PhillipMoon.com
Newsletter
Volume: 2, Issue: 15
Copyright 2006
by Phillip Moon
Piffy Comments
Hello all. I'm back. Hiatus has been tough going, without any work, but
I did get other projects done, so that helped to balance things out.
This newsletter will include shows that I had done, but didn't write
about because when hiatus hit, my brain went with it.
I am
taking a new acting class on Sunday nights. Jessica and I both go, and
it is fun to be doing that with her. She has lots of talent, and it's
cool to have something we can do together. We are taking a class at
Stephen Books Studio, and the teacher is Larry Drake (he played Benny
Stulwicz on L.A. Law). Larry also does a lot of voice work, and is
definitely one of those working actors you see all the time on T.V. and
in the movies. He's done Star Trek: Voyager, Crossing Jorden, 7th
Heaven, Darkman, and Darkman 2 (movies) just to name a few. So far we
are enjoying the class.
The last
couple days have been tough, especially for Jessica, because we had to
put Ana (our dog) to sleep. Ana came to live with us when she was about
9 weeks old, and turned 18 years old just last month. Jess was only 10
when we got Ana, and for several years, Ana assumed that she was
dominant over Jess. We were all there when the vet gave her the
injection that put her to sleep for the last time, and leave it to Ana
to make one of her last acts an attempt to bite the vet. She never did
like vets much. (At right, Ana investigates a mole hole. The mole was
only inches below her nose).
Well, I will try to keep you all up to date as the new season begins,
and I get to try out new shows and new studios. I would like to thank
all of you for reading my newsletter, and for the nice comments and
emails that I receive from you. I am really enjoying my walk along this
new path, and it helps to have so many friends and family to share it
with.
Now...on to the latest stories.
June 30, 2006
Show: House M.D.
Episode: Meaning
Location: UCLA
Nice to be
back to work. I missed hearing the director's call of action, and the
atmosphere on set, with the lights and the bustle of crew, background
and cast. Set today is the campus of UCLA near one of their fountains,
in a big courtyard.
I parked the car on the 5th level of the parking structure on campus,
and transportation took us to location about a half mile away. Once
there we got our vouchers and waited, ate breakfast and checked in with
wardrobe. One of the AD's was worried because one of the union actors
hadn't shown, and they were concerned with replacing her.
“I can do a girl.” I said (and I know that sounds bad, but really, it
only means that I can “act” the part). “She wears a dress,” the 2nd 2nd
said.
“I can wear a dress,” I said, striking a fetching pose. She just
stared. I quietly returned to my chair and read. Heck. For a union
voucher, I'd wear a pink tutu.
I got a huge amount of reading done today. There was need for us, but
we were used only the last few hours of the shoot. They took us on set,
near a fountain and told us what to do. While waiting for the action to
begin, I heard one of the crew talk about how they rigged the fountain,
which originally had only a waterfall and a center piece that really
didn't shoot much water up. When they were done with it, there were six
jets of water arcing to the center of the fountain from the inside
edge. Looked very nice. From what I understood, this was part of the
plot of the episode, involving a character walking into the fountain
later in the shoot.
I had a chat with one of the AD's and we discussed the “worst day of
filming” stories, and truthfully, she kicked my butt, because she has
worked longer than I, and also had the best stories.
While she was shooting on an L.A. street, doing the hookers on the
corner type New York look, they had a real pimp and one of his girls
come onto set and demand that the “girls” production had on “his”
corner be removed. He didn't want any competition on “his” corner. The
AD explained that the “girls” were not real prostitutes and that they
would not be there the next day. The pimp explained that if the “girls”
were not taken off of his corner, he would cut them up. The “girls”
were moved until the LAPD arrived and explained that he needed to work
another corner for the day. He left, but was not a happy camper.
Her other story was about a fellow who had given his permission for the
production to use his front lawn (in exchange for a fee) to put their
equipment on. He kept watching them and finally came out at one point
and demanded more money. They had put too much stuff on his lawn. After
some arguing, they increased his fee. A while later, he did this again,
arguing that, once again, the production had put more stuff on his
lawn. After more pressure, they gave him another raise in his fee. He
kept watching the crew, and would come outside and check to see what
they were putting on his lawn, and yes, came out once again for his
next round of extortion.
This time they refused to give him any more money. They had already
given him way more than they had contractually agreed on before
starting the days shoot. He hollered and went in and out of his house
slamming the door during takes, and yelling. Finally, with thousands of
dollars of film equipment on his front lawn, he came out and turned on
the sprinklers. According to the AD, several of the crew had to be held
back, in order to keep them from causing the little extortionist bodily
harm. The police were called, the damage tallied and I am sure that by
the time this guy paid for damaged equipment, he lost more that he made.
At the end of day, I walked back to my car (apparel bag, chair and book
bag all in tow) and made it to my car about the same time the others
who took the van did. They all thought I was crazy, but really, there
is something relaxing about walking across a collage campus.
Thankfully, I did not have the heart attack my pounding chest was
threatening me with.
July 8, 2006
Show: Standoff
Episode: First Episode
Location: 20th Century Fox
Here's the funny part of reporting to the set today. Standoff is a new
show and is being shot on stage 9 on 20th's lot. Stage nine was the
home to Pepper Dennis (her apartment sets) which is no longer filming
having not survived the season. I, however, was back, so no complaints
here.
Standoff is about hostage negotiators, and the drama in this episode
takes place in the tower where the traffic controllers are. The scenes
we are shooting however, are on board one of the planes stuck in a
holding pattern over the airport. I am one of the unlucky passengers.
Lucky for me, we never left the ground.
Our airplane had no wings, no nose, and no tail, making it easy to get
in and out of, and impossible to fly. As I really hate to fly, this is
a good thing. While the plane looked really good on the inside, had
this been a Boeing product, I would have gotten off and walked. As I
sat down on the left end of a row of four seats on set, the right end
of the row tipped up, giving me one of those teeter-toter moments. I
moved to one of the center seats, which worked better and pulled out my
book. In between takes, those of us on board Standoff flight “going
nowhere”, pulled out magazines, books and laptop computers, and once I
was sure I wasn't going to tip over, I too relaxed. The seats were
comfortable, although it was very warm.
To get the look of an airplane flying, during the take a fan was
switched on and smoke was blown by the right side windows giving that
flying though the clouds look. A bank of five large stage lights on a
gimble allowed them to tilt and turn the lights, thus simulating the
sun's lighting coming in the planes left windows giving you a
convincing effect of movement. The nice part was, I could look down on
the earth below, and see the wires that covered the stage floor only a
few comfortable feet away.
After shooting three scenes on board Hollywood airplanes, we went to
LAX and shot a scene at one of the unused terminals just off the
airport access road. When we were done, we were bussed back to 20th,
and wrapped. Best time I ever had on an airplane.
July 17, 2006
Show: Desperate Housewives
Episode: Listen to the rain on the roof
Location: El Cabellero Country Club
On rare occasion, I get to the set about the same time as the crew, and
today was one of those times. As I pulled into the lot, many of the
trucks and trailers for production were still arriving and there were
no AD's or PA's present. I have a new acting class on Sunday nights,
and by the time I got home, to bed, to sleep, and up for my 3:30 am
alarm, I had had less than 3 hours sleep. Call time was 5:30 am (please
don't be late) and I arrived at 4:50 am, 25 minutes before the first AD.
We were ushered into holding, which was not at all far from the set,
and after getting my voucher, checking in with wardrobe and getting
breakfast, I sat down to some serious napping. Every little while, the
AD would come in and take people off to set, and around 10:00 am, I
finally ended up on set, sitting at a table with my back to the camera
and to the hero table (where the stars sit).
During each take, I would have a mimed conversation with the woman on
my left, and after the second take, she told me how easy I made it for
her to talk to me because I would respond to her with facial reactions
that made her feel as thought she were really carrying on a
conversation, and that I really looked as though I was talking.
The trick is, I really do talk. Even though the person I am “chatting”
with usually can't understand a thing I am saying (after all, I don't
use my voice), I end up talking about whatever comes to mind, and I
always act as if the camera can see me, because it makes it easier for
the person who is facing the camera to look like they are really
talking to someone.
That was it. A very short day, and I drove home, dived into bed and
napped for about 5 hours. Tomorrow, another early call, but a brand new
studio for me.