also wearing shower caps and ponchos. The director called action, the scene started, the cue to start the rain was given, and fifty background actors and three principal actors were soaked in a pretend rain that had every bit the same effect as a real rain. And you know, I don't think any of the laughers had any trouble laughing on this take.
Date: February 17/18, 2006
Show: The Office
Episode: Casino Night
Location: Chandler Vally Center Studios
I watched my first episode of The Office last night, before going to bed. This show is shot with hand held cameras and the actors often look into them, including the audience in the show. They even have “Survivor” like chats where they speak to the camera as if they are on some kind of reality show. All in all, it is rather an odd show, the star of which is Steve Carall (Of The 40 Year Old Virgin). One description of the show says, “The Office, this is a mockumentary that documents the exploits of a paper supply company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.”
 This show has a small cast, most of whom have few lines and at least one of whom was a BG actor that was given lines on an episode and kept on as a regular. Several of the characters in this show are named after the actors playing them. Phyllis, Creed, Angela and Oscar are all the first names of the actors and characters they play. During the two days shooting Casino Night, I had a chance to get acquainted with several of the cast.
As you might be able to tell from the episode name, we were shooting a fund raiser event that uses the Casino Night format. Gambling as a way to give to the needy. That means that I spent two days playing cards and getting paid to learn more about the games.
There are at least two stages on the studio lot. Stage three (which has a huge green screen set up) is where the main office sets of The Office are located. The office set is of one piece that allows the camera to move to any part of the office and tape any other part without seeing off set.
Stage two is the set for the company's warehouse, where we will be spending the next two days.
 The first day of shooting, I started at the Craps table with Rainn Wilson (who plays Dwight) standing at the other end of the table betting while I was shooting the dice. We shot the scene with me really rolling the dice, and it didn't take long before actors and background alike started playing the games with the intent to win. Rainn was winning on my throws of the dice, and when the director announced the end of the scene and the AD told BG to return to holding, Rainn told me to stay. Alas, AD trumps actor and back to holding it was.
During the next scene, I was located at the Black Jack table. The dealers and the equipment were hired from a company that really does the Casino Night fund raisers, so all the dealers were doing what they always do, and getting a SAG voucher for the effort (which many of them were fine with, as some of them were actors working their “other job”). I was given enough chips to get started and proceeded to win. And win big. I spent most of the rest of the day at that table (with only a short visit to the Texas hold 'em table) playing 21 and winning, while the dealer advised me on strategy. If I asked for a hit on a card where I really should not hit, she would look at me as if I was missing the joke. I soon got less of those looks, as I learned to follow the rules of the game well enough to end up with over three thousand in chips.
During one scene, David Denman (Roy) and Angela Kinsey (Angela) were sitting at the Black Jack table with me, and David and I played side by side, which meant that I was there when they were shooting the two actors. During that time, I had chatted with both actors between takes.
 On day two, I was back at the Black Jack table for a short while, and still had my original stack of chips, so I continued to play, this time with a new actor at my side. I didn't catch his name, but he is the only one confined to a wheelchair. For about an hour, he and I played Black Jack, and every once in a while, he would shoot his scene, which meant another chance for me to be seen on camera with a principal actor. Shortly after this, we were sent back to holding, after which, new table.
Texas Hold 'em was the game of the day for me, as I spent the rest of the day at this table. The first principal actor to sit with me was Brian Baumgartner (Kevin), and we played for a while. Brian thought he had me going on one hand where we bet big. Turns out the seven of clubs that I needed for an inside straight-flush turned up on the River (the last card dealt). Brian looked at me and could not believe that I held on to hopes of a straight till the last card while bidding high. He said, “If the camera wasn't running, I would tear up those cards and put them where the sun don't shine.” Nothing like getting to know the talent. Gladly, Brian was kidding.
At lunch on day two, I sat down at the table with Steve Carell and the rest of the cast. Linda still shakes her head when I tell her things like that, but I get to listen to stories that way. Many of the cast of this show are regulars for the first time in their careers and with luck, this show will be a break for them in future work.
On leaving and returning to set, I again went to the Texas table and proceeded to play with B.J. Novak (Toby), Mindy Kaling (Kelly) and Paul Lieberstien (one of the writers working background) and proceeded to win big the rest of the day. At one point I even took all of Mindy's money when she went all in, and B.J. and I managed to put a dent in Paul's stash. On one hand, Mindy and I were betting high, and forced both Paul and B.J. out of the hand. When we finished the hand B.J. was shocked to learn that he had folded a winning hand when the other two players were bluffing. Neither of us had so much as a pair. The best loosing hand won (that was me). That's the way to make a living. Play cards and get paid for it.
Date: February 21, 2006
Show: Pepper Dennis
Episode: Rescuing Venice – Film at Eleven
Location: 20th Century Fox Studios
Back on Pepper Dennis, and it feels good to have Zack, the background wrangling AD on the show, call out my name as he comes up to hand out our vouchers. Shay is the 2nd AD, and Paula is the 2nd 2nd. Paula is the one with the mind like a steel trap when it comes to names and who crosses where and when. Alas, by the end of the day, the 1st AD joked about getting her white gloves and a whistle to help with the signaling of background. At least I think it was a joke. The whistle would be too invasive during a take, but the white gloves would help. On the last shot of the day, Paula had background coming from four corners of the set, and she was not only directing us, but watching the monitor to get a feel of how it looked on screen. I think I'll stick to acting.
The 1st AD is second only to the Director and Director of Photography. The Director changes with each episode, as they are hired to do only the one specific show. Over the season, the Director may do several, or even quite a few, of the episodes, but the Director of Photography and the 1st AD are there every episode. They, and the actors, are the ones that work to keep continuity between episodes throughout the season, and season to season, while the Directors main concern is the outcome of the one episode they direct.
Watching the Director of this episode (her name is Allison), it was interesting to see her pointing out facial reactions of actors and BG on the monitors. Getting their expressions on tape during the take was something she was focused on, as this episode dealt with the reactions of a “test audience” of random T.V. watchers (some of them there only for the free Pizza) to Pepper Dennis and her fellow news reporters. The names of the camera operators were written on tape at the top of their corresponding monitor, which allowed the Director to whisper orders to them during a take. If she liked a reaction, she would have the camera pause on an actor or BG actor to catch the look before moving on to another view. On any given take, some cameras are stationary on one subject, while some might be in motion, gliding over the audience taking in everyone in one sweeping shot. It is fun to watch all of this from the Video Village and see how things work from the Directors Point of View.
One of the BG became sick and had to leave the set. It's not clear if he had permission to do so, or if he just skeedattled on his own, but nevertheless he went missing. On Friday last, Zack said they lost a BG actor and never did find him. They found his car, but he was a mystery. Still didn't know what happened to him by Monday morning. Ah well, maybe he'll show up on the Bones set next door.
Date: February 22, 2006
Show: Teachers
Episode: ?
Location: Sony Studios
This is yet another mid season replacement show with no certain time slot yet. Teachers is a sit-com with a studio audience. It is nice to see that so many sit-coms are using a live audience rather than canned laughter. During the taping of the show, many of the BG actors grew tired of the constant drone of the comedian who kept the audience keyed up. But the truth of the matter is, without that person up there acting as a cheerleader for the five or six hours it takes to tape a show, most of the people in the bleachers would fall asleep or sneak off and go home. As long as your exposer to the shooting of a film or T.V. show is the 20 minute “making of” feature on a DVD, it can be riveting. The reality is just the opposite. Unless you have a monitory stake in the process, and have a job that keeps you busy, taping a show can be very tedious.
This is a show about the teachers at a fictional high school somewhere in the U.S. The teachers, as one BG actor pointed out, look young enough to still be in school themselves. Ah, the joys of aging. The kids in this school are played by actors who are all 18 years old or older. They are the ones that answer to the call for BG “18 to look younger” that goes out from Central Casting. This is common, and the reason why so many high school kids on T.V. look like they could have voted for Nixon. O.K., it's not that bad, and some of them, especially the girls, do look like they might still be in school, but unless the show deals with truly young children, they try to get the “adult” kids because it means they don't have to mess with the laws that govern the employment of minors on the set.
One of the things that happened during rehearsal today was a looping session. Sometimes the sound for a scene is off, a line is lost in other noise, or someone gets the notion they want a line read that can be put into a take, even if the actor is not visible in the shot. So before we broke for lunch, the sound guys and the 1st AD orchestrated a looping session. The Director had already left, because this session was for another episode that she was not concerned with.
Three actors were brought up to read off the lines needed by the editor. Each line was from a different part of the episode, so the actor was shown the scene on a monitor and then spoke the line for taping. Each line was read in several ways, to give a wider choice to the editor. The most fun was had by the actor whose only line was, “Boo”.
It went like this: “Boo”! (angry), “Boo” (scary), “Boo” (screeching), “Boo” (Casper's Uncle), “Boo” (delighted) and so on. About 20 “boos” later, loud and soft, quick and drawn out, we were free to head off to lunch. No drinks for us that night. We had reached our limit of “Boos”.
Date: February 23/24, 2006
Show: The Office
Episode: Casino Night
Location: Chandler Valley Center Studios
Thursday and Friday were both spent on The Office, with only 17 of the 40ish BG actors being called back the second night. That had its benefits which I will mention later. Marcus A. York was in the front end of the scene were were doing on Thursday. Marcus is in a wheelchair, the result of an auto accident some years ago. He came in on an episode that dealt with Michael's (Steve Carell) belief that his marginally injured foot gave him a special understanding of what it meant to be handicapped. As usual, Michael was clueless, and Billy Merchant (Marcus's character) gets a humorous turn before the camera dealing with the not to bright manager. Marcus not only acts, but writes as well, and multi-tasking seems to be the norm on this show.
Two of the actors on this show are also writers, doing double duty. Mindy Kaling is both the story editor and an actor. She credits her character sounding like a 13 year old to the other writers who seem to look at it as a chance to needle her. B.J. Novak is not only actor and writer, he is also one of the Co-producers of the show. And the star of the show, Steve Carell, not only has been shooting on the set of “The Office”, he's also shooting a movie. Busy people these.
On Friday, only 17 BG actors were brought back, and I was one of them. We were shooting only one scene, and started doing so at 7:00 PM. We finished at 10:00 PM. Shortly after they started shooting, they needed two cars, and mine was one chosen. Somewhere about 45 minutes later, they decided they didn't need the cars any more, and we parked them on the lot and went back to the stage, without ever putting them to use. Then we started taping the scene for which we were all assembled.
The scene takes place outside the warehouse where the Casino Night event happens, and the dialog is between Pam (the boss from NY) and Jim (one of the office guys). They needed background for the times the door was open and the cameras were looking inside, so we were populating a wedge that started at the door and went back to the roulette table. Some of us were set to go in or out of the door during the shot. I was one of those, and depending on what take you are watching, I could be going in the door, or out of the door. You see, I started going in the door from outside in the first 10 or so takes, and then was moved inside to go out the door during the next 10 or so takes. Then I was put back outside to shoot the next 15 or so takes going inside during the shot, and then for the next 15 or so takes, was back inside, going out. Going in or going out, I still pass the principle actor, or lead him out the door. Ain't that just like me. Don't know whether I'm coming or going.
Can't bring myself to complain (not that I do anyway), for all my efforts today, I was the recipient of the much desired SAG voucher, which entitles me to Union pay for the day, and gets me one third of the needed total vouchers for joining the Union. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Date: February 27 – March 2/3, 2006
Show: Pepper Dennis
Episode: Celebrity
Location: 20th Century Fox
Sometimes, just when you think you have things figured out, you discover you don't, like the fact that this week, instead of five days, I only worked three. We decided to take Tuesday off, and then couldn't book Wednesday as well, one of the the risks you take working BG. You take the work as it comes, and sometimes, it doesn't. Tuesday was a slow day on the phones, so no booking for Wednesday. Just the way it works out on occasion. However, I did work the other three days, all on Pepper Dennis.
Now last week, I mentioned that the director changes on each episode and that the consistent presence on the set is the Assistant Director, but...well, that ain't neccesarily so. I discovered this week that on Pepper Dennis, there are two 1st AD's. Lynn was the first AD I worked with on the show, but she left the show after the first episode and JR took over. Now it turns out that there are two 1st AD's on Pepper Dennis, and the work odd and even weeks. JR was the odd weeks AD and Lynn was the even AD, and when Lynn left the show, JR took over both odd and even weeks, so each time I worked the show, I would see JR. This week, Steve Tramz took the even weeks over as 1st AD. Just the beginning for changes.
Pepper Dennis has a new boss, as the old one, Jack (played by Brett Cullen) was replaced by a new boss. Lester Gay is the new boss, and right away, I knew I'd seen this actor before. Fred Koeler, the new boss has been on several shows of late, including Oz (not L. Frank Baum's stories), Joan of Arcadia, All My Children, Taken, and Crossing Jordan to name a few, but the one that most of you will remember him from is Kate and Allie (with Jane Curtin and Susan Saint James) where he played Jane's son Charles "Chip" Lowell. He looks just the same, only taller.
When Les comes in to run the news program, one of the first things he does is order Pepper Dennis to take the two weeks of vacation she has accrued, thus forcing her to leave the office. Her departure is slow, but not slow enough for Micheal Schultz, the Director, who tells her to milk the exit. Rebecca (the actor who plays Pepper) smiled and told the Dir. that she would milk it until the cow cries, and milk it she did. She slowed the exit as she said good bye to several of the employees of the station including Gary (who with any luck will be seen) who was played by ME. I have a name. Gary. Don't know if I get to keep it (along with the desk that came with it), but I am going to try.
 Alas, I know that getting a name does not mean that I will get any real benefit from it, and I have photographic evidence of that. You will notice that in the picture of the WEIE News Team, that Ron Ashmore, the teams Sport reporter, is as prominently placed as the other three members of the team. But here is the catch. Pepper Dennis, Charlie Babcock and Monica Martinez all characters I've seen during the taping of the show, but I have never seen Ron Ashmore (or the actor that plays him), and there appears to be a good reason for that. Ron Ashmore does NOT exist. The fourth member of the team, exists only is a photograph taken of a background actor. That, by the way, is not an unusual thing, as we do hear calls for photo shoots where the photo is going to end up getting the moment on screen while the BG actor goes back to work on his or her next booking.
 On at least one issue of this newsletter, you have seen the backdrop of buildings that show the sky line of Chicago. If you look closely, which you can do thanks to one of the pictures I took of the backdrop, you will note the detail enough to see that the photographs taken to create it were shot during the Christmas holiday season. In one building, you can see the lighted offices, and in one that I took, you could see the Christmas tree inside the apartment.
 One of the buildings that is prominent in the backdrop is one I have written about before. The building with the big 55 on the top of it. Thanks to the Internet, I discovered that the real building is located at 55 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL, right on the Chicago River.  That puts the building that houses the WEIE News offices across the river from those buildings seen through the windows. Next time I go to set, I will check to see if the other buildings in the photos line up with the backdrop.
Oh and on the first day of taping, I had the pleasure of eating lunch with Michael Schultz, the Director of this episode. We didn't chat long, but chat we did. The rain drove the poor guy inside to eat, and my table was available. You never know who will ask to sit down at your table. It may be a lowly background artist, or the Director. Bon Appetit.
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