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Volume: 2, Issue: 16
Copyright 2006 by Phillip Moon
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Piffy Comments
Things are slowly getting back to normal, what with the end of hiatus. It has occurred to me that I have failed to use this bully pulpit of mine to remind you all of something very important. As I (and Jessica) are in the Movie/T.V. business, it would behoove you all to get out to the movies every few weeks, and turn on that T.V. for a few hours each night and support the arts (such as they are). While it is true that my visage does not yet regularly adorn your television, and has yet to be seen on the big screen, if either of these are to be in business when I make my big break, they must be supported now. Rest assured that I will think kindly of all of you and mention you in my memoirs (however peripherally).
Desperate Housewives
July 17, 2006
“Listen to the Rain on the Roof”

Well, you know you’re back to work when you get to bed after midnight, get up at 3:00 am and are on location by 5:00 am for a 5:30 am call. At the point I drove up to the country club (location for this shoot was El Cajon Country Club) the trucks with all the equipment were still driving up and many had yet to unload. Security would not let background into the holding area because there were no AD’s or PA’s present, and it would be an hour before the breakfast was set up. Just your typical Monday morning.

In most ways, this was also a very typical T.V. shoot, with lots of waiting and nothing “special” to go on about, but that really is what background is. Sometimes you have the really cool stuff to talk about, and then there are the usual days where you get to set, see someone you know and just spend the day talking, reading, and (like today) napping. Yes, I napped.

Every so often, the AD would come into the holding area, and look for background for the current shot. I would hear her, raise my hand to her question of “Who hasn’t been placed yet?”, or not raise my hand when she asks who the golfers are. She would pick those she wanted and I would go back to my doze. I didn’t get used for several hours, and then it was go on set, sit at the table next to the hero table (where the principals are set) with my back to the camera, spend 30 minutes pretending to eat and talk, and then back to holding. I was done.


Part of what I like about this job is the opportunity to chat with other background. Ray has kept busy with two movies and lots of days work, and several others spent time on the set of Transformers (the movie) dodging CGI robots, and trying not to end up on the hood of a “speeding” car, or too close to the explosions. I have no control over how often I see these people, so it comes as a pleasant gift to find myself on set with them. Most of the folks I hang out with enjoy this work, and if you’re going to do background, that’s the kind of folk to surround yourself with.
Vanished
July 18, 2006
Episode: ?
Location: Paramount Studios

As you all should know by now, one of the joys of doing this work for me, is satisfying my inner Star Trek geek. So if you know anything about Star Trek, you know that all the versions of the T.V. shows were shot at Paramount Studios. One of the few big studios, I haven’t been to.

I parked across the street from Paramount and entered the studio through a little booth that held only a few people at a time. After I had my studio pass, I headed over to Stage 6 where holding was set up for Vanished.

The scene was being shot on Stage 12, were episodes of Star Trek:The Next Generation, were shot. My inner geek was happy. The scene being shot was of a Christmas party at the home of a U.S. Senator, where I was one of the well dressed people who were there to influence or be influenced by the Senator.

The majority of time was spent on set, this day, and we were doing double duty, moving from foreground in the dining room shots, to the background in the study shots, and then dead center in the main entertaining area. I’ll have to watch this show just to see if I ever ended up on screen, because I was certainly in enough of the right places. A lot depends on if the editor goes for those pesky close up’s or if he likes the more background friendly shots that show the whole room.

I got to meet one of the actors on the show, a young lady who is getting her big break, this being the first major role on T.V. She comes from Canada, and when she isn’t on camera, her Canadian accent sneaks in on occasion.

I didn’t get to wander about the studio, as my inner geek would have liked, but I did get to spend some time in several stages where the ghosts of Star Treks past were there to welcome me to their haunts, and as I headed out the little booth and to my car, I could hear them whisper, “Live long and prosper.”
Vegas
“Died in Plane Sight”
Culver Studios
July 21, 2006

There are two shows that take a hit on the background black list. One is Gilmore Girls, which I have worked twice now, and can find no fault with. There is only one “event” that keeps coming up when people talk about it, and I do believe that it is of a questionable nature. The other is Vegas. And of the two, Vegas has the worse reputation. So is it true?

Culver Studios (my first time working this studio) is about a 7 minute drive from home, and almost that long a walk from where I park my car to where I have to walk to get to holding. The guard is pleasant and helpful (directions to holding were given without asking), and at holding, the AD was pleasant and efficient.

When I got to wardrobe, the gals there ask that I change only my shirt, and told me that I could where my hat, fanny pack and my Tai Chi necklace. With any luck, the hat will make me stand out enough to spot on the episode. So far, so good.

We were walked to set which was located in front of the Pacific Theater, where Linda and I often go to see movies, and which is located just outside the gates of Culver Studios.

After we did some “deep” background shots, (meaning the cameras were on the other side of the street focused on the star who was only feet from them) we were released to our new holding, located on the front lawn of the Culver Studios. Here is where the only problem of the day arose. It took several hours before craft services were set up, so no food, and water only if we asked for it. Once they got that under control, all else ran smoothly.

The fun part of the shoot was the second part of the day, where James Caan was on set, as were two other actors that I have seen on T.V. over the years. Dorian Harewood ("Full Metal Jacket", "7th Heaven", "Sudden Impact") and Mike Saad ("24", "Murder She Wrote", "JAG").

Dorian was playing a rather shady fellow (CIA) who seems to have been ready to kill James Caan’s character, and Mike plays the guy that James has to shoot in this episode. So this is the first episode where I get to be on set when gun’s get fired and someone gets shot.

In the scene, James walks up to Mike on a busy street, shoots him three times and keeps walking, as if nothing has happened (all the while watched by a sniper on the casino roof ready to do the job if James fails). James holds a gun that is handled by only one other person, and that is the weapons prop guy, who’s job is to keep the gun in safe working order, and see to it that it works on cue, without hurting any actors. Several times the weapon is test fired on set, and before each shot, “fire in the hole” is called to warn one and all of his aim to shoot.

James gets to spend several takes shooting Mike, and each time, with the camera behind him, Mike would fall to his back, and land face up, with three fresh bullet holes in his sweater. Of course, the holes where there the entire time, but you wouldn’t know it if you weren’t on set watching.

Mike had four identical sweaters. One had the bullet holes in it already for the first takes that leave him face up on the sidewalk, so the camera gets a good view of them. The other three sweaters were in fine shape, and were used to get the takes of James shooting Mike, where the camera could see the shooting from James’ point of view. To get these takes, the special effects guy put three squibs (small explosives with fake blood packed into it) under Mike’s sweater, and when James fired the gun, the squibs were detonated and black powder burns and blood would burst forth from the new holes.

To do all this, wires lead from Mike’s chest, where the squibs were located under the sweater, down his left leg, and to the box where the special effects guy would trigger the explosives. Background had to be careful not trip over the wires, or block the view, as the director only had three takes, and each take destroyed a sweater. Good fortune smiled on all, and not only did the background avoid the wires, and the Director get his shots (takes), I was close enough to watch it all go down.

Another first for me today was filming with a green screen. The location of all this action in Las Vegas is the famous Fremont St. downtown Vegas, and to get the right look, a giant green screen was placed at the end of the “road” we were shooting on. When you see it on T.V., you will see Fremont St. behind us. I’m told it will look quite real.

All in all, at least on this shoot, the horror stories don’t pan out. Last to be shot, and first wrapped, ironically, was the sniper up on the “casino” roof.