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October 31, 2005Episode: Dog eat Dog Location: Universal Studios This is my second time on the show, and I was hoping to get on the actual set this time. Last time I was there, I strolled on to the set on stage 24. This is were all the CSI labs are, and I caught a glance at the cool equipment they had. But only a glimpse. If your not invited onto a set, or shooting there, you don't just go wandering around it. This time we were shooting on Universals City Walk, which is part of their public tour area. My call was at 5:30 AM and we were checked by wardrobe and on set by 6:30 AM. That is pretty quick in this business. The public would be allowed on the city walk early, and by 10:00 AM, they would be showing up in force, so the director wanted to get as much shooting done as possible. I had a female companion on this shoot. Barbara and I were paired up and did all of our crosses together. The nice part of that is I have someone to chat with in between shots, and if one whispers and is far enough away from camera/sound boom, one may chat during a shot. Barbara told a tale of shooting a scene with a new background person, where they were looking over merchandise, and during the shot, Barbara mimed talking to the other BG actor. I had told Barbara that she did a better job of miming talk, than many others I had seen, and I guess this new BG actor thought so too. He had never been in front of a camera, and so when he saw her talking, but could not hear what she was saying, he put his hand to his ear and moved closer to her, so as to hear. After the shot, she explained why you mimed talking, and figured they would use another take for the show. They did not. When the show aired, there was this new kid on the block, hand to ear, trying to hear what his companion was saying. In this scene, an actor rushes through a crowded walk way in Las Vegas looking for something. I have seen this fellow before on other T.V. shows. He is really good at looking forlorn. So much so, that several of us felt like going up to him and telling him it would be all right. Of course, it wouldn't be, this being CSI. He was doomed before action was called. We could only watch and hope his demise would not be too painful. Alas, we did not finish before the tourists who came to Universal Studios too see how movies are made came to the City Walk. Signs were up telling people that they were giving their permission to use them in the show, if they chose to walk on set during a take. This many of them did. So much for continuity. There were no children on this call, so if you see one in the scene when the show airs, be mindful of it being a “real” person, and not a background person. On our way back to the stage to sign out, we had to slow down for a deer. This deer had a nice set of antlers and seemed perfectly at home crossing the road. Of course, it could have been an animatronic deer, but I didn't thing so at the time. Just goes to show you that nature will grow where ever it can. Even in a land of make believe. Phil... |
October 27, 2005Episode: ? Location: Warner Brothers Studios – The Jungle The Jungle. That just sounds like a neat place to shoot a scene. The first hint that it would be different than many of the location shoots I've done was the note by Central Casting that many of us would be wearing waders. And would be working in the water. And it would be a night shoot. When I got to the background holding, one of the people there was a man slated to play a sheriff. He had wondered on to the set looking for the AD. While there, he looked around and notice a bird flying in the shadows of the overhanging canopy of live plants. Then he noticed that the bird was black, and you could almost see through the birds wings. Finally he noticed the bird was really a bat looking for dinner. And here I'll be you thought the strangest things on these lots were the actors. Raccoons and dear and bats, oh my! We were checked by wardrobe, fitted into boots, hip boots and waders and declared “Good ol' Boys” for the search scene in this episode of Invasion. We were looking for a body. That of a young female. During the lunch break we saw the young lady in question. She must have had a long day, cause she looked dead. No really. White skin, vanes showing through her skin, and that “my skin is about to peal off” look that really says dead. Her day would get rougher still. When the sun had made its cyclical pass beyond the western horizon, the background actors (sheriffs, Good ol' Boys and all) were brought to the set. In the middle of The Jungle is a body of murky water that smells of plant decay. The Jungle is made up of many different types of plants, most of them real and planted in a permanently in the ground. Bamboo as tall as a three story building arched over head helping to create the canopy of plants that blocked out much of the sky. There were several large trees that had clearly been planted there many decades ago. In the water were three boats. A small flat bottom boat, a larger boat that looked a little like the Jungle Cruse boats at Disneyland, and an even larger boat that was clearly the “police” boat. Each boat had a wrangler and the larger two boats would mostly stay in place. As we were being placed, the AD needed someone in the small flat bottom boat. From across the water, he told the 2nd AD that he wanted the guy in the hat. Now remember that quite a few of us were Good ol' Boys, and most of us had hats. Mine however was the jungle style hat that you will often see me wearing off set. I bought this hat at Disneyland about ten years ago near the Jungle Cruse ride. It is an official Indiana Jones Hat, and still sells for about $45.00. I loaded onto the small boat, and am pleased to say, was able to stay dry for the ten hours it took to shoot the scenes around and on the water. As the final touches were being put into place for the first shot, my boat handler was getting the boat into place as well. As he was working, he felt something drop onto his neck. He reached up and brushed it off, and it fell to the bottom of our little flat bottom boat. We both saw it about the same time. It was a large albino spider. Legs and all, about the size of a silver dollar. There was a moment of indecision as to who would leave the boat first. The brave background actors, or the “I look down on your insiginificance” spider who clearly had the edge in the debate. The boat handler barrowed a pole from one of the Good ol' Boys chest deep in the water and got the spider to climb onto the end of it. He then put the spider to shore, causing many more Good ol' Boys to move deeper into the water. We big strong men spent much of the next little while looking up into the canopy, sure that it held more dark secrets and unpleasent serprises. Not too much later, one of the Good ol' Boys almost climbed into the boat with us when he saw something brush by him. While he was soothed and/or teased, most of the others seemed to be keeping a better eye on the water around them.  When the Director decided how he was going to open the scene, he turned again, to the guy with the hat. Me. I was given a flash light and an opening shot. Barring twisted fates and evil editors, you will likely see me in the opening shot of the Jungle scene. As the scene starts, I am shining my flash light into the lens of the camera. Then I move the light off the lens and shine it onto the boats, and men in the water while the camera pulls back from the boat and onto land. For a few seconds there, you should be able to see me.We spent the better part of seven hours shooting the scenes that took place in and around the water of The Jungle. Quite a few of the manly men, were starting to complain about the cold, when we started shooting the scenes with the dead body. That would be the young woman dressed in a tank top, blouse and pants, with no shoes and no waders. She was brought to the edge of the water with her eyes sealed. Four professional divers came out of the water to escort her into the center of the shot some twenty feet off shore. It was cold, the water was cold, and she never once complained. She walked barefoot into the cold water with her eyes sealed shut (to make it easier for her to relax her eyes when the camera was on her) and all those tough men became quiet about their discomfort. And we shot the scene to death, as we always do. She was in the water for quite some time, and a one point the director noticed that even through the make-up, he could tell she was blue. Break time. Warm up the young lady and feed the background. Don't feel too bad for our entrepid young actor and her hours in the cold murky waters of The Jungle. If you add together her base pay and all the bumps, she made somewhere over $3,000 dollars during this one day. For $3,000 dollars, I would put on her little outfit and jump in the water myself. Phil... |
October 25, 2005Episode: The Chrismakkah-Barmitzvikka Location: A Trump Golf/Country Club in Palos Verdes Tis the season to shoot holiday episodes in Hollywood. T.V. shows must get into the holiday festivities at least two months before the rest of the nation, because it takes that long for the shows to go from being shot to airing on T.V. This is the second time I've worked The O.C., and once again I get to play rich. I don't expect there will be much of me to see in this episode. Not once does the camera really get a good clear shot of me, but I am likely in the crowd somewhere. This was another large call of extras. There were over one hundred and fifty of us dressed to the nines, and wardrobe and make-up were all over the place, fixing hair and touching up costumes. Most of the BG were outside the country club in the parking lot and grass overlooking the golf course and ocean. It was a beautiful view, worthy of the fees the real members of this club must pay. Inside, real food was set up on the banquet tables and we shot scenes that included dancing and schmoozing. One of the questions asked of the BG dancers before they were put on the dance floor was, do you mind dancing? And that brought up some things I didn't know before. When a production is going to shoot a scene where BG are going to be kissing, they call for kissing couples. They hire people who are already couples. This way, the couple is comfortable on camera and no unprofessional liberties take place. Who'd a thunk it? Phil... |
October 24, 2005Episode: ? Location:Warner Brothers Studios The filming of this show was a little silly at times, and given the nature of this business, that is not such a bad thing. On this episode of Freddie, I am an auction attendant, and as such will be in a crowd of people and hard to see. That's O.K. though, because that happens a lot in this job. As I have told you before, there is the first team (the principle actors) and the second team (the stand ins – extras). The actors need to be blocked into a scene, so they know when and were to move. Go get a cup of coffee on this line, walk over to the other actor on the next line, etc... But what about the cameras? They need to be blocked also, and the first team can use that time to learn lines, get food, call their agent or just nap. And so it is that the second team jumps in and performs the actors blocking so the cameras can be set up to get the needed shots in the scene. There are three cameras in this show, and that means that the director needs to block each camera to get the coverage for each scene. You want a camera on the star, his niece, his grandmother, etc... Each camera operator needs to know when to pan from one actor to another, or if to follow actor A or B. Who has the wide shot (the one that has all or most of the actors in frame) and who has the close-ups? And so this is all blocked out, marks are put on the ground for cameras that have to move to follow an actor, or change his angle, and then all this must be rehearsed. Second team also provides the rehearsal for the camera blocking. The second team goes through the lines and blocking of the actors, the cameras practice their blocking and when all the adjustments are worked out, the first team is brought in and the filming begins. Now the second team on this show decided to have some fun, and the result was the use of white trash, southern accents during the camera rehearsal. Bad southern accents. Some of the lines take on whole new meanings with the adjusted pauses and trailer park twists. It is possible the show would actually be funnier done that way. Hmmm. On a sitcom set, the rooms and locations are laid out in a line. The restaurant kitchen on the far left, next on the right is the dinning room, then the stars apartment, and last on the far right is the apartment kitchen. Sitcoms are generally shot in order (unlike most other shows) because there will be an audience there, and the producers, actors and studios would like them to be able to follow the action. Hard to do when you shoot scene 12, scene 27 and scene 30 all at the same time because they take place on the same set. This brings use to the effort on the crews part to get the cameras, boom mics and other necessary hardware from the far left set (restaurant kitchen) to the restaurant dinning room. Moving all that stuff means moving the cables and other things that make it all work as well. To keep themselves entertained and to try to keep things moving quickly, the crew was trying to make each reset under a minute. To keep everyone in the right mood, the sound booth had various circus music on hand to play between each reset. Giving the juggling of wires, cables, cameras, booms and people, it was most appropriate. One last note. The furniture on the auction set was really good looking, but alas, it was awful to sit on. The seats in the bleachers where the audience was going to sit were nicer. Clearly a choice of appearance over function. Phil... |
October 21, 2005Here are the terms you will usually hear on set just before, during and after a scene is shot. Some may be left out, but all of them are used most of the time. Minutes away: This is used to let cast and crew know that the shot will be up in a very short time. Too late to run to the honeypot. Pictures up: The scene is ready to be shot. Be ready to go. Last look: Take a look around and be sure props and people are in the right place. Did anything get left on set that does not belong? Lock it up: Also, lock it down. This means be quiet, move out of frame, stop traffic, walking, and talking. It gets real quiet after this. Roll Camera(s): Just what it sounds like. Roll the film (or tape). Sound Speed: Sometimes used instead of Roll Camera. Means the same thing. Bring the camera up to speed for the shot. Rolling: Yelled by half the crew on set (at least it sounds that way sometimes). This call is repeated anywhere someone might be who needs to know that the filming has begun. On the Town Square set in Universal Studios, this call is repeated not only on set, but on New York Street (where construction is happening) and on three side roads near the set where traffic may be passing by. Speed: Response by the Director of Photography or cameraman telling the Director that the camera is running at the correct speed for filming. Marker: Called by a member of the camera crew, this is followed by the Clapping sound of the slate. You have all seen it. The slate is the square board with the information about what scene and take is being filmed. The clapping sound makes it possible to sync the sound to the picture. This is where you will hear, “Scene 12, take 2” or “Scene 1, take 1”. Background: This is the cue given to the background actors to begin doing whatever they were told to do. Cross from here to there, go in the door, sit down at the table and look at the menu, or (if your doing a horror movie) cringe in terror at the unspeakable things that are taking place on or off camera. Action: This is what tells the actors to begin doing what ever they are supposed to do. Talk, walk, ...act. Cut: Stop filming, stop background, stop acting. This is when traffic starts up again, and people start walking and construction continues. After this there are several things you may hear, and each one can mean different things. Back to One: Also “From the Top”. Go back to the start of the scene, we are shooting again. Sometimes the Director sends out conflicting signals. He'll say, “That was perfect! Lets do it again.”, or, “Great! One more time.” This is usually followed by several more times. Print: If the Director likes the take, he will tell sound, camera and the script supervisor to “Circle that” or “Print”. The Director can still call “Back to One” if he wants to try for more takes. Check the Gates: That scene is done. The Director just told the cameraman to make sure there were no hairs, bits of dust or other obstructions on the camera lens. From here, you go on to another scene, or if that was the last one you will hear the delightful words, IT'S A WRAP. Your done, and can go home. There are just a few more words that may come up during the shoot. On a Bell: Also “Let's Have a Bell”, or “Put us on a Bell”. If your working a set on a sound stage, you will likely hear this. The bell (a long single bell when Lock it Up is called and two short bells for the end (after Cut) warns everyone on the set to be quiet. This is the same command that turns on the flashing red lights that are kept at the doors of the sound stage to warn people not to walk into the building during a take. The Martini Shot: This refers to the last shot of the day. A blessed phrase after 12 to 15 hours. Phil... |
October 19 – 20, 2005Episode: Voices Location: Universal Studios For these two days, I am “Adult Townfolk with car to Drive”. Yep, it is another show in which my car gets all the time and I am a shadow in the drivers seat. There are two ways a show will usually make use of your car. One is parked. In other words, set dressing. They park it on the street set, and there it sits. Sometimes they move the cars around if they want to suggest a different day or time. The second way is to have it driven around the street to show that this is a real street with real cars. They always have the car owners do the driving. Continuity is not always a big thing with directors and cars. On some shows, they put the cars in a line and when background is called, they just send them on their way in stagered intervals. Thus populating the street during the shot. On this show, they like to give the cars their own marks, either on the street (already in place in the scene) or in line ready to drive into the picture. When background is called, the cars start moving just like the other background actors. This way, when action is called (always after background) the car is in motion for the take. No waiting. Universal Studios has been around a long time. New York Street and Town Square have both been filmed for many movies and T.V. shows. I had come to think of the sets as a constant, stable part of the studio, but change in the only constant, and I was reminded of this because both of these sets had changed in just a short week, since I had last seen them. Town Square had acquired a new police station. No bigger than any of the other store fronts in Town Square, the police station was added to the set for this episode. I will be curious to see if it is still there the next time I visit the show. New York Street is being set up for a movie, and columns, over hangs and large additions that look (in their unfinished state) like large noses, are being put up. Other building just off of New York Street look like they have been bombed. Windows are broken, the walls are bullet riddled, and bricks litter the sidewalk. All done with careful deliberation. All changes that will disappear when filming is complete. There were other things I noticed during my visit to the Ghost Whisperer set this week. On of the producers came to set on the first day of shooting to tell the cast and crew the kind of news they always want to hear. Ghost Whisperer has been given the go ahead to film for the rest of the season. Each of the store fronts that are going to end up in shots, where they can be seen, have to be dressed for the scene. Shelves are put up and products are put in the windows and on the shelves. Each week they go up, and each week, they are taken down. Lots of work. On this show, as well as many others, the men and women in the crew (union workers all) call each other either by name or “brother” or “sister”, gender fitting. BG must remember not to walk into the path of the dead person. Swerving out of the way of the ghost destroys the moment. Three raccoons (personally observed) and many deer and coyotes call Universal Studios home. The three raccoons live part time in the city hall structure in Town Square. Background Cars are to yield to the actors in police uniforms, but not to the background actors who might want to cross a street during the shot. Asked if we were to run them down, we were discouraged but never told no. (I may make a point of staying in my car on this show). And while working on this show, I had two lunches that were interesting. On day one, I sat at the directors table, and listened to stories told by the Asst. Director and the Director. I was the only background actor that did so, and the only BG to hear the tales of adventures past. On day two I was sitting with some crew members when one of the shows producers came over and sat with us. James Van Praagh is one the show creators and a self proclaimed ghost whisperer (medium). He has written many a book, and has had his own T.V. show. Needless to say, they had a very spirited conversation. Phil... |
October 17, 2005Episode: The Wedding Location: Warner Brothers Studios Here are the steps to getting booked on a show as a background actor. 1.Call the “mens work line” to see what shows are calling for background. 2.See if you fit any of the calls. 3.If not, repeat steps 1 and 2 until you do fit a call. 4.If you fit a call, call the casting director (CD) for that show. 5.If they haven't filled all the spots, and you fit the part, they will likely book you. 6.If not, then repeat steps 1 and 2. Sometimes the casting director calls you. That's what happened with this call for West Wing. The CD had needed a certain look and I got the call. It helps that I have never missed a booking, or even been late. CDs like those qualities. So that is how I was booked as the “King of Sweden”. I went to a tux shop to have a fitting in a snazzy tux with tails, and all I really had to bring to the set with me on the 17th was myself (and a pair of black sox). By the time wardrobe was done with the tux, it included medals and a sash. I looked very kingish. No, really. See the picture. 
They were shooting scenes that take place after the wedding of one of President Bartlett's daughters. I've never had this many regulars on the West Wing set at the same time I was there.Martin Sheen (Prez. Bartlett), John Spencer ( Leo), Bradley Whitford (Josh), Jimmy Smitts (Santos), Allison Janney (C.J), Stockard Channing (Mrs. Bartlett), and Lily Tomlin (Ms. Fiderer) were all there. When the BG were brought onto stage (the rotundra of the White House), the second team (the actors stand-ins) went through blocking so the cameras and lights could be worked out, and then the first team (the actors listed above – except Stockard) were brought on. When Martin Sheen came in, he took his mark and let the camera people get their look, and then he began wandering around the set introducing himself to and shakeing hands with the BG. I've been doing this for over two months now, and I can tell you that I have never had a principal actor (especially the star) go around and glad hand the background actors. We are normally ignored by the cast, except when put into direct proximity with them by the director. I'm not saying they are rude. That would not be true in most cases. If you catch their eye and smile at them, they will usually smile back. If you are next to them in a scene, they will sometimes talk to you before a take. But they are there to shoot a scene, and not to chit chat with people who are, after all, supposed to be almost invisible. Martin Sheen made his way around the set until the director called for places. We shot about 13 takes of this scene (with this set of camera angles), and often in between shots, Mr. Sheen would chat with whatever actor, or BG, was standing close to him. Later, in the Craft Services (food) area, he spent most of lunch discussing football with some BG actors. Whatever one may think of his politics, Martin Sheen is a genuine nice guy. He didn't stand on a soap box, or speak down to anyone. We were all co-workers, worth the time to talk to. And he makes sure everyone has a good time on his set. In case you have ever wondered just what actors know or don't know about a shows direction, I can clue you in. While waiting for a scene to start (and I knew it would be a while, because the director was standing near me with Martin Sheen, Stockard Channing and one of the writers (I think)), Martin was advocating plot line directions with the writer. At one point he made a comment along the lines of, “When does my character leave the show?” He didn't know. He, like most others, thinks of this as the last season. No one really knows yet if the show will continue with a modified cast. The actors are often as much in the dark as fans who watch the show. Of course, you'll have to watch the show to find out the answer to Martins question. Later, Phil... |
October 14, 2005Episode: That Voodoo You Dodo Location: Warner Brothers Studios I arrived on set about forty-five minutes early and was able to watch the shooting of a couple of scenes. Charlie (played by Charlie Sheen) has found a new woman to chase, and he wants to use Jake (played by Angus T. Jones – the half of Two and a Half Men) to take ballet lessons so he can get close to her. Jakes father, Alen (played by Jon Cryer) objects, but Charlie out maneuvers him and a deal is struck with the boy. The actors were so dead on here. They all had their lines down and their deliveries were great. I noticed that the film crew got lots of laughs, but I did begin to wonder if the writers were there, because they made sure to laugh each and every take. The scene I was in was an audience scene at the ballet recital, where Jake makes his appearance in a white bear suit and dancing shoes. The bit involves him coming on stage and standing in the midst of twelve girls in Sheppardess outfits and preparing to dance, when he looks down at himself and says, “No woman is worth this.”, and walks off stage. It was good of them to rehearse the scene a few times so we BG could get past the chuckles it induced. Angus was able to get the perfect look on his face, thus causing mass giggles in the audience. The first take was aborted when the music failed to come on loud enough for the girls to hear. One of the young ladies stopped dancing and said, “We can't hear the music, we need to go back to one.” We in the background laughed and the shot was started again. When the scene was done, and the girls were wrapped, they all gathered about Angus in his bear suit, and exchanged high fives, low fives and a couple of fives I could not identify. Clearly he had managed to acquire twelve new fans during the week. If you hadn't noticed, this was the fourth show this week where my contribution was being in one spot and not moving. This time, I had a prop. A digital movie camera. Look out Hollywood, I hot now. Phil... |
October 13, 2005Episode: The Disconnect Location: Manhattan Beach Studios Thanks to my conservative hair cut, I am finding that I can play Doctors, Lawyers and rich Yacht Club types. Today I am a patron of the Newport Bay Yacht Club on the OC. Remember Monday, when I stood in a line all day, or Wednesday when I read my book on a bench. Well today I got to do more. I sat at a table and read the menu. Now there was a woman across from me and we did the required mime, discussing the menu, but I knew that the effort was not really going to pay off, because the camera was shooting over her shoulder and past mine. Later when called back to the set, I was placed in the same spot and told that my shoulder was once again needed. It's nice to feel needed. Phil... |
October 12, 2005Episode: What happened to Baby Bodashka? Location: Universal Studios Once again I find my self on the town square lot of Universal, where just last week, I was shooting Ghost Whisperer. Today I would get to watch, ever so carefully, Jane Curtain and William Devane shoot this one outdoor scene. When I say, “ever so carefully”, I refer to the fact that one can not watch what is going on during a shot if one is in the shot. Jane started her scene only a few feet in front of me, so I did have the chance to hear her talk with the other actors. Today my roll is that of “man sitting on bench reading book”. Props never came around to give me anything to read, so I pulled out my own book and got paid to read. It is important on set to avoid brand names. If you see a Coke can on a T.V. show, you can bet the show has an agreement with Coke to use it. That is why wardrobe is so picking about clothes with name labels on them. They don't want to have to pay Puma for the jogging outfit a BG actor happened to be wearing in a two second shot on screen. We are provided with bottled water on set, and we are always admonished to hide them, or remove them from set before shooting. So I removed the dust jacket from my book and proceeded to read several chapters. I knew it was near time to wrap when it became quiet again. The director and actors were still shooting the same scene, but BG had been pulled back behind the cameras while the last angles were shot. I was still reading on the bench, and occasionally watching the actors, and had not noticed the fact that I was all by myself. Phil... |
October 10, 2005Episode: Trouble in the Saddle Location: Thousand Oaks horse ranch This is a new show that has not aired yet. One of the stars on the show is Philip Baker Hall, who has been on over 140 movies and T.V. shows since 1970. He is one of those actors you have seen enough times to know him, but he isn't the big name. He was in his forties when his started working in Film and T.V., ten years after he started acting in New York on stage. This is what I am aiming for. Just want to be a working actor. Of course, the path to becoming a working actor took me into a horse pasture in my best suit with twenty-nine other background all playing Air Bus executives. The call was for 5:30 AM and that meant getting up at 3:00 AM. I just love this business. We thirty, we brave who dared the pasture were there for a short gag. One of the characters comes up with rope burned hands and discovers that he must shake hands with two top executives and thirty flunkies (we being the flunkies). For the entire shoot, my only function was to stand in a line, looking straight ahead, with the other BG. Some of the lucky ones got to shake the hand of the principle actor, but they were few. I, alas, was not one of the lucky ones. There were moments when we were entertained beyond the performances of the actors, when one of the large light reflectors (that look like square sails for boats) caught one of the many gusts of wind and tried to carry off the three men holding it over the heads of the principles. And there was the time a grip was trying to move several thousands of dollars of recording equipment across a gopher hole infested horse pasture by himself. It was nice of the crew to entertain us like that. Phil... |
October 07, 2005Episode: French Fight Location: 20th Century Fox This new show has as one of its stars, Nicolas Brandon of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Seems like a really nice guy. Down to earth and not above chatting with Background actors. Kitchen Confidential is shot on Stages 18 and 19. Other productions made in these stages are: Valley of the Dolls, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Time Tunnel and Doogie Howser M.D. It's impossible to walk anywhere on the 20th Century lot without seeing something of Hollywood's history. As you might have guessed from the name of the show, much of the action takes place in a restaurant. While I sat at a table to provide that much needed background, real food was placed before me. Had the camera come closer than twenty feet, it would have been able to see the culinary delight that was artfully laid out on the plate. Just like in those real four star restaurants, the food was fancy looking and the serving size was not much bigger than a McMuffin. But it looked real good. Alas, I will never know if it tasted good, because the camera wasn't on me long enough to justify any nibbling, and after two takes, they would have had to bring more out anyway. The Kitchen set is decked out nice with all kinds of kitchen type things, but the real cooking takes place just off set, in one of several cooking areas they have in the stage. They also have real cooks who do the job of creating the dishes that the luckier background actors get to sample. Photos are taken of the food as it hits the table to insure that if matching shots are needed, the correct meal is brought out. Wouldn't do to have a vegetable dish in take one and a meat dish in take ten. Later on, we left the stage and hit the streets of New York. One of the scenes needed to be shot with a view to the street and the passing of cars. Lucky for them, I have a car. For $15.00 a day, they get to rent it and the driver (that'd be me) and I will drive it in endless circles. To make the streets look right, they must first convince the forty or so background actors that they must wear clothing appropriate to NY in the winter, even though it is in the 80's in L.A. Layers upon Layers of warm clothes. (This is easy. They pay minimum wage and offer you food.) Then they get out the hose, and water the streets that will be seen, to further convince the viewer that it is winter. Lastly they run smoke from a smoke machine via hoses to many places that will now look as though they have underground steam coming up from them. And somehow, they do this without all the wires, hoses and supports showing. That's Hollywood magic for you. Phil... |
October 5 – 6, 2005Episode: Secrets of Flys Location: Universal Studios One of my favorite shows on T.V. is CSI. When I got to the lot, I needed to find stage 24 to check in. Alas, there was no one there to check me in, which meant, I had to walk around the stage and look at all the cool sets. After I checked out the sets, I went elsewhere to find the AD and get checked in. On my wondering about stage 24 and 25 (where I ended up shooting for the day) I noticed a car that looked like it had been stripped. This car will turn up in either the episode I was in, or the next one. By the end of the day, the car looked like it had been left in a swamp after it had been gutted by fire. Really cool work done on it. The only thing that gave it away was the smell. No rotting smells, only paint and other fresh chemical smells. I can't wait to see how it looks on the show. For these two days, I played a Juror in the trial of a murder suspect. When we went in to take our seats in the Jury box, I was near the front of the line, and so, I made sure I got a front row seat. Unless the director, or editor cut out the jury altogether, I will be visible in this show. I know I've told you about the colorful tape that several of the people carry around on set. One of the things it is used for is the actors marks. If an actor is to be on camera and not walk out of frame, or stand in the wrong light, she needs to know where to stand, stop or start. Each actor is assigned a color, and a production assistant marks the spots on the floor with the tape (usually in a T shape that shows where to toes of each foot go). Today, it was Blue tape for the prosecuting attorney, Yellow tape for the Defense attorney and Red for Gill Grissom. Makes for a lot of marks, but at least they all know where they are going. Because I was a juror, I didn't have any walking about to do (except when we left the jury box), so I could watch the scenes being shot, and the actors at work. Between shots, they would run lines, either alone, or with each other. William L. Petersen, who plays Gill Grissom, had to testify in court, and one of the things he had to do is utter the words, Dimethoxyphosphinothioyl and thiobutanedioic acid. The actor had broken the words down phonetically to make them easier to say, but still he had a tough time with them. In order to make the court room scene work, one of the things that needed to be done were the reaction shots of the jurors. I have grown up on courtroom dramas, which goes a long way in explaining why I made sure I was in the front row of the jury. Our reactions were to a part of the scene where the Gill is explaining a video of a pig being eaten by maggots. They showed us the video. Not a pretty site, but enough to help with the reactions. One of the things that got a laugh was when they rolled camera on a scene where Gill leaves the witness stand and walks over to another character to talk. When the actor got to his mark, he stopped and looked around. The other actor was not at his mark. You see, the director had called action before the other actor had returned to the set. Kinda jumped the gun. Near the end of the second day of filming, I was sitting in holding, which was in the sound stage, only a few feet from the set. I was enjoying a cup of coffee, when the director called action. Somewhere about one quarter of the way into the scene, my sip of coffee went down the wrong pipe. I began to choke. I could not breath, and I didn't want to be the reason the director had to yell cut, so I tried to keep my coughing as silent as I could, which meant covering my mouth and nose. Still, I was choking, so no matter how valiant my attempt, my lungs were still going to clear themselves of the evil fluid, and so with my mouth closed, I coughed in a violent manner. To make matters worse still, all the pressure of my semi aborted coughs had to go somewhere, and so it was that I sat there during the 30 seconds or so left of the scene, coughing and farting, and coughing and farting, and the poor BG sitting with me didn't know whether to laugh, come to my aid or run. To their credit, they stuck around. When the shot finished, I hacked and coughed to finish clearing my lungs and was declared quite dedicated to the craft, as most said they would have coughed aloud, rolling or not. AH well, the show must go on. Phil... |
October 03, 2005Episode: Home Coming Location: Universal Studios The face of the antique shop that is run by Melinda Gordon (Played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, called Love on the set), is located on the Town Square set on Universals lot. If you've watched the “Back to the Future” movies, made in '85, '89 and '90 (with Micheal J. Fox), then you have seen this set before, and no telling how many other movies and T.V. shows have used it. I was a “pedestrian with car” on this shoot, and while the car got to sit there and get included in some of the shots, I discovered what happens when a show has only one day to shoot all of its outdoor scenes in the one location they are inclined to use each week. This was one time the background really worked all day long. I think I logged more miles on my feet than on my car. There were very few shots that did not need BG, and on those rare occasions, we could sit for a few minutes. The center of this square is full of plants. Some of them are even real. The four corner trees are fake as are most of the bushes. The grass is real, the flowers are real. Each production using this set will have different looks they are after, and that means they will chose to populate the set with more or less foliage. In between shots, the props folk would come out to the set with more bushes, and flowers to make the set more small townish, and colorful. Potted flowers were pushed down into bushes to add color, and bush segments were stuffed under bushes to fill in space. During one of the scenes being shot, the camera was set up on the outer edge of the square and the actors were seated on a bench located clear across the square. This is called a long shot. The main focus is the actors on the bench, but there is a lot of motion to show a busy town square. People are walking behind, to the side of, and in front of the actors (between the actors and the camera.) Wherever they were told to walk. I was one of the ones to cross in front of the actors. During the very first take, of the very first scene, of the very beginning of the day, as I am making that cross, another BG actor, following the advice of the AD to act “as if you know each other, after all it is a small town”, walks up and shakes my hand, bringing me to a dead stop. We finish our little impromptu greeting and move on until the director call “Cut”. At this point, the director walks to the middle of the square and asks in a loud voice, “Who were my hand shaking Background in this take?” By virtue of my honest nature, and the simple fact that my face is likely on several dozen feet of film, I raise my hand, as does the instigator of the afore mentioned act. “Do not”, he loudly proclaims, “stop between the camera and the actors. When you do this, it becomes a show about to people shaking hands. This is not what this show is about.” The unspoken statement was, “and if it was, we would hire actors for the job, and you would still be background.” Note to self: Hand shaking bad. Phil... |
| Copyright 2005 By Phillip Moon |
